Just completed on my first property! Best places for a new kitchen and furnishings?

CKdesigner

Hi Furts

As you know we do 2 quality German makes of kitchen and with one of them I show customers a kitchen design that has 12 units including a large set of pan drawers, a tall fridge freezer housing, a tall double oven housing and various other units. Decent laminate worktops and wall panels, all integrated Siemens appliances including a dishwasher and a Blanco sink and tap. All of this delivered and installed is £10k. To be honest I think for the same money from any DIY store you wouldn't get anywhere near the quality or specification.

CK

Furts

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi Furts

As you know we do 2 quality German makes of kitchen and with one of them I show customers a kitchen design that has 12 units including a large set of pan drawers, a tall fridge freezer housing, a tall double oven housing and various other units. Decent laminate worktops and wall panels, all integrated Siemens appliances including a dishwasher and a Blanco sink and tap. All of this delivered and installed is £10k. To be honest I think for the same money from any DIY store you wouldn't get anywhere near the quality or specification.

CK

I appreciate that kitchens are an emotional purchase sold by the heart and the image. It is good that you have a business supplying these kitchens.

The majority of mse users cannot afford, or would not entertain, kitchens at your price level. My home is a typical example - an expensive German kitchen would not add to it's market value, neither would it make it more attractive to a would be purchaser. Hence I have a UK made kitchen that represents better value for money.

However, were my home at the upper end of the market, or located in an affluent area I might view matters differently. As it is my kitchen ticks the good value box. It could have been cheaper and I could have got a better deal. Here hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Your point is interesting but I would flip this round. A typical, reasonable, UK kitchen could be sourced at below your price point if people shopped around, negotiated, and demanded a reasonable product. The fact that they do not helps keep a typical independent kitchen retailer in business.

CKdesigner

Sorry Furts you have lost me a bit there. Just recently I have had customers that have gone to Wickes, Wren and DIY kitchens and all occasions I have been able to supply them with a better design, a German kitchen that is better specified and with better appliances all for less money than the quotes from the nationals they had previously gone to. So what places are you suggesting are cheaper than the 3 nationals I have mentioned above.

I also wouldn't be so sure about your comment about the typical mse users not being able to afford a kitchen from me or any other independent kitchen specialist selling German kitchens. I fairly regularly get pm's from users requesting help and ultimately purchase a kitchen from me. I can only assume they find what we do as good value.

CK

Furts

CKdesigner wrote: »

Sorry Furts you have lost me a bit there. Just recently I have had customers that have gone to Wickes, Wren and DIY kitchens and all occasions I have been able to supply them with a better design, a German kitchen that is better specified and with better appliances all for less money than the quotes from the nationals they had previously gone to. So what places are you suggesting are cheaper than the 3 nationals I have mentioned above.

I also wouldn't be so sure about your comment about the typical mse users not being able to afford a kitchen from me or any other independent kitchen specialist selling German kitchens. I fairly regularly get pm's from users requesting help and ultimately purchase a kitchen from me. I can only assume they find what we do as good value.

CK

Hi CK
This is all to your advantage as a business but reflects the poor value offered by many UK suppliers. It is up to the consumer whether they wish to drive down the price.

My kitchen was not exceptional. It is rigid carcass manufactured from 18mm Egger board with solid timber doors, pelmet and cornice... some glass shelves,and glazed doors.... shoe racks, book cases...180 hinges, soft closers... Miele, Bosch and Rangemaster appliances... Franke taps and sinks...Silestone Chrome for worktops, large splashbacks, window cills, and to build the breakfast room... extensive Haler LED room lighting, cupboard lighting and worktop lighting, Hamilton and MK electrics...UK made floor tiling. Hence not top end designer, but an acceptable quality, an acceptable specification and functional as a kitchen.

I do not know the exact cost of all this - it did not matter because much was OH choice and decision. To an extent my role was to influence value. But thinking back a couple of years it would have been 39 kitchen units, appliances, worktops, electrics, flooring all supplied and fitted at about £17000.

