2025 ideas for making a budget kitchen/diner look more expensive

[Lemonflavouredcaterpillars]

I’d like to start a new thread on this topic as there have been some similar previously but they were from a good few years ago and some trends have moved on a bit.

so, yes - we are getting a budget Howdens kitchen (Witney range but can’t decide on colour - that’s one thing I’d like advice on, does a particular colour look better/cheaper?). However we haven’t yet chosen worktops and all the accessories or any flooring but interested in any ideas for making it look more high end. Ideas and questions I’d had so far :
Beko appliances for things that won’t be on show (fridge, freezer, dishwasher) but Neff induction hob and ovens
Worktops I have no clue - would like to go quartz but not sure if we can afford it. Other options are 22mm laminate (not compact laminate as it’s seemingly v expensive to install) or wood. Maybe a waterfall edge on breakfast bar?
upstand or tiles?
maybe some open shelving?

Please hit me with your ideas! Thanks

Try looking to see whether DIY kitchens comes out cheaper rhan Howdens- we got a solid wood kitchen with quartz from al-Murad for less than Howdens quoted for MDF and laminate.

I wpuld look at the high end kitchens and decide what ot os about them that makes them look more expensive.
What materials and colour palette? Hardware makes a big difference. Well fitted and a good flow makes it seem designer.
Id look at places like this, or this to see what appeals.

I think they might come out cheaper, but I have spent a long time designing with Howdens because they have a couple of specific units in sizes that aren’t available most other places so I don’t think I’d manage to get like for like.

Here's a kitchen we had at our old house. It may not look high end, but it cost less than £1k for everything as we reused units, bought in the sales etc. The layout, with the sink accessible from both sides was actually brilliant.
And here's our current kitchen. Less than 3k from ikea. Again, I dont think it looks cheap.

That is so stylish.

Thank you @ChikinLikin ! Which one?

Oh wow, these are amazing! How did you do it on such a small budget?!
In fairness our kitchen is pretty large although not the right shape for an island which I’m still a bit gutted about. I’ve settled for a deep peninsula but overall I’m just not loving the design. If I upload my floorplan maybe you’d be so kind as to make some suggestions please?!

@Seaside3 I agree about hardware, I’m looking to get some decent handles. I think cheap ones make the units themselves feel cheap.
Open shelving seems to be another common feature in high end kitchens but you have to style it right and dust the bloody things which is a PITA

Both. But especially your current one. Fabulous

@Lemonflavouredcaterpillars my husband is a kitchen fitter. The second kitchen cost far more in other work, we moved the boiler, a door, a wall and a window! But the actual kitchen wasn't expensive.
The 1st, we reused some old cabinets, on the wall, just added new doors and end panels. The wooden units were in the ikea sale and the others we just picked up randomly.
I do really like open shelving, not a fan of wall units to be honest, but agree that they need styling. In the old house (blue wall) we had some in the coffee making area. I enjoyed styling them, but I'm a faffer.
Of course I will take a look at your floor plan.

Thanks @ChikinLikin I know its bold, but I love it every day.

I did see that you’re going to Howdens and fair enough if you can only get the cupboards you want there, but I would say we got our last kitchen from diy kitchens - we paid £50 for a John Lewis design visit and sent the design to diy kitchens and told them the kitchen we wanted and they sent us a list of everything we needed to do it from them and I just bought that. Might be worth looking before you purchase just in case? Personally, I thought the kitchen we got was nicer than the equivalent from Howdens as well as being a fair bit cheaper. Plus, as the diy kitchens’ cupboards came put together rather than flat pack, the builder kindly knocked a little bit off his price as it was less work (when I asked if he would obviously).
Also, second the switching of basic handles for nicer ones - it makes a real difference. We bought handles separately from a ironmonger / door specialist and it made such a difference. Good luck!

save money on cupboards & spend on worktops & hardware

Ok contrast to the previous response I'd say save money on your worktop. We got a high end kitchen (wood wood as we had local contact) but went for a laminate worktop - £400 instead of £4000. I went for it mostly as our kitchen is always cold so the old granite worktops were always freezing to the touch. But I get so many compliments on the new cheap worktops! I think if the rest of your kitchen is nice people don't really notice it's laminate. It's also a lot better than it was 20 years ago!

Wood worktops can be a pain to maitain, unlike laminate.

Ok this is interesting! I really can’t decide which way to go. I have costed up quite a nice laminate and with fitting it will be around £800 (I want a low profile one which is slightly more pricey and our island is 1200mm deep which increases the cost). The quote I’ve have for quartz including waterfall edge is £2600. So the difference isn’t as stark as I had originally thought, and I don’t know if it’s worth spending the extra or not!

Definitely agree on handles. I’ve seen lots of nice ones online but it’s tricky to know how they’ll feel without seeing in person. I need to find good suppliers where you can either try before you order 20 or have free returns!?

not sure about upstands or tiling yet either.

I was on the fence about what to do in my kitchen but went for quartz. It was what I really wanted and I still like it. I particularly wanted an under mount sink which you cannot do with laminate.

Howdens are expensive for the quality. I’d also suggest going for DIY kitchens and then getting a better quality worktop.
If you’re really on a budget, I had ikea at my last house and we paid it off over a couple of years so that was great- and we paid upfront for a beautiful granite worktop. Decided to go DIY kitchens this time partly as every builder/tradesman I met kept recommending them. They are very good for the price.

After seeing a lot of recommendations for DIY I went online and started looking yesterday and the value does seem incredible. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the thought of planning everything myself in terms of ordering all the right bits. I’m also not sure how keen my builder will be but they haven’t refused to fit them, just said they prefer Howdens and magnet. But then I guess they’re getting commission aren’t they.

Are the solid wood ranges at DIY kitchens worth the extra? Or MDF ok?

I've got a couple of rental properties that we renovated, for both the tiling is what really lifts the kitchen and makes it look much higher end.

I think you can use fairly cheap classic tiles but if the tiling is good it looks expensive. I personally don't love tiles though.

I'd spend the money on the counter tops and handles as those are the points I'd be touching the most. That is how you make a kitchen feel expensive.

Not used them, but i always think this company looks nice for ha does.
https://www.instagram.com/jimlawrencemade?igsh=MWR2OXl0bW9xdHh3cw==

I don't think builders get commission from Howdens but they can add a markup to the price if they want because Howdens will only supply it to them, not directly to you. However, if you get the quote from Howdens sent to you you'd know if they were doing that. I recently got a Howdens kitchen though and I think my builders liked it because (a) they fit a lot of them so they know what they're working with, and (b) the showroom is nearby so it's easy to change bits as you go along, return anything that turns out not to be needed after all, and swap things if they don't quite work. The builders were very clear about what not to order from Howdens though (worktops, bathroom cabinets).