Mid-range Kitchen Options

[GingerKombucha]

We're extending our downstairs and need a completely new kitchen. We would like a mid to high end kitchen but not something crazily expensive and bespoke. We went to Neptune kitchens and really liked what we saw but the quote came in at £40k for cabinets, not the £30k that the woman in the shop said was likely. It's beginning to get more than I'd ideally want to spend. What are good alternatives to Neptune that are about the same or slightly cheaper? I think we want solid wood throughout but maybe we should be less set on that.

I hear (and see results) good things about DIY Kitchens from friends. Will probably give them a try when we redo ours in the next couple of years.

Thanks, we're in London though and they only seem to have one showroom up north. We're looking for something we can see and plan closer to home.

They have a showroom in Oxford now. We went to the Yorkshire one and were impressed by the kitchens, they were great and reasonable. Medium size kitchen was 50% less than the small one in Wren and that was with stone/ quartz worktops.

Our quote is under 10k for wooden doors and stone worktops.

My best investment as a single mum on a budget was to find an independent kitchen designer and pay her £1k to sort me a DIY Kitchens kitchen and get other bits direct from suppliers. Total cost was about £12k inc work tho this was in 2019.

I spent about the same on a bathroom which has mostly needed replacing since.

We got outs from DIY Kitchens. We paid £300 to a designer I found on the Facebook group for DIY. He visited in person to measure and design us a few options. We chose an option then he sent us our filled basked with everything we needed to order from DIY. We then found an installer who was unreal but no use to you unless you're in the NE. I ordered the quartz worktops and splashback from Gemini but wouldn't recommend them. Flooring is LVT from a local lad who did 50msq for 2.5k.

Total cost 17k including a 3m long quartz island. Beautiful quality. Don't scrimp on the fitter.

Forgot to say this was just last year. For the prices.

Have a look at handmade kitchens of christchurch. Lead time is looonnnggg and you need to be comfortable with painting yourself BUT doing this and buying fewer wider units in the sale worked out same price as DIY kitchens for a quality and style not dissimilar to neptune.

Just a note re solid wood - almost nobody uses solid wood as it is pricey and warps. Even high end places will use either MDF faced with wood veneer or plywood.

DIY and Ikea would be my first picks. You can get a great look with cheaper cabinets and spend the extra on nicer worktop and taps/sink etc.

There have been quite a few comments recently on the DIY Kitchens Facebook group about people receiving damaged units and having to exchange them. Wondering if folk on here have had a similar experience at all. People seem to rave about them, but some of the quality issues are a bit concerning.