Used/ex-showroom kitchens

[tishtishboom]

Has anyone got experience of buying a used or ex-demo kitchen? Any tips/hints/regrets? What do you I need to take into consideration? Is it best to get an independent kitchen designer on board to make a plan before selecting something?

I recently bought a second-hand kitchen from Facebook Marketplace, and I couldn’t be happier! It cost me £450 and is made of solid pine. The installation ended up being a bit pricier due to some extra knocking things about a bit so if you go this route just make sure your fitter is really experienced and ideally does more than 1 trade, I know these people are rare but ask around as it saves you such a headache.

Key thing to consider is the length of the base cabinets and worktop you need. I’m not the best with spatial planning, so I used this as a rough guide to determine if I had enough cabinets. Also, remember to place the dishwasher and washing machine near the water supply.

What you could also do is get a free kitchen design from Wren, Magnet or Howdens and use it as a guide.

Yes - I generally buy them for my BTL properties as they are considerably cheaper than a brand new model and better than the cheap shitty MDF kitchens that you have to replace every 10-15 years.

As long as they’re in good condition in the showroom and they are dismantled carefully then there really isn’t an issue. Obviously measuring them up to make sure they fit is another key factor too. In the house we live in now, we’ve replaced the kitchen twice in 33 years. The second time we had to knock through the dining room because there was an oversight of the measurements! All worked out well in the end though!

Display kitchens don’t generally come with a warranty and are sold as seen!

I can’t believe how expensive MDF kitchens are either—it’s such an unbelievable rip-off!

Thanks folks. Never thought of FB Marketplace, I’ll take a look. I was thinking of paying an online designer to do a design, which seems cheap enough, then looking for something which will fit. Does anyone have a recommendation for a particular site, apart from FB?

@tishtishboom I used the free kitchen planner on the DIY Kitchens website:
Online Kitchen planner | Free design software | DIY Kitchens (diy-kitchens.com)