Kitchen - FTB

[Katielou2607]

Hi everyone,

Im a first time buyer and due to complete at the end of the month. My first job is to rip out the old dated kitchen and replace with a new one. Any tips on:

1. where best to go for a new kitchen (low to mid price range)
2. is it better to use their fitters or source own kitchen fitter
3. can you get discounts or barter with these companies for a deal
4. anything else I should be aware of

Just for info I have been looking at the Howdens Chelford range so far

thanks in advance!

Have a look at DIY Kitchens. You source your own fitter (and designer if you’re not confident planning it yourself). Good quality kitchens and much cheaper than Howdens.

I would definitely source your own kitchen fitter, we were quoted six grand for the kitchen & four grand for the fitting which I thought sounded alright until the day the fitting took place and literally it’s a bloke building IKEA type units in your kitchen for four grand it broke my heart.

you can fit the kitchen and just get somebody in to do the work tops.

Take your time. I'd live in it for a bit an find out what you really want to do with it- maybe moving stuff around in the kitchen to 'mock up' and test your ideas. Especially as a FTB. Until you have cooked in a kitchen and lived in it, you don't know what you might want- or not want. There are good threads on here about 'what would you do/did you regret etc. in your kitchen design'. I'd read 'em all first too.
I've had three houses, and rented places before that. Due to covid and other things, us wiring, plumbing and fitting our kitchen here was delayed an extra year after we bought. I'm so glad it was, because even with our experience it ended up being much better laid out for us living with the old one first; I changed several ideas, including getting a bigger fridge so I could store food we shopped for for my parents under lockdown, which has been a really good thing.