Following from breaking my oven recently, my wife would dearly love a new kitchen, and to be honest, so would I.

Trouble is we've no real money to do it! We don't need any appliances though, they're all fairly current and other than the oven - in good nick! Current layout is bad to re-using the cupboards with newer doors probably isn't an option either sadly.

Does anyone have any recommendations?


Thanks all

Ikea. Cheap as chips and they can look very nice. Just watch out as some of the range don't have space to run pipes/cables behind the units (is they fit flush to the wall).

2nd for IKEA, not normally a fan of their flat pack, but I've seena couple of kitchens that look pretty good. Much of it's in the design thought/layout and the actual fittting workmanship though.

Also have a look at your local Howdens. You supposedly need a trade account, but I made up a company name and got an account very easily.

3rd for ikea. Thats where il be going.

Wickes have good ones aswell.

The b&q basic range isn't too bad - although i've heard some very good things from a builder mate of the IKEA range.

I did B&q, same as some of the kitchen places round here, and a LOT cheaper

does it really matter ?
as long as it looks clean and tidy ??
and keeps HER happy ?

Thanks Mike R, good plug !!

have a scout about your local auction houses. our local one in nottingham often has several ex display kitchens for sale. ypu need to have a plan of whatr you need and be able to figure if whats on offer will do the job but they seem to go pretty cheap. you'll need a van too as they are all made up. (wold make a quick install though) and deffo locost

Wickes Take Away kitchen range is actually pretty good value..

If you can leave it another 2-3 weeks, they should swing back into their 50% off deal thing...(not sure if that only applies to "ordered" kitchens though)

just to add to the B&Q thing - i built my own B&Q basic kitchen (and learnt what i was doing) 10 years ago. G/F made me redo the kitchen over the last few weeks cause she wanted it updated / more space (she figured out a better way to lay out the kitchen to give us an additional 5 cabinets & plus have a tumble dryer!!!)

So the kitchens last a few years & the doors from the current range fit the range i got 10 years ago (making updated doors pretty easy - as long as they still do the range unless you want a complete new set of doors)

on the downside we got the cooke & lewis range which has to be delivered, they made two mistakes on the order and its taking weeks (and weeks and weeks) to sort out. Get the basic range and collect it there and then - but the basic carcase will fit the cooke and lewis doors as long as its not the tall range.

I just fitted a B&Q kitchen, was pretty impressed with it all. Although a good percentage of the cabs had tiny little nicks in some of the cabs that I would return if it was my own kitchen.

My friend said she was so happy with it she thought she was going to cry!

Pics here (didn't include them in this thread as a bit big).
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=Kitchen003.jpg


and

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=Kitchen005.jpg


If you setup a trade account at Magnets then I reckon they are cheaper still (and pre-built).

My B&Q has a bunch of kitchen stuff at 50% off at the moment. (Oak Shaker style doors etc. etc.).


Cheers,
James

My other half works for Cusines Schmidt. I'm sure she could get you a really good deal but they are a bit more expensive than the likes of b&q and IKEA.

We got cheapo wickes cabinets on one of their constant 100000% off sales. But by splashing a little on ebay special real oak worktop, ebay special 2nd hand rangemaster cooker, ebay special real slate floor tiles etc, the end result is pretty top notch even if I do say so myself.

Five years ago I put in a B&Q basic range white kitchen, spent plenty of time gluing and screwing everything together properly, making sure it was tied to the walls and level etc.

I would say it's bearing up very well, an occasional bit of maintenance to the edges of the laminate after a good deep clean keeps it looking at good as the day it was finished.

As you can see, there's plenty of decent stuff around at good prices. The sngle most important thing it to get a good layout.

I would suggest taking time to draw up an accurate plan of the kitchen, then going to B&Q etc and let them do some layouts on the computer, and see what suits. If they come up with something you like you can get a print-out of all the parts you need, then all you need to do is to make sure they have it all in stock!

Theres free kitchen designer programs you can download too to make the layout better.

rocksolidkitchens on the web were good for us.

If you read my last post - i'm definately going to have to agree with the layout thing. The g/f was a revelation when she re-organised the kitchen fitting a lot more in.

I'll also add when building the cabinets - glue in the back board. It adds a lot more strength. The only issue is you need to assemble and them position the cabinets before the glue dries incase things (like your wall) aren't completely square.

Howdens (the trade arm of what was MFI). You need to be trade but normally telling them that your builder who is doing your extension has sent you seems to work. The carcases are ready built which can be a transport issue but is a bonus when it comes to putting them in.

Wren kitchens had a large discount and interest free for 4 years two weeks ago. Quality is excellent.

Steve

I'm planning on an ikea but as said be careful how you layout the units. Those cunning Scandinavians obviously have some way of fitting in a dishwasher without having the outlet pipe running behind the units to the side of it because there's sod all space for it to go!

If the carcassings OK why not just cut and shut it add new doors or paint the old ones.
Cheers,
Bob

Can heartily recommend this place,
superb quality, very helpful and cheaper than all the B&Q, Wickes etc. brigade even after their 50% plus 15 % deals.
www.selffitkitchens.co.uk

Can heartily recommend this place,
superb quality, very helpful and cheaper than all the B&Q, Wickes etc. brigade even after their 50% plus 15 % deals.
www.selffitkitchens.co.uk

I got one last month from B&Q for £1200.

One trick to save money is to get a gloss white or ivory kitchen, which looks expensive, but still goes on the cheap units (ie no need to get colour matched units). B&Q had a half price door offer on too, combined with a 10% voucher i had.

If you want a second opinion on the plan, feel free to u2u me, i do kitchens for work.

Thanks so much everyone - really helpful advice and tips!

Much appreciated, thank you all for replying!


Now I just need to rob a bank, sell some kidneys and get saving

Joel - very kind offer, may well send you a shoddy crayon drawing that will bear no resemblance to our tiny useless kitchen! That sort of figure sounds good too, sort of cheap figure I had in mind!