DIY KItchens

[ben5575]

PWS manufacture and distribute the SN/1909 (and other ranges). These are just the doors obviously.

DIY manufacture the cabinets, fit the PWS (or other supplier) doors to them and post the assembled units to customers.

Actually I've just checked the DIY website and discovered that they don't deal with SN any more (although they are supplying 'alternative' ranges) so it's all a moot point in any case Sorry for the tangent!

http://www.diy-kitchens.com/second-nature-kitchens...

[V8RX7]

ben5575 said:

DIY manufacture the cabinets, fit the PWS (or other supplier) doors to them and post the assembled units to customers.

Oh I was under the impression they made all their own doors.

[singlecoil]

ben5575 said:

PWS manufacture and distribute the SN/1909 (and other ranges). These are just the doors obviously.

DIY manufacture the cabinets, fit the PWS (or other supplier) doors to them and post the assembled units to customers.

Actually I've just checked the DIY website and discovered that they don't deal with SN any more (although they are supplying 'alternative' ranges) so it's all a moot point in any case Sorry for the tangent!

http://www.diy-kitchens.com/second-nature-kitchens...

I see they are having a 'Winter Sale', 10% off selected kitchens. Presumably the percentage goes up in the quieter times of the year.

[RockyBalboa]

ben5575 said:

Seeing as DIY stock Second Nature, I suspect that they also stock or could get hold of SN's 'upmarket' brand '1909' as well. Again on display on said showroom and it is stunning stuff (in the context of real world affordable). Once you spend 2 hours walking around the 1909 in frame stuff, when you walk back through the 'normal' kitchens it's like walking through Wickes. Probably only about 20-30% more expensive on the doors, so if you're spending say £6k on doors/units, it may go up to say £7,000-£7,500 and IMHO is well worth the extra

http://www.1909kitchens.co.uk/

I was looking for an ultra chic/modern kitchen with wrap around corian worktop etc, but having walked around this kitchen linked below it is absolutely stunning (and the complete antithesis of what I was looking for). The layout also works really well in real life - but bizarrely looks awful on plan. Click on the real kitchens tab and you'll see people spend £30/40k retail on these kitchens. That kitchen in the link is about £6.5k supply excl. worktop and appliances (like the £15k Wolf cooker for example!)

http://www.1909kitchens.co.uk/kitchens/half-pencil...

Am I reading correctly that the kitchen in the link is £6.5k? Is that supply only?

[V8RX7]

singlecoil said:

I see they are having a 'Winter Sale', 10% off selected kitchens. Presumably the percentage goes up in the quieter times of the year.

I think it's a permanent 10% - it has been for the last year anyway.

[boxster9]

I have also been looking at DIY kitchens and visited their showroom. The quality is very good and better than the usual high street brands. We were looking for an inframe design and the display kitchens did have a 'bespoke' feel to it

We have also come across Burbidge kitchens and the Langton below looks great for an inframe design


http://www.burbidge.co.uk/product-collections/pain...

I do like the 1909 linked above. Is that really 6.5K?

[ben5575]

RockyBalboa said:

Am I reading correctly that the kitchen in the link is £6.5k? Is that supply only?

That's cabinets and doors, pelmets and sides etc supply only but constructed cabinets a la DIY. Can't remember if that's with handles. Doesn't include worktops, sink, taps, lights, appliances. It was last year when I priced it up so I can't custard it I'm afraid, but it was in that ball park. There are no big larders in it.

These are the measurements we took walking round it.


Floor units are typically 1m on perimeter, 600 on island

Sink wall is 2 x 1m double drawerline, 800 sink unit, 600 dishwasher front with 3 x 500 high level cupboards
Cooker wall is 2 x 1m drawer units, 2 x 500 high level cupboards
Island 4 x 600 drawer line (although I was looking at undercounter fridge and freezer facing sink, so 2xcabinets, 2xdoors), then the drawer units on the end which I think were 2 x 600. I was looking to have chairs at the end away from cooker.

