[Closed] Kitchen recommendations please.

Where are you based? We found using a local firm from personal recommendation gave the best result for us compared to national chains

Based in Worcester area.

We have the likes of homebase and b&q.

I've thought of a smaller local company but worry they will go out of business within the guarantee period etc.

TBH there's not much to warranty on a kitchen, once it's installed it's done. It will only be a bit of snagging. So you're basically looking at white goods, in which case you could use the manufacturers warranty.

I installed an IKEA kitchen a few years ago. They've changed the design since then but they were better than Homebase, B&Q etc. at the time. Don't know if they offer an installation service.

Edit: Got worktops from worktop express, well impressed with them.

Not local to you but DIY kitchens in Pontefract are well rated and far cheaper than many. They have an online planner and deliver nationally but obviously if you can't see their stuff in the flesh then it's a big leap of faith (they will send you a door sample). We were recommended them by our builder.

We drove over to their showroom back in March (3hr round trip) just before lockdown and were really impressed. We're stuck in a Coronavirus delay currently awaiting our builder to give us a start date for our job but we will probably go with DIY for our kitchen.

For what it's worth, we'd had two quotes in the 15k to 16k region from two local companies to supply and fit ours (including appliances)
DIY kitchens has worked out at 11k all in. Fitting is going to cost about £1200 so on paper it's a decent saving.

We are going through this at the moment. We are going to go Ikea. They have a good planning service and will be around for a long time for spare parts etc. Also, and this is a big thing for me, you can actually budget for what you want, as the prices are transparent. None of the to and fro bs with salesman from wren, or having to go through a builder with Howdens

We are also thinking worktop express for worktops

Got ours from Howdens. Happy with it. Appliances from John Lewis on black Friday deals. Worktop from worktop express, all good. The guy who we employed to fit it however was a f*****g nightmare.

Another IKEA vote. Good quality and a long warranty even if you DIY the install. As mentioned, completely transparent prices so when planning you can swap bits around and know instantly how it will change the cost.

DIY Kitchens here. £4500 for units, worktops (from worktops-direct), fixings and appliances, and then I installed it myself. We had a quote from Wren, admittedly with different appliances and including fitting, for £16k. Totally happy with our kitchen, units are very robust and after 2½ years look as new.
We did look at IKEA as well but their units were slightly different sized as well as assembly required, for the same price as DIY Kitchens whereas DIY kitchens were pre-built and just needed the doors putting on.

We’re Worcester based and used Orillo in Malvern and ended up with Hacker units - really pleased with the kitchen we’ve got, bit more expensive than Howdens but not massively so and they price matched all the white goods we wanted too. Kitchen fitter wasn’t used to fitting Hacker however and took him a bit longer than he expected.

Another diy kitchens here. Went with them after reading recommendations on here in previous threads. Really happy with ours, good quality and price. I fitted the units myself and got the worktop done by a joiner. We just got sample doors and chose the kitchen that way.

Malvern Kitchen Studios, Orillo, Cathedral Kitchens Malvern were ones we looked into. Went with Malvern Kitchen Studio in the end. Not the cheapest but best for sorting out a good practical design and really nice people to deal with.

I fit a lot of Hacker and Leicht kitchens through a design company I sub contract for, we also fit Mearways and Keller which are both as good. They are definitely good quality, much better than Howdens, which are good as instant availability kitchens or DIYKitchens. I refuse to fit IKEA, I don’t rate them at all.

The supplying company reckon they can get very close to the usual suspects in terms of pricing with Hacker.

That's good to know. I'd never heard of hacker kitchens.

That’s good to know. I’d never heard of hacker kitchens.

One of Germany’s biggest kitchen brands. https://www.haecker-kuechen.de/en/kitchens.html

Try AK fitted interiors, they have branches in Worcestershire, Bromsgrove and Studley.

+ 1 for DIY Kitchens. The joiner who fitted ours was very impressed. Better than Howdens and much cheaper.

We are going through this at the moment. We are going to go Ikea. They have a good planning service and will be around for a long time for spare parts etc. Also, and this is a big thing for me, you can actually budget for what you want, as the prices are transparent. None of the to and fro bs with salesman from wren, or having to go through a builder with Howdens

Yep, being able to cost things up with drawers versus cupboards was one of the attractions of Ikea for us and no 60% off if you buy this week only type rubbish that we found with other suppliers. They also do taller wall cabinets across all their range, a lot of other places only offered those sizes on their more expensive ranges. We had one door warp early on, and simply took it to the shop and swapped it there and then.

The only slightly annoying part for us was we got our Ikea kitchen just before they changed from Faktum to Metod which means getting interior fittings and replacements is not as straightforward. But that shouldn't be an issue now.

Not arriving pre-built was an advantage for us as we could store it all in the lounge ahead of time 🙂

Our worktops were also worktop express (Ikea didn't do 3m solid wood lengths at the time)

We went with IKEA and installed it ourselves. Wife and kids made the cabinets and drawers while I installed, pretty simple to do. The worktops were the trickiest bit, I'd never tried edge/end jointing wood before but it turned out really well.

Add mentioned above, the IKEA design service was well worth the price, the guy who did ours had loads of great ideas about best use of the space, tips on which of their units would work best for a given location etc.

B&Q used to be Ok. From all reports they've gone down the nick.

Another DIYKitchens and Worktop Express here, with white goods from local electrical supplier, following STW recommendations. TBH I did bugger all shopping around thanks to those recommendations, and without giving the dimensions of my kitchen, the style and the fixtures etc, the price is relatively meaningless..! but it was certainly cheaper than I expected it to be!

If you’re likely to be staying for many years worth considering a hand built bespoke kitchen. Will be much more expensive in the short term but will outlive most people as it will be built well with high quality wood and to last, so will work out cheaper in the long run. I’m glad I did this nearly 20 years ago even though it was a real push financially when I had three small kids etc. Chose fairly neutral and classic design so it didn’t go out of fashion and have repainted it every 5 years or so with contemporary colours. The build is still as solid as they day it was installed.

No one has mentioned magnet. Was wondering what people thought of them?

I have accounts with Howdens and magnet but been retired for a couple of years so not fitted any recently and that was as a DIY job anyway.

My own kitchen is a magnet one and has been good for the last 8 years but due to a possible extension it's going to get replaced. The worktops are poor though but they where the cheap black marble looking ones.

I fitted a Howdens shaker one in a rental property a year ago and that seems fine and looks well, also 1k cheaper than magnet.

Thanks for all the recommendations.

Some more research needed I think.

Bought and fitted Howdens shaker style last year. Good quality rejigged design three times with designers and cooker etc have 3 year warranty.