Advice Needed for kitchen with the 'wow' factor

Doozergirl

kmmr wrote: »

Here's my contribution. Just finished last week so am still in love with it!!

http://clearlybuilt.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/seeing-red/

Not cheap, but not super designer expensive either. I agree with all the advice given on this website about finding a local kitchen designer. They are actually all over the place, or go the the Home Shows and they will have smaller suppliers who are keen to get work. MUCH cheaper than Magnet etc, and some will use a range of suppliers to get things cheaper.

That kitchen was completed for about 40% of the Magnet estimate.

I need your wine rack!! Love the red glass splashback as well.

bigg2001

Well, I think thanks to all the ideas from all the posters I am finally getting there - thank you !!

Decided on a row of 2 x 500mm larder units with integrated american fridge-freezer and 2 single ovens all in a row of floor to ceiling units going into an L-shape of 5 base units with sink and integrated dishwasher.

And an island with overhang with induction hob and extractor over. And if I go to Howdens and have them in Glendevon white, how much should i be expecting to pay excluding appliances - any ideas??

And Doozergirl, the kitchen you put in The Stalls in Glendevon Cream looks to be very similar size to the one I am looking to put in - can you remember what it cost to give me some idea?

Thanks to all & omg, that wine rack is fab but I can't fit it into my design, no matter how hard I try :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

QTPie

Hi

LOVE larder units - they are fab... Wish I had more!

Does Howdens do a wine rack for over the American fridge/freezer? That is what I have over mine (although my wine rack is hidden behind a door).

How big a hob are you going for? I have a 900mm induction hob and ADORE it! Much better than a standard 600mm (mine is a 5 ring Neff).

I also adore my two sets of wide pan drawers (both 1000mm). One is 3 drawer (one shallow cutlery drawer, 2 pan drawers) under the hob. The other is a 2 drawer pan drawer (one for plates, one for casseroles etc). Both have dividers.

Solid surface (granite or alike) is just fab. I also love my undercounted sinks.

My dishwasher (Neff again) has a cutlery tray instead of basket - seems good.

Good luck and have fun

QT

Doozergirl

bigg2001 wrote: »

And Doozergirl, the kitchen you put in The Stalls in Glendevon Cream looks to be very similar size to the one I am looking to put in - can you remember what it cost to give me some idea?

Just over £2400 in units and the sink! £1700 in granite.

90cm Neff induction hob (;) QTPie) all Neff appliances apart from the wine cooler which was unbranded.

I can't remember how much the glass splashback was. I've probably said it on here somewhere!

I added it up at the time and including fitting the whole thing came to about £7500.

A clever carpenter should be able to work turning a few regular wine racks on their side to go over the fridge like QTPie says. It would be high, but you could use them to lift the height of the larder units closer to the ceiling - Howdens only do one size of tall larder unit which doesn't meet the ceiling unless you live in a cottage!

We slipped them into the middle of the island in The Stalls, you can just see them below the hob and the wine cooler on the other side in the pic of The Stalls. Howdens are expensive for wine racks. I have been known to mix and match with cheaper ones from B&Q.

kmmr, I really need to know where that wine rack came from because I really do think I need one like that! I have one that stands on the counter in my kitchen and I've just realised that in thinking through QTPie's idea I could actually just lift the cornice off my own wall of larders and do that myself as well for longer term wine storage! :beer: I could do it with regular ones but I want one like you

bigg2001

QT Pie - I am looking at a wide induction hob (Neff - snap!!!!) and Neff appliances but my appliances are coming in at 4500 - looking at other threads, this seems expensive! Fridge-freezer is 1650 alone tho and I want Neff ovens with pyrolitic linings for easy cleaning @ 850 each - should I have 2 of the same?? (altho may have to work out difference in price between normal ovens and a little man cleaning them twice a year!!!)

Like the idea of the wine rack in the island next to the wine cooler and then wide pan drawers under hob and still want those curved units! Will need to get 2 quotes - one with square island and one with curved.

