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Original poster

New Kitchen

28 replies

Frosty1000 · 17/04/2023 16:11

Hey all,

If you were to buy a new kitchen tomorrow, where would you get it from? Not top end budget so no bespoke stuff 😁

Planning ours and am overwhelmed by what's on offer so no idea where to go.

Thank you!

OP posts:
ComtesseDeSpair · 17/04/2023 16:31

Ours is Ikea, with mid range appliances and a few of the nifty storage and waste features, and fitted by a local independent fitter. It’s just DH and I and we rarely cook, so didn’t need anything especially durable and hardwearing, or the sort of very fancy oven which cooks soufflé to perfection or whatever. It’s the fourth Ikea kitchen I’ve had in different homes (two chosen by me and two inherited), of varying styles, materials and ages and I’ve always been pretty impressed with them.

But, as you can tell from the fact we don’t cook very often, our kitchen is not the centre of the home as it is in some households. If it is yours then you may want fancier.

Unbridezilla · 17/04/2023 16:35

Diy kitchens. Designed and fitted ourselves and cost 3k for cabinets and worktops (and we added some of the fancy in cabinet fittings so we could have done it cheaper). Looks great and was easier than I expected.

manontroppo · 17/04/2023 16:36

IKEA.

We put in an IKEA kitchen (with Siemens appliances) in our old house and it is far better than the Nicholas Anthony kitchen in our new house, which cost an order of magnitude more.

The IKEA units are more robust and I really liked the 25 year guarantee and the simplicity of pricing. The units come in pretty much any shape or size you might wish.

HarrietStyles · 17/04/2023 16:37

We’ve just had two bespoke kitchen plans done and nearly had a heart attack when we got the prices through (we’ve done one before so kind of expected it to be a little more than we paid 5 years ago…… but it was more than double!) We then went and had plans drawn up by Howdens and I actually much prefer the Howden’s designs and kitchens than the bespoke ones! Howdens it is for us then.

grayhairdontcare · 17/04/2023 16:38

Kitchen was designed by wickes
We then got a local trade in to order it and fit it.
We got it from DIY kitchen

SedentaryCat · 17/04/2023 16:54

We got ours designed and fitted by Wickes after six months looking round various places. I'd like to say it was trouble-free but there were several issues with the tile delivery (wrong colour, over supplied, then delivered twice, took ages for a refund on the duplicate delivery and the tiles we hadn't used). Fitting team were superb though, as is the kitchen itself.

daffodilandtulip · 17/04/2023 16:55

Wickes are on to this now, and won't even consider planning unless you're definitely buying it from them. When I said I was just getting quotes, they refused to give me an appointment.

80sMum · 17/04/2023 16:55

We had ours done last year. Went to a local sole trader kitchen business that has a small, local showroom. Cost more than the DIY/Ikea/Howdens route but the upside is that it's "all inclusive" in that you pay one person for the whole job - and as it's his own business he relies on his reputation and is therefore motivated to ensure that customers are happy with the result. You get a very personal service.

We had the kitchen and utility room replaced for total cost of £40k, including some minor building work, dishwasher, fridge-freezer and extractor.

SedentaryCat · 17/04/2023 17:01

daffodilandtulip · 17/04/2023 16:55

Wickes are on to this now, and won't even consider planning unless you're definitely buying it from them. When I said I was just getting quotes, they refused to give me an appointment.

Interesting....we're having our bathroom done by them right now and apart from a birdseye view of the room we've had nothing else. That makes perfect sense.

NeatCompactSleeper · 17/04/2023 17:08

I have an appointment with Wickes on Thursday but they won't fit the range (Lifestyle) that I want to buy from them.

I'm looking for a kitchen fitter right now.

Goodfuckingriddance · 17/04/2023 17:08

The kitchen depot very good service

BarrelOfOtters · 17/04/2023 17:25

Howdens, it was really good quality, excellent design service. It arrives with all the cupboards already built so that says fitting time. Our fitter rated it. He gave us the price list from them and the full quote. They took back 2 cupboards that we decided we didn't need as we had got the builder to build a cupboard instead.

Lovestodrinkmilk · 17/04/2023 18:06

Howdens. Everything in stock and not delivered until your fitter is ready to install it.

Chasingsquirrels · 17/04/2023 18:14

DIY Kitchens (autumn 2019), very pleased with it.

RM2013 · 17/04/2023 18:35

I’m looking at the moment - we may go for a makeover rather than a complete refit due to limited budget but I’ve been looking at diy kitchens their reviews are really good

Gloriousgardener11 · 17/04/2023 18:42

Wickes we're great but that was seven years ago.
We used our own fitter but Wickes came out, measured up, discussed various layout options and then came up with a final CAD design that they quoted against.
Our fitter was very familiar with their product and the whole thing went very smoothly.
It still gets lots of compliments and the quality is very good.

Gloriousgardener11 · 17/04/2023 18:43

Also wait until they have their sales !!

Original poster
Frosty1000 · 17/04/2023 19:15

Thank you all!

OP posts:
EmmaC78 · 17/04/2023 21:41

I always use Howdens, I've renovated quite a few houses and apart from a few minor niggles they have been good on both price and quality

TeenLifeMum · 17/04/2023 22:21

We got quotes from wickes (very helpful but fitter said he wouldn’t use them), Howdens (our designer refused to listen and wouldn’t make minor changes without meeting with us which was a pain as we work full time), local company who would oversee everything. Price wise it was all very similar. We went with the local company.

FrogFairy · 18/04/2023 11:34

For me it is a toss up between IKEA and DIY kitchens.

Howdens would be the most convenient being only a couple of miles away but I really don’t like their shady pricing policy.

Yellowdays · 18/04/2023 11:48

I've had handmade wooden kitchens and off the peg ones over the years. I think IKEA are actually good quality and I'd get them again, but if ordering for delivery, allow plenty of time in case of mistakes in the order.

User1794537 · 18/04/2023 11:51

Probably Ikea or DIY kitchens, we are thinking about a new kitchen in the next year or two and I have already been looking at the websites of these, we are retired and DH may do a lot of the fitting

HurdyGurdy19 · 18/04/2023 12:11

We are looking to have the kitchen extended and completely refitted.

My husband told me that hed found a report by the Federation of Master Builders for 2023 online, and Wickes came out on top, with Ikea in second place.

Before hearing this, I had more or less decided on an Ikea kitchen, which they had in the store showroom bit. The kitchen on display was roughly the size ours will be, and that was around £16,500 plus fitting and appliances.

SorePaw · 18/04/2023 12:12

DIY KITCHENS.

Sorry, on my way to an appointment, but definitely from them.