Fitted furniture – is it always a rip-off?

[Salted_Peanut]

Talk to me about fitted furniture.

I tried a couple of allegedly reputable companies. While I expect fitted furniture will never be cheap, I have been disappointed by their approach (high-pressure sales tactics, etc.). So, has anyone had better experiences?

[Quattr04.]

I had John Lewis and sharps come to design a wardrobe for me, the price was almost the same but the sharps man was high pressure where as John Lewis couldn’t have been more relaxed about it, no pressure, no gimmicky order now for 10% off etc

[Salted_Peanut]

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll try John Lewis.

Some prices I had from others were bonkers, e.g. a fitted but regular-sized desk and two sets of drawers for £11k, reduced to £8k if I said yes there and then. Who buys this?

[craig1912]

Try someone local or an Office Furniture place that does fitted stuff. Think we paid circa £2k for double desk, drawers and cupboards in a good quality finish. In old house it lasted 15 years (from same place as our current house).
Probably not in your area but we got ours from here

https://haywoodofficeservices.co.uk/pages/made-to-...

[soad]

Footballers?

I’m not the biggest fan of the chipboard panel furniture either.

[SteBrown91]

Try a local company - often bespoke kitchen companies also offer it as they are essentially the same just taller.

[akirk]

Salted_Peanut said:

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll try John Lewis.

Some prices I had from others were bonkers, e.g. a fitted but regular-sized desk and two sets of drawers for £11k, reduced to £8k if I said yes there and then. Who buys this?

Try a local cabinet maker / woodworker / chippy type person?
I had a 6ft desk hand made made traditionally for me from british oak / walnut about 12 years ago but was under half that price! Even with inflation I wouldn't expect to have gone up by that much - and it is a stunning heirloom piece of furniture custom made to my needs...

[guitarcarfanatic]

Salted_Peanut said:

Talk to me about fitted furniture.

I tried a couple of allegedly reputable companies. While I expect fitted furniture will never be cheap, I have been disappointed by their approach (high-pressure sales tactics, etc.). So, has anyone had better experiences?

Just find someone who does bespoke stuff. There are plenty around specialising (sort of one man bands).

It's not cheap to build and install though - MR MDF is still pricey, they need a big unit (with overheads) to process it, and if you want it painted, then they also need a spray booth (or outsource that element).

But will be cheaper than sharps and a much better job!

[carterlukh]

Yeah, fitted furniture def ain’t cheap, but the sales tactics some companies use are the worst. Had better luck with smaller local firms—less pushy, more flexible, and better quality tbh. Maybe try independents?

[Simpo Two]

I would try to find a good local carpenter. No salesmen, marketing managers, TV adverts, social media campaigns or shareholders to pay for.

[SunsetZed]

Simpo Two said:

I would try to find a good local carpenter. No salesmen, marketing managers, TV adverts, social media campaigns or shareholders to pay for.

This, a local carpenter put some in for us. We offered to be flexible in terms of when it was done as in a day here and a day there if that helped him fit it in around other jobs as it was in a room not heavily used and that may also have helped with the price.

[-Cappo-]

If you're in the SE, I can recommend a very good bespoke cabinet maker/carpenter. Have given the details to other PHers in the past who have been very happy with the work.

[remedy]

You are paying for that sales person to drive around and sell the product, so the price will always be high.
Find a local chippy on Facebook. If he doesn't do it, he will know a cabinet maker.

We had a couple of units made to my design for our office and downstairs utility. 1 in the office houses my gun cabinet behind a sort of hidden door. The way he's built the cabinet around it means it would never come out either.
Absolutely perfect.

[krisdelta]

I used a local carpenter, had the broad design and "look" I wanted in mind, whole thing done (desk, two floating shelves and a floor-to-nearly ceiling cupboard with two doors and 3 shelves) installed and painted for £650, which would equate to approx £800 today. Personally the big companies I found to be poor quality and "filler to fit" rather than bespoke "to size", for 10 x the price.

[Gareth79]

A friend recently wanted an L-shaped desk and under-desk drawers for a home office area in a new roof conversion, Orpington area. I can't remember exactly who he tried but it was a mix of fitted companies and local carpenters, but the quotes ranged from £1,500 to £8,000+. I suggested Howdens (I think they give you a list of local fitters after a design visit) but the sales/design staff said they didn't do home offices, despite him showing the page on their website. I think he eventually went with a local handyman/carpenter.

[Salted_Peanut]

carterlukh said:

Yeah, fitted furniture def ain’t cheap, but the sales tactics some companies use are the worst. Had better luck with smaller local firms—less pushy, more flexible, and better quality tbh. Maybe try independents?

I was deeply unimpressed by the companies' sales tactics—they were very offputting. So, I will follow everyone's recommendation to try a small independent company.

remedy said:

You are paying for that sales person to drive around and sell the product, so the price will always be high.

Considering the prestige cars the salespeople had, I can see why their prices were (ludicrously) high.

[DonkeyApple]

A lot of these companies hire commission based sales staff which is why you can get the hard sell and hefty price mark up.

John Lewis will be more chilled as they govern the price and the behaviour of the sales team.

If possible, always try to support the small locals though. Those businesses are the backbone of a community.