'Lower' End Kitchens

Steve_the_fitter

as far as i know wickes kitchens all have the same carcasses which are pretty good once built properly which isnt difficult. homebase is totally a different story. Id put wickes kitchens at the top of the diy stores with b and qs cooke and lewis and homebase would easily be at the bottom. Its actually should be a crime to sell the kitchens they sell at the price they sell them, If they sold them at ikea kitchens prices fair enough but homebase are one of the more expensive kitchen suppliers and their kitchens really are bad but people buy them because they think they can trust a big company.

phill99

Find a fitter or friendly builder with and account at Howdens or Magnet Trade. 2000 should get you 12 units in their entry level range (eg the Greenwich Range at Howdens). All the carcasses are the same as their top end kitchens - the only difference is the door quality / finish. The carcasses are 18mm rigid built in the factory, with 9mm (I think) backs - far better quailty than flat pack.

daggy

Steve_the_fitter wrote: »

as far as i know wickes kitchens all have the same carcasses which are pretty good once built properly which isnt difficult. homebase is totally a different story. Id put wickes kitchens at the top of the diy stores with b and qs cooke and lewis and homebase would easily be at the bottom. Its actually should be a crime to sell the kitchens they sell at the price they sell them, If they sold them at ikea kitchens prices fair enough but homebase are one of the more expensive kitchen suppliers and their kitchens really are bad but people buy them because they think they can trust a big company.

that's interesting... what is bad about them? Would you say the quality is better or worse than Ikea?

little_miss_muppet_face

We had a homebase kitchen fitted in our last house, we had a small budget, we paid around 2000 which included no appliances, but did include sink and taps. It was really nice once fitted, we went for the cherry oak shaker, we bought decent tiles, decent accessories and a nice blind and the kitchen was lovely..

So you can get away with cheap in my opinion if you dress it up good...

The_Blue_Hatter

I am having my kitchen done in the new year and was looking in the same price bracket as you. After looking at the "shed brands" I found a range called Crown Lifestyle. They have a premium brand called Crown Imperial but the lifestyle was more my price bracket. I bought 9 units (including pelmet, plinths, 2 wall end panels and one base end panel) , one 4m length worktop and got a sink and tap from B&Q and paid a total of just under £1700.00 and thats all delivered to my house.

Well worth a look.

Hello123_2

Thanks for opinions everyone! Wish I could just change the doors but we have no kitchen at all! - Renovating house & there was only 2 units when we moved in!

I love the Wickes to order kicthens but just can't afford. Quite like the Ikea one above - is it white or cream? Am after creamy.

I've looked at Howdens too, gosh some of those are beautiful! Don't know anyone in the trade though/know anyone who knows anyone!

I have defo ruled out B & Q.

Still umming & arring over Homebase, Ikea & Wickes 2 go.

Any other places/suggestions?!

Also after appliances & worktops etc. Used Jual domestics before but just noticed they've gone bust!

Thanks for all your help!

beccad

We put a new kitchen in our property about six months ago for about that price (cupboards, drawers, doors, worktops, handles, sink, taps etc.) and it all came to about £1700 in the end. It is a B&Q White Country style, which I think is one of the IT ranges. We've not had any problems with it, or putting it together. It was easy enough, all the right parts were delivered and all the correct fittings and screws came with the units.

There was a 25% off deal on when we bought it, but I think there's nearly always some sort of deal like that on.

We had an Ikea kitchen in our previous flat that was there when we moved in. We lived there for six years and it still looked almost as good as new when we moved out.

Leodogger

We are replacing all our door fronts/drawer fronts on the bottom cupboards and installing new wall cupboards. Wanted a light oak (Pippy Oak) traditional kitchen and black worktops. Problem we are having is our kitchen fitter who has a trade account with Howdens, says he might struggle to get the light oak we want and matching pelmets and plinths. Also can't decide which worktops are the best quality laminate. Like the black satin granite but which brand to choose for quality ?

Anyone any suggestions who do a good range of sizes in light oak with the accessories to match and which are the best non-gloss laminates to buy with a decent shelf life. We are pensioners and this will be our last kitchen and has to last.

RCK2011

Avoid Wow Kitchens & Cheapest Kitchens in Britain

pollyzanna

We think Wickes are great. We fitted a take-away kitchen from them about 11 years ago - it still looks good. We sold our house last year and people made positive comments on the kitchen.

In our new house we will be replacing the kitchen at some stage. Recently went round lots of places and Wickes will definitely be a serious contender depending on whether or not they have the style we want. (Looked at Wickes, B&Q, Homebase, Magnet, kutchenhaus, Ikea and a few independent local shops) That's their only real compromise from our point of view - they may not have the range of larger companies. It just depends what you want.

If you're on a budget, but still wanting a quality product, we would definitely recommend you consider them.:)