Obviously the tack room units aren't included (but what a great looking solution?) and there is also a couple of pale tall units, on either side of a large american ss fridge that you can make out on some of the images that aren't included either as I wasn't looking for that in my kitchen. Oo, found a photo I took...
|http://thumbsnap.com/iixaMLIx[/url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/n1IuZo4H[/url]

I would extend the gap between sink and island from 1.1m to 1.4m. Otherwise it works really well.[url]

[freakynessless]

In terms of DIY's pricing, the current 10% off does seem to be a genuine discount.
I'm in the position that I'm might need a new kitchen come the end of this year or the beginning of 2018 and becuase of this I've been keeping a (very unscientific!) spreadsheet which I dive into once a month detailing seven kitchen suppliers and what deals they have each month. From my spreadsheet, it looks like over 2016 DIY had 10% off selected doors and units in May, and no other discounts throughout the year until December (post christmas).
What's a little strange is the 10% off was supposed to end on Jan 16th - and it even still states this on their website! - yet here we are on the 18th and the discount is still in place.

[RockyBalboa]

ben5575 said:

RockyBalboa said:

Am I reading correctly that the kitchen in the link is £6.5k? Is that supply only?

That's cabinets and doors, pelmets and sides etc supply only but constructed cabinets a la DIY. Can't remember if that's with handles. Doesn't include worktops, sink, taps, lights, appliances. It was last year when I priced it up so I can't custard it I'm afraid, but it was in that ball park. There are no big larders in it.

Sorry if i'm being thick but do you mean you priced up supply only and it came to £6.5k roughly? If so, retailers who sell 1909 do supply only?

[ben5575]

RockyBalboa said:

Sorry if i'm being thick but do you mean you priced up supply only and it came to £6.5k roughly? If so, retailers who sell 1909 do supply only?

There is a difference between a independent retailer who may deal in SN/1909 as well as other makes/'brands' but has a show room, will sit you down, make you a coffee, design the kitchen for you, supply it and even fit it if you like along with plumbing, power, tiling, worktops etc etc. Turnkey service that you pay for (welcome to the £35k kitchen). I am sure they would do supply only if you asked them to. It won't be £6.5k, more like £13k-£15k I should imagine (supply only)

With DIY and other similar online companies you have to select which units you want (based on your own design). These are then delivered to your door. Each individual carcass is constructed and its respective door is fitted by them prior to dispatch. It's not delivered flatpack like ikea, it is built for you. You then need to 'install' the units into your kitchen and add pelmets, plinths, worktops etc (which you can also buy online at the same time). These come in lengths that you (or your installer) need to cut down to size.

For further explanation you can have a look at the DIY site's production video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlDQGU7h4cE

Worktops can also be bought online, but you would normally need to template the worktop either yourself, 'your man' or some of the suppliers will send somebody up to do it for you at a cost. They are then delivered and you need to fit them.

So you can do it hassle free and pay for the privilege or you do it all yourself (at your own risk if you get the order wrong) for half (or at least considerably less) than the turnkey service. Perhaps the half way house is to get your builder/joiner/installer to order it all for you from your nominated shop (or at least give him the chance to match it) and leave it to an 'expert'.

[singlecoil]

Some retailers are happy to do a design to suit the customer's requirements and take responsibility for it, and then supply for the customer or his contractor to fit. DIY Kitchens are direct to the consumer but other companies, such as http://www.kesseler.co.uk/ supply through dealers and are well worth a look if you fancy something a bit tasty without being outrageously expensive.

I hope to become one of their dealers soon, in maybe a month or so as soon as the shop is ready, and will be happy to help PHers get what they want.

[Harry Flashman]

There are plenty of companies that will do just design for you for a few hundred pounds. Easily found on interior design websites like houzz.co.uk.

Or you can do it yourself - it's not rocket science. I nerded out, read lots of articles, looked at friends' kitchens and visited some showrooms, and then designed our own kitchen. Then ordered the cabinets and had my builder fit them. This includes wooden worktops, which most builders will be happy to fit. Bar some minor things I would change, it is spot on and works really well. Keep your eye on a few important things (like making sure the worktops are properly oiled before installation rather than just bunged in).

The only thing I really had to pay top dollar for was the stone work surface for the island, as your average builder cannot cut one of these, and will generally not want to do the installation either. Ours was 3m x 1.5m, so unwieldy and easy to mess up - so we had a dedicated stone worktop company do it.

[S6PNJ]

Harry Flashman said:

My kitchen is a mix of DIY (tall larder and small pull-out units) and www.solidwoodkitchencabinets.co.uk.

