We had a Wren kitchen fitted about 3.5 years ago. "Their" fitters were poor and the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Looks nice, and the appliances are all fine but there was a lot of bodged work done by them, e.g. the fitters didn't realise until too late that our extractor fan was meant to be vented outside. By the time they realised it was no longer possible to route the venting and drill the hole in the wall. To add insult to injury after a few years use a lot of the units/handles are coming apart.
New Kitchen time.. feedback on Wren or others please :)
- Thread starter NickK
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We had a Wren kitchen fitted about 3.5 years ago. "Their" fitters were poor and the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Looks nice, and the appliances are all fine but there was a lot of bodged work done by them, e.g. the fitters didn't realise until too late that our extractor fan was meant to be vented outside. By the time they realised it was no longer possible to route the venting and drill the hole in the wall. To add insult to injury after a few years use a lot of the units/handles are coming apart.
Can you remember the model you had installed?
The insides are probably not much different from any other kitchen manufacturer but the external cladding (ie the glossy bit) seems to be good. One area that seemed decent is metal is used for a lot of the in-storage gadgets and the design also appears to be designed with metal supporting weight rather than plastic or the cupboard MDF itself..
Would also be interested in hearing of any other long term issues. Certainly looks like holding the nerve and having independent fitting is good.
Soldato
Yet another vote for DIY Kitchens. Delivered fully assembled so it was really just a case of slotting them into place and securing (OK, there was more to it with plumbing, etc but that would occur with flatpack stuff too). The finish is fantastic and I genuinely enjoy cooking in my new kitchen, not least than because I planned it and it's exactly what I wanted.
Oh, BTW, I fitted it all myself. Pretty chuffed about that.
Oh, BTW, I fitted it all myself. Pretty chuffed about that.
Yup I could DIY fit - I've redone quite a bit already in the house, and if it was completely up to me that would be the way but she wants it asap and means it gets done if it's done by a fitter..
I had a quick look - the only bespoke colours they do are in a specific range (she wants completely plain doors as she hates dust/dirt getting into the decorative joins).
This is the sort of bold colours for example:
I had a quick look - the only bespoke colours they do are in a specific range (she wants completely plain doors as she hates dust/dirt getting into the decorative joins).
This is the sort of bold colours for example:
Really pleased with Howdens too.
They gave me the details of local installers, the one I used was superb, great service and super cheap. He took care of so much more than he needed too including re-doing the electrics and plastering which wasn't expected.
The units etc are all decent, very impressed for the money
They gave me the details of local installers, the one I used was superb, great service and super cheap. He took care of so much more than he needed too including re-doing the electrics and plastering which wasn't expected.
The units etc are all decent, very impressed for the money
Soldato
You can get an independent fitter, you don't have to DIY it.
Plain doors with or without handles?
If the latter, watch out for a lot of the J-handled kitchens having very narrow channels for your fingers. I'm hardly Andre the Giant but I struggled with most of the ones I tried.
Anyway, talking about colours, be very careful of who you go for as you need to watch out for the finish on the doors. There is a huge variety of options out there and you want to go for something that will last. DIYK will do you custom paint colours, but the units are painted, rather than laminated. Not always ideal.
If I remember (which is by no means a certainty!) I'll have the information when I go home. Every part of the order was emailed and I never delete emails.
Good effort, do you have any pics or a thread?
Nice to see them actually offer a true handless kitchen, fake J-door handless doors are not nice in the slightest!
I'd recommend Kitchens International, purely as our new Leicht kitchen is stunning and I'm shocked how much better it is than our previous Pronorm one. More expensive than these cheaper places, but you can screw them down on price and still get good value and a nice finish from the low price group doors. Just don't play with the nice powder coated metal/concrete as you will want/need them and find a way to justify the silly price increase with some random unlogical conversations
No.1 - Colour is subjective, but boy is that horrible and cheap looking. Doors and handles look very tacky and cheap also.
No.2 - Looks like a J-handle door. As Glitch and I have said, avoid these and try to go proper handless kitchen, it's infinitely superior.
