How to find the best-value suppliers of slim Shaker door styles
Kitchens with slim Shaker door styles are sold by a variety of outlets, all over the UK. These include the big high-street chains, such as Wren, Wickes and Magnet, as well as the major trade-only suppliers. They can also be found at many smaller, independent kitchen showrooms.
With so many options to choose from, how do you find the best-value suppliers of kitchens with slim Shaker door styles?
Slim Shaker door styles from high-street chains and trade-only suppliers
Most people looking for suppliers of slim Shaker doors styles think first of the major high-street chains. These are names you’re probably familiar with, such as Wren, Wickes and Magnet.
Alternatively, if you’re doing building work, you might get your builder to source the kitchen. They’ll be able to access the large trade-only suppliers, such as Howdens, Benchmarx and Magnet Trade.
What are the benefits of using the chains and trade-only suppliers?
The main advantage is that they’re cheap. Besides this, they’re easy to find and convenient — there’s likely to be several branches close to you.
What are the downsides of using the chains and trade-only suppliers?
Unfortunately, there are far more downsides than benefits, and the main one is that they’re cheap for a reason. Kitchens from the chains and trade-only suppliers are low quality, meaning they’re unlikely to last very long.
Another problem is that these places tend to be poor at designing kitchens, and this shows up in a number of ways.
Firstly, their designs rarely make best use of the available space. Secondly, their designs often contain one or more design errors. These are often only discovered when you actually start using the kitchen, by which time it’s too late. An example of a design error is putting a fridge-freezer too close to a wall. Doing this means the customer will be unable to open the salad compartment. Thirdly, sometimes their designs don’t actually fit the space. You’ll usually only discover this when the kitchen is being installed, by which time again, it’s too late.
The other problem is that when you purchase a kitchen via a builder from a trade-only supplier such as Howdens, you’re buying a kitchen with little or no come back. This is because legally, your contract is with your builder and not the supplier. Therefore, if, a few years down the line, you get a problem with the kitchen, when you try going back to the supplier, they’ll tell you that they only deal with the trade and you need to go back to your builder. However, when you go back to your builder, they’ll usually tell you that they’re only responsible for the fitting and you need to go back to the supplier. This toing and froing usually goes on for some time until people eventually give up.
Slim Shaker door styles from independent kitchen showrooms
In addition to the major chains and trade-only suppliers, slim Shaker door styles are also sold by most independent kitchen showrooms. So, what are the benefits and downsides of using an independent?
What are the benefits of using independent kitchen showrooms?
Independents offer two main benefits. Firstly, many of the kitchen ranges they sell are higher-quality than the kitchens the chains and trade-only suppliers offer. Therefore, their kitchens will last a lot longer. Secondly, some independents will design your kitchen properly. Therefore, not only will their design make best use of the available space, it will also be free from design errors and will fit.
What are the downsides of using independent kitchen showrooms?
Unfortunately, these benefits don’t apply to all independent kitchen showrooms.
Many independents sell ranges that are no better quality than the kitchens the chains and trade-only suppliers offer. The same can be said about their design service too. Many showrooms are no better at designing kitchens that the chains and trade only suppliers.
The other problem is that many of the high-quality kitchen ranges independents sell are astronomically expensive.
The good news, though, is that it is possible to find independents whose kitchens cost similar to the chains and trade-only suppliers, but are higher-quality. Plus, these suppliers will design your kitchen properly for you too.
How do you find these great value suppliers?
Simple, just contact us and we’ll tell you who they are. Plus, our service is free.
Our free service recommends the best value kitchen suppliers in your area.
Their kitchens start at similar prices to places like Howdens, Wren and Magnet, but are higher-quality.
All offer free quotes.
Read what our customers say about our service below:
“Kitchenfindr recommended a showroom who were much better value than most of the other showrooms I’d previously looked at”
Hannah Malone, Esher, Surrey
“The kitchen your guys came up with is far more competitive than anything I have had quoted so far”
Samantha Michaels, Watford, Herts
“No-one should buy a kitchen without speaking to Kitchenfindr first”
Bal Pabla, Romford, Essex
Related article: How to find bespoke shaker kitchens that don’t cost a fortune
