Kitchen - please help me find something reasonable which wont break the bank and what do you think of those glossy kitchens

[Amani]

...do you think they are a 'fashion' thing and will look naff in a few years. I've had a look around and my aren't kitchen expensive. Anyone know when the summer sales will start and they might go down?

bumpty bump??

Ikea kitchens are pretty good - don't know about sales on those, but they are decent value. I don't personally like glossy ones,and suspect that - fashion aside - they won't wear as well as wood.

the problem with glossy cupboards is that they need cleaning constantly - i have glossy units in my living room and they have little finger prints on all the time. Its whether you can live with the constant marks.

Glossy kitchens look great when new, but a)show up the fingerprints and look dirty v. easily and b) are fashionable, so presumeably will become UNfashionable. (think about the bright orange/blue/green kitchens of about 10 years ago....)

My Dad had a kitchen company and I worked there for a while and I cringe now to think back on the ones I liked then! On the other hand, plainer wooden kitchens were lovely then and still are now.

It obviously depends on how often you want to change the kitchen units (or at least the doors) but personally I would stick to wood, say a plain shaker style. Light wood (we have maple which is lovely) or darker wood if you have space. Or, perhaps a plain cream shaker style?

You could always change the handles in the future if you want to update the look.

(Also - I have learnt from bitter experience not to get glossy laminate worktops which show all the scratches and look hideous within months, or dark floor covering which show up all the crumbs....!)

I think this is rather cool and you could make it very traditional or very modern depending on the tiles you choose and accesories and you wouldn't need so many cupboards and all the fitting so would probably get more for your money than one of those fitted kitchens - and when you come to sell your house you could make the buyers pay more to leave the kitchen - ha ha!

Howdens kitchens are great quality and cheap compared to anything on the high street. downside is it trade only so you need to find a builder who has an account with them. they have a website you can look at it all on though

I really like glossy cabinets - I think wood can look very dreary and I especially dislike "grainy" styles. Unless they are very expensive, I tend to think that wood cabinets can look a bit low rent and old-fashioned particularly as some types of wood - beech and birch "style" - have become synonymous with cheapy refurbs.

Some kitchen shops seem to do permanent sales - Magnet etc - others don't seem to discount ever. You could do a lot worse that Ikea but, if you can afford it, carcasses that are ready-made rather than flat-packed are a better bet. Have you tried Howdens (they only supply to trade so you would have to get builder/carpenter to buy on your behalf)?

i have glossy doors in my kitchen - they are v. easily cleaned so ignore the other slatterns on this thread!

but howdens have about 3 types of kitchens. ikea have millions and if you get a good joiner to fit it the quality is great for the money.

does anyone know if Ikea discount thier kitchen in the sale. I am warming to the idea of cream shaker style kitchen that someone mentioned - it never crossed my mind previously.

Still unsure about the glossy one - I am such a neat freak and taking on board what you ladies are saying, I think I might be forever cleaning them, especially as my two LOs love going through my kichen units.....

ikea as far as I know never ever do sale on kitchens. Only time I have seen it was for the big sale they did last year to celebrate 21 years (?) of ikea. I don't think they even do sales on kitchens in Jan!

I fear you may have missed the last of the sales (may bank holiday) which is when everyone gets rid of old stock ready for new tax year. January may be your best best now?

How do I find out how much a Howdens kitchen is? They have no prices on their website.

I read somewhere that the best discounts on kitchens are to be had in October. Not sure why though...

We have been looking at this company here The prices and quality seem reasonable and excellent choice of cupboards.

Also I think Wickes are good quality verus price. They will do you a plan and price it up for free and no heavy sales talk either.

Howdens is trade-only so you will have to get a friendly builder to buy the kitchen for you (possibly why there are no prices on the site).

I like shiny kitchens....and they're really easy to wipe clean!

Not a fan of wood/painted wood because they can look a bit dull and lifeless.

DP does a lot of fitting kitchens/carpentry and loathes Howdens with a passion...hates the quality. Having said that there are loads of MNetters really pleased with theirs and they do look nice. Just thought I'd throw a spanner in the works for balance!

Magnet do trade - wouldn't touch the retail at all as it's so expensive. All our clients who've had Magnet trade have been really pleased with the quality. Wickes is also excellent on quality....as is IKEA. DP was amazed at just how good they were in terms of structure to fit it. So much so that we kitted out our utility room in IKEA and we've really had no complaints at all. Pretty sure they don't discount though.

I have found prices for Howdens. www.topclasscarpentry.com

I think they'll date. I remember them from the 70s

I like the ikea solar kitchen range.

arrrg I am so going to do break the bank when it comes to picking a kitchen......
do ikea do kichen planning?
I tried to plan my last kitchen and ended up with a couple og gaps

I don't think Ikea have kitchen sales - in general they are a lot cheaper than anywhere else - even when the sales are on.

I have the cream shaker one you were thinking about and am very happy with it - depending on the handles it can look traditional or modern..

They don't do the plans for you but they are very helpful when you take your plan in to order the cabinets - will check that it will all fit, etc. They have a planner on their website so if you know what layout you want it's not too hard to do it yourself. Or you could get another company around to measure up, do a plan and give you a quote (just so you can compare prices ) and use adapt theirs!

My mum's just ordered a Howdens kitchen - there are much more than 3 to choose from. More like 23 different cupboards and similar amount of worktops.

Howdens work out a fair bit more expensive than Ikea (double the price when we had ours costed out). They also seem to have gone down in quality in the past few years.
Best "other" option was Wickes we found. They gave really good design ideas and price slighlty cheaper than Howdens (but still a couple of thousand more than Ikea).

Ikea don't do kitchen sales. They do a planning service however, and you can also plan using their online tool then upload it to the store for them to check and confirm you've got everything (like end panels etc).

As for whether glossy will date - I personally think wooden kitchens date more.

I agree, think wooden kitchens date more. As the wood of the moment seems to come and go quite quickly.

We currently have high gloss ivory/white cupboards in our kitchen (here when we moved in). It must be from the 80s. Still looks fine, just falling to bits...

We are planning on replacing them with a high gloss cream, white or ivory kitchen. Granite worktop and Karndean on the floor.

Wickes were very good and not too expensive. i got mine from there, they also plan it for you, worth getting them to do this even if you get one from ikea. to keep costs down depending on the size layout of your kitchen avoid too many wall units (base units are much cheeper) spend less on the units and more on worktops and taps etc.