Redoing kitchen- where to start

[Teganandbarbs]

Just looking for some advice about how to go about getting our kitchen redone. When researching kitchens, it seems very easy to go to the likes of B&Q/Wickes/Ikea etc and this would suit us budget wise. However, we also need a small amount of building work as part of it. We want to create a kitchen/diner by knocking down a weird 'half wall' which kind of divides the two rooms at the moment. Some of the units would also need to be created according to some irregular measurements due to there being half the room on a raised level (it's very hilly round here so half the room is on a small step up).
So I guess my question is- does the fact that it's not a 100% straightforward replacing of units mean that our best option is to go to a local kitchen renovator who can take charge of the whole job- or do some people get building work done separately then go to the usual high street offerings for the main kitchen? Apologies if this is a really stupid question- it's really not a big space, I am nervous of some of these kitchen designer websites which feature houses much posher than ours...don't want to spend £70k on it...just want a functional new kitchen that isn't from the 70s and falling apart like our current one!
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

We are looking at a similar project for our kitchen and dining room and I went through a very similar thought process. What we plan to do is use an architectural designer who is experienced in small-scale projects, internal alterations. So for example I follow this designer on instagram - she is renovating a house that is very similar to ours so I already like her style. Also Helen OnePlan who is often recommended on Mumsnet. We intend to use DIY Kitchens and I like the idea of getting a list that we can use to order the various items. Our builders will be happy to fit it all, just not to order it on our behalf.

@Wellwhichisit Thank you so much, I'll definitely check those out. I have seen DIY Kitchens mentioned before too and looks like that could work well for us.

A kitchen joiner will typically take units from IKEA/B&Q etc and then can arrange them (and cut them down as needed) to fit the space you have.

So use the IKEA planner or similar to work out roughly what you want & where the units go. Don't worry too much about colour & finish at this stage.

Then find a local joiner & get a quote for installation. your joiner may have strong opinions on which brand is best (IKEA has a different fitting style to other brands) so you should probably listen to them.

then you can pick the actual brand & style of doors / worksurface etc. And go ahead with the joiner ready to fit it all.

We're doing similar and are getting a builder to do the wall and the fitting. They've done our friends and it looks fab. Still at the getting quotes stage though!

We re did our kitchen late last year. It was a rip out and replace project, with a small bit of structural work. We went to a local company, and Benchmarx to get an idea of what we could do with the space we had. I made lots of notes, taking the best ideas from both, and adding in a few things I knew would work best for us. I put my design into the diykitchens planner, and after several changes, and a lot of help from their customer service, we have a fabulous kitchen that we're absolutely delighted with. At a very good price too!

Brilliant, thank you all for the advice. @parietal thank you- it'd be great to be able to get the units from a place which suits our budget (joiner's agreement allowing of course) and then get them to arrange things as needed in our odd shaped kitchen. Super helpful.
Thanks @Isonthecase ...that's good to know. Good luck with your project! We will start a proper look around next week I think. Are you finding there is a long wait in their availability for start dates?
@skippy67 thanks so much- had never heard of Benchmarx. Sounds like you put in a lot of hard work which paid off well! We're more than willing to do similar so like the sound of the combo of things you did.
This has all been so useful, thank you everyone.

Yep, we're looking at September now. Have only spoken to the one builder so far though so may get it sooner.