Kitchen - where to start?!

[HopelessOptimistism]

We are planning a kitchen extension and we’re finally done with planning and at the stage of looking for a kitchen. However I am overwhelmed, there are sooo many kitchen places and seemingly a very wide range of prices and options. Where should I start? Is it wise to pay directly for a design and bring that to lots of different places for pricing? Or to pick one or two suppliers and go to them for design? Are the high street suppliers any good or is it always better to go for an independent supplier (price dependent of course). And what is the deal with German kitchens? They seem to be very popular.

In terms of budget what is seen as mid-range and high-end these days? Or is that dependent on the size of the room and value of the house? I want to make the right decisions and build something that stands the test of time, but also don’t want to spend way more than necessary.

Any advice welcome 😀

I'd recommend getting an independent designer to come up with your layout - most high street stores will offer a design service, but there's design and there's moving cabinets around in software, IYSWIM

Once you've got your design, I would suggest joining kitchen review groups on Facebook for info, as they can be eye opening, in particular the Wren groups!

I have to admit, I've not been impressed by any of the German kitchens I saw, but it's all subjective, isn't it?

Wren quoted me £43k for my kitchen - I purchased better quality units from DIY Kitchens for a little over a quarter of that, with appliances and fitting bringing it up to less than half. I'm think I read somewhere that the average kitchen cost is between £10k - £20k.

I think it’s worth having a rough idea of what you want and any non-negotiable stuff, before you approach any firms. Like whether you want a modern handleless look or you prefer a more traditional/Shaker style. Any appliances that are a must, or anything that particularly irritates you about your current kitchen, etc.

I was disappointed by Magnet and Howdens - I’d assumed I’d present them with a wish list and they’d either say how I could fit it all in or tell me where I’d have to compromise. But it felt as though I was basically telling them what to design - very much moving cabinets around in software.

We have gone with DIY Kitchens - who do not offer a design service. It would have been money well spent for us to use an independent designer, although we got there in the end.

Thanks, I have seen a lot of people here seem to use DIY Kitchens. Is the quality of the units good? We are based in NI and they don’t deliver here so if we wanted to go with them we’d need to figure something out. But I think I will try to get an independent design first.

We've just had ours done. After looking at many options and doing our research we decided to go with a local company. We had quite a bit that needed doing including replacing the kitchen, doing out the pantry, doing out a very small utility room, plastering, tiling, flooring and electrics. They dealt with it all. I'm so so glad we went with them as they were very efficient and knowledgeable. I've heard horror stories of kitchens taking much longer than expected with large gaps between ripping out the kitchen and fitting and it being measured wrong. It wasn't the cheaper option but I think well worth it for the quality of the units and the fact that they just handled everything in good time. I know that they are now booked up well in to next year which I think a lot of smaller company's will be. So I'd urge you to have a look at the local company's close to you as I feel you could get a much better quality kitchen and service.

The kitchen in the house we sold last year ended up being from Wickes as their kitchen designer was by far the best of the ones we approached. But that will vary by area. We had measurements done initially by Howdens but their designer then didn't listen to a word we said and put in all sorts of things we hadn't asked for. Magnet had a very inexperienced designer who forgot about things like windows(!) being there. Benchmarx were also good but identical to Wickes (Wickes is flat pack, Benchmarx ready constructed) and we went with Wickes in the end and were very pleased with our kitchen. It was about £5k for the units then (no appliances or fitting) but this is several years ago.
New house we're going with Howdens as builder gets a big discount that's passed on to us - it's going to be around £6-7k for double the units we had last time (again, no appliances or fitting). Their kitchen designer again was a bit clueless but we had a better idea what we wanted and an easier shape to put it in.

It really depends on your type and size of house though. A smaller kitchen you're more likely to need someone who can do cunning things with storage and make sensible suggestions to fit the space. But you don't want to spend £xxx for something in a tiny house.

We have a mid-range house (extended semi) and have gone for the Howdens middle range.

We already had a reliable builder lined up at both houses so didn't want to use the installers from the kitchen company which ruled out local firms.

I would start by making a list if things I need and liked, and then doodle a basic layout yourself. Most kitchen suppliers have slightly varying sizes of their standard models, so the end design is likely to change from manufacturer to manufacturer. Then I would decide on the style: modern, traditional, shaker, and then on the material. I personally would always prefer solid reclaimed oak or other hardwoods for longevity. I found that many a local joinery can make you a copy of your preferred 'premium brand' kitchen, at the same or even lower price but in better quality. E.g. I personally always wanted a Neptune Chichester kitchen, but Neptune only does it in pine, and has limited standard sizing and charges a fortune on bespoke. They quoted 50k for the cabinets, worktop and fitting without appliances, and it wouldn'thave been a perfect fit, as that price only included standard sizes. My local joinery managed to replicate the design exactly in reclaimed oak, they painted it in the original Neptune paints, did the larder cupboards exactly to bespoke measurements, and it came in at under 40k including(!) all appliances, including a range cooker. (That's for a fairly large kitchen with a large island). They could do the same with any deVol, Plain English or even Artichoke design. For both your local joinery and DIY kitchens you would need to create your own layout and design, and take measurements.

So I’m literally replacing like for like appliances and units and I’m pretty much done most of it myself I’ve ordered from Wicks it’s not rocket science any delays have been due to me having a wobble around the design, I wasn’t sure about put in the oven next to the fridge apparently that’s fine these days.

i’m sure I could’ve made it a lot more expensive with some designer ideas but for what I wanted a smart basic kitchen I’m really happy.

Ours has taken ages but that's been down to extension more than the kitchen.
We bought a solid second hand German handleless kitchen and have paired it with freestanding oak larder units along one wall. We had an excellent kitchen fitter to rejig some of the units and built a bespoke oven housing.
Unless the design is complicated a good fitter can advise on lots of the practicalities so you can design it yourself.

@HopelessOptimistism how much is your budget? If you are going for a handmade kitchen and are happy to pay anywhere up to around £30k there are some great companies in NI such as Ballycastle homecare, strawhill kitchens and greenhill kitchens.

Or if your budget is less, you could go for Howdens and probably get something for under £10k. A family member recently got a howdens kitchen and I was impressed with the quality.

Have a look for a large kitchen showroom near you. We went to both ikea and wren and looked at all the types of kitchen there. Nearly all suppliers have the same basic styles and storage situations.

Doing that helped us to define what style we wanted and what storage solutions we wanted.

Then we went to Howdens to order it. Just because we'd used them before and like them