Kitchen Units

 I agree with the others. Have a look at what Ikea and Mondo Convenienza have to offer. If you are in the southern part of Tuscany, Mondo Convenienza in Prato (Ovest exit) will be closer for you than the Pisa warehouse. Very easy to find, you can see their blue building from the highway. You can have a look at their catalogue on-line at the address given by Jinty. We have purchased a couple of pieces of furniture from them and they give good value for money.In our case, we had to have our kitchen made-to-measure by a local cabinetmaker because of the uneven walls, low windows, etc.; however, for all the work that he had to do the final price was very fair.

It is definitely cheaper to get them in Italy.You haven't said what area you are going to, but you need to find your local suppliers - preferably by recommendation.Don't forget to haggle.  - When I got my Kitchen they halved the price when I said it was too expensive      [down to about £5000 - a few years ago  -  'Risparmione' was the company]The cost included cooker and hob, fridge freezer, extractor hood and dishwasherThey delivered and fitted the kitchen for about 100 Euros - and did a better job than I could have

Hi Ronald,We priced up an Ikea kitchen in Euros and Pounds and then got a quote from a local kitchen company.The local kitchen Company worked out cheaper and easier by the time you took in to account delivery costs ,time spent assembling (and avoiding the rows) it is also better quality than IKEA (IMHO)He also advised us to wait until there was "deal" on the appliances - ie buy a fridge a hob and oven and get the dishwasher free - so that also worked out cheaper than buying from Euronics. We ordered the kitchen in October before the building work started -that was scheduled to finish at the end of January - he liased with the builder,plumber and electrician and installed the kitchen in time for us coming back over at the beginning of February. It was bliss...However,  since then we found this company near Pisa http://www.mondoconv.it/Who sell kitchens and for 8% - deliver and "mantle" (as opposed to dismantle) kitchens and furniture - so it might be an idea to use them to compare costs in Italy against the UK.Hope this helps JintySend me a PM if you want an idea of what we spent and if you would like to see a photo of my kitchen (I have many!)          

Hi Ronald I have fitted countless of these flat packs in the UK!  So easy, except when it comes to the worktop.  If you are fitting normal wooden worktops then you would require your Router and a Trend kitchen jig for cutting out the spaces for the sinks and to make angular joints. (I am sure you know that anyway!).  Routers and jigs are pretty expensive in Italy, even mine cost me in excess of £500 in the UK.  You can always bring one over!  I have wasted a few worktops before getting proficient at cutting them . In Italy  the worktop is pre-cut in the factory.  The plumber connects the sink and gas stove and the electrician connects all electrical equipment.  Pretty simple you would think!  I have seen few horrors: sink spaces cut in the wrong place which means the extractor is in the wrong place as well,  holes drilled into the water pipe, gas pipe and electricity cable, English flat packs are pretty good value for money: MFI and BQ are all good! I have not fitted IKEA.  If I were still in the mood for fiitting kitchens, one of my hobbies now is making wooden furniture , that is when I have the time, i would import a flat pack kitchen from the UK and I would fit a Travertino worktop on it (I did not fit travertino in the UK: too expensive). I think kitchens are overpriced in Italy!  I can see it now a beautiful white kitchen with dark coloured travertino worktop on it! Stop dreaming!  The worktop would be measured and cut by the local stone supplier and I would only need transparent silicone on the angular joints, I could get better compounds but silicone is what the kitchen fitters use in Italy anyway.  The cost of the travertino would depend on the length and the quality of the stone.  It will certainly last a lifetime and I would not need to bother with Routers!  Only thing about travertino is that lemon juice will stain it.  I could use granite (grey or black)  instead. Travertino is local to Tuscany and stone cutters are easy to find!  I would let the plumber and the electrician deal with repositioning the gas, water and electrics respectively.  I would ask the electrician to fit a gas and smoke alarm system and would connect the gas alarm system to the main gas supplies so it shuts it down automatically in case of a carbon monoxide leak. I would only tile the area between the worktop and the top units.  Doing it that way I would save tiling all the way from the floor, which Italians do.  Money that I save in doing this I would spend on really beautiful tiles which I can get at 30 to 40 Euro per square metre (trade discounted by 30%: 20% if not trade) through my local building materials supplier.  I would do the tiling myself.   A large powerful steel extractor would complete this dream. Having said that I cannot be bothered with all this work: so I am fitting a Mondo Convenienza kitchen in my granny flat in the house, now that granny needs the flat.    

I had white Carrara marble worktops made to measure and with grooves so that water will go straight to the sink. This was the most expensive item in the kitchen, but it is an easy to clean surface and it does not require as much maintenance as Travertino - which is also porous - or granite. The cabinetmaker had to make special reinforcements to hold the weight of the slabs, but he did it very well. Don't try to fit one of those slabs on top of one of those kitchen kits. They do need a special structure as they are very heavy.I do not have a single tile in the kitchen.  

As ever, like your style GP. We got our kitchen from Carrara.  Went to the ' marble laboratory', explained what we wanted (luckily Daniele was with us to help with the lingo) and, bingo, it arrived at a popular price when required.  It certainly seems more durable than anything flatpacked. We're a TFZ (tile free zone) also.