New kitchen - no idea where to start please help

sec79

I've decided I would like a new kitchen, as I'm never been too keen on the one in my existing house, which was already fitted when I moved in over 5 years ago.
It is going to be fitted free, by my lovely dad, so no cost issue there!

I want something which is well built and solid, but which doesn't cost the earth. I intend to buy new:

flooring, tiles, laminate worktop, taps, sink, oven hood, hob, oven and kitchen units (possibly a new washer drier if funds permit). It is only a smallish kitchen. No more than 6 or 7 units required. I'm not sure if £1500 is realistic. I want decent, but in true MSE style I admit to being frugal.

I know it sounds silly, but I have no idea where to start. I know not to buy from B&Q due to supply issue, and Magnet I nearly fell off my chair when I saw their prices.Can anyone advise please?

dander

Magnet units do have a lovely solid feel to them and you can almost always get them at much less than the list price - they have an almost permanent 'half price' sale. That said, when I bought my current house I had to leave my magnet kitchen behind and I have an MFI one here, and really it functions just as well - the units are solid and sturdy, nothing's falling apart and it must be at least 5 years old now, but it's as good as new so I don't see any reason to discount flat pack style units.

Personally I think with a kitchen it's worth spending the money on the details. Although you can save money by not having the plinths and pelmets on the the units, they really lift a kitchen into looking quality and well fitted. Even if you buy basic units - if you finish them well, choose a nice looking floor, worktop and stylish taps you can work wonders with them.

cally1_2

Wickes do a free design service. That might be a good place to start. You also don't get any heavy sales pressure from them either.

Meepster

You'll be lucky to get what you want from Wickes for that price (unless you look at one of their cheaper, MFC doored kitchens.)

Find someone with a trade account at Howdens and go there would possibly help your budget...

toffeegirl

Pricing-wise, '7 units' is a vague description of a kitchen as the price of a single unit varies dramatically between a 400mm high line unit to a 1000mm pan drawer unit

Are you keeping the same layout? - If so, then you can price up the options quite easily as you know what will fit. Also, if you can keep the units, you could always just buy replacement doors.

I got my kitchen units / worktop from DIY-Kitchens.co.uk and am more than happy with them.... I checked out the doors and colour-match of the carcasses in a local kitchen company (which also supplies Second Nature doors and uses the same manufacturer of furnitureboard) before I placed my order.

cattie

£1500 is a very small amount for a decent kitchen & you will struggle to find anything of a reasonable standard.

I hope the £1500 isn't supposed to include flooring, tiles etc in that price as that really would be pushing it.

People tend to forget the extra's that have to be added onto kitchen units such as plinths, cornice, pelmet, under unit lighting etc, handles & any decor boards for the ends of the units. These can push the price up massively, but do 'make' the kitchen & can be the difference between a quite nice kitchen & an extremely nice/stunning kitchen.

Magnet kitchens are very good quality, I had one in my last house.
I moved into this house 18 months ago & chose a Howden's kitchen, which is decent quality. If you know somebody with a trade account at Howden's you can get a decent discount off 'listed' prices. Howden's only sell to trade & not members of the public. But they do offer a kitchen design service.

rjh1972

I think the way you should be looking at it is how much would this cost if good ol dad wasnt fitting it. If magnet/wickes fitted your kitchen youd be looking at another 2k min. If you got a local tradesmen who's qualified (not fred from pub) he would probably charge min 1k (if this included, tiling and flooring etc)
Maybe because of the saving your making with dad perhaps if you spend say another 500 on quality now this could well put a few k on top of house value.
However just remember is your dad qualified, remember any domestic electric/gas installation now requires certification. right down to changing a socket. Its not a problem if hes not because i'm sure hes very competent, but when you come to sell house they may well ask for gas/elec safety certs as is now required (hip pack etc). Maybe if your dad knows a spark he can check work and issue cert...for a pint etc etc
Finally make sure you cook your dad a nice meal in your kitchen when hes finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

canadiangirl78

Hello

I also got my new kitchen from diy-kitchens and think that both they and withknobs on are very good value for money. We went to other kitchen shops first and had plans etc drawn up, but they were all far too expensive when compared with the online prices. We then got a local fitter to fit the kitchen, but he also advised on what we needed to order from DIY and checked the layout etc

Savings made meant that we could splash out on other areas and have a fab kitchen!

Good luck!

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: Ikea for cabinets ...excellent product and value for money but your budget is a bit on the low side....many Ikea fans (and detractors;)) on this forum. Try a search and you can read previous threads.

HTH

Canucklehead

skinback69

hi i took a chance with wren kitchens and im very glad i did i got all my units and worktops for £2300 with out appliances as i got real good deals on them from other places id say the carcases are as good as if not better than magnet or any other kitchen place they all have soft close draws and doors too and they come fully assembled all you have to do is put the handles and feet on
if you wanna have a look beetlebum posted my pictures for me as im a new user and there on page 4 on the wren kitchens thread dont be put off by them as some people have put bad comments about them but they havent actually used them i have and am very happy with the service and the kitchen
i hope this helps

sec79

Hi all thanks for replying. DIY kitchens is one place I'm definately going to go to to have a look at. The feedback from customers is very good on the website too.

I'm getting there - it is just such a lot of money to spend I want to make sure I end up with what I'm happy with.
I've decided to go for an oven hood built in, as the large chimney style stainless steel hoods would overpower my kitchen - it's fairy small.I can't decide whether to have tiles or a splashback - any views would be appreciated.
2nd dilemma - I currently have a seperate tumble dryer and washing machine. I don't know whether to keep these, or go for a washer dryer. I have heard that washer dryers are not very good. Grr I'm not good at making decisions. this would affect the design of the kitchen so better make my mind up smartish.

One wall currently houses the radiator, tumble dryer and fridge freezer. Here I'm toying with switching the fridge freezer and tumble dryer round, and having worktop from the end of the other wall, which would finish after the tumble dryer. Doing this would give me extra cupboards and worktop for half a wall length. The door is in the middle of one wall, and the other two walls have cupboards and units on them. So I'd end up with worktop and cupboards round 2 1/2 walls.
I'm after birch shaker style design for the cupboards and axiom everest matt laminate worktops.