Kitchen companies - views on Blakes, Eclectic, Sola and others? Post Reply

[pie81]

I'm trying to choose a kitchen company for our upcoming refurbishment. I'd like someone fairly local who can do bespoke solutions where needed, and am looking at Blakes, Eclectic, Sola, Holloways and possibly Roundhouse.

Does anyone have experience of any of these they could share with me - either on this thread or by PM? I am interested in how the fitting process went and aftercare as well as the design.

Many thanks

[pie81]

little bump! Any experiences welcome.

[manureva]

Hello! We've been through this exact process and went with Anna at Kitchen Connection. Her showroom is on Garratt Lane and I must say we are delighted with our kitchen.
She came to visit to have a "feel" of the house as the Architect drawings dont say the whole story. She listened to us carefully and came with such a great and clever design, we didn't have to change anything.
Even if she had some samples with her, we went to her showroom for more choice. I believed Schuller (German brand) was only doing modern design but they actually do some beautiful shaker kitchen at a reasonable price.
Anna arranged everything, from the design, the units, the worktops, the appliances and more importantly the whole installation. She liaised well with my builder and everything went perfectly well...
Almost 3 years after, our kitchen looks like brand new and we have recommended Anna to many friends.

*little story here: for some reason (no, I'm not accusing my 3yo boy ) our door for our integrated freezer was not very tight. I called Anna and she arranged her fitter to solve this minor issue in the same week. Really delighted with the whole service.

[Writerlady]

Jolanta at Eclectic was fantastic. They were very efficient and experienced. Was delighted with their service. Have many friends who used her too, which is why we went with them. Do PM me if you would like more info. Would happily recommend them.

[pie81]

Thanks both!

Manureva, I'll have a look but the German shaker is usually not my thing - but will check it out.

Writerlady, thank you - I have also had a friend use them who was happy so that's another tick!

[monaco]

I have the exact same question so would be grateful if those of you who sent answers via Pm could also message me! Thanks for starting the thread

[Nw1981]

Depending on your style considered higham. My kitchen is very similar to one from blakes but cost a lot less. Amazing product, customer service and after care. Feel free to contact me and can send photos of our kitchen

[Ensoul.co.uk]

Hi, we have dealt with a number of the kitchen companies you mention and others, happy to have a conversation if it helps, mike@ensoul.co.uk Director, Ensoul

[balhamite]

I have a Higham kitchen too and love it! Their service is amazing.

[sallyandmark]

Hi - we used Blakes recently and they were fantastic. Our kitchen is the Brodrick Rd one on the website.

They are really easy and straightforward to deal with, amazing design input and managed the whole process really well. We were doing loads of other stuff with the house and the kitchen (they also did bookshelves & utility room with Blakes) is was one area we totally entrusted to them to manage including all the appliances etc. that best fit the kitchen which they bought for us.

Couldn't recommend them enough.

[ErininBalham]

I don’t normally gush- but please go no further than Robyn at Roundhouse!!! I just survived living in a building site for 9months. Needless to say, it was hell. The architects didn’t appreciate my input, nor did three of the internal builders. I was literally Biting my tongue as they made jokes about me in another language. It was all very frustrating and I felt completely as if no one was listening to me. Queue Robyn (I am starting a fan club for her as after I finished my kitchen people came out of the woodwork to talk about how amazing she was). She asked me about how we live and what I want and I was shocked at how she just listened calmly and completely heard me. She made the process so EASY! It was actually an absolute joy to work with her. She also has impeccable taste and recommended a colour for the cabinets that I really wasn’t sure about. My teenage daughter told me that Robyn got it “so right” so I held my breath and went for it. Everyone who comes into my kitchen now immediately comments on the fabulous colour of the cabinets.
Another thing to mention is the attention to detail in the fitting. Nothing was too much trouble and they were incredibly professional. There were a few fingerprints on one of the cupboard doors and so they ordered a new one to be made up for me (I couldn’t make it out for the life of me). The carpenters, kitchen cleaner, painters- everyone was incredibly polite and just lovely to have around. The office was always keeping me posted of how and when and who would be arriving to fit/touch up/clean the new kitchen. The service was second to none. My kitchen is truly my dream kitchen. It was designed for me and how my family lives. I am beyond thrilled with the result. I cannot urge you enough to use Roundhouse. (Btw, my branch was on Nightingale Lane). Best of luck.

[pie81]

Thanks for the further replies!

Those suggesting Higham, I did visit them but they were pretty inflexible about changing the design of the cabinets, they can do it but don't want to as they are so busy. Lovely quality but only would work if you want the style exactly as they already do it whereas I'm after at least some bits to look a bit different.

Thanks for the positive reviews of Blakes and Roundhouse, I am meeting Blakes soon. I know I like their design but wasn't sure about their process management. I had written off Roundhouse (forget why!) but maybe should reconsider!

Monaco, I've not had any PMs.

If anyone has had any more experiences, good or bad, I would love to hear them. If you would prefer to PM please do

[Mum_in_London]

Hi

We used eclectic for our recent renovation and I’ve been so impressed with them.
We had Libra and she is patient, great at communicating and really helped us refine the design.
She helped us with materials, colours etc and came up with smart ways of keeping to our budget whilst having a great designed kitchen at the end. (We looked at Roundhouse and yes they are also very attentive but Very expensive)

The whole end to end service is amazing too. The fitters are all on their staff so they know them very well and always fit within time. The worktop is very high standard as was our splashback.

Also, when we had a couple of snags Libra sorted these our no problem. She also sent us electrical details for our electrician who said it was the easiest kitchen to deal with as everything was where it should be.

Very happy with them, they seem tongonthe extra mile for you.

Good luck

[monaco]

This is so helpful, thank you Pie81 for starting that thread and for telling me that there were no pm

We had met Roundhouse and agree that Robyn’s taste is fantastic. We too wrote them off because of the price. The review here may make us reconsider it!

Tempted by Blakes as Jamie seems a “can do” guy which is important.

Finally does anyone have experience of “kitchens by Holloway’s”?

Thanks

[dudette]

We used a company called Mowlem’s. They were incredibly expensive and the quality for the cost was low - they showed me solid wood interiors in their showroom and we got laminate (and not even real wood). They made so many mistakes. The designer never visited the house until about six months after the kitchen was installed and then only because I demanded it. Their idea of after sales was for me to pay about £180 for someone to show me how the ovens worked. A truly dreadful company - avoid like the plague.