good quality kitchen - what is most important

A cheap kitchen will last a long time if well-fitted, and can look nearly as good as an expensive one.

An expensive one poorly fitted will look cheap from the outset, and will be rubbish in a couple of years...

Good planning and fitting gets my vote!

martinsurrey wrote: »

I used DIY kitchens, it was only the second kitchen I have ever designed, but I spent weeks on it, went through 20+ layouts, considered everything at length, and its (I think) perfect.

10/10 for tenacity! I expect the more you design, the easier it gets...but I would not have the patience. Perhaps I've just seen too many DIY transfornation projects that make it look as easy as choosing a unit design

I agree with Martinsurrey, a professional sales man is just that, they will try and get as much money from you as possible and don't really care that much about your plan as long as they can squeeze some units in. You are much better off planning it yourself as you'll know exactly where you want things. DIY seem to have a kitchen planner now as well that does all the hard work:-)

It also depends what you are getting for "cheap" and "expensive", how well you've bargained, what corners you cut.

If you want ultra-cheap that lasts... build one yourself, from scratch! I built a pine wood solid kitchen in a cottage in 1995. I saw the house on Right move a couple of years ago, and the kitchen was not only the same, but was counted as a feature of the house. Doors had been painted, that was all.

Total cost for 18 floor and wall cupboards made solidly of wood, frames, shelves, doors, the lot, excluding sink (reused), but including hinges, catches, handles, work surface (recycled tiles... it was a fashion then!), was just over £300. There was a huge timber yard in King's Lynn, five miles away, that did imports, had their own ship then, too, so they had vast quantities of offcuts and debris that they sold on for peanuts.

Kitchen is still there, still as it was, 23 years later.

Of course, that price makes no allowance for building and fitting time. That lengthy time almost cost me my marriage!

Another way of thinking about it is that it doesn't matter how expensive, fancy, full of features a kitchen is if the layout doesn't work for the type of kitchen intended (cooks kitchen, entertainment / socialising area, small but functions etc). Where would cooking pots / pans be stored in relation to the hob and oven for example, where would a dishwasher go in relation to the sink (although usually they are close due to plumbing) etc.