Underwhelmed with kitchen suppliers

d0nkeyk0ng

I don’t know if it’s just me and my expectations. We’re planning an extension and getting a new kitchen fitted as part of it. 

So this weekend, we went to B&Q, Magnet, and Wren. B&Q just seemed unappealing. Magnet seemed to use thinner chipboard but then a thick layer of some material over the top to achieve 18mm thickness (fine for cupboard doors but the carcasses remained thin). Wren had lots of flashy looking stuff but nothing that stood out, and the carcasses of the units in the showrooms didn’t seem anything special. I was more impressed by their hinges for top-opening cupboards than anything else.

We’re going to some independent stores next week. 

What should I be looking for in a kitchen company’s products as a sign of quality?
 

Apart from reviews, what can I use to help me decide which company to go for?

mclaren32

Wickes/Benchmarx (both Travis Perkins) are made to a reasonable standard as are DIY Kitchens.

We went for a kitchen from solidwoodkitchencabinets.co.uk 2 years ago and the solid oak cabinets are much nicer than the normal MDF construction. At the time they weren’t hugely more expensive than the usual suspects but I think their prices have gone up since then.

Think about hinges and other hardware when looking at kitchens, they can make a big difference as well.

FreeBear

I have used the Cooke & Lewis base units from B&Q in the past. For the price, acceptable quality and should last me a few years. Their current GoodHome range are flimsy in comparison, and by all accounts, have a poor reputation. Not a good thing as that range has only been on the market for only a couple of years.

If you though Wren were just flashy looking without any substance, wait until you have taste of their after sales customer support - Not good going by the number of complaints we see on this, and other forums.

Magnet & Howdens have a shady pricing policy, so you can never be sure if you are getting a good deal or not - I was not impressed with Magnet. After telling them that my email address was not for marketing purposes, they promptly started to spam me with their latest "offers".... Went in and shouted down the sales rep in front of a couple of customers and told him exactly what I thought of them.. (didn't go down well with the prospective customers). Didn't think much of their design either... One does not site a dishwasher next to a doorway.

A local independent company was able to undercut Magnet's price by a considerable amount, and had some better suggestions as to layout to boot.

Benchmarx are another option you could try - Wickes supply exactly the same units & accessories (they are both part of the Travis Perkins group).

Buildbase do kitchens as well - Symphony & Omega are just two that might be worth looking at...

Then there is DIY Kitchens which gets mentioned quite a bit here (as does Ikea). If you are looking for a one-stop supply & fit, then I'd say try your local independent stores.

TELLIT01

Our kitchen came from Howdens and we are very pleased with the quality.  As said, their pricing is 'interesting' but they claim to be trade only suppliers so the list price is simply a starting point.  I don't think anything on our order was discounted by less than 50% with much discounted by 80% or more. 

Our experience of Magnet wasn't great either.  Some years ago we were thinking of extending our kitchen and took the plan to Magnet.  We told the designer that we wanted to minimise wall cabinets and put them on one section only.  The supplied design had every inch of wall covered in cabinets!  We didn't go back.

maisie_cat

In our last house we used handmade kitchens direct in Christchurch for the cabinets, total £4500 for cabinets with a total of 39 dovetailed drawers. We added worktops at £1400 and the resulting kitchen looked like it cost £20k plus. Because it was wood, we could change the colour scheme by painting it, which we did twice in 13 years. In this house we inherited a Howdens kitchen and it's awful quality by comparison.

phoebe1989seb

We fitted an in-frame Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch kitchen at our current house three years ago. The cabinets (mainly drawers) were actually purchased for our previous house back in 2015 but due to a change of plan they were never fitted.

We spent around £7500 on cabinetry plus a few hundred on iroko worktops from Worktop Express, then added solid pewter handles, a quirky tap from Steamvalve Originals and a massive reclaimed larder cupboard (eBay 😉).

Like maisie_cat our kitchen looks far more expensive than it actually cost plus we have also recently repainted it giving it a completely new look for minimal outlay....

Our two previous kitchens were handmade by a small independent company and like Handmade Kitchens of Christchurch, the quality was far better than either the Magnet kitchen we fitted at a previous house or the Ikea kitchen we inherited when we bought this house!

Rosa_Damascena

• B&Q - uninspiring I agree
• Wickes - ok, but limited styles and colours. Kitchens is not a specialisation with enough focus in the wider business portfolio. Kids running design operations.
• Wren - all fur coat and no knickers. (But free Poundland biscuits).
• Magnet - I quite like their kitchens but the prices are silly. Plus they p'd my builder off.
• Howdens - supposed to be good but I have been at the sharp end of a lot of branch-based muppetry.
• DIY Kitchens - dazzling and good value but requires a lot of thought and planning by the customer and the lead-in time for bespoke requires a person with time. Was my original preferred choice.
• Buildbase - likely to be my choice based on friends' recommendations and experience thus far.

cpbackhouse

I've previously fitted 2 kitchens from Wickes with my parents and was reasonably impressed with the quality.

When it came to do ours they didn't have the style/colour we were looking for so have gone with DIY Kitchens.

Half way through the install and have been impressed so far. They come pre-assembled with all joints doweled and glued by the looks of it. They feel very solid and nicely finished with 5mm thick back boards etc. They had a large range and can paint to any colour if required.

As mentioned above the planning is totally on you though. They do have a good online planner but annoyingly you have to manually copy everything into an actual order which feels error prone. So far so good but not finished yet!

I was nervous choosing them as they are all online (they have a showroom to but to far for me to visit) but needn't have worried. Had a slight delay on the work surface which they sent overnight once it was in stock but they have been very responsive to calls and messages. 

ka7e

I love the DIY Luca style units I have - 22mm thick doors and substantial carcasses that you can colour co-ordinate to the doors. It was a bit nail-biting designing my own kitchen, but I had Magnet and Benchmarx do plans and they were similar, but uninspiring. DIY prices meant I could afford runs of pan drawers, a pullout larder and a tall unit fitted with drawers that would have blown my budget with another suppler.