Cheap kitchens?

FirstTimeBuyerRenovation

I've got my first home and have about 11K to renovate the entire place. It'll be a push, but I think I may be able to manage it. (A lot of friends in trades etc...).

Anyway, biggest expense will be the kitchen. There's a few alterations that I'm doing with the kitchen, bricking up the back door (patio doors are being added in the living room), adding an internal door and removing the waste pipes externally. Oh, and knocking the pantry through.

Anyway, I was initially sold on Ikea. The cabinets (on the website), seemed incredible cheap.

Then I noticed DIY-Kitchens come highly recommended. They seemed reasonable too.

But when I'm comparing like for like cabinets, such as DIY's 600mm base unit (£109.33 inc VAT) to Ikeas 60cm base unit at £60 there's a huge difference.

Oh, and I know someone who can get 20% off with Howdens kitchens. Obviously Howdens don't state prices online, so I've no idea how much that'll cost either.

Ramona123

I know Ikea kitchen units have no service void at the back, they only come in even numbered sizes and are pretty flimsy to be honest and you have to build them yourself. They do some good computer desks and wardrobes but they are not at the top of my list for kitchens.

I’ve just moved house and inherited an Ikea kitchen and all the edging of all the units is falling off. The previous owners say the kitchen is 3 years old. Couple that with a lipped Belfast sink on a white laminate worktop that is bruised and battered, as soon as I have some free cash I’m going to replace it! I will be getting mine form diy kitchens. I’ve visited the showroom before and there is an area here (information centre > unit comparison) where you can look at their unit and other companies’ units and you can really see how poor the Ikea unit is.

Howdens do offer some MASSIVE discounts but I think you still need to see the real price first.

FreeBear

FirstTimeBuyerRenovation wrote: »

But when I'm comparing like for like cabinets, such as DIY's 600mm base unit (£109.33 inc VAT) to Ikeas 60cm base unit at £60 there's a huge difference.

Do those prices include doors, hinges, and other fittings ?

Me, I ended up getting Cooke & Lewis cabinets from B&Q (get yourself a trade card) and then bought the doors from Homestyle. Handles from Toolstation, and a very good deal on soft close hinges from B&Q.

Word of caution with the Ikea units - I don't think they have a service space down the back. Also check the worktop depth if you are thinking of sourcing one from elsewhere.

Ionkontrol

Look on ebay for ex showroom/showhouse kitchens.

POPPYOSCAR

We love our Ikea kitchen.

We looked everywhere else but ended up back at Ikea.

We installed it ourselves and had no trouble whatsoever.

Doozergirl

Our kitchen is Ikea. An accidental long term purchase; 6 years and going strong. Any kitchen that falls apart quickly hasn't been fitted well.

Howdens annual kitchen sale finishes on Tuesday and that is your best hope for a comparable price, but Ikea beat everyone on price. The quality may be slightly down but I actually think the new METOD kitchens are better than the old FAKTUM that we have and in terms of value for money, I don't think anyone touches them.

jackyann

Obviously I don't know what you have already, but I would consider not going for fitted units. Because fitted kitchens are so standard now, you can pick up (auctions, salvage, freecycle etc) large cupboards, dressers and tables cheaply, strip and varnish / paint. Lots of DIY shelves as well.
It's a particular look that may not suit you, but for anyone with more time than money, it's great.

trailingspouse

With just £11k to renovate the entire place, forget a fitted kitchen.

I totally second jackyann's suggestion of a non-fitted kitchen. You can pick up a dresser, a table, drawers etc etc for peanuts at auctions. We did this when OH and I first got together and we had no money. And one advantage is that when the time comes to move you're not leaving all that money behind you - you can take the furniture with you and continue to use it until you can afford to replace it.

We've only recently got rid of the dresser we first bought - didn't fit into new house (sold it for pretty much what we'd paid for it after 15 years of use). We still have our original kitchen table, although it's now relegated to the basement and we keep the cat beds on it!!

Doozergirl

I did once get the most amazing Mereway kitchen, used on a photoshoot, for £500 on ebay. Can't even guess what the retail should have been. It was beautiful.

andygb

We bought our kitchen from Homebase eight years ago, and it was £3500 all in, including hob, dishwasher and hood, plus a guy to do the worktop. The kitchen is 15' x 12'.

rach_k

We had an Ikea kitchen put in a year ago so I can't really comment on the longevity of them but I'm really happy with it. We didn't particularly choose them for price - I just saw one there that I loved - but the money saved is very nice to have! In our case, cheaper units meant OH was easier to convince about more expensive worktops, although I do think I'd have been happy enough with the cheaper ones. I haven't found any of it flimsy - it is much better quality than the nasty old kitchen we replaced and probably the same as a more expensive kitchen OH had in his last place, although no idea where that was from that it probably doesn't help you much.

Our kitchen fitter hadn't fitted an Ikea kitchen before so I asked him what he thought of it and he said it was impressive, although I know he felt some of it was over-engineered... he did have to go along to Ikea to look how some bits went together, but I think that was just his inexperience with Ikea stuff in general. It made perfect sense to me (unashamed Ikea addict and Chief Furniture Assembler). The lack of space behind the unit didn't appear to cause any issues for the plumber or electrician.