How to design a kitchen - Stage 4
How we saved a fortune building a high end flat packed kitchen.
Buying a kitchen has become an extraordinarily expensive business in the last few years. We were quoted by one company nearly £34k just for the ready-built wooden units. That’s before installation costs, worktops, appliances, electrics and plumbing. Even at the lower end of the market, by the time you’ve factored in all the eye-watering extras, you’re going to need to take out a small mortgage to pay for it all. In this instalment I’m going to be telling you all about the flat packed wooden kitchen company we used and comparing them to another well-known, but expensive, U.K kitchen manufacturer. In doing so, my hope is that you’ll see that it’s entirely possible for you to have the kitchen you always dreamt of, but didn’t think you could afford. I’ll also be actually showing you how is easy it was for me to build the units.
I had to come up with an alternative plan to be able to get the high end look that we wanted, but without needing to work like dogs for the next decade to pay for it. As soon as I hear the phrase ‘DIY kitchen’ it conjures up images of the first ever kitchen we fitted in our first home together. That was some 26 years ago now, but I remember it well. It arrived in rather sorry-looking boxes from B&Q (that’s pretty much Home Depot in the States). It was a foil-wrapped, chip board and melamine delight to the senses. The backs of the cupboards were as thin as an al dente sheet of lasagna and almost as wobbly.
It was my first foray into the world of DIY and a baptism of fire. Luckily, Mr. C, the now husband, seemed fully competent when it came to butch power tools and spirit level thingamajigs. I think some people are just born knowing this stuff! To me, at the time, it was like learning hieroglyphics. Now, it’s second nature.
If you know me and my style at all, then you’ll know that there was no way in a million years that for our latest kitchen I was going to be settling for anything other than it looking like we’d won the lottery and bought it all from Smallbone of Devizes. Serendipity played its part, as the very lovely kitchen company that we used on our last two kitchen projects had just started making a flat packed version of their traditional timber cupboards. Hallelujah!
I have to say I was a bit sceptical at first. I had visions of multitudes of chipboard and Ikea style fixings. It wasn’t filling me with grand Victorian London townhouse vibes. But, I could not have been more wrong. Their traditionally made wooden cupboards and drawers have been very skillfully adapted for us to build at home. Because everything arrives flat packed and you build them yourself, the company we used are able to offer substantial discounts on costs.
If you’re not comfortable with that idea, then don’t worry. They also offer an option for them to build the units for you, or you can opt for their completely bespoke range, or a mix of both. Of course, you don’t have to use the company we used to create your own DIY kitchen, but I thoroughly recommend them. By the way, this is not a sponsored post. Everything was bought and paid for. If you don’t live in the U.K, then do ask around, as I’ve noticed quite a few companies now offering a flat packed version of their ready-made wooden cupboards.
In my opinion, there is very little difference between a Neptune Home kitchen and one from the company we used. Neptune Home is one of those stores in the UK, which has very cleverly created a one-stop shop for all your design and interior needs. In America, think Pottery Barn. You can buy a kitchen, the paint, napkins, plates, cushions, lights and wallpaper and it’s all designed by them to match harmoniously, filling the hearts of the average kitchen dreamer with identikit bliss.
It’s a shop where you don’t need to think at all and what’s more, you don’t need any design ability, or style of your own. They have done all the hard work for you. You can even buy your artwork there and the cutlery to go in your perfect soft-close oak drawers. However, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them, as I think they are responsible for the deluge of wholesome Stepford Wives style greige kitchens that flood the explore pages on Instagram and the like. In fact, so impressive is Neptune’s pre-conceived design concept that there are self-professed ‘designer’ and ‘creator’ influencers making a fortune pretending their style is their own, when, in fact, it all came from Neptune.
Now, don’t get me wrong, one of my favourite pastimes is a good old rummage through a Neptune store, but it’s usually for accent pieces, or one-offs. I don’t want my home to actually be their showroom. That’s not to say I don’t like the look of their kitchen range either. I do. A lot! But, I don’t have a spare £40k and I also don’t want my kitchen to look like everyone else’s.
You’d also be forgiven for thinking that everything is lovingly made my hand in jolly old Blighty. When, in reality, a lot of it is made in China, including their kitchens. Everything is made in bulk, you can’t mix and match their kitchen styles and you can’t have anything bespoke. What you can do though is pay a mind-blowing fortune for the privilege of having one of their kitchens in your home. So, it’s time for an alternative where the quality is just as good, but where the price tag won’t give you a heart attack.
Read on to find out which company we used and how to build and fit their flat packed kitchens. If you’re one of my lovely free subscribers, or your new here and you’d like to continue reading the rest of this post and be able to interact with the wonderful community we have here, then please consider upgrading by clicking the button below. Next week is the final ‘Finishes’ stage - the most exciting bit. I’ll be delving into my secret little black book to give you all the details of where I sourced everything.