10k kitchen budget - who would you use?

[GardensandGrandDesigns]

Hi

It's a large kitchen with 2m island so I need to budget really well. I am budgeting another 4k on top for appliances as we like gadgets! Currently looking at DIY kitchens and is pricing up at 11k. Anywhere else I should look? Experience of DIY kitchens?

Thank you!

British Standard Cupboards (off-the-peg arm of £££ Plain English) if you like shaker-style kitchens

Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch.

DIY Kitchens for cabinets. Worktop express is great for worktops.

DIY kitchens and get the worktops separately. Ours was £12k (big kitchen and utility) with £6k worktop and £2k fitting for exactly what we wanted (painted F&B colours, solid wood). Howdens quoted us £32k excluding worktop (but they could put us in touch with someone for sort of the same worktop for £12-14k) including fitting for something that was 'ok', once we'd stopped laughing we didn't bother to get any more quotes.

You do have to be confident that you know what you want, but if you go up to their showroom then they do have people who will sit down with you and look at your saved design and make some suggestions. You can get door samples in your colour (if you're going for painted) or in the design to take away and look at, which was really helpful.

2 years on and the painted doors haven't chipped, no damage to anything, cupboards are rock solid, drawers all running smoothly and doors closing nicely - a few handles are a bit wibbly but I just need to take a screwdriver to them, and apart from that it's as good as new. Would automatically be our first port of call for any future kitchen.

Howdens, have used them twice and couldn't fault them.

We've just had a new kicthen from Howdens, with fitting, tiles etc all in. It came to 11.5k, this was a mid-range kitchen with Bosch appliances.

We checked out a few places, our fitter and family trademen recommended Howdens. We went to IKEA but they don't use standard sizes for carcasses, although I was impressed with the design. I was concerned about the ease of repairs.

Howdens came out and measured up, then designed the kitchen before I arrived, I made some adjustments, picked the doors, colours, handles etc...

They did stagger the delivery, which was frustrating, there were a few things missing but they literally delivered within the hour, twice... which I found quite impressive. They also changed a couple of things for us last minute at no extra charge.

The quality is decent also and they had an impressive range of options, the units come pre-built which saves money and time.

I would recommend Howdens, this is there speciality wood work.

Agree with all the posts about Wren. Fine if everything goes smoothly. Absolute nightmare if anything goes wrong.

Still hiding behind "we are experiencing high call volumes/pandemic blah blah". 40 minute wait to get the phone answered is standard.

We had a major fault which they tried every which way to wiggle out of until I found some small print that clearly stated it was their issue. Then they agreed and sorted but what a fight. So many calls too, wouldn't stand a chance if you didn't WFH, or worked shifts etc.

Went to my friends house today with the Wren kitchen and she was lamenting the quality of the kitchen, already has doors coming loose. And the end and filler panels were never fitted properly and you see expanding foam and glue used to keep things in place.

With that budget I wouldn’t touch high street. You’ll be able to get a nobilia or similar kitchen for that price as supplied by an independent.

@GardensandGrandDesigns

Right kids... In Feb half term we are off to... DIY kitchens show room woo hoo 🤣

Make sure you book your slot ! We went a couple of months ago and spent 2 hours wandering around on our own. They have drinks and biscuits available so you can sit down and rest. Toilets are there too so it's worth taking your time. Our kitchen is due to be delivered this week but they haven't told me which day yet - that's a bit annoying but exciting too.

@GardensandGrandDesigns

I can't wait! I'm sure it will be worth the 3hr journey ☺️

We stayed overnight in Leeds and made a nice short break out of it.

DIY were great for us. I planned it on graph paper and then their online planner out then we drove to Pontefract from London to see units and spent some time with one of their advisors, which was invaluable.

Our builder was very impressed with the quality. Our friends, at the same time, ordered via Wren and ended up cancelling their order as they were messed around so much. They also ordered via DIY and although Wren's units were slightly higher spec, they are very pleased.

@Oneforthemoneytwo

With that budget I wouldn’t touch high street. You’ll be able to get a nobilia or similar kitchen for that price as supplied by an independent.

I've used the DIY kitchens planner and I'm already 4k over budget! 😳

I went to the DIY Kitchens show room a couple of years ago, we were staying nearish anyway (unrelated) and I wanted to look before ordering.
We had a few hours at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park then late lunch then over to DIY showroom - the lodge we were staying know didn't have WiFi so the kids were more than happy to sit on sofas availing themselves of the free drinks, cookies and Internet access.

We designed ours on a "designer day" appointment with a concept planner (she's mentioned on lots of kitchen threads) was a great day and we used the document with the drawings and pano etc to shop around with. So much easier to compare prices this way too. Our fitter said it was a really clever layout . And very safe which was much better than I had come up with.

I just though DIY kitchens would be cheaper and actually shocked that my kitchen is coming out at 14k but there are 20 units. Our extension is already insanely expensive so had hoped I had found a budget friendly kitchen place. Feeling very disheartened ☹️

I’ve just done my kitchen with IKEA. It was £7k for the kitchen an appliances (fridge, freezer, dishwasher, oven stack and induction hob), £1,800 fitting (lots of bespoke joinery) & then we paid an extra £2k for a really incredible worktop.

I’m glad we paid extra for every drawer & cupboard to light up and also a specialised German bin system. The IKEA ones aren’t big enough and I hate bins being on display.

For £11k I think we got a total bargain.

DIY were significantly cheaper than anyone else in early 2020. We have a reasonably sized kitchen with a large island, we paid £6k to DIY for cabinets, £5k to appliance city for appliances, £3k to a local fitter for a quartz worktop, and £600 for a sink and tap.

I’d look at ikea. My last kitchen was ikea and it stood up so well that 10 years later we have reused the units in our boot room.

Has anyone used the used kitchen company?

@halfgirlhalfturnip

Has anyone used the used kitchen company?

I looked at it for MONTHS but nothing ever worked for us and also, I didn’t want to chop about a kitchen when for the same money I could get a new one.

@AgathaMystery thank you I keep looking there too

For those who have used DIY kitchens - how do you get a local fitter?

@LargeProsecco

For those who have used DIY kitchens - how do you get a local fitter?

Friends who'd had recentish kitchen fittings, Facebook group recommendations. In the end I used a builder who'd done an extension for a friend and then a small extension for me 10 years earlier.

@LargeProsecco

For those who have used DIY kitchens - how do you get a local fitter?

My friend had work done and recommended her builder.