Benchmarx, Howdens or Ikea? Who to use and how to plan a kitchen? (merged threads)

leeloo1

Thanks for the advice, I've started a new thread to ask which company to use, so am hoping to get more advice there, as I'm no less confused.

sugarwalsh

If you are struggling then any of them will do you a design. Get a good design, pick the kitchen which appeals to you and thn make sure you find a really good fitter.

Have fun.

Megan

premkit

sugarwalsh wrote: »

If you are struggling then any of them will do you a design. Get a good design, pick the kitchen which appeals to you and thn make sure you find a really good fitter.

Have fun.

Megan

the fitter is often overlooked. a bad fitter will make any kitchen look cheep, a good one will make it look better than the showroom.
research the fitter, allways have someone recommended highly.

wickes are the best of the bunch along with magnets. watch out for expensive end panels you may not need. depending on the colour of your doors.

leeloo1

Because its being done through the insurance then we have to use the contractor's fitters.

Thanks for the advice re endpanels, I'll watch out for those.

leeloo1

Lol, I couldn't find my 'other thread' and realised it wasn't a new thread at all. Such an idiot this morning!

leeloo1

Sorry this is the 2nd thread I've started about my kitchen, but I'm still not sure who to use, so if anyone has any recommendations (or horror stories) for any of these 3 companies I'd be grateful to hear them.

I'm hoping one of them will also be able to help plan my (very unhelpfully shaped) kitchen, as I'm fed up of trying to design it myself as I'm tying myself in knots with it and getting nowhere. I've been using Ikea's online design tool, but because their units are odd sizes I can't work out how it'd look with anyone else's units.

In general is it a good idea to go with whoever does the best design? Or do they give you copies of the design you can then take elsewhere?

sugarwalsh

leeloo - don't be so harsh on yourself!! It is Friday - go gently on yourself!!!

Megan

Leif

Perhaps if you coud give an idea of the sort of price range e.g. budget (Ikea etc), medium, or posh (solid wood doors). And also where in the country you are. My experience with Optiplan was brilliant, with nothing to moan about.

I imagine Howdens are only as good as the fitter. I suppose the same is true of Ikea and Benchmarx too since I don't think they have a fitting service, but I might be wrong.

Meepster

Of the three you've mentioned, Benchmarx would be my recommendation.

Ikea do have a fitting service, but it's hit and miss with regards to the fitter you get and is VERY pricy. Much better to get a price for fitting from a local kitchen fitter.

As for design, you'll usually get a better design from Benchmarx or Howdens than Ikea, but again, this can vary from branch to branch. Some will give plans out, some wont, it's all luck of the draw. (I know you have to pay to get an Ikea plan)

leeloo1

Thanks for the replies. We're in North London.

Its complicated as the kitchen is being taken out as part of an insurance claim (they're replacing the floor, doing some replastering etc). We've asked that they fit new cabinets instead of putting the old ones back in - if its much more work we'll be charged the extra for it. So it means we have no choice over the fitter as the contractors have been appointed by the insurers.

Budget wise... ummm, as little as possible to get a quality looking kitchen? We'll need to get some extra re-plastering done too, so a couple of thousand? Was hoping to get it done for 1K but thats looking increasingly unlikely.

We could re-use the current worktops to save money, but they're beech laminate, and advice elsewhere has been to have expensive worktops to upgrade the kitchen?!

My best plan ended up with 2-3 larder cupboards, 2 wall units (possibly 1 being for a microwave if thats not too tacky) and 1 drawer unit. We're loosing 2m of floor and wall units to make room for a table, so I'm trying to make sure we have enough storage, which is very hard! Its a 3 bedroom house and we're looking to sell in a couple of years so it needs to be workable for us now, and not put off buyers in the future.

There is also a odd back 'utility room' thats 85cm x 1.85m (door in long side), which currently has a tumble dryer in, but I think we'll need to try and put a couple of cupboards in there too to make up for the storage we're loosing.