Buying a new kitchen - need the lowdown on general kitchen lore, haggling over prices, kitchen style tips etc

[tigermoth]

We are getting a new kichen - oh the excitement. I need to get up to speed on kitchen lore. And kitchen style tips.

And also how is the credit crunch is affecting kitchen suppliers and what they are prepared to offer?

Any good suppliers to go to - or to avoid?

We don't have to get the utter cheapest, but neither can we stretch to top of the range luxury.

MIL says we should be able to haggle over price and package, even off the stated discounted price. Is this correct?

We need to get some velux windows fitted into the roof of our kitchen as well.

And our first ever dishwasher!!

Certainly worth asking for a discount, we saved £600 of the orginal quote on ours but some of that would have been VAT discount.
The problem if you leave it too long is that prices for materials are going up, tradesmen's prices are coming down but I didn't feel I wanted to screw them down too much as they are local small business' rather than multinations.
I went with my own electrician, get quote in writing first, that was my mistake, then with a local company called panorama they were the same price as B&Q etc but the quality much much better.
Wickes seemed good, Howdens and Ikea were not so.
The thing I found with the independant shop was the design service was 10 times better, much more detailed, more ideas, the others just replaced my old kitchen in the same place in white

I'm getting a new kitchen too. Have been recommended Moben. Went to Homebase just to see if they could plan it for us, but the were rubbish.

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sorrento and wizzka, thank you. I had no idea that the prices for builders' materials were going up. Someone at work also recommeded Wickes and we have one just down the road from us, so will definitely start there first and use their quotes and products as a benchmark.

I like the idea of an independent kitchen specialist but assume their prices may be much higher - is this true?

haggle over everything bar tradesmens work, they do still have to make a living.
what sort of budget are you looking at, if you dont mind me asking.

very good website to look at for goods is comet auction website, they sell things like returned fridges, slightly damaged or other stuff still with full gaurantee. we have a washerdryer which has a scratch.... on the back!, got it for £150.

dont skimp on taps.

We have jut planned our kitchen. Went to Magnet, Wickes, Howden and Ikea for design ideas and quotation.

Magnet - spent a lot of time with us building the computerised model, but didn't give any design input - just took what we said we wanted and modelled it up. Will only let you take away images of the overall look, nothing that has dimensions on etc. Are very expensive in relation to others, even with the 50% discount they had on at the time, and quality didn't seem astoundingly better.

Wickes - very good service, and gave us lots of design ideas. Quality was impressive. Came in next most expensive after Magnet but were most value-add of all places we went, with options for cabinets etc which weren't available elsewhere and have a "wow" factor.

Howdens - didn't seem to be too happy to be doing the modelling, and again didn't give any design ideas. Will only send quote to a builder registered with them. Fairly cheap, but quality did not seem good.

Ikea - design/modelling was rubbish with the first person we spoke with, but then we went back a week later and the second person was fantastic. You can also model up on their software at home, then send it to the store for pricing. Very cheap but quality seems good - and they are the only place to offer a 25 year guarantee.

We have decided to go with Ikea, which is something I never thought I would do. We are going to jazz it up with a nice kitchen surface to make it distinct.

To give you an idea of comparability of prices:
Magnet : 9400 (this is with 50% discount)
Wickes: 6500
Howdens: 3800 (with no mark up from builder)
Ikea: 2700

These prices are all without appliances and do not include the kitchen surface.
The one kitchen surface I fell in love with was a quartz one at Magnet. Magnet were going to charge us 8400 for the surface, but would give us a 50% discount if we bought the rest of the kitchen with them - and there was a significant installation charge (about 1000) on top of this. I looked on the back of the sample to see where the surface was from and contacted the company directly - they are going to sell us the surface and do the install for 3100 all in!

(Apologies for lack of pound signs - don't have them on this keyboard)

DP is a builder/carpenter and we fit a lot of kitchens. And yes, materials have gone up and many of the suppliers who supplied the big builders such as Barrett, as well as people like us, have gone altogether The price of skips has gone bonkers!! Not sure where you're based but here, in the Home Counties (Bucks), we're not dropping prices...sorry....there is so much work on - we're booked till about Sept; lots of home improvements going on as fewer people are moving. I've heard London is pretty stagnant though.

