Entertaining friends and family in your new kitchen

Flat Pack Versus NZ made

​Flat pack Kitchens versus NZ custom Made:
It’s a good question and I do get asked it from time to time.
To be fair most people whom come into one of my showrooms, do so, because they have already made the decision to go NZ made.
However, I still do have the subject of flatpacks brought up from time to time, and I think this is because they are not only in the Big box warehouses anymore, there are now companies in New Zealand with amazingly beautiful showrooms, that you could be forgiven, to have assumed, that the kitchens are made locally and not out of a box, shipped from the other side of the world.
 Whenever I am asked about flat packs compared to NZ made, I always have an internal debate with myself about where to start.
Should I start with the fact that anything made in “New Zealand” must meet strict NZ rules & regulatory standards and Flat pack products from around the world do not need to meet any standards and so you don’t know what is the box until you’ve spent your money & opened it.
Or should I point out that most people assume a flat pack kitchen will save them money, by not taking into consideration the time it will take an installer (or hubby) to assemble and install a flat pack & return to the store repeatedly for the extra parts required to finish the kitchen, at an hourly rate, that soon eats up any savings made by choosing a flatpack.
I suppose every product has its place but I have been in the kitchen industry a long time and I know for a fact that flatpacks are to be approached with your eyes wide open and reading the fine print may just save your bacon.
For example, there is a flat pack company, that will gladly sell you a whole kitchen worth of boxed product, out of lovely showrooms all over New Zealand, but if you read the fine print, you will see that you must open every box and check it all thoroughly and make any claim in writing within 48 hours of receiving your kitchen in a box. An hour over 48 hours and your claim will be rejected. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out why they do that.
And if you still have any doubts, consider this, know that houses settle over time and floors and walls aren’t always as level or square as they look and you don’t notice these things, until you go to put a kitchen in.
A NZ manufacturer will come to site and take the levels and measurements and angles into consideration when designing your kitchen. You may not even know that he or she is doing this, as its part of the skill and service you get from a qualified designer. How are you going disguise a floor that’s on a slope or a wall at an angle or walls not quite vertical, with a flat pack kitchen?
A NZ Kitchen designer and manufacturer will design and custom make an oversized a panel here or trim a cabinet there, or to go back to the factory for an extra part, that will make all the difference to the finish of your new kitchen.
So, what is so good about NZ made, well your more than likely to get a well-made NZ custom kitchen in a layout that suits your space perfectly, for about the same price as a flatpack and coupled with the peace of mind, that you are dealing with a local company owned by a local person, not unlike yourself, who is there every day, because he or she loves the kitchen industry and loves making new kitchens and will stand by their product.
So, if you do choose a flatpack kitchen, read the fine print and you better hope that you’ve saved a whole truck load of cash to compensate, for the finish and look, you’re going to have to live with.