Has anyone got a Howden's Kitchen

[Ruby50975]

and if so are they good quality/do they last? I need a new kitchen but totally confused by all the suppliers out there. I love the upmarket ones like John Lewis of Hungerford, Smallbone etc but can Howden's do a decent kitchen at a better price? I can only find reviews relating to how good they are on getting the kitchen and installing it, not from anyone who has had the kitchen for a while.

As a Howdens designer we get lots of people coming in for their 2nd, 3rd, 4th kitchen. I’ve recently been out to 3 or 4 kitchens that are 25 years old and the customers want to replace the doors only.
im sure there will be many hopping on with alternative recommendations, but my experience is they're a great quality, solid product, readily available in stock.
you don’t get to be the number one UK kitchen supplier with a shoddy product :)

Hi. We have just had our 2nd Howden’s kitchen just fitted and it looks great. We have a quartz worktop which I think makes the kitchen. Last kitchen was replaced after 18 years but could easily have lasted another 5+ years I feel. The laminate worktops were showing signs of wear and tear though after apart 15 year approx. I have always been told that what any kitchen needs is a great fitter. In a family member’s housing association flat they aim to replace kitchens and bathrooms every 20 years so I am always aiming for the same

Howdens seem good but the only problem is you need to find your own fitter and not everyone can manage that.

yes, Howdens kitchens are lovely

I'm going against the grain here, but I'm a bit meh about my Howdens kitchen. I preferred the one we had from Wickes.
I feel like we're constantly reattaching the soft close mechanism as they are really easy to knock off and the Lamona oven we bought didn't quite see two years because the heating element went. Not to mention that their weird discount scheme for 'trusted' builders successfully enabled our original builder to defraud us. No we didn't get our money back. Yes I'm still angry about it.

My parents had one installed in December. I'm very impressed with everything - from design to delivery. They had to source their own fitter and fell lucky with a local guy who lived two streets away! They didn't change their design much from the original kitchen but the quality is much better.

I've got their catalogue at home now as DH and I are refinancing soon for a new kitchen as ours is a very cheap kitchen, which is now 25 years old and literally falling apart.

Yes our Howdens kitchen is great. but - we got it via my FIL who is a tradesperson, you have to go via a tradesperson, and they can chose to add a profit on top. And you have to find your own fitter.

Our Howdens kitchen is 8 years old and generally still in good nick. A couple of door handles and other bits need replacing . The composite worktop has been very hardwearing. We didn’t get any of their appliances though.

Previous house we used magnet for the kitchen and howden’s for the utility - the howden’s product was head and shoulders above on quality and robustness, despite being similar money. We’ve put howden’s units in the new house utility and they are standing up well to the daily battering

We have a Howdens kitchen installed 2 years ago. I think it is lovely and good quality for the most part. We didn't go with Lamona appliances except for the microwave because I didn't find great reviews.

There were a few mistakes made by the fitters that I didn't find until after the snagging. I tried to buy a door panel direct from Howdens to remedy the mistake but I got given short shrift and told that I would need to get my builder to purchase it. A door. For £30. So I went to B&Q and got one similar for £8 instead. So their customer aftercare can be a bit sticky.

We have one, installed last year as part of a bigger project. It's wonderful, sturdy, well-made, good storage options. Our builder is quite a big company so appeared to get a big discount which was passed on to us so it was about £6k for a big kitchen plus £2k for the utility room. Howdens kept stuff in stock so it was very quick to swop in a couple of items when snags were found.

We had a Wickes kitchen at our old house which I loved but it definitely wasn't as sturdy. Must admit the Howdens designers we've tried have been dreadful - first time was when we went with Wickes instead. Second time we had more idea what we wanted so pretty much designed it for her as the designer was clueless!

I wouldn't buy Howdens appliances though. They don't seem to have a good reputation but we already had our own so just used those.

Oh we have one of the mid-range kitchens. The cheaper range was less substantial and this seemed like a good compromise.

We have Howdens carcasses and the doors we ordered separately from Custom Fronts. Looks awesome.

We inherited ours from the previous owners - installed to sell we thought, it won’t last…well it has worn really well in the last 8 years and when the kitchen has had a deep clean it looks almost new.

Just had mine installed and it’s lovely. They recommended the fitter too who was excellent. We picked our own appliances but they supplied the quartz. Easily our smoothest home project to date.

DIY Kitchens are the same as Howden’s but cheaper. When Howden’s offer to price match DIYK they reduce the spec of their kitchens.

If you’re considering Howden’s I’d have a very good look at DiY Kitchens. Equal/better quality but a fraction of the price.

8 years, still like new. Very robust. We did research our own appliances though.

We've had ours since 2019, still looking lovely and no problems with any units/drawers etc. The Belfast sink has chipped slightly so I think next time I'd go for a different sink.

Howdens installed here and tbh I am not that impressed.

The vinyl doors are warping and peeling and seem very flimsy.

Maybe the last owners went for a budget range and that's why - but it's out me off them.

Kitchen would be about 8 years old now.

Our howdens kitchen is just over 10 years old now, and I still love it. We had our own builders fit it (old wonky house that they are used to the quirks of), but the visit from the Howdens design woman was hugely helpful, and came up with ideas none of us had thought of. I got the worktops elsewhere, as I wanted a specific one. I got their own lamona drinks fridge too.

If you have the space I highly recommend a multi bin cupboard, it’s fantastic. The only thing that has gone in all that time is the handle on the dishwasher door snapped a couple of months ago (not that surprising considering the weight and how many times it’s opened and closed daily). I just swapped it for one on a drawer we hardly ever use and soldered the broken one and put on the unused drawer. Hopefully that will give me another 10 years before it goes again!

Yes I've had mine 6 years. I have a solid wood worktop and shelves, and gloss white cupboards, a white ceramic sink and mixer tap. Everything has lasted well, the only damage is to the Lamona ceramic hob which is chipped and cracked on one corner, but to be fair me and two teens have not been the most careful with it (and it doesn't affect the function). The kitchen still looks good and nothing has peeled off or stopped working etc.

Yes, 7 year old Howdens kitchen. I designed the layout, DH fitted it, we bought the worktops from a specialist company and all appliances, sink etc., bought separately, as were the handles. Units are doing very well and look like new. Wood, with painted finish.

To add, we opened a trade account and had no issues with getting a good price and did a great deal of research before purchasing, so knew what we were prepared to pay and what we wanted, as I designed the layout. We did not go with their fitters, as DH could do this (we'd fitted kitchens in our last three homes, so had got good with practice!). We avoided their appliances due to poor reviews. Money saved we used to buy granite worktops and have never regretted this as so easy to clean and go with rounded edges / slight overhang as the toughest edges and water that drips falls onto the floor and not down the doors, appliances sourced from a variety of suppliers. Never had a problem swapping parts, replacing damaged item - we damaged it, or buying a few additional fixtures or fittings and found our local branch very helpful.

We had ours fitted 4 years ago and it's still fantastic. We went for a higher end one with a lot of cupboards, drawers and inner drawers. Everything is still perfect. One big reason to go for Howdens is that they have stock locally and a great relationship with the builders and fitters who use them. With some other companies there are stories about parts taking 6 weeks or more to replace - and there will always be something that happens. We didn't get their appliances or worktops tho. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

We had this with our builder - he fucked off and Howdens wouldn't help us, really shitty!
Also the tap broke in 2 years, they wouldn't replace it, dish washer keeps going wrong and freezer iced up all the time. Thankfully didn't buy their cooker!
I'd buy their kitchen but wouldn't buy their white goods again or taps