New Kitchen - recommendations

lauraj27

Hi there

Our project for 2019 is to have our kitchen redone; unfortunately we are not really sure of the design we would like nor which company is the best one to approach and go with. Neither of us are particularly DIY savvy so we would need a full installation service as well as supply and design.

We had a few issues some years ago with nationwide company that did fitted bedrooms so we are a bit cautious with this.

If anyone could recommend the best companies and companies to avoid that would be much appreciated!

EssexExile

Whereabouts are you?

kev25v6

We had an idea what we wanted to start with and started with gettting a price from B&Q then went to MLS near Manchester and they price matched but with better quality units. They will travel out to you to measure and quote all around the country.

buglawton

The IKEA website has a 3D kitchen designer tool. We used that to get an idea of the layout as a starting point. In the end went to a national company that did supply and fit. It was many years ago now and I'm surprised how durable it's turned out.

If you buy via finance arranged through the supplier, or pay a chunk of the full invoice by credit card, I believe you get protection against supplier insolvency.

owen_money

Avoid Wren, they are useless and their customers service is appalling. Once they have your cash they dont want to know, truly awful

phill99

Another for avoiding Wren. We fitted a Wren kitchen some 4 years ago (I'm a kitchen fitter) and the customer still doesn't have all the parts ordered. Awful company.

buglawton

FYI mine was dome by these guys, I just checked how their reviews are looking today:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.everest.co.uk
If they are still offering the zero interest loan deal where you pay off the total amount of the loan, by a certain date, worth considering.
Their units and electricals are holding up well after years of use, but in the end it's quality of the fitting team that matters.

scumboss

Go to your local kitchen places. Wren, Magnet, Howdens. These will give you ideas and a design. Take a sneaky photo of their monitor whilst they are not looking as they won’t give you the design. Go home and use DIY Kitchens. They have a planner you can use. You’ll get much better quality and cheaper than Howdens.

Get a local kitchen fitter to do the fit.

lauraj27

We are based in Staffordshire and we have been leaning towards Howdens but I have read some very bad reviews on trust pilot about them so I am now extremely nervous.

If anyone can recommend local kitchen designers/suppliers/fitters in Staffordshire that would be much appreciated.

EssexExile

We used Goliath in Cannock. The design process was good, they listened to what we wanted & suggested a few changes, some of which we went with. The whole process was pleasant but they weren't particularly cheap.

We also went to Lichfield Kitchens who didn't listen to what we wanted, came up with a design that wouldn't work, wanted to charge much more & got quite sulky when we rejected them.

buglawton

lauraj27 wrote: »

We are based in Staffordshire and we have been leaning towards Howdens but I have read some very bad reviews on trust pilot about them so I am now extremely nervous.

If anyone can recommend local kitchen designers/suppliers/fitters in Staffordshire that would be much appreciated.

I thought that Howdens only supplied the trade?
Called them a few weeks ago and to buy a worktop and sink would've meant opening up a 'trade' account, they were quite firm about it.