Lot's of 'she' wants it quickly, 'she' is in charge. Time to find you big boy balls and put some rational and logic in there. Rushing is the worst thing you can do and a decent kitchen might time a while to come as it won't likely be off the shelf, especially if you get a nice German one
Post up some pics of your room and any rough renders you've got so far. Glitch and I have both gone through kitchen builds recently and are both very anal both in planning and selection of everything from doors, unit, surfaces, appliances, but more importantly....... Layout & Lighting etc. Both the L's can easily elevate a modestly priced kitchen into something very special indeed and should be right at the top of your list of priorities.
Also, start looking now for appliances, especially for ex-demo offers or any kitchen shows etc where you can pickup some bargains. Don't skimp out on appliances, but then there's no need to go overboard either. For me the biggest thing is to ensure you get 2 ovens and ensure one has a microwave function, it avoids putting in a pointless dedicated microwave.
I'm guessing you're down Surrey way?
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Yup, we’re keeping our Bosch appliances but will be going for a series 8 single oven + series 6 gas hob.
We’re already adjusting the initial design, the colour scheme is currently midnight blue under counter, light gray 80mm worksurface and white upper/full length units.
It looks like the standard schedule doesn’t cover electrical and gas connections for example - were still confirming.
We’ll be also getting a independent fitter quote.
We’re already adjusting the initial design, the colour scheme is currently midnight blue under counter, light gray 80mm worksurface and white upper/full length units.
It looks like the standard schedule doesn’t cover electrical and gas connections for example - were still confirming.
We’ll be also getting a independent fitter quote.
I like you went with wren because of the additional colour options. As others have said above it took a good few weeks of back and forth negotiating to get the price I was happy with and went with their appliances that they were competitive with. This also meant I onlyly had to wait around for one delivery which really helped.
Self install with my dad, and only had to get 1 unit resent out that was damaged. Still going strong over a year later with only 1 chip of note. The amount of times I've dinged a door and thought that's going to leave a mark and nothing. The units are bloody sturdy and the internals can certainly take anything I can throw at them so far.
Due to move next year and will likely go back and look although possibly take into account DIY kitchens as I wasn't aware of them when looking last time.
Self install with my dad, and only had to get 1 unit resent out that was damaged. Still going strong over a year later with only 1 chip of note. The amount of times I've dinged a door and thought that's going to leave a mark and nothing. The units are bloody sturdy and the internals can certainly take anything I can throw at them so far.
Due to move next year and will likely go back and look although possibly take into account DIY kitchens as I wasn't aware of them when looking last time.
Out of interest how much more expensive is Kitchens International compared to the likes of Wren etc? An order of magnitude?
Is this what you've decided on in the end?
I visited Wren today and their J-pull kitchens didn't work for my fingers. Even their Milano range with the 'true' handleless doors didn't either, as it basically involves gripping a 90 degree edge. Similar to pulling on the end of your desk. I didn't find it very tactile for something that would be used thousands of times.
I've also visited Magnet and that was pretty much the same, so interested to know if there are any other options out there without the 'bespoke' price tag.
Wren are MFI reborn and entirely variable on the experience you will have with them. Some have a great time and (many) others do not, but it seems to be there installers that are the issue so if you are going diy it should be ok.
Personally went with a local company for a German kitchen fully fitted including underfloor heating but its not gone well so can't recommend. I'm sure we will get the kitchen we want in the end but put it this way, this weekend they are coming out to replace all of the worktops after having mucked up the join on one of them 2 times now. New carpenter is coming and will do all three runs again. Started in July ;-/
Personally went with a local company for a German kitchen fully fitted including underfloor heating but its not gone well so can't recommend. I'm sure we will get the kitchen we want in the end but put it this way, this weekend they are coming out to replace all of the worktops after having mucked up the join on one of them 2 times now. New carpenter is coming and will do all three runs again. Started in July ;-/
Yes. Kitchen ordered, tile flooring ordered, independent building contractor setup along with sparky and plumber.
