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Original poster

Kitchen advice, please

31 replies

hobnob · 19/02/2010 00:20

We are having our kitchen extended and are buying completely new units. Ideally we'd like painted wood - bluey-grey type colour - but realise we'll have to buy cheaper units and paint them unless we were to fork out ridiculous amounts on a Smallbone of Devizes type affair.

My question is, where would you buy such units? Has anyone done anything like this and can advise?

Thanks!

OP posts:
ThatVikRinA22 · 19/02/2010 00:28

have you looked at wickes? i really really really wish id looked at wickes...big sale on until next week i think - 50% off. they have one - its the made to measure one but lookes soooooo nice, painted oak. fab. and i just darent look cos my kitchen which i paid a small fortune for is crappppppp and i am betting i could have gotten a great quality one for the same money if id shopped about a bit....im not bitter - honest.

Original poster
hobnob · 19/02/2010 00:31

Thank you! I'll have a look! I like your name, by the way.

OP posts:
ThatVikRinA22 · 19/02/2010 00:35

thankyou! (doffs cap to the smiths!)

its this one

here and looks luverly.

am looking forward to when i can start again with mine - DH says at least 5 years!

Original poster
hobnob · 19/02/2010 00:47

That really does look good. We have a Wickes nearby so will hoof along tomorrow to have a look! Thanks again.
xx

OP posts:
Original poster
hobnob · 19/02/2010 09:09

Morning bump in case anyone else has any ideas.

OP posts:
101damnations · 19/02/2010 13:16

I'm having the Wickes painted oak kitchen fitted on Monday.We went for the green/grey colour rather than bone white.They were 50% off and then went down a further 15%,so we got a kitchen we couldn't possibly have afforded otherwise.I am having a black range,black worktops,black chimney hood and a big butler sink.A word of warning though,we had wickes quote to fit too,and it was £3300 more than an independent kitchen fitter and electrician quoted us.You can guess which we went for.

I'll post some pictures when it's finished.

101damnations · 19/02/2010 13:18

Vicar-that is the one we are having!I'm getting excited now.

NorrisMcWhirter · 19/02/2010 17:44

Vicar, where did you get your crap kitchen (so I can avoid them)?!

cassell · 19/02/2010 18:02

Have you tried independent places like these who do solid wood kitchens whose prices don't seem that much more than wickes/b&q etc?

MustyOdour · 19/02/2010 18:03

You can buy carcasses and doors separately. Loads of places do solid painted doors, or doors you can paint yourself. you can get carcasses anywhere

Original poster
hobnob · 19/02/2010 18:04

Guess what! We went to Wickes today and are almost certainly having the Heritage Grey kitchen. Thank you, Vicar! The man in Wickes was fantastically helpful in doing a plan for us, and the half-price offer means that it's exceptionally good value. Plus it's the only kitchen I've seen that looks as good in real life as it does online.

We also went to Ikea and were rather boggled at the choice and combinations. Very good value, but there was nothing we liked as much as the Wickes one.

So it's a big thanks to you, Vicar.

OP posts:
Original poster
hobnob · 19/02/2010 19:41

Thank you, Musty and Cassell. I think I've found the perfect answer now, but v. kind of you to post. We haven't actually paid Wickes yet (we have till Thursday)but feel very pleased with what we've nearly bought.

OP posts:
ThatVikRinA22 · 19/02/2010 21:34

well thats the story of my life - im very useful, except when it comes to me! lol.

im counting down....5 years and counting and i can have a new one or there abouts.

mine was from a local company - JWS. and id never ever touch their kitchens again with a barge pole. its crap. with a capital C.

im having to spend £850 next week on replacing the work tops and sink. it was a very poor job indeed. but you live and learn.

ill be visiting wickes when i do mine again. and ill be getting my much longed for granite work tops. i was gonna get them now but the kitchen ive got is so bad it would be silk purse/sows ear. just not worth it. one day.

but im very glad youve found the kitchen you want (and i want!) hobnob.

101damnations · 19/02/2010 21:37

hobnob,did you get an extra 15% off the sale price? I did and we bought the same one as you are having,so it is worth asking.Mine is in the garage at the minute,waiting to be fitted on Monday.I keep going out there to look at it.

Are you using your own fitter?

taffetacat · 19/02/2010 22:37

We looked at getting units and painting them but unless you have amazing spray equipment you can see the brush marks and it doesn't look that smooth.

We went Ikea in the end - very pleased. Glad you have found one you like at a good price.

thehillsarealive · 19/02/2010 22:59

anyone else bought a new kitchen recently?