Doozergirl - so not convinced I could do my kitchen for anything under £10k (secretly, I will be chuffed if I do it for less than 20k - including all furniture, flooring and decorating - see how I justify the expense in my head?!) and haven't even got one price yet! So very impressed with your budgeting and your kitchens are fab without that winerack so in the interests of fairness, you should step away from the new winerack!! Your kitchen needs no pimping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)

Doozergirl

We're trying to finish the house but I'll be bored within a couple of weeks so if you want me to help with your prices from Howdens and Magnet we can see if we can play your people off against mine and get yours down to a better price. Just make sure you spend plenty of time planning the layout. And if you aren't quite happy, just keep thinking! Get it right

I just used www.appliancecity.co.uk for all the appliances. The salesman has been an absolute star. He ran through all the techincal stuff with me, measurements etc. I did double check against the Smeg website first though but I got a measurement quite wrong on my hob and he has organised a swap for me I found them unbeatable on every appliance I chose - and I used the megashopbot on MSE for everything, but they will pricematch anyone, plus they will give an additional discount for big orders so I saved about another 7% They don't have prices on their website for Neff though, but I'd get all the codes for the appliances you want, run the megashopbot to find the best prices and then see if they will beat them for you? They took a 10% deposit intially, then called me when the stock was and took the rest on the day it was delivered which gave me some peace of mind.

The kitchen I've just bought is one of these, from an independent. It's a different company but the carcasses look a lot like John Lewis branded ones. It cost more than Howdens, less than Magnet but the quality I think is a bit better than both; solid backs and I got excited about colour matched carcasses!
http://www.uberfurniture.co.uk

kmmr

Hi Doozergirl,

The wine rack is simply a normal wine rack with a panel in front of it with hole cut out. It actually reduces the number of available wine holes by half to make the nice design! I just have to maintain a good turnover rate to ensure the new ones fit in.

It is made from a material called Quinite (like parapan which is a better known brandname) and I used these kitchen designers: http://www.mustardkitchens.co.uk/ If you go to the tab 'options' at the bottom, picture 13 is like mine but in black.

By the way I also have a 90cm induction hob, although partially because I had a beam that I had to work aroudn and couldn't fit the square one. I always wanted the long one, but couldn't justify the expense - until it was the only one that fitted!! Darn... ;-)

My kitchen cost about £8000 for cupboards and fitting, £2000 for the granite, and about £2500 for appliances, taps etc. Plus a bit for tiling, but that was wrapped up in the general building costs. I thought that was pretty good for a "designer" kitchen.

I don't normally link to my kitchen guy, but that is his website above, and he was excellent. I don't even remember how I found him - I have a sneaking suspicion is was from this site. Also used http://www.sinksation.co.uk/ for sinks and all appliances. Very similar to the cheapest internet prices, and very helpful.

bigg2001

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH! Got kids ready, kicked friends out who had stopped by for coffee, made my way to Magnet and the guy who is doing my kitchen has phoned in sick!! So frustrating.... so i have builder coming over to discuss design and no design.

Phoned Howdens 1.5 hours ago and they have not returned my call either - just as well i'm not in a rush for my new kitchen!!

Doozergirl - may well take you up on that offer of getting prices (when I finally have my designs!?) if I can be brave enough as I am the kind of person who just pays, never barters and never complains - not very MSE I know!

Anyone be able to guesstimate what my builder should be charging me for the following:

Removing wall between kitchen & dining room and dining room & hall (radiator with pipework either side of wall so 2 rads to lose), replacing with one wall and doorway off the hall (making the hall smaller). Blocking in backdoor and rendering outside, plastering inside and blocking in door from living-room/dining-room and plastering both walls and finally turning arch into doorway with door.

I have no idea - I am guesstimating 1.5k for kitchen fitting so just want some idea of building costs (appreciate could be a bit of a how long is a piece of string??!!) but to the nearest 500 would give me a idea if I'm beng ripped off or not when he gives the quote finally!

QTPie

Definitely barter.... I am too shy, so always get my husband to do it... I choose what I want, then get husband to see/phone/email them.... He would get a discount on a charity donation...

Take your time and definitely don't rush.... Took me a month - of design and redesign to get what I wanted and I still would have made chugs with hind-sight, but that is probably always the way...

QT

fraser

will the discounts we are seeing at most stores be around in November? we are moving in on thurs and it would be too rushed to pick a kitchen just yet