How do you buy a kitchen?

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This sounds really stupid (I have adhd so find things with lots of steps/complications overwhelming which doesn't help as well!)
so sorry in advance.

I need a new kitchen as old one is knackered.
Just a very small u-shape which houses the appliances and a couple of small units (it's a very small kitchen in a small house so I'm not looking for anything fancy or expensive - just to maximise the little space I have). I have open shelves above to try and create more of a sense of space and 2 pantry cupboards in the dining area which house all the crockery and food etc.

I think I want to either get DIY Kitchen (as recommended on here) or ikea kitchens - possibly with custom fronts.

I have no idea how I start as if I was getting say a magnet kitchen (for example) they would find to your home and measure but if I'm doing it via online - how goes that work? I'm worried I'll miss something important or get the measurements wrong.

You can still do that. Go to somewhere like wren. They will send someone out to measure up and then you go to the store where they design your kitchen. Then you take the design to diy kitchens or ikea and use it to pick your kitchen out.

Hi OP, you don't have to go anywhere expensive. Even the likes of Wickes do a free measure and design service and they'll be able to offer advice of how to best utilise the space you have available.

I bought my kitchen from Wickes. I just went to the store with the basic room dimensions (including doors and windows), and they did all the planning.

I showed the plans to the kitchen fitter who checked sizes.

Just be wary of Wren. There is a fbook group about their cock ups they are that bad.

I'd recommend Benchmarx

I found ikea overwhelming and too confusing so went for DIY kitchens. Like PP says go in to wren or magnet and pretend you like one of their kitchens, get them to measure up. Then double check all measurements yourself and use DIY online planner

I think I would start measuring yourself on paper and try and find cupboards on ikea website or similar and then take your paper and ideas into a store to talk to an advisor. Maybe you’ll see what fits easily. There will be a lot of back and forth double checking.

You could look for an app or ikea online kitchen designer and see how you get on.You don’t have to commit to anything unless you are sure.

Unfortunately if you want to DIY it you’ll have to start somewhere and it will be more painful than it should be. Speaking from experience.

We used Howdens,good service,they came and measured and discussed ideas.A few days later we viewed the design on the shop screen changed a few things that we preferred.They have a list of kitchen fitters who collected the kitchen ,took out the old one which I gave away on Freecycle and 4 days later new kitchen which is great.

I recommend Howdens. We had a complicated design and the designer nailed it. Also the cabinets are assembled, just needing drawers or doors. It saves so much time and far better than flat packs. It's business only, but you can open an account or use a friend's.

OP, don't worry, it'll be fine!

When we did it for the first time I measured up, went to Magnet in January and got the Blue Cross 50% discount. Their designer was great and flagged up all the "critical" measurements that I had to be really sure of or it wouldn't work - before I paid I could triple-check those ones.

We moved house and did it again in 2020. I started off just sketching out what I thought I wanted with measurements etc, and taking that around to a few companies to see if they could (a) improve my design and (b) give me a decent quote.

We tried Howdens but found them a bit weird to deal with - they wouldn't give me prices because their "trade-only" setup discounts the goods to different % depending on "loyalty" i.e. how much £££ the specific account spends per year.

I like Ikea but I think the hardware is not super-durable, you see a lot of wonky doors and drawers missing a back after a few years. I love their Barkaboda worktop though, if you like dark wood and want something cheapish!

We also contacted a small independent kitchen company who were way out of our price range but happy to come over for a nosy and a measure and pitch their services. It was interesting but they couldn't offer us anything that tempted us to pay double!

In the end this time we used Units Online who are good and quite local to us. Like most places they don't fit and it's worth spending more on a better fitter as a bad one will botch bits that will annoy you forever...

Best of luck with it, honestly it'll be fine!

Thank you everyone, this has been really helpful!

If you find a kitchen fitter that you like, they may help with the measuring and making sure everything fits before you order the boys.

1. Measure the height of floor to ceiling.
2. Measure the width of each wall.
3. Go on DIY kitchens site and use their kitchen planner online tool to create a ‘to scale’ floorplan.
4. Wait a few days then remeasure everything to see if you made a mistake 🤣
5. Find a kitchen fitter you like from asking around local friends, and discuss his views on suppliers. Eg mine said he didn’t accept Ikea fitting projects as he personally found them a lot of work to fit. We did DIY Kitchens and were very happy.
6. View lots of kitchen showrooms and google to get an idea of what kind of cupboard doors you like and what worktop you want / can afford. If you’ve got lots of cash I’d suggest Silestone Quartz, if not, there are some excellent laminates available. (Do not get wood it is a nightmare.)
7. Get a quote from DIY Kitchens, maybe also John Lewis and Wickes or Benchmark.

Have fun! It’s confusing st first but once you’ve learned the jargon it’s really fun.

Drawers hold way more than cupboards 😁

Another one to recommend Howden's. Our kitchen is narrow and awkward and the designer really delivered. They can recommend builders that they work with.

I wouldn’t get a plan from John Lewis, they take bloody ages even to get to the planning stage. Wren are much quicker to give you a plan and you don’t have to use them as others have said

We used Wickes, they were great and came up with a layout we hadn’t thought of which allowed us to put in a slim wine fridge in our small kitchen.

Consider buying some gadgets that make it feel special/upgraded, such as a swanky tap, a wine fridge, under cupboard lighting, additional sockets or fancy tiles - you’re spending a lot of money you may as well throw in a few extras.