News Image

Buyers Guide to Choosing a New Kitchen

At James Nickson Bespoke Interiors, we understand that making decisions about your fitted interior space can be stressful and confusing. Many of us only experience buying a new fitted kitchen, bedroom or bathroom a handful of times in our lives and in the time between, products and options will have changed dramatically, making it seem like a whole new process each time.

We’ve put together some key points that will hopefully make the process of choosing a new fitted interior easier and more straightforward.

“It’s just a chipboard box with a door on it”

In almost all cases this is true, but there can be significant differences in the quality of materials used and the way in which it’s manufactured and constructed. These factors will dictate how robust a product is and how long a product will perform while looking its best. The lower value products will initially appear perfectly good, however they can quickly deteriorate if not cared for properly. Similarly, the majority of mid range products are of good quality and can last a decent length of time.

In most cases, you’ll find that as the prices of products increase, so does the range of options available to you, along with an improvement in the quality of products.

Put simply, you can achieve a quality and stylish fitted space without spending a huge amount of money, however, if you plan on creating a statement space, you’ll require a big imagination or a big budget.

It’s not just the type of cabinet frontage that defines the style of the kitchen.

The type of door frontage you choose does not, on it’s own, define the look and feel of your kitchen. Of course, the frontage will play a part, however it’s the way in which you accessorise and present the doors that will influence the overall feel.

Combining a flat laminate door with ornate trims, handles and period accessories can transform a contemporary door into a more traditional feature and you can use the same principals with more traditional styles of frontage and contemporary accessories.

Any company can hand out beautiful brochures full of aspirational kitchens.

This is true, and whether you visit a multinational supplier, independent showroom or your local builders merchant, product manufacturers will have spent a small fortune to produce these brochures to help dealers “sell the dream”.

However, these generic brochures aren’t real proof of what the company can do. You should ask to see real life case studies of the jobs they have done to offer a much better insight into what a company can do for you.

Choose a company that can deliver what matters.

It can be a risk choosing a company that cannot offer a package that fits your requirements.

Different projects have different needs. Some may only require sourcing of quality products, as you may already have trusted tradesmen for the job, whereas other projects could require numerous additional services and extensive project management. Therefore, it might not be in your best interest to opt for a multinational supplier who possibly won’t have the quality connections to fitters or project managers who can offer you a high quality installation and trouble free project.

Get quotes from different companies, but not too many.

Deciding on your new fitted interior space can be daunting when faced with making numerous decisions. We suggest managing the stress by collecting a few quotations from various companies, but don’t fall into the trap of getting too many quotes as this can make the decision making process harder and take up a lot more of your time than necessary. If possible, it’s always a good idea to ask for recommendations from friends or relatives, then making a list of around five companies you’d like to approach for a quote. Continue the same process until you find a company you are comfortable with.

October 17, 2016 By Sarah Crossley