Your comment on Wren is interesting. I am aware of their reputation, but feel that their top range is OK for quality - it performs its function as an acceptable kitchen, My local showroom is in a different league to the nearby DIY sheds - no doubt deliberate in order to dazzle perspective customers. A neighbour is singing the praises of his new Wren kitchen and empthasising that every day the Wren representative was there checking the work. I take this with a pinch of salt but he is happy. I have not checked his kitchen for obvious neighbourly reasons, but he is a fastidious person.

MoneySaving_Newbie_2

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to offer advice.

I've removed all of the old wall units and some of the base units and the kitchen looks much bigger now! Might be able to squeeze a little breakfast bar in.

I expect the Artex on the ceiling contains asbestos, so I plan to get it skimmed over rather than removed. Unsure whether the old ceiling boards will take the extra weight because the plaster has cracked along the edges.
:think:

Out of interest redmalc, how much is it costing you to get your home skimmed and how long has it taken?

A Frayed Knot, my manager suggested I get units upto the ceiling too. Will have to look into that.

Seems buying my own appliances is the cheapest option, so I will have to do some shopping around. Anyone know of any especially good sales on at the moment, or coming up in the near future? I'm a little worried I'm going to buy them and they not fit.

I live in East London/Wanstead area. Can anyone suggest a good joiner or places to shop for tiles, units, etc?

Davesnave

MoneySaving_Newbie wrote: »

Seems buying my own appliances is the cheapest option, so I will have to do some shopping around.

I assumed that, but the kitchen company I'm using is able to beat AO prices, and not just by a few quid either.

Admittedly, we're buying mostly above average cost appliances, but the kitchen itself is one of the lower cost ranges.

CKdesigner

It's always more sensible to get as much as you can from the one kitchen supplier.

A decent Independent Kitchen Specialist will have direct accounts with 2 or 3 appliance brands who will support the specialist with their top discounts. The better appliance manufacturers will actually give better discounts to kitchen specialists than online retailers.

Then by showing your commitment by purchasing as much as you can from your kitchen supplier then they should give you the best prices on everything, also it makes life so much easier for you if there is a problem, like you say if something doesn't fit then it's just one company's responsibility.

Not only purchasing all from one supplier give you best value, will also save you time and worry.

CK

ed110220

I got my bathroom furniture and hand basin as seconds from a local bathroom firm (Total Bathrooms) where it was discounted by up to 75% though I couldn't really see any damage to it, just without usual packaging, ex display etc.

For the stuff they didn't have as ex display of seconds I shopped around to get better prices online eg they wanted £250 for a back to wall toilet pan but I got something very similar from Victoria Plumb for £99. The shower came from another online place, the splash panels from Bath Store, the taps from Screwfix and various other bits and pieces from Toolstation.

Really depends if you want to go to the trouble of getting all the things from different places, but you can save quite a bit.

Ed

WatlingA5

Just a few words about Wren kitchens. We ended up going to Wren after being messed about by two fitters who had Howden accounts but could not give us any sort of timetable - "sometime in the summer" and that was in January.

One added a flat £1,000 for each item mentioned until we would have ended up with a bill at least twice that of the Wren kitchen. And he hadn't even measured the old kitchen.

The only independent kitchen specialist in town closed down before we could ask for a quote.

We did have a few hiccups - inevitable in a major refit - but designer, fitters (a contract company with qualified specialists for each trade needed), delivery people, and a head-office contact were all efficient, friendly and extremely helpful in dealing with them. All of which led to us having a beautiful kitchen we are very proud of at less than half the price we might have ended up paying.

We have two friends who have had Wren kitchens, from other branches, and they are delighted with theirs too.

I'm not belittling the problems others have suffered but wanted to give another side to the story. The happy customers rarely feel the need to go on to forums...

N.B. No connection with Wren except as satisfied customers.