Please help me categorise kitchen manufacturers by price

[WellTidy]

First time kitchen buyer, despite being in my mid 40s!

I have no idea where to start. I’ve taken measurements of my kitchen (as a room) with the existing kitchen units in there. I think I would like something shaker ish, painted finish, I absolutely don’t want a wood work surface, and I have practicality/easy to clean/mustn’t stain as criteria. We will be here for 4+ years, so I need the kitchen to look good for at least that long, ideally much longer, in case we decide to stay longer term.

I will go to my local kitchen showrooms and see what’s available, but there seems to be a huge variation in price and quality, and I don’t know where the local kitchen showrooms sort of sit in that.

I have -

Ikea - budget end, I assume
Wickes - the same
Benchmarx - the same
Magnet - middle/ish?
John Lewis (the department store) - middle to top end ish?
Harvey Jones - top end, possibly?

Is there anywhere I should absolutely visit, and am I way off in my estimation of them?!

Howdens?

Avoid Wickes like the absolute plague-there are whole Facebook groups dedicated to people supporting each other having been totally screwed by Wickes.

You'll want to add Howdens and DIY Kitchens to the list

Am I right in thinking that DIY kitchen and howdens are the budget end? And is it generally the case that you get what you pay for everywhere in terms of choice, longevity etc?

We have a new kitchen from DIY Kitchens and are very happy. I did a LOT of research and they came out best for range of units etc and especially price. Wickes were more than hopeless - we had an hour consultation and it took a week to get a drawing to us and it only had a small part of the kitchen on it ie they had missed stuff off so I didn't bother with them. Magnet had a smaller range of drawer widths available and the designer drew what he wanted, not what I was hoping to achieve (which I did by designing it myself on the DIY planner). I didn't like the Ikea range when I saw it and again it didn't have the specific sized units I wanted.

Our friends tried to get a kitchen from Wren and said it was a nightmare so cancelled. They got the same kitchen as us from DIY and said the quality was the same but half the price (one is a builder).

Please would you expand on the range of sizes being attractive - do you mean the height of wall cabinets? I am so new to this, and I thought all units were a standard width, so maybe it is the variation in height that makes a kitchen great. We have high ceilings and would look to maximise that with high wall units to create more storage.

For a shaker style painted kitchen, high end would be something like Plain English. Look at Rita Konig's Durham house kitchen
www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/rita-konig-north-farm

For a lower end
www.ikea.com/gb/en/rooms/kitchen/lerhyttan-light-grey-shaker-kitchen-doors-pub2bba7e6d

The main difference is that the Plain English one will be all wood cabinets, hand built. The IKEA one will be the same as most kitchens, with MDF cabinets.

I don’t think it is as easy as categorising by company. In the top end Harvey Jones, Devol, etc, then the quality is probably a high standard across all of the ranges but with the rest they will have cheaper kitchens made from mdf and expensive ranges made from solid wood.

Howdens has a budget, middle and high end range so depends what you choose. Independent bespoke kitchens would be high end but I don’t think my parent’s high end in their last house looked different to be current Howdens one to my eye. I only know because dm told me the cost of both as we’re doing our kitchen.

I wanted 90 or 100cm wide pan drawers and Magnet didn't do whichever width I wanted. DIY had a great range of widths for cupboards, drawers etc that we have used every bit of the space we had well.

Howdens and Wrens.

We bought from DIY.com - fantastic quality diy-kitchens.com/

Key for us was getting an equally fantastic carpenter who fitted kitchens (not a kitchen fitter - though I am sure there are some brilliant ones too).

You could probably add in some German kitchens like Nobilia (mid end) Leicht (high end) Nobilia is similar costing to JL, Leicht more like Harvey Jones. I would say waaaaay more options on cupboard sizing and colours and finishes. Just depends what style you want.

It's the width variety which I think I usually gets DIY Kitchens the vote. If you want to experiment with making the absolute most of your space you can do much more if you're not tied to standard width cupboards / drawers. Eg instead if 2 x 60cm units, you might need one x 20cm larder say for spices/ condiments and a 100cm x pan drawer.

Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch look lovely; I follow them and a few of their customers on Instagram. I'll be going there to get a new kitchen when I do my house project in 5 years time. I expect they're towards the pricier end, as their products are made to order in the UK, I believe.

handmadekitchensofchristchurch.co.uk/our-story

I used pine land in the last 2 houses we’ve done up and have been really pleased. They’re cheap (No showroom) but bespoke hand made to any design and sprayed in any farrow and ball colour

DIY Kitchen are fantastic and do a huge variety of sized units, so not all units are "standard size"
I've only ever heard horror stories about Wren.
I think Benchmark supply Wickes kitchens, it's not always as simple as you get what you pay for with kitchens, Magnet will charge the earth for the same kitchen, half the price at Howdens!

Years ago I had a new kitchen, Benchmarx solid oak in frame doors fitted by a local joiner. The quality was excellent, the fitting first class. I’d go back to Benchmarx before looking anywhere else if I needed another kitchen.

Howdens kitchens are definitely worth exploring. We have had two and loved both and have coped perfectly with two lively little boys. They cover all budgets.

B&Q: budget

Howdens & Wren: middle

Local independents: top

Highly recommend Howdens, they have lots of price options. As a PP said, you can't necessarily lump a company into one category when many offer kitchens across a variety of budgets.

Each one has many different price ranges within the brand .. not much help I know

DIY kitchens are an outlier as they are the direct to consumer branch of a factory that makes high quality units for a lot of independent showrooms. They are about as good quality as you will get for a chipboard kitchen as opposed to the expensive bespoke companies, but at a price to compete with IKEA. The DIY bit is they are supply only.

Howdens, Wren, Magnet , Wickes (the better range) etc are not bad but can be expensive.
IKEA are good value if well fitted and have clever designs.
I would beware of cheap kitchens eg B&Q tarted up with expensive accessories and fittings.

Also, all kitchens look great in brochures. Go into showrooms, look inside units and drawers, wobble the shelf, push the back panels etc. Anywhere that is cagey about build quality will be hoping you don't look too close.
Plus get informed about types of doors, a grey "painted" door may have plastic that will peel off in 2 years or be high quality painted solid wood and look the same at first glance .

You will soon get a feel for what makes good quality fittings.

Thank you all, especially @NotMeNoNo. This is great advice. I am starting with Harvey Jones as they’re local, something tells me that I will then feel that nothing else measures up!

I'm an architect - The last client I had that a magnet kitchen (she chose and insisted on it) had an IKEA utility fitted (my suggestion to save money)
The IKEA was better quality and a lot cheaper than the magnet.
I had to replan the magnet layout as it was shit. I tend to suggest steering clear from them.
My favourites for budget conscious clients are IKEA and DIY kitchens with handles from elsewhere.
At the higher end I tend to advise local bespoke companies that I have a relationship with as they are better value than the 'chain' high end ones such as Harvey Jones or Tom Howley and more flexible which is what you want with bespoke.