Most house builds also include purchasing a new kitchen, as was the case for us. Here are our experiences.
The kitchen should be planned by the time of the topping-out ceremony so that the locations for the installations and connections are set.
Choice of Brand
The most difficult task is gathering information about the various brands. Useful sources are different websites (kitchen directories, kitchen portals, and the disq study on kitchen brands).
Different kitchen brands vary not only in price, quality, and customer satisfaction but also in an important feature: cabinet height, which ranges between 70-80 cm (28-31 inches). If you plan an elevated countertop height of around 92 cm (36 inches), you should avoid brands with 72 cm (28 inches) cabinets, as the baseboard would have to be too high, resulting in wasted space. Ideally, for example: a 10 cm (4 inches) baseboard plus a 78 cm (31 inches) cabinet plus a 4 cm (1.5 inches) countertop add up to a countertop height of 92 cm (36 inches).
Basics of Planning
Kitchen studio planning works best when you already have some clear ideas. Common questions include:
Our favorite kitchen element: the sink BLANCO AXIS II 6 S-IF Edition
Choosing the Kitchen Studio
The level of advice varies greatly depending on the consultant, and prices differ even more. The price for the same kitchen fluctuated by 30-40% or up to 5,000 €. We visited Küchen Keie (Mainz), Möbel Martin (Mainz), Meda Küchen (Wiesbaden), Möbel Schwaab (Ingelheim), and Möbel Preiss (Kastellaun). The best advice was from Ms. Ackermann at Meda Küchen, while Möbel Martin and Möbel Preiss offered the best prices.
Price Comparison
Prices can only be compared if the offers are identical: same brand, same design, and the same equipment.
The kitchen should be planned by the time of the topping-out ceremony so that the locations for the installations and connections are set.
Choice of Brand
The most difficult task is gathering information about the various brands. Useful sources are different websites (kitchen directories, kitchen portals, and the disq study on kitchen brands).
Different kitchen brands vary not only in price, quality, and customer satisfaction but also in an important feature: cabinet height, which ranges between 70-80 cm (28-31 inches). If you plan an elevated countertop height of around 92 cm (36 inches), you should avoid brands with 72 cm (28 inches) cabinets, as the baseboard would have to be too high, resulting in wasted space. Ideally, for example: a 10 cm (4 inches) baseboard plus a 78 cm (31 inches) cabinet plus a 4 cm (1.5 inches) countertop add up to a countertop height of 92 cm (36 inches).
Basics of Planning
Kitchen studio planning works best when you already have some clear ideas. Common questions include:
- Cabinet surfaces: melamine resin, foil and laminate, lacquer laminate, UV lacquer, lacquer, glass, real wood,...
- Countertop: laminate, synthetic or natural stone (very expensive!), solid wood/real wood,...
- Cabinet types: pull-out cabinets, pantry cabinets, corner carousel, LeMans corner solution, wall cabinets,...
- Appliance brands: e.g., Bosch/Siemens (which are essentially identical)
- Which appliances should be eye-level (oven? dishwasher?), which can be placed below (dishwasher? freezer compartment)?
- Appliance features: refrigerator (Vitafresh, Hydrofresh, NoFrost, energy rating A++/A+++), oven (integrated microwave, pyrolysis cleaning, telescopic rails), dishwasher (A++/A+++, noise level dB, cutlery drawer/tray), stove (60 cm / 90 cm width, steel/ceramic/induction/gas/flex induction)
- Additional equipment: extractor hood, sink, faucet, lighting elements,...
Our favorite kitchen element: the sink BLANCO AXIS II 6 S-IF Edition
Choosing the Kitchen Studio
The level of advice varies greatly depending on the consultant, and prices differ even more. The price for the same kitchen fluctuated by 30-40% or up to 5,000 €. We visited Küchen Keie (Mainz), Möbel Martin (Mainz), Meda Küchen (Wiesbaden), Möbel Schwaab (Ingelheim), and Möbel Preiss (Kastellaun). The best advice was from Ms. Ackermann at Meda Küchen, while Möbel Martin and Möbel Preiss offered the best prices.
Price Comparison
Prices can only be compared if the offers are identical: same brand, same design, and the same equipment.
You have a clear idea of where the room for negotiation ends.
kbt09 schrieb:
And what’s the point of looking at discount figures without any connection to planning or other information? You buy a kitchen at a final total price, and that’s what matters. A cleverly mentioned high discount rate is not what counts.
