Cloak cupboard improvements

[AliG]

When the house was built, I asked the builders to put some shelves in the hall cupboard.

 

They put in some unpainted MDF and we have always felt it looked a bit cheap compared to the rest of the house.

 

Having watched how easily a DIY-Kitchens Kitchen went into my brother's flat I decided that I would order up similar for the cloak cupboard.

 

DIY-Kitchens did not offer enough customisation options, but they are very good value.

 

I priced it up with a company called Lark and Lark who offer more options for carcas colours and custom sizes, but they wanted £400 extra on top of their normal delivery charge to deliver to Scotland.

 

I then went to DIYHomefit who supplied our dressing room which was installed by the builders.

 

I measured, measured and measured again, then ordered the stuff.

 

Came in at £1700 including VAT and delivery which was more than I was planning to spend. Probably saved a good £1000 by installing it myself.

 

I started ripping out the old stuff at 10am yesterday and finished installing all the cupboards this evening.

 

I have filled the holes and will paint and install hanging rails tomorrow.

 

I was really surprised how smoothly it all went. I had installed a utility room years ago, but it was very simple with no infil panels to cut. That was the scariest bit, but it went pretty smoothly.

 

I now have plans to do cabinets around our home cinema screen in the new year.

 

 

 

 

[Bozza]

It does look good, but it’s does seem quite expensive for the quantity of units.  But if the quality is top notch and you’re happy with it that’s the main thing.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AliG]

 

The tall unit was £400+VAT, but then I had to pay for 5 extra shelves which was another £140+VAT, so including VAT it was £660. It was maybe £100 cheaper elsewhere but factoring in delivery this gave me a lower total price.

 

Then you have 4 cupboards at about £150 a time plus various top and bottom panels. I could have saved around £100 by making the bottom cupboard one very long cupboard, but I was worried someone would sit/stand on top and break it with a 1m span.

 

DIY Kitchens units are roughly 2/3 of the price I paid but they didn't have the right sizes, they don't do a bookcase, their website says they won't supply cabinets without doors (maybe they would have I had called). But the main issue was they only make carcases in a few finishes. This is fine for a kitchen where they are hidden, but I wanted the open shelves and the doors to match so had to pay a premium for this. They do seems very nice quality, I have always believed that almost all kitchen units are basically the same no matter what you pay.

 

I really wanted to see what I could do having watched the kitchen I just bought go in. It was £5k roughly for the kitchen and appliances and then around the same to install it. The saving is massive if you have the time and ability to do these things yourself. A kitchen of course also need plumbing and electrics, but I reckoned I could do a job just involving cabinetry.

 

I made virtually every cut with a Challenge circular saw I must have bought out of Argos around 20 years ago and has hardly been used, I was really surprised how easy they were to do.

[Bozza]

You do realise spending that much on a shoe rack means your wife will be expecting to fill them with Jimmy Choos.

 

[AliG]

Thankfully she is decidedly unflashy.

[AliG]

All painted and finished. Very pleased with how it looks now it is painted.