Wren/Magnet vs independent kitchen

longwalks1

Avoid Wren at all costs

Search on Facebook for ‘wren kitchen disasters’ and spend an hour reading

ratrace

pinkshoes wrote: »

I just find it annoying the variation in cost for basic units with shiny doors that all look similar in style.

Fair point if you have the money and dont mind spending it

Thats how they make a shed load of money from people, we have been conviced via adverts etc.. that the kitchen is the hub of the house and other bs hence the level of debt people get in to, if you head over to the debt free wannabe board and take a look at some soa's on there some of the levels of debt will shock you.

but and the end of the day all we can do is try to show people that there is a another way to buy things

cyantist

We spent weeks and weeks traipsing around kitchen suppliers getting quotes. We then came across a kitchen broker and gave it a try.

He recommended a local independent place where the quote was £4500 cheaper than wickes for an amazing kitchen. The service was really good there as well. We actually only paid a bit more than what it would have cost from diy kitchens.

No harm in sending your details to him - say what you want and the budget and he does the rest. The website is kitchenfindr.co.uk

Our kitchen ended up costing 12k, so a bit more than you were looking at. But we could have easily cut that down by thousands if we'd really wanted to.

Our previous kitchen we put in was a magnet one - we liked it a lot but it cost as much as our current one and the quality is nowhere near as good. We also fitted out a huge utility room from ikea and have recently fitted an ikea kitchen at our rental property. They were horrendous to fit, and look awful in many ways. It's fine if that's all you can afford, but if you can spend £8k, I wouldn't recommend ikea at all.

vansboy

cyantist wrote: »

We also fitted out a huge utility room from ikea and have recently fitted an ikea kitchen at our rental property. They were horrendous to fit, and look awful in many ways. It's fine if that's all you can afford, but if you can spend £8k, I wouldn't recommend ikea at all.

I'm surprised you say that, as I'm about to have my fifth Ikea installation done, but using my own fitters.

Always been impressed at just how good they can be made to look and long lasting, as well.

I've posted pictures in the past and will do when this is finished.

Hopefully others may like the result.

VB

pinkshoes

ratrace wrote: »

Fair point if you have the money and dont mind spending it

Thats how they make a shed load of money from people, we have been conviced via adverts etc.. that the kitchen is the hub of the house and other bs hence the level of debt people get in to, if you head over to the debt free wannabe board and take a look at some soa's on there some of the levels of debt will shock you.

but and the end of the day all we can do is try to show people that there is a another way to buy things

Ahh, but the kitchen IS the hub of my home! Three kids and two dogs, plus we do a lot of cooking, baking etc... not to mention me using the dining table for marking kids books (teacher). We spend so much time in our kitchen so I want something that looks nice and is more practical.

I won't be paying wren/magnet prices hence trying to find what we want for a reasonable price.

Spoke to diy-kitchens and they can't do gloss in colours.

Will keep trying other options, so thanks for all the ideas!

ratrace

pinkshoes wrote: »

Ahh, but the kitchen IS the hub of my home! Three kids and two dogs, plus we do a lot of cooking, baking etc... not to mention me using the dining table for marking kids books (teacher). We spend so much time in our kitchen so I want something that looks nice and is more practical.

I won't be paying wren/magnet prices hence trying to find what we want for a reasonable price.

Spoke to diy-kitchens and they can't do gloss in colours.

Will keep trying other options, so thanks for all the ideas!

Your welcome, all the best with it hopefully you find an ideal one for a reasonable price

CKdesigner

Hi Pinkshoes,

As an independent kitchen specialist / local small business owner I would definitely recommend going to a couple / 3 independent kitchen specialists near you, maybe call them first, explain what you want to do and be honest about your budget and as Doozergirl first said if they can not help they will be quick to tell you.

Most independent specialists will have 2 or 3 ranges to choose from, normally a budget range, a mid range and maybe a bespoke range. All of which the kitchen specialist will do because they will feel the differences will be good value and quality for the price. An independent should also be able to offer you better design, better advice and service than the average national companies.

Kitchenfindr may also be a good place to start as they will know which companies within 30 mins drive of you will do the most suitable ranges for you.

If you would like to send me a PM I could give you a bit more specific help.

CK