The Dilemma

When you start to think about updating your Kitchen, Bathroom or Bedroom there are hundreds of decisions to be made. But the very first thing that needs to be resolved is "How are we going to go about this?" There are a lot of options worthy of consideration - buy a complete flat-pack kitchen (or bathroom or bedroom) from the local DIY store and fit it yourself: buy from the store and get them to fit it: source all the components yourself and either fit them yourself or get your local builder or carpenter to do the work for you: go to one of the national kitchen supply companies and entrust the whole project to them: or use an independent trade supplier.

Like everything else in life, each one of these alternatives has an upside and a downside!

First, the DIY option. Obviously, the major plus side of this is the cost-saving: the minus side is that you have to do it! The average team of skilled kitchen fitters will take between 3 days and two weeks to rip out your old kitchen and install the new one, depending on it's size and complexity. So just imagine how long this is going to take you to do, fitting it around your normal working day - how many nights will that be with no kitchen sink, or running water, or cooker - not recommended!

Getting the DIY store to fit it for you looks like an attractive option - everyone knows how competitive their prices are, and they very often will have a "free fitting" offer. Now, nothing in life is free (except possibly rain!). The fitters still have to be paid, so the price you pay for your units will inevitably reflect that.

Sourcing everything yourself is a quite viable option - with the power of the internet finding specialist suppliers for all the individual components should not be too much trouble. The problems can start when trying to project-manage all the different supplies coming in at the right time! The cost of having contractors stood around waiting for things to arrive can blow your budget completely (do you ever watch 'Grand Designs'?).

The large national kitchen (bathroom/bedroom) supply firms offer a comprehensive service, but their prices do inevitably reflect this - and of course, as they are trying to sell their own products, the choice in some areas can become slightly limited. Also bear in mind that they, like the DIY superstores, tend to use sub-contract fitters: being contractors, they are usually working to a fixed price, and their main objective has to be to finish the work as quickly as possible, to move on to the next job.

The independent planning/supply/fitting contractor will most certainly not be the cheapest option. Because their reputation is the most important business asset they possess, the quality of the materials used will be of a high standard. If you choose a company who have been trading for some years, they will have established links with any number of component suppliers, resulting in a wide variety of choice for worktops, cupboard doors and drawer-fronts, fittings and appliances. But perhaps the most important aspect of the whole project is that should you decide to take this route, one person is going to be responsible for planning, supplying and installing the most important rooms in your home - just one point of contact to ensure that your wishes are carried out to the highest of standards.

I hope that this has been thought-provoking, and whichever way you choose to go, I wish you the very best of luck with your project and hope that it enhances your home and your lifestyle for many years to come.