Howdens vs Wren vs Magnet
Nicola Jong
3 years ago
Wren
Howdens
Magnet
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Comments (33)
Nicola Jong
3 years agoRuth House
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Advice on kitchen flooring and walls
Comments (37)I agree , as a former kitchen planner i would say dont be put off trying the independents,especially local ones, they will usually do their best to use your budget to good effect.They will come and survey and take a personal interest. I think the pale sage greeny grey is a lovely calm colour and as someone else said you cant continually worry about many years down the line..if it appeals to you now you will probably still feel comfortable for some time. Everyone thought cream doors would last forever but I got sick of mine eventually (10 yrs !) and craved light blue or putty grey.You cant be sure of trends but enjoy what you have chosen by making sure the layout works well for you.Spend time on that with your designer (.I use giant drawers a lot on the base as the stuff comes to you, no bending.Even my crockery is in them. ) Its true that wood can be painted and if you have a synthetic "wrap" finish it cant be updated except to change the doors. (But who knows you might sell up one distant day and not need to worry. I did !!). As for the floor , Ive chosen real wood this time and the warmth underfoot in this cold climate is fantastic.I dont think wood with wood is off limits but its personal taste at the end of the day, but it can look good if you introduce some leafy green plants into your scheme.It seems to instinctively go with other natural materials . Good advice also to keep oiling your timber work surface ,, it doesnt take long but keeps it from staining. All the best with your new project !...See MoreWren v Howdens and wood v mdf
Comments (47)If its a choice between Wren and any other kitchen provider in the universe go with the other! I had nothing but trouble dealing with Wren. They were much more expensive, expected me to organise the individual contractors (tiler, plumber), the quotes from their nominated contractors came in AFTER I had the work completed by a Howdens specialist and had to chase them for months to get my 'fully refundable' deposit back. The Howdens contractor did everything from the design (picking up major design flaw in the Wren design) to the aftercare. I got solid wood doors and solid wood bench tops for less than what Wren quoted for cheaper options. He even came back and did some extra decorating work to finish the job off nicely. Dealing with Wren was a total nightmare....See Moretorn between kitchen styles
Comments (67)Hi Tani, I have an ikea kitchen. I wanted wood doors and nothing traditional and ikea did oak doors that I liked. What swung it for me was reading about how many architects use ikea. One thing I know is that they use very good designers, so their stuff tends to be 'clever'. You do have to construct the carcasses and some fitters don't like this. What is good is that the carcasses hang off a steel rail. This is attached to the wall and then all of the cupboards hang in a straight line and then the feet are adjusted at the front. My carpenter adjusted my units as he was fitting them, even reducing the depth at times, so the whole thing was bespoke. The other thing is that they are much bigger. They go much nearer to the floor and the kick plates are virtually invisible, this looks more contemporary. They are deeper to so you can't get a standard off the shelf worktop. I paid the same for the fitting as the cost of the units, in my opinion it's all about the fitting. Most carpenter use Howdens as they have accounts and it's familiar to them. I also saved money by using a thin layer of quartz over moisture resistant MDF (a bit like an engineered floor). Whole thing was 16K including removing a load bearing wall, plastering, electrics, kitchen everything....See MoreAll opinions welcome please
Comments (7)Had a quick look on their website and they look very good but it all comes down to cost, So if you're comparing between howdens (mfi schreiber back in the day) vs jonas & james if they're a comparable price then they are a superior product. Comparing the cabinets, having an 18mm solid back on the base helps to stabalise and strengthen the cabinet, keeps it square and can take the weight of heavy worktops, 3mm hardboard backs in this day is pretty rubbish. 1-2mm cabinet edging is what you need but what you don't want is paper/thin pvc 0.4mm edging as you can make out the chipboard underneath. Cabinet colours though with only 5 is ok, but if you're paying a lot of money, an independant who supplies egger board cabinets would have a lot more colours and woodgrains to choose from and you can source these doors seperately. Flat pack cabinets are fine (they have a bit of a bad reputation) and they're easy to store and move about and with the fittings pre inserted they're easy and quick to put together. The only downside though is with the wall units and you may see (in a large room and sitting down) the metal cams in the wall unit base panel, to get round this I suggest to customers having a decor panel underneath. For the doors, again far superior, the J profile handleless door for example is 22mm painted, the howdens door is a foil wrapped 19mm cut and edge (badly) door and to thin. Their 5 piece foil wrapped door is also good quality and available in made to measure option. Their painted matt doors also have a wider range of colours to choose from. The guarantee isn't something I'd worry about TBH, if there's a fault you're going to see this on installation and these companies that offer a 25 year guarentee are a joke as the chance that they'll have the item that you want in 20 years time is about zero, with some companies they discontinue the door 6 months after you buy the kitchen and have no back up stock in my experience, so they offer a door that doesn't match. I also have an account with this manufacturer and I think they're good quality, they're a large manufacturer in the uk kitchen company and been going for years. All you have to do is make sure the design works for you, the plan all fits and when you buy it that everything on the invoice matches what you need on the plan. I tend to start in the corner and mark out on the worktop or wall where everything is going - good luck with your first kitchen....See MoreDaisy England
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