ᐅ Kitchen consultation: which brand for kitchen and appliances?

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

But I still believe that making exact comparisons is extremely tedious.

I agree with that. Here are two alternatives to an "exact" comparison, both of which have proven effective:

My parents-in-law followed the British equivalent of Stiftung Warentest and based their decisions on its evaluations. They had good experiences and faced few decision-making problems. If a product later turned out to be less than ideal, they took comfort in the belief that all the others would have been even worse. A self-delusion that works.

I’m very curious and dive into everything I can get my hands on—I learn how things work, who invented them and why, how seemingly similar features are implemented differently, what the manufacturers stand for, and what business models they follow… Few people have the time for this; I prefer doing it over, for example, watching TV, which feels like "saved time." In the end, I still decide based on gut feeling because, through all the research, certain suppliers stand out as more likeable to me than others. Rarely do I regret a purchase, and I’d be reluctant to admit it—even to myself. 😉 A self-delusion that works.

But those who try to verify everything completely objectively and “for sure” live with continuous doubt about their decisions. Even if the choice objectively turned out to be the "best," the doubt remains. It’s a miserable way to live, isn’t it?

Pacc666 schrieb:

Which brand of cooker hood would you recommend? Also Neff, Bosch, and similar?

For ducted extraction, the relatively affordable hoods from BSH are sufficient. For recirculation hoods, I would invest in higher quality models, as their performance is better. Recently, I have had good experiences with Novy and Berbel – however, their hoods usually cost well over €2,000 (not the list price, but the street price).

P.S. My kitchen furniture cost €2,700 (high-gloss white, soft-close, 250cm (98 inches) tall cabinets, corner carousel, etc.) from Ikea. Additionally, I spent €3,100 on a natural stone countertop with recesses for flush-mounted outlets, cooktop, and sink (since I don’t have any outlets in the wall). Finally, the electrical appliances (induction cooktop, oven 1, combination oven 2, refrigerator, fully integrated dishwasher, and Berbel hood — appliances from BSH, all from the premium lines) cost around €7,000.

Now I’ll briefly share about my “self-delusion kitchen”:
The manufacturer is Nolte. The matte black finish is surprisingly easy to clean, and the drawers and doors work perfectly (except for the sliding door for the trash bin, which I had to readjust after 2 years). The built-in appliances are Siemens top-of-the-line models. I had issues twice with the oven, but repairs were straightforward, and the appliance was replaced after the second defect. The boiling water tap is from Grohe (installation took two attempts due to a faulty plug), and the ducted range hood is from Falmec (works well and looks nice). The calculated retail price of 50+k was definitely an unrealistic asking price as a starting point. I consider the equivalent value of 27.5k acceptable. For me, value is more important than discount, and the conversation with the salesperson was actually entertaining; we both knew the price was fair. The installation took 2.5 days by two really nice kitchen fitters who stayed overnight (we bought the kitchen at our previous home, 80km (50 miles) away). They invited them to a nice restaurant for dinner the first evening. The quality of the installation would probably have been very good otherwise as well.
So you see: Not everything went perfectly, yet I am still satisfied. I could just as well focus on the difficulties described above. Then I would be dissatisfied with the same kitchen. But I don’t need to.

@Benutzer200 Sounds good. Approximately how many running meters (linear meters) are we talking about?

Benutzer200 schrieb:

For exhaust air, the relatively affordable hoods from BSH work fine. For recirculation, I would invest in higher quality because the functionality is better. Recently, I had good experiences with Novy and Berbel – but those hoods were usually well over €2,000 (not MSRP, but street price).

However, with exhaust air, you need to consider several factors regarding controlled residential ventilation/fireplace ventilation.

We will have a custom kitchen made by a carpenter in Poland. The running meter length is about 11. Appliances: Bosch Series 6 induction cooktop including downdraft vent, Bosch Series 4 dishwasher, Bosch Series 8 combination steam oven, built-in fully automatic coffee machine Bosch, LG side-by-side refrigerator. Costs are: kitchen €14,000 including quartz countertop + appliances up to €6,000 (they source themselves).