Magnet or Howdens kitchen

[Sunnyside4]

Does anyone have any thoughts on quality or how they compare for prices (and if you've had a Howdens kitchen how much it cost, how many units, whether low, mid or high range).

If we go Magnet, we'll probably use a fitter who they have on their list and they've confirmed roughly what it'll cost from the styles of kitchens/worktops etc we've looked at and comments made.

We have a couple of names for chaps who install Howdens, but obviously can't get a price for fittings as they supply trade, but know they come recommended.

In both cases we'll be looking at similar units, Magnets are in the low-mid price range and there are a couple of options online for Howdens low and mid price range.

I have a Magnet kitchen. It’s good quality but was already picked in my new build.

We looked at both and went with DIY Kitchens! Possibly not much help. When we costed it up, Magnet was slightly more than Howdens for an inferior kitchen (MDF rather than solid wood). But DIY Kitchens undercut both.

Thanks for your replies. I've heard positive things about DIY Kitchens, but I think we'd rather buy from somewhere local where we can easily pop in and view, speak to someone in person if there's a problem.

Anyone else have any thoughts on Magnet or Howdens?

Howdens here (with fronts bought elsewhere). I'm pretty pleased with it. I think it was the high end ones (the ones that come put together). But really, how good it looks and how solid it is is almost totally down to how well fitted it is. Our builders were brilliant and they went above and beyond in fitting the kitchen and liaised directly with Howdens when bits were missing or not right.

Yes, we certainly want someone who installs whichever brand on a regular basis and ideally has a trade account so they can sort out any problems. Luckily we've got recommendations for two Howdens installers, and Magnet will give a quote for parts and will give us a list of installers who regularly install for them.

I picked Howdens after extensive research and I'm really picky about how solidly doors close etc. Customer service has been ace and the kitchen is heavenly. It cost much less than I would have thought, in aggregate. I also didn't pay for their fitting though, my builders did it. Note: if you choose the composite laminate counter tops, they don't fit them. They are a horrible PITA so add on independent counter fitting if you do that. No idea if that is the same with other suppliers but I'll be careful about that if there is a next time! Also if you can, wait for a sale period.

Astonished when I find it the other day how much I'd paid for a magic corner cupboard, I think it's the norm, but it's the internal extras seem to really add up

Ok well if you don’t want to save yourself thousands of pounds AND get better quality units, by all means go to Magnet or Howdens rather than DIY kitchens.

With Howdens it all depends on what kind of a discount your tradesperson gets. Our builder didn’t seem to get much of a discount at all. DH’s mate in a different area knew the manager. Go figure.

The one advantage of Howdens is that you can swap things in and out of measurements are slightly out and something doesn’t fit. But we couldn’t really look at much - the showroom here is really small. I actually got a much better sense of what stuff would look like at the DIY Kitchens showroom, which is big (two floors).

I would go DIY Kitchens every time but solid wood seemed more expensive with Magnet than Howdens. But that could vary according to sale prices.

Neither. Go to DIY-Kitchens. The quality, cost and options are great. The complaints are also very few compared to Howdens, Magnet etc.

Not Magnet, I had a previous Magnet kitchen which was great quality and finish. Put another one in current house and it's a bit rubbish frankly. Things we were assured were solid oak are just veneered.

We had a Howdens kitchen fitted last year. We were going to go with DIY kitchens but were put off by the fb page where lots of customers were complaining about waiting weeks for missing parts. One good thing with Howdens is you can get replacements within 24 hours so it doesn't delay work. Howdens also measure up for you and do a plan which obviously you have to do yourself at DIY. I did prefer the choice of kitchens at DIY though and their showroom is great. We went for one of the more expensive options (the chilcombe) in a bespoke colour and it came in around £20k minus work top, appliances & fitting (it's a fairly large kitchen). I'd say the kitchen is of an ok standard but I wish we'd gone for something a bit more high end in retrospect. I looked at magnet too & they were more expensive for a very similar quality.

We have bought kitchen from both Magnet and Howdens. We found Howdens better, and the customer service better too.

Just place marking as we are looking at both too

Thanks for your replies, they're really helpful.

We'd just rather get our kitchen through somewhere that we can easily walk in a couple of times to look at choices. Also, have someone who regularly fits that product and knows they can rely on an immediate replacement if something is damaged, which definitely helped when we had our bathroom done recently!

We’ve just put a big Howden’s kitchen in including a big island. We went for one of the higher end options but in a standard colour. Only bought the dishwasher and sink + tap from them, the rest of the appliances we sourced ourselves. Quartz countertop we sourced ourselves.

Came in at about £16k.

People always say Howden’s don’t give you the price but we didn’t find that. All the specifics of the quote came to us like any kitchen place, it was just ordered through the builder’s account.

We looked in Magnet but it all felt a bit flimsy in comparison.

Happy with it so far anyway.

Do you have a Wren locally? I’ve been really impressed with them, they came to my house in a big wagon with all their shoe kitchen in and weren’t pestering me with the big sell, the came out cheaper than the others too.

Our Magnet kitchen is about a year old now and we are very happy with it. I think the fitter is really important - ours was someone we knew as an acquaintance who is a kitchen fitter and had a lot of experience with Magnet. He was able to get a couple of cupboard doors replaced the next day. Because he saw our kitchen prior to us ordering, was able to spot potential issues and work out how to solve them even before the work started so we weren't left in limbo or with any nasty surprises later on. Once we had the design, we showed it to him and he suggested a couple of changes which he thought might work better for us and I'm glad we decided to go with his suggestions as it turns out he was absolutely correct. I appreciate our experience might have been a bit different because our fitter was known to us, but the quality of the work is excellent and the cupboards and drawers are very good. I would have no reservations about buying from Magnet, should I ever do another kitchen.

Hi what Magnet kitchen did you go with . Thanks

We went with Luna as we wanted a handle less design due to having a small galley kitchen. We also have young grandchildren and didn't want accidents with handles and faces! We went into a local showroom and were able to play around with colours and styles for cupboards, worktops and flooring until we found what worked for us. It was very useful with choosing colours, as they looked very different in real life to the way they looked in the brochure or online. We actually ended up with something different than we had first thought.

We have Magnet. Inferior materials and shoddy workmanship. Steer clear

Ok thanks for help, we are also waiting fo a quote from MKM Symphony kitchens, also Howdens so difficult not to make the wrong decision.

It is so difficult isn't it? We are extremely happy with our Magnet kitchen but clearly other people have a different experience. Dc1 had Howden and is very happy with it whereas dsis had a new Howdens at about the same time we had our kitchen and it's been a very expensive disappointment for her. Interestingly, though we had different fitters, both DC1 and us knew our fitters prior to having our kitchens done, but dsis didn't. My fitter and DC1's, were happy to 'personalise' our kitchens , for example, the built in microwave cupboard we wanted would have left our kitchen looking unbalanced, so our fitter created one that iworks perfectly. My poor dsis, OTOH, has a kitchen which looks awful- it is poorly fitted and unbalanced. Looks like a cheapo MFI job, not several thousand £ worth of kitchen.

People say a german kitchens are good.

Anyone used Shmidt kitchens? More expensive than howdens or magnet but is it worth the extra? Thoughts please for anyone who has used…