New Kitchen - where from if not IKEA? Urgent advice needed!

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My baby is due in a few weeks, my kitchen is rubbish to the point of being unusable and it turns out the one I was going to order isn't suitable. Help!

I have spent lots of time choosing a lovely new IKEA kitchen, and I was just about to order the one I really like ... then a friend pointed out to me that (unlike almost everywhere else) IKEA kitchen units don't have a recess for pipes at the back. There are lots of pipes where the units are going to go, so it seems IKEA is out unfortunately.

Where else can I get a kitchen as cheap as IKEA that actually looks nice & is decent quality? My impression of MFI & B&Q is that they aren't great quality and don't have a great range - is that right or am I out of date? Where else does good kitchens?

It has to be very reasonably priced, and also "supply only" - I can't afford to pay for fitting (have a carpenter friend who will do it for "mates rates"). Does anyone know of any sales right now?

And, it has to be somewhere where I can literally order the kitchen and walk out of the shop with it - or they are very reliable at delivering a.s.a.p.

I know it's madness to do a kitchen so close to my due date (Christmas day) but it simply has to be done! My carpenter friend assures me he can get it all done in a weekend - I just have to order it.

Help! IKEA why oh why don't you allow for pipes? I did so want that one!!

My mum just got one from Howdens (cream shaker style) and it is lovely.

Def agree Ikea is the biz - ours looks FAB and everyone always goes wow. Dunno the ins and outs of pipes etc but am sure any decent kitchen fitter person should be able to accommodate them - don't think they are that different to any other kitchen construction? We had our whole kitchen gutted, so it was just a concrete box with numerous pipes protruding and it seemed to work. Good luck - it's quite normal to start major works when you are about to have a baby!

brownmia (or anyone else) how much did you pay someone to fit the ikea kitchen?

my dad is a decorator general trades person, he has fitted loads of kitchens and always urges people to go for howdens. he has just put a howdens kitchen in my brothers house and it looks lovely (also looks very expensive but was cheaper than ikea)

Go to MFI find one you like, and then order it trade price through Howdens, its the same stuff :D
Or do what blithedance said!

We've just had a Howdens kitchen fitted, and we are very happy with it. We ordered it the week before and it was fitted in the following week as they keep everything in stock.

Howdens are no longer the trade arm of MFI so the stock isn't the same any more, as we found when we tried to compare.

I couldn't bring myself to buy from MFI as the manager in our local store is a lazy, rude, obnoxious man. On a good day, that is.

Oooh sorry I didn't realised that, ignore my post

Well we have just had an MFI kitchen units only, supply only and it's wonderful, looks amazing and brilliant quality. They matched up plans we had drawn up from a very expensive kitchen place, it was delivered on time with nothing missing and we had it fitted by a local carpenter. We did however buy appliances and worktops elsewhere.

To give you an idea of price we paid £1600 for MFI to fit up to 14 or 16 units (this was 6 years ago) anything extra like moving our pipework under the sink was extra and and they charged per worktop mitre cut as well.

Think my sister was looking at £1k for ikea to fit her kitchen, she got it done independently for about £650 but they guy didn't come back to fit their plinths after they had laid their flooring and a couple of other snags.

I belive that Howdens units already come made up which will speed things along for your carpenter if you are in a rush timewise.
But, i personally would go for the IKEA range we had it in our previous home-and will soon have in our new home- and i can say hand on heart it was fantastic.
My dh fitted it himself and didn't have any problems and he is an electrician not a carpenter.
We also bought the cooker/fridge and dishwasher from there and they were also of a high standard.

Habitat do great frss standing units which are really well made.

Minimal fitting so could be done very quickly and simply.

here

I also have installed an Ikea kitchen myself. Your DH and you can do a lot of the work too. They are just like any other flat pack stuff. You can massively help your friend of all the units and drawers etc are made up by the time he arrives. It really is foolproof from the assembly point of view.

I would recommend Wicks they were very reasonable and the kitchen looked great and they have a display with B&Q, home base and ikea units altogether for you to compare.

I have a Howdens kitchen, it is bliss. Has has 2 yrs extremely hard wear and is still immaculate.

i also second howdens and wickes

howden are trade only so you will need to order it on your mate's trade account. it will probably be a cask account if he has a small business

We were really pleased with our ikea kitchen we fitted in the flat we've just moved out of and will def be using them again for new house. They are so much cheaper and yet imo decent quality that it's worth the expanse and hassle of getting them altered to get over the pipes issue, i feel.

We had stainless steel fronts and thick oak tops - looked v classy and much more expensive than it was.

My friends have an antique cream kitchen from Wicks - looks very expensive.

My DP is a carpenter/builder - fits and repairs loads of kitchens and he reckons Magnet are the best. He's also been dead impressed by IKEA and he never thought he's say that. 10 years after fitting most of them still look good and work!

He's had some disasters with Howdens - although he reckons it's often the fit because they're used by lots of new-build house companies; the sort that sling up the house quickly and run! He then gets asked to fix them!

BTW: Howdens and MFI are one of the same - just different brands within the same company.