Harry, sorry for the bump of an old thread, but on your recommendation (via this and other thread's of yours recommending them) my wife and I have just been to the Gloucester Solid Wood Kitchens showroom and had a good look at their kitchens. We've also been to the DIY Kitchens showroom (twice!). You mention using both cabinets in your kitchen - one thing my wife has just pointed out - how did you go about resolving the 2 carcass styles? SWK seem to be 'butcher block' and from recollection DIY are 'solid wood', though this is MFC and not real solid wood. How does the 2 different colours/patterns sit with you or are you not fussed by the look of the insides being different?

SWK can't do all styles we'd like, so possibly a combination of DIY and SWK (as you seem to have done) might be the way forward (if we go SWK!)

DIY

SWK

[Harry Flashman]

Hi - happy to help!

If you look at the earlier pics, the larder cabinets were DIY, the rest SWKK. Frankly you don't notice the inside: I just got the oak veneer option from DIY. Order cabinets with more "visible" insides (e.g. eye level wall cabinets) from SWKK.

SWKK have a broader range now. We have since moved house and renovated yet another place (I know, ridiculous - there's an explanation and a whole thread about it on the Homes & Garden build wiki. We basically found our dream house and moved heaven and earth to get it).

New kitchen is shown below (not quite finished - still decorating and trimming etc to do. As you can see, we went for a much more country look than the last one shown on this thread. A DeVol-esque look (although not in-frame, and with normal plinths as I don't like the ones that stick out and prevent you from getting a bit closer to the worktop)

Took this
78 kitchen by baconrashers, on Flickr


To this (not quite finished yet):
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

[S6PNJ]

Harry Flashman said:

Hi - happy to help!

If you look at the earlier pics, the larder cabinets were DIY, the rest SWKK. Frankly you don't notice the inside: I just got the oak veneer option from DIY. Order cabinets with more "visible" insides (e.g. eye level wall cabinets) from SWKK.

SWKK have a broader range now. We have since moved house and renovated yet another place (I know, ridiculous - there's an explanation and a whole thread about it on the Homes & Garden build wiki. We basically found our dream house and moved heaven and earth to get it).

Thanks, yes I've been following both of your threads, good reading! Keep them up!

Harry Flashman said:

New kitchen is shown below (not quite finished - still decorating and trimming etc to do. As you can see, we went for a much more country look than the last one shown on this thread. A DeVol-esque look (although not in-frame, and with normal plinths as I don't like the ones that stick out and prevent you from getting a bit closer to the worktop)

Took this
78 kitchen by baconrashers, on Flickr


To this (not quite finished yet):
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr

Great work, keep it up!

We are taking a (possibly) late 1960's early 1970's kitchen into the modern world. It's possibly not as old as I make out, but it's certainly not a recent addition! We like the shaker style, probably oak fronted as we have oak frames windows (R9) so will need to find a suitable worktop to go with them (not oak). Impressed with the SWKC range and quality so far.

[Ortega56]

Got my DIYKitchen fitted (mainly due to the recommendations seen here) looks great! Thought I would use a local company to supply and fit the granite countertops - big mistake :-( Don't get me started on the catalogue of disasters! Has anyone used DIYKitchens for their granite! I'm confident with the measuring just wondered about the quality and the fitting?

[oblio]

Ortega56 said:

Got my DIYKitchen fitted (mainly due to the recommendations seen here) looks great! Thought I would use a local company to supply and fit the granite countertops - big mistake :-( Don't get me started on the catalogue of disasters! Has anyone used DIYKitchens for their granite! I'm confident with the measuring just wondered about the quality and the fitting?

I would be interested in the reply on that too...

We are moving house soon and apparently the new gaff "needs" a new kitchen! We currently have granite so would like that in the new place too.

Also - I can't see if worktops express do granite on their website...is that right (or is it me)?

ta

[dmsims]

We used https://www.granitemaster.co.uk in 2011

Came and templated 1 week, back the next and fitted, happy with them

[oblio]

dmsims said:

We used https://www.granitemaster.co.uk in 2011

Came and templated 1 week, back the next and fitted, happy with them

Thanks

Competitive price?

[dmsims]

oblio said:

dmsims said:

We used https://www.granitemaster.co.uk in 2011

Came and templated 1 week, back the next and fitted, happy with them

Thanks

Competitive price?

Just under 2K

+ another 2 pieces about each 1m square not in the picture