Contemporary/Modern Version of HKC DeVol Tom Howley

[SisMichael]

Hi Forum.

Newbie here!

We are planning on renovating a very small kitchen (approx 8.5 m2 in area) in a flat and need something very contemporary and modern. We are looking for something fairly bomb-proof (without putting in an industrial kitchen) but with the quality of places like HKC, DeVol and Tom Howley (hopefully not at those prices - perhaps a tall order). The current kitchen is a classic shaker which is 20 years old.

We have had Howdens round but were unsure so we are now wondering whether we can get something very modern but with better quality.

Could anyone suggest any names of companies we could look at?

Much appreciated!

Do any of the German brands take your fancy? Rational, Schuller - you’ll probably have an indie nearby that stocks one or the other.

German brands? Please forgive my ignorance but what are the differences between German brands and British brands? Genuinely asking as I generally love German appliances around the home but the same in kitchen brands appears to have escaped me!

They’re generally thought of as being a cut above British high street brands. Precision engineering and robust materials.

We moved into a house with a rational kitchen and it honestly looked brand new and were shocked to discover it was 15 years old. We managed to buy a new piece of trim (because we were removing a build in extractor) and could have bought a replacement door or whatnot after all that time.

Not a lot of difference, except they ship from Germany!
I would search the local area for kitchen places and just go look at as many as possible. You might also consider the used kitchen exchange or similar, there's another well known one who's name escapes me at the moment. They sell ex display kitchens so you can get a high quality kitchen for less money than retail, though you'd need to sort out a fitter and layout yourself.

Thanks for the responses!

Totally agree - we had thought about dropping in to one or two local places to take a look as a starting point as we are somewhat in the dark at the moment. If you remember the name of the other ex-display kitchen place OttersAreMySpiritAnimal I would be very grateful...we were always thinking we would have to source our own fitters because our kitchen has nooks and crannies that probably needs a careful eye.

D10 - precision engineering and robust materials are right up my street, going to check out Rational and Schuller immediately. Do you have any other names by any chance? The idea of a kitchen that looks the same after 15 years of being in is very attractive.

Does anyone know if there is a massive difference between the Schuller C range kitchens and their Next125 kitchens?