Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

interesting kitchen comments. It’s like flipping through a catalog, like the old Otto catalogs used to be, tapping on a kitchen, yep that’s the one, and ordering it. Only difference is, you just have to throw on a T-shirt but the kitchen has to provide a “service.” Some are satisfied with how the kitchen looks because they are young and inexperienced, others, mostly older, have already realized that there are practical and impractical kitchens and bling alone doesn’t help when cooking.

And those market criers “my kitchen only cost so and so much” remind me of my years in Singapore. A Chinese person opens their eyes in the morning and only sees $$$ signs. Because a life without how much did you pay for it is ALWAYS answered with I paid only xyz at this and this store. It’s part of their life, the constant competition with others, who got the best deal. Crazy.

And the funny thing is, none of the kitchens are identical in any way to the next, but nobody cares about that in the discussion here, as long as you can write, MY kitchen only cost so and so much, since no one can verify it anyway.

Also the question, should I just buy the wood from the carpenter and organize the rest myself, shows how little one knows about the product kitchen, and especially about what’s going on right now, like, will I still get a cooktop this year or do I have to cook soup on a portable induction plate for the next 2 years. Not to mention the dishwasher, there are only a few left with minimal equipment.

And when you see Kati's kitchen plan from the studio, you ask yourself, where should one work? Exactly where it would make sense, there’s a bench for the kids. But the kitchen fitter didn’t just pull that out of thin air, the client told him. He has to sell, so he pushes the bench in there. Once sold, the kitchen fitter obviously doesn’t care if the client can handle it, she wanted it that way.

And being surprised that the kitchen costs 30% more than the old one is naive. Is there anything that doesn’t cost 30% more? In the last 18 months people have also been willing to pay totally inflated house prices just to run with the herd. What do 3k more or less do? A drop in the ocean of general inflated prices.

The 11% price increases are realistic. This year, the industry has also suffered. As a tip, I can say that it is worth asking for their house brand in the large furniture stores. Usually, a major kitchen manufacturer is behind it. It is difficult to compare a kitchen because unfortunately, you do not receive exact plans as part of the offer. However, the front quickly causes costs. White is not just white. The same applies to the countertop. And appliances can quickly make up 50% of the total costs. Also, the contents of the cabinets. We decided against a Le Mans cabinet, accepted a dead corner, but were able to place 120 cm drawers on the right and left and saved 1000 euros after discount. By the way, well-negotiated discounts are 40-50% off the list price. In exceptional cases, even more.

But you only get the 40-50% discount in the large furniture stores that previously demand astronomical prices and then want to give you a good feeling by mercifully offering 50%. That has nothing to do with "good negotiation." None of the great salespeople convinced me to buy with that; rather the opposite. In owner-managed kitchen studios, there were no such "show negotiations," and that was also very pleasant.

I avoid this negotiation nonsense by telling the seller from the start that the first price he gives me is also his last chance to make a sale. He must be aware that I visit several furniture stores and he only has one chance. That usually works. A much bigger problem is the comparability of furniture. The same stuff is called different names in every store. But since we only buy “brand furniture” that has the same name in every shop, this is not relevant for us.

This is what ours will look like:



The budget target was 15k, we ended up just slightly over. Owner-managed kitchen studio, we were advised by the owner. We have a good feeling. I don’t know if there are huge margins in it. We negotiated quite hard, in my feeling. In the end, a few of the appliances became display pieces. Never used, new goods warranty from the dealer, and IN STOCK!

The advisor suggested an alternative with the appliances that HE would choose. Refrigerator, oven, steam cooker, dishwasher all Miele, hood by Berbel. A good 8k more. We rejected that immediately. It was probably worth a try ;) Most of the appliances are from Siemens. Only for the dishwasher did he almost insist on Miele. That was okay with us, because we wouldn’t have gotten the BSH dishwashers cheaper from him.

The coating will be a simple one, no high-gloss stuff, that would have been another 2k more. Compared to the current state, it is definitely a huge improvement.

It is in any case a huge improvement compared to the status quo.

Oh yes. No matter what blunder we have planned... the far too small 3.5 sqm kitchen without a dishwasher we will definitely outdo by a long way

A question for the experts.
Would it make sense to hire a carpenter/joiner to build a suitable kitchen? Completely without electrical appliances. Just specify the appropriate openings and niches and then procure the electrical appliances yourself. Especially since it is said that the biggest markups are charged on the electrical appliances.

Our kitchen was planned and made by an independent kitchen builder. In the process, we sourced some of the electrical appliances and the sink ourselves. In the end, it did not turn out cheap in terms of bargains, but the difference to a high-quality branded kitchen is virtually nonexistent.

But a kitchen builder is not the same as a carpenter. For kitchen construction, you need a very high level as a craftsman. This is then reflected somewhere in the price as well.