Kitchens

[Houserenos]

we live in Channel Islands and have been quoted 50k for a kitchen. It is a big space and we are only doing this once in our lifetime but feel that is way too much. Everything over here is generally much more expensive.

thinking of shipping in from uk as will be cheaper and have a friend who is a fitter (who we would obvs pay the full rate) and wondered about WREN, 1909 kitchens, Cornish kitchen company?

anyone have any recommendations or avoids? We are more traditional shaker style rather than modern

Avoid wren! Terrible customer support, far more expensive than they make out. Neighbours were left with a 3/4s finished kitchen for 9months because of Wren sending out the wrong/missing parts.

No experience with 1909 or Cornish kitchens.

I've heard good things about DIY kitchens, if they ship to the Channel Islands they are very budget friendly.
IKEA kitchens are good value but have non-standard measurements so are a pain with anything not from IKEA.

Your fitter will likely have a preference. They may be able to get you a better deal with the likes of Howdens and Benchmarx.

Thanks that’s really helpful.

interesting re wren

@Houserenos did you manage to find something? I used tkckitckens for my new fitted kitchenand they had a promotion on at the time where they beat any big company, I saved £1700 on mine by going with them , its worth a try all I did was send them my Wren plan xXx

We used DIY kitchens. We have solid wood shaker style, they paint in any shade of Farrow & Ball. Very good quality, ours are 8 years old, no issues whatsoever and were v cost effective.
Wren aren't good quality.

My builder considers Wren a four letter word and said he wouldn't do my kitchen if I went with Wren!

As they'd already managed to get the measurements of my kitchen wrong twice, I took his advice. Even if Wren screw up the measurements, they have you sign to say you're happy with the measurements and then refuse to help if errors come to light after delivery.

Forgot to add that my builder really rates IKEA kitchens, though I found they don't have such a wide range of cupboard sizes as other providers - fine if you have a standard shaped kitchen, less fine if yours is full of funny shapes and angles like mine.

Another reccomendation for DIY Kitchens love mine i know a lady on here on one thread said they shipped hers to France might be worth contacting them to find out what we did was got a plan from another company and used that on their online planner and they do sample doors that they can send to you if your too far from the showroom they were half the price of wickes for a better kitchen and their units come ready assembled so much easier to install than flat pack

DIY kitchen carcasses are they made of mdf??

If you are at all tempted by Wren, look at their review sites on Facebook. I cancelled mine because of these groups - it seems that their fitting costs are very steep and poor quality, and the doors tend to delaminate (peel).

If you've got a fitter then use DIY Kitchens.com.

Do a search on mum's net and you'll find lots of good reviews

Also do a search on money saving expert for DIY kitchens.

Don't use Wren

Thanks all. We do have a friend who fits kitchens so could get that done.

Yesterday we were quoted 72k for a kitchen (Duval) which is insane. I’d want it to cook my dinner for me for that price!

Wow that's a huge price. How big is the kitchen? We've just had a Howdens Shaker style put in that cost £6k for the units, sink, extractor and tap. Big kitchen but galley style so basically two straight lines without any complicated corner units.

Wren quoted me £43k for my kitchen, including appliances and fitting. I went with DIY Kitchens, as Wren have a terrible reputation, and I got a better quality kitchen with far better appliances for £22K, including fitting.

yes DIY kitchens units are MDf but mine has been in just under two years and looks like brand new we have the acrylic wrapped one and cleaning it is so easy just washing up liquid in hot water and a microfibre cloth this is mine

Almost all kitchen carcasses are MDF, unless they're chipboard (in which case avoid).

When we replaced our kitchen a couple of years ago we asked about ply carcasses, and quickly found that it would have nearly doubled the cost (which was already eye-watering). If you get timber-faced MDF that is usually the best realistic option, unless you're sinking upwards of £100k in which case ply is the way to go.

the handmade kitchen of christchurch- they say carcass made of oak veneer- is that better than MDF?

@Malbab that means they are MDF core with a layer of oak attached

Oh I see Thank u
So many technicalities in this but they don't tell these info in a transparent way!!

We have a Wren kitchen which was fitted independently. It's 8 years old. Personally I think it's very good quality. It's oak and looks as good as when it was fitted.

Omg that's crazy!!!!!!! Try tkckitchens.co.uk just email them the quote that you've been given and see if they can beat it, that's literally all I did and saved myself so much! They don't fit though so we had our own fitter

I think it’s about 26sq m but only stuff down 2 sides and an island

I second DIY. Have used in my house and also some rentals we have. All brilliant quality and hard wearing. DIY do their own deliveries so you would prob have to transport it but I'm dam sure it would be worth it