German kitchens

Leif

I popped into Homebase today and poked around the display kitchens. They had an in-house brand, and Odina which is German and made by Nobilia. The latter was clearly much higher quality. The standard units and shelves have thin edge strips, which felt bumpy due to uneven glue. The Odina units have thick edge strips, which feel smooth, and better applied, and consequently much less liable to peeling. Delamination is an issue with kitchens especially near a cooker. The general standard of doors and surfaces also looked much higher. I've also poked around Cook & Lewis (B&Q), Benchmarx and Magnet, which seem similar, and none compared to the Odina. I was only able to see obvious differences, I cannot tell what the grade of chipboard is, or other hidden details. I'm not sure I'd buy from Homebase, but the units looked good.

ryder72

Thank you Leif. Nobilia is one of the most basic German kitchens you can buy. They are a huge volume producer selling mainly to the German sheds. The Howdens of Germany if you like.

Most German manufacturers will be slightly to visibly better than Nobilia and yet if I 'had to', I'd put a Nobilia kitchen in my house before any mainstream British made kitchen in my house, provided I could source it for the right price.

Furts

Leif wrote: »

I popped into Homebase today and poked around the display kitchens. They had an in-house brand, and Odina which is German and made by Nobilia. The latter was clearly much higher quality. The standard units and shelves have thin edge strips, which felt bumpy due to uneven glue. The Odina units have thick edge strips, which feel smooth, and better applied, and consequently much less liable to peeling. Delamination is an issue with kitchens especially near a cooker. The general standard of doors and surfaces also looked much higher. I've also poked around Cook & Lewis (B&Q), Benchmarx and Magnet, which seem similar, and none compared to the Odina. I was only able to see obvious differences, I cannot tell what the grade of chipboard is, or other hidden details. I'm not sure I'd buy from Homebase, but the units looked good.

Similar observations. I was in my local Homebase recently and looked at the kitchens - just out of curiosity. My judgement was the presentation, fitting and apparent quality were better than I recalled from two years back.

CKdesigner

Kitchen_DesignR wrote: »

FGS,
We don't supply to the sheds.
If you're going to be useful on this forum, be factual and correct.

Yes you are right of course. I think what Ryder72 meant and should have said was that Nobilia supply more kitchens in Germany than any other manufacturer which kind of makes them the Howdens of Germany, as I would assume more Howdens kitchens are sold in the UK than any other make.

Hopefully that's a bit more accurate and clearer.

ryder72

Thank you Leif. Nobilia is one of the most basic German kitchens you can buy. They are a huge volume producer selling mainly to the German sheds. The Howdens of Germany if you like.

Sorry Kitchen DesignR - I am sorry I don't understand what part of that comment wasn't clear. Nobilia are a very basic kitchen manufacturer. They are very big. They sell to German sheds mainly. Their market positioning is similar to Howdens in the UK.

Steve_the_fitter

I think CKdesigner summed it up quite nicely when saying if you want traditional go British but if you want handless (and can afford it) go German (or Italian)

British manufacturers are normally a couple of years behind the Germans design wise but still do a lot of very nice modern doors. Im a independent kitchen fitter so have fitted many different kitchens in my working life and can honestly say as far a quality goes there are very affordable uk manufacturers out there supplying better quality kitchens than the likes of Hacker and Schuller and probably many other German kitchens. (I know Hacker is a lower end German kitchen but are sold as good mid range in UK)

Its silly comparing the German kitchens 'advertised' on this site to likes of Howdens and B&Q. Howdens, b&q, etc are no where near the best of British. Also comparing them to John Lewis and saying so much cheaper... John Lewis charge a premium for their kitchens as they have massive staff, advertising etc cost which get added to the price, not mentioning how well know for after sales they are. All adds to the price. Have a look at nationalkitchens.co.uk for a Mereway kitchen at a more affordable price.

I read most of the kitchen threads on this site in case I can offer money saving impartial advice and often come across posts on German Kitchens which are nothing more than free advertising. Just my opinion.

Furts

Steve_the_fitter wrote: »

I think CKdesigner summed it up quite nicely when saying if you want traditional go British but if you want handless (and can afford it) go German (or Italian)

British manufacturers are normally a couple of years behind the Germans design wise but still do a lot of very nice modern doors. Im a independent kitchen fitter so have fitted many different kitchens in my working life and can honestly say as far a quality goes there are very affordable uk manufacturers out there supplying better quality kitchens than the likes of Hacker and Schuller and probably many other German kitchens. (I know Hacker is a lower end German kitchen but are sold as good mid range in UK)

Its silly comparing the German kitchens 'advertised' on this site to likes of Howdens and B&Q. Howdens, b&q, etc are no where near the best of British. Also comparing them to John Lewis and saying so much cheaper... John Lewis charge a premium for their kitchens as they have massive staff, advertising etc cost which get added to the price, not mentioning how well know for after sales they are. All adds to the price. Have a look at nationalkitchens.co.uk for a Mereway kitchen at a more affordable price.

I read most of the kitchen threads on this site in case I can offer money saving impartial advice and often come across posts on German Kitchens which are nothing more than free advertising. Just my opinion.

Steve; I have clicked the thanks button for your post. However, I felt this did not do it justice, so this is a written thanks as well!

umli

What uk brands would you recommend Steve based on your experience?

angieamme

Hi
Has anyone used this company. They are apparently the same group that owns worktop express.
Spoken to them on the phone and have their samples on their way to me with free next day delivery.
Can't find any reviews etc about the kitchens just the worktops so wanted to see if the trusty MSE community knew anything about them
https://www.solidwoodkitchencabinets.co.uk/

mymedi

CKdesigner wrote: »

Handless kitchens are the realms of the Germans and Italians, they have been doing it for years.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have a question.
While I see the reason why German and Italian kitchens are perceived as the handleless leaders (which they probably are), why is it presumed that British kitchens cannot match that? Isn't this as simple as making whatever doors and designs you want and then outfitting them instead of handles with Blum's hardware for example...? It seems you could easily turn any kitchen design into handleless with the use of right hardware that opens and closes by touch...?
Thanks.