I am changing mine (next week) and cant decide what i want, what i really really want. I like Ikea kitchens, have been advised to get and stay away from Wickes and I am so confused now.

Something with plenty of storage. The kitchen is smallish and square and will be in a U shape, so any ideas or recommendations appreciated.

I think i will pop down to my local kitchen place and get them to quote for a kitchen, but think they will be too expensive for this house.

Original poster
hobnob · 20/02/2010 00:02

Yes, 101, they did give us the extra 15% off. We've also gone for black worktops, but they're laminate as granite would have bumped up the price by nearly another £2000. What sort are yours? I'm wondering if anywhere else does granite cheaper. We're not having their fitter as we're having an extension and the builders are doing it, which I think will work out cheaper.

Hillsarealive - I read some good recommendations for Wickes here on MN - one from someone whose DH is a kitchen fitter and rates them highly. Certainly of the places I've looked at their service and quality have been the best for the price, particularly with the half-price offer (which runs till Feb 25th).

Taffeta - thanks for that. I feel relieved we've not gone for the painting it ourselves option now!

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tootootired · 20/02/2010 00:13

Thehillsarealive - you do need to go to a couple of places and get some plans drawn up - are you having trouble deciding on style or layout? Imagine yourself cooking or working in the room.

The previous owners put a good quality, but terribly designed kitchen in this house - not enough storage, fiddly little drawers and corner cupboards you cant' get a cereal packet in, sink and cooker crammed into the same corner with no worktop next to them... such a waste. I feel quite cynical about kitchen designers having seen it.

This website is great for working out layouts for different shapes of room, also the IKEA planner you can download and move all the layouts about.

Wickes and Ikea kitchens are both fairly decent if well fitted I'd think.

ceres · 20/02/2010 08:50

i have a handpainted kitchen - handpainted by me!

when i ordered it the kitchen man thought i was mad because i asked for the doors to be undercoated but not spray painted, i didn't like the finish of the paint used. i then painted them myself in a tough, matt emulsion. looks great, not a brush mark in sight - when he came back for some minor adjustments he couldn't believe i had painted them myself.

having said all that - the wickes kitchen is lovely, if i had seen that when buying my kitchen i think i would have saved myself hours of painting!

ceres · 20/02/2010 08:53

oooooh - if i was planning again i would make sure i had all the internal storage systems, my cupboards get in such a mess and not all of them are easy to access. i think it's probably worth spending more in this area.

comixminx · 20/02/2010 08:56

My kitchen fitter has just recommended Wickes so I'd say don't avoid, go for it. We got an expensive posh kitchen from elsewhere (which we're very pleased with) so it's not personal recommendation, but I was saying to him when he came to finish off some final details that friends of mine were interested in getting him to fit kitchens for them, and did he have any recommendations of where to get the units from. He said that with Wickes the price and build quality are both very good.

Specifically he said to avoid Ikea because although the units themselves are good quality, they're a lot more work to install and hence that element will cost more. UK kitchen units come with a void at the back for pipework etc, whereas Ikea units don't, because in Sweden they don't need to leave that void (it's all hidden behind the walls). So there's extra work in chopping out space for the pipework, basically.

thehillsarealive · 20/02/2010 09:08

thanks you for the replies - personally i like Wickes kitchens - but I had a horrendous experience with them and my bathroom which went on for months and months, see the rant about it on another thread, posted be another person - but it seems we have both had the runaround from Wickes in the past.

Anyway, I think today we are going to look...

101damnations · 20/02/2010 10:12

Hobnob,we couldn't afford granite either.We have gone for the Earthstar black,as I liked the seamlessness.

There is a thread on here under my previous posting name,[Anyone had a Wickes Kitchen?] where I asked if anyone had a kitchen from them,and the overall result was a thumbs up.I also googled and went on Screwfix trade talk website to see how kitchen fitters rated them.I'm ultra cautious about spending that amount of money and hate bad service.

So far,they've been great,delivered when they said they would,there is a part out of stock,but they rang and told me and are couriering it out on Tuesday,when it comes in.The salesman is a trained kitchen fitter too and told me that if my guy struggles to get the worktops seamless,to give him a ring and he'll come out and help.Can't fault them so far.We'll see if the missing bit turns up as promised.

ExplodingBananas · 20/02/2010 10:47

I'm looking at buying a Wickes kitchen and noticed they have a loyalty card and you get something like 3 points per pound on kitchens so that would add up to a nice pot to spend on bits and bobs.

101damnations · 20/02/2010 12:34

Yes,we got the loyalty card.We are planning on re-tiling the bathroom using the points to buy tiles.