We really love Magnet (and there is a Trade section - so if the fitter has an account that's great news!) It is a bit more £££ than the some of them but it's good to work with and looks great. Can't remember the last time we had to repair one!

Constantly repairing Howdens....although loads of MNetters swear by them - so we can only talk about our experience. DP really doesn't like them at all.

We thought IKEA would be awful and ended up being quite impressed - especially for the cost and style.

Wickes is best of the lost cost bunch and if you've lost the will to live - then consider B&Q [be afraid, be very afraid emoticon]

Try the independent specialist - you may be very surprised, as the cost of buying and fitting through say someone like Magnet can very quite £££

Good luck!

We found a joiner that our friendly builder used could provide us with a solid wood, custom fitted kitchen for less than a non solid wood, not fitted system from one of the other kitchen places. I've reccommended them to three other people who are all pleased with the result. One of them got a really expensive kitchen designer to come round to give them ideas - but the kitchen was coming in at £15k or something - and they used the same design but the company I recommended to produce it. The downside with doing something like this is that you have to find your own electrician, tiler etc as required.

Out of interest, the most recent recommendation was 200 miles away - they still came off less expensive and better quality.

DH has his own independent kitchen business. Trade has definitely been affected over the last 6 months due to the economic situation but things are currently ticking over ok (touch wood). DH sources some of his kitchens from Europe (including Schuller, which get a good write up on here) so although he's keen to be competitive he can't go too low because of the exchange rate with the Euro.

Definitely haggle with the likes of Magnet and Moben - the whole 50% off business is bullshit, you could buy a seriously high-end kitchen for their original prices. There may be some leeway with independent suppliers but most tend to pitch at a realistic level to start with. Be a little cautious over haggling too hard, though, unless you are prepared to walk away. If DH senses a customer is going to be too harsh over price (and therefore more difficult during the job) he'll build himself in some 'danger money' to cover his extra time or quibbles later.

You could get a designer to come round and give you ideas for design & go with someone cheaper, though most are wise to this (it's their time and expertise after all) and will not let the plans out of the showroom. If you've got a photographic memory you're on to a winner, otherwise you could consider paying for the plans and taking them somewhere else. DH would charge about £100 - £150 for a set of drawings to take away (refundable if they bought from him). He doesn't like me telling people this though!

SpaceTrain at Magnet's quote on the quartz worktop!

This is all so useful - I have learned a lot. Also very impressed with how spacetrain got her quartz kitchen surface.

It looks like we should avoid B&Q and go to Wickes, definitely. I never realised there was such a big price difference between Magnet and Ikea kitchens - thousands of pounds looking at spacetrain's figures!

I will definitely follow the advice to haggle with Magnet, going on how expensive they are to begin with.

Thanks for all the advice on haggling and what to haggle over. I certainly don't want to haggle over standard labour costs. I can see that the kitchen installation business may not be in too bad a shape as people decide to home improve rather than sell up and move homes.

We have quite a big kitchen/breakfast room area. so I think we need some design input.

This puts me off Ikea, as I know from furniture-buying experiences, you can't count on expert help from the assistants. I don't live near enough a store to keep popping in on the off chance that we get the help we need.

I do like the idea of having a kitchen designer to visit, but think I'd want to follow through with buying the kitchen from them and as our kitchen is large, this may be beyond our budget.

I'll probably set the ball rolling by getting a builder round to quote for a velux window (or two). And then ásk if they can recomment a kitchen fitter or a joiner (thanks for the tip, mistlethrush) and see what they say.

We live in south east london btw.

Hi There,

I run my own home improvement project management business and would be happy to help. I have just completed 2 kitchen extensions in Chiswick, W4 and am currently working on another in Berhamsted. I have also done whole flat and house renovations. I started my business after having my daughter as it works out more flexibly than my previous corporate marketing career. I have photos and references. I would help you design the kitchen and then source your units, work tops, appliances etc., find you a kitchen fitter (I have a number of fitters I have used in the past). You pay me a set fee and then I pass on all the discounts that I negotiate onto you. In most cases my fee is covered by the money I save you and you don't have any of the hassle. Personally I think an Ikea kitchen well fitted with top quality work tops, sink and taps can look like a top end bespoke kitchen. Let me know if you would like to speak. I am also happy to give you as much advice as I can even if you decide to go with someone else. Us Mum's need to help each other! Look forward to hearing from you. Katherine.