Um.. as a background .. my day job I am used to reading the riot act with bad suppliers, negotiating contracts, senior staff in an organisation of 200,000 people.. The wife is a french redhead with a reputation (good) for not taking crap either at work too.. my general advice with Wren is be excruciatingly detailed and confirm (in writing) every element of query you have. Ensure the contract you finalise is 100% correct at the time of signing without any queries after.
1. We had to read the riot act once as the wren installation coordination team are a serious liability - even with the designer in conference call they couldn't quite get it right in terms of timing being discussed - initially they didn't discuss with the date but simply tried to push a date - ignoring that we had got supplementary work needed.
2. After reading the riot act to the Store General Manager again.. the designer initially managed to volunteer an appointment but knew he was on vacation, the GM wasn't happy as it was simply pushing it off on other staff.. needless to say we had the correct attention to detail after that!
3. After correcting the design and the bill of materials - we discovered that their design software has a bug, the designer reported on a call..
4. We finalised by going through the contracts with a fine toothcomb (including all the items, the T&C , and delivery line by line) and finally deciding after 4 builders looking at the plans and visiting - to have an independent perform the install.
5. The selected builder had fun too.. I think they're used to a very vague definition so by the end of a week of discussing (good natured) we had a proper statement of work, quote and contractural terms that work given some of the T&C that wren state (such as performing partial deliveries)
6. We have tiles from Crown Tiles due tomorrow, the build starts next week and we have wren confirm that the delivery will be a single complete delivery.
Hmm as they say.. a plan is list of problems
So I'm not counting my chickens, but wanted to give an indication of the level of attention required with Wren.In the end we switched from midnight blue to gloss lagoon blue (blue-green) for the under worktop units. The full height units and top units will be gloss white to prevent an overload of colour in a small space. The worktop itself will be the Italian Concrete dark grey colour laminate but an 80mm work top all around. The wren standard worktop is lower than our current 1980s one (perhaps modern accessibility design) so the thicker work top probably means it will be a pain to route but we gain about 1 cm or thereabouts in height. I'm tall and she doesn't like bending when at the sink etc.
The walls will be Goose Down light grey with a splash back tiles to be confirmed.
Perhaps not your pastel colours but a bold colour cut under a dark work top finished on one wall in white. Quite pop rather than quaker.
I would quite happily do things like have a white kitchen with a ferrari red set floor to ceiling units in the centre for example.
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Good to hear you've steered things in the right direction at least. Everything I've read about fitting the preassembled units (by independents) has been positive so far. Incidentally while browsing the handle selection I overheard a Wren employee on the phone, in what seemed to be a heated discussion about incorrect units being delivered. I'm sure you have that on your list already 
Hope the install goes well.
Hope the install goes well.Good to hear you've steered things in the right direction at least. Everything I've read about fitting the preassembled units (by independents) has been positive so far. Incidentally while browsing the handle selection I overheard a Wren employee on the phone, in what seemed to be a heated discussion about incorrect units being delivered. I'm sure you have that on your list already
Yup - there's two stages that fit with Wren's T&C
a) Check off of each item delivered (including colour, damage, the accessories and hinge direction) before accepting the delivery from the truck.
b) Open packing and inspect each item before it fitted in place for damage. There is a time period of 72 hours in the T&C for (b) from delivery to reporting.
Although Wren say 3 days from reporting replacements in T&C (real reports and my expectation is it takes longer).
Will report back - the whole thing will be a couple of weeks - including ripping out ceiling, laying tile floor (+hard board panels on floating floor) replacing laminate and plaster/painting.
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“And so it begins..” (to quote babylon5)
Old kitchen units ripped out; tiles off - the builder borrowed my mains powered 790W 2kg SDS with detiling bit because the tiles were a complete bitch.. worked too well the living room plasterwall has a small hole in it lol.
Sounds like the kitchen ceiling is currently coming down..
Old kitchen units ripped out; tiles off - the builder borrowed my mains powered 790W 2kg SDS with detiling bit because the tiles were a complete bitch.. worked too well the living room plasterwall has a small hole in it lol.
Sounds like the kitchen ceiling is currently coming down..