Kitchen renovation... where do you start?

[LadyBird1984]

Hello! I'm after advice regarding kitchen renovation please. Where on earth do you start? We have a 'ideal' budget, in mind but have no idea if this is realistic (thinking we are keen to overspend vs the cost of our house). I have limited DIY skills but not enough to do a DIY revamp (and don't know a great deal of people who have the skills). We would rather not reuse the carcasses as they are weird American sizes, and have random gaps where the cabinets don't meet. Also they don't give flexibility to alter shelves etc and need to go! Also how do you select a brand, fitter etc... no one we know has had their kitchen done recently or near to us. I'm finding it is a complete mindful.

Should be *not keen

You measure up, you get the kitchen planned, choose the door design and any fancy bits (wine chillers etc), order, and get a builder to fit it.

That’s the basics of it.

If you have specific appliances to fit in take these into account when you plan the layout.

A good builder can help you with using awkward spaces well.

I used diy-kitchens who were very good and much cheaper than Magnet etc.

I'd find a local recommended fitter then go with whatever manufacturer they are used to working with (or have a trade discount with!! !
I have a brilliant ikea kitchen as my joiner was used to working with them but my friends installation was a nightmare.
Once you've got your fitter/ brand you can get a free design service from most manufacturers

Watching with interest as I want to get mine done! I’ve had Wren out for a measure and a quote appointment which took about an hour, so I’ve got a starting idea on price. But since read bad reviews about them so will be getting more quotes.

There are many threads on this which I will link when I find them. I'd start with a list of things that work well in your current kitchen/layout and things that don't. Any new appliances you want to fit in? Do you want more pot pan space or larger cutlery drawer for example? Are you changing the layout- or just the carcasses?

We are currently renovating, but not finished yet! Ask friends what they like about their kitchen and what you they'd get again and things they wouldn't. We heard bad things about wren and mixed/good reviews for howdens and benchmarx (wickes). We started with visiting all the usual kitchen outlets, plus a few local, smaller ones. Many can provide a free quote and give you ideas.

One of our carpenters recommended an independent guy that can source carcasses and doors from multiple manufacturers. So far, he has had the largest range and found the door we had been searching for at every other shop- with no luck. Maybe try looking up independent suppliers like this near you.

We were told to spend on good quality handles- which can apparently make all the difference. Also- don't get doors which are wrapped in a plastic. It will eventually melt or get brittle and come off.

We had 3 quotes:
Howdens
wickes
local independent company

i actually really liked the wickes design but the two fitters who’d been recommended were strongly against it as they don’t like the quality so that ruled that one out.

We’ve gone with the independent which is slightly more than Howdens plus a fitter but hard to fully compare because the independent included electrics and plastering that Howdens didn’t so it’s probably £1k difference but for painted solid oak instead of mdf vinyl wrap from Howdens.

we really liked the independent kitchen guy, really helpful, can oversee whole thing but just as happy for us to use our own decorator. Also recommended by a friend who used them a year ago.

Oh and if you want Neff hide and slide you’ll be waiting about a year - I’ve given up.