You simply don’t have that. The range of pricing from kitchen retailers, furniture stores, and so on is so wide that you can’t really draw any conclusions from it. Based on many reports from Kuchen-Forum.de, it’s more common that large furniture stores offer the biggest discounts because their main sales strategy is still to attract customers with percentage discounts. Many small studios and local kitchen retailers tend to work with straightforward, realistic prices. Negotiations there are often limited to rounding down to the nearest 100, 500, or maybe 1000.
Kitchen design and pricing are very individual. A kitchen that looks visually identical at first glance can easily cost twice as much if, for example:
Kitchen design and pricing are very individual. A kitchen that looks visually identical at first glance can easily cost twice as much if, for example:
- Side panels and similar parts are lacquered instead of plastic
- Drawers have glass or wooden sides instead of standard metal-sided drawers
- The fronts feature a luxurious lacquer finish instead of melamine or the less desirable foil finishes
- The cabinet carcass is taller (e.g., 78 or 80 cm (31 or 32 inches)) instead of the popular 72 cm (28 inches) carcass height common with Nobilia, often combined with more drawers in the taller cabinet
kbt09 schrieb:
You simply don’t have that. The range of pricing from kitchen retailers/furniture stores, etc., is so wide that you can’t really derive anything from it. From many user reports on Kuchen-Forum.de, it seems that in large furniture stores, you can usually get the biggest discounts in percentage terms, since a main sales strategy there is still to attract customers with percentage discounts. Many small local studios and kitchen dealers offer very realistic prices right away. In those cases, haggling is often limited to rounding down to a neat 100, 500, or maybe even 1,000 euros.
Kitchen planning and pricing is a very individual matter. You can get a kitchen that looks visually identical for perhaps twice the price if, for example:
- Panels and sides are lacquered instead of made from plastic laminate
- Drawers have glass or wooden sides instead of standard metal-sided ones
- Luxurious lacquer finishes on the fronts instead of melamine fronts or the commonly avoided foil fronts
- A taller cabinet frame (e.g., 78 or 80 cm [31 or 31.5 inches]) instead of the popular 72 cm (28 inches) high frame from Nobilia, combined with more drawers
All of these can be factors that are not visible at first glance, which unfortunately makes it quite difficult to compare different offers. This exact mindset is what the seller aims to create in the customer. After an odyssey through numerous renowned kitchen studios, the business practices of the salespeople become clear. Eventually, you know your kitchen and the prices. But sometimes, it may be better not to know that there was a price margin of 5,000 euros (approximately 5,400 US dollars) or more.
U
Username_wahl28 Nov 2015 19:31Our L-shaped kitchen from the kitchen specialist store with AEG appliances will cost 10,000 € including the “I-ask-the-boss” discount. It is difficult for us to judge whether the price is reasonable.
Our experience buying a kitchen was quite straightforward: we visited a furniture store, where the initial prices were sky-high, followed immediately by a substantial discount. This brought us below our budget (around 40% discount). However, since we weren’t satisfied with the design, we looked into Ikea. They also offer pretty good kitchens at a reasonable price, it must be said.
Then we went to a smaller studio nearby. Our first appointment already lasted 3-4 hours. In the end, we received a solid design along with renderings of our kitchen. The following week, we were invited to a cooking evening where we could try out the appliances in person. Another week later, we had a 5-hour follow-up meeting with a detailed offer. Everything was explained and discussed thoroughly, so we ended up with a finalized design.
Since we were close to the construction planning stage, after a short negotiation we signed a contract at a price we considered fair. Four days later, we received dimensioned plans for our house’s construction planner, plus everything we had dreamed of but thought would not fit our budget.
It seems smaller businesses tend to avoid these discount wars altogether.
Then we went to a smaller studio nearby. Our first appointment already lasted 3-4 hours. In the end, we received a solid design along with renderings of our kitchen. The following week, we were invited to a cooking evening where we could try out the appliances in person. Another week later, we had a 5-hour follow-up meeting with a detailed offer. Everything was explained and discussed thoroughly, so we ended up with a finalized design.
Since we were close to the construction planning stage, after a short negotiation we signed a contract at a price we considered fair. Four days later, we received dimensioned plans for our house’s construction planner, plus everything we had dreamed of but thought would not fit our budget.
It seems smaller businesses tend to avoid these discount wars altogether.