Current kitchen planning - kitchen purchase

We have been intensively working on our kitchen planning for about 3 weeks now. Sometimes you even dream about it at night, but it’s also an exciting topic.

We currently have 2 alternatives... a Nobilia kitchen (a good solid mid-range option) and Schmidt kitchens (a large European kitchen manufacturer), which we actually like even a bit better in terms of quality.

The kitchen concept is more or less set. Nobilia kitchens can be offered at various kitchen studios and compared quite well, so you quickly get a feel for the price or can test your supposed pain threshold.

However, we are at least 5,000 euros above our original budget and feel a bit uneasy about starting the construction basically like this.

Do you have any tips and suggestions?
We have already largely scaled down on the appliances or only kept what we really need. It’s simply the size that makes up the total sum. We are aware that 10,000 euros won’t be enough, but maybe at least we can stay under 15,000 euros.

Hi,
a lot of money can be sunk into surfaces and countertops in kitchens without, in my opinion, really seeing the difference.

(Frankly, I also don't understand why someone would spend 20-30k€ on a kitchen, does the food taste different then? But everyone is free to decide that for themselves...)

And once again my old tip: For fun, add up what the kitchen cabinets and countertop would cost at Ikea. Quality-wise, they are probably not much different from Nobilia kitchens. Then add the appliance prices and 1-2k€ for installation, and you have a rough lower limit for the price below which it will hardly get. And then compare offers against that.

Best regards,

Andreas

You've already mentioned one point - the appliances. However, as a hobby cook, I would rather save on the kitchen furniture than on the appliances. That brings us to the second point. The kitchen furniture - there's a lot of room for maneuver here as well, does it really have to be lacquered? Is laminate sufficient? Drawers are expensive! Apothecary cabinets or carousel units too. And so on. Lastly, a major area to save. The countertop. Laminated particleboard or real wood or granite or Silestone or.... A good countertop alone can easily cost several thousand euros.

(Honestly, I also don't understand why anyone would spend 20-30k€ on a kitchen, does the food taste different then? But everyone can decide that for themselves...)

It goes quite quickly -
The food doesn't taste better, but cooking is more fun! And if the kitchen is open, it is also a kind of piece of furniture - most really beautiful (and high-quality) furniture also costs its price.

Do you have any tips and suggestions?

In which direction? One thing first, make sure you have enough extracts. Avoid price drivers such as apothecary cabinets and corner cabinets. For the base cabinets, go for wide cabinets, which are usually not significantly more expensive than narrower cabinets (for example, instead of 2x45, better one 90 cm). It would be interesting to see a floor plan.

Hello,
we have a Schmidt kitchen and are very satisfied with it. Very good quality of the material, very good advisor (ours was a master carpenter and passionate cook), good installation team.
My father trained as a carpenter at Schmidt kitchens xx years ago and then worked there for a few more years. After the first kitchen was rebuilt several times in the original room, he replaced it with a new one after almost 30 years (also again Schmidt). He set up the old one in the granny flat with a new worktop - like new fittings etc. still work perfectly.
If price is still an issue for you, maybe post your planning. Perhaps someone will find a point where you can optimize your price.