Online Bedrooms
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Howdens Fitted Bedrooms
Looking for an alternative to Howdens Fitted Bedrooms?
Often known for their kitchens, Howdens also offer fitted wardrobes through their showrooms. Often, customers who have had a Howdens Fitted Wardrobes quote then start searching online for Howdens Bedrooms alternatives because they want to compare to see if they can save money after being shocked by the quote from the Howdens designer... even with a huge discount!
But are you truly getting a bespoke fitted wardrobe with Howdens, or is it basic off-the-shelf furniture that's 'made to fit' rather than 'made to measure' - if you're paying good money you want quality, bespoke furniture, right?
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If you’re looking for an alternative to Howdens Fitted Bedrooms, we’re potentially the ideal fit for you!
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Product quality, materials & interiors
Howdens Fitted Bedrooms are made from MFC just like ours, with soft-close drawers as standard too. Their wardrobes are solid carcasses (again, like ours) but the carcass itself is only available in Natural Oak, so whatever finish you want you have to have an oak interior.
At Online Bedrooms, we offer full cabinetry as standard, made from 18mm MFC on all five sides and with the cabinetry available in 10+ colours and décors for true personalisation. The cabinetry and the doors are both made to measure for millimetre perfect wardrobes that fit your space beautifully.
For those who are more budget conscious, Online Bedrooms offer a front frame system which we call Essentials. This is usually around 40% cheaper than an equivalent full cabinet wardrobe from ourselves and is made from high quality 18mm MFC just like our full cabinetry.
Our MFC is sustainably sourced from British forests and tested to high standards and has a CO2/m2 of -13.3kg. This is because more CO2 is absorbed into and stored within the wood during its growth than is emitted during both the production and transport stages.
Is it truly bespoke?
Whilst the Howdens Fitted Bedrooms range has a variety of options when it comes to door style and colour, plus the internal options and accessories, their products are not truly bespoke. None of the Howdens fitted wardrobes are made to measure, everything comes in set sizes, off the shelf. This means that your wardrobes will often not reach the ceiling and that the fitter will need to use filler panels to make everything fit your space.
Their wardrobes come in two heights of either 2007mm as standard, or an extra tall varient at 2187mm. By comparison, our wardrobes are made to measure from floor to ceiling. Within limitations, we can make your wardrobe almost any height you require, with a top plinth that will connect to your ceiling so you can get a full floor-to-ceiling look, every time.
The cabinetry is only available in 4 widths of 400mm, 500mm, 800mm and 1000mm. By comparison, all of our cabinety is entirely made to measure. Each cabinet in your run of wardrobes will be uniquely sized to fit your exact requirements and space perfectly. If you want 402mm, that's what you'll get!
Similarly, extras such as chests of drawers come in two widths, whereas ours are again made to measure. If you're paying a premium, why have a generic off-the-shelf product?
Delivery & lead times
Our average lead time is 2-4 weeks from order being confirmed (ie, payment received) to delivery. As soon as the wardrobes arrive, you can start to assemble them yourself or hire a third party fitter if you’re not DIY confident.
With Howdens, there's no mention of lead times on their website so you'd need to contact directly. As their product is off the shelf and not bespoke, it's entirely possible that they'd be able to deliver in a short time.
With an Online Bedrooms wardrobe, you can fit yourself immediately or you can have a local fitter ready to go to get your project completed... our cabinets take just 20-30 minutes to build on average.
Warranty
Howdens offer their customers a 25 year guarantee on their cabinetry. By comparison, at Online Bedrooms we offer a 15 year guarantee on your cabinetry. You can learn more about our warranty here.
Soft-close doors
Howdens offer soft-close doors and drawers as standard across their range. At Online Bedrooms we offer this too, but with wide-angle hinges on our doors. All Online Bedrooms wardrobe doors are made to measure.
We do not use standard sized doors and then increase the size of the filler panels or framework to suit the space.
Getting a design & quote
Howdens offer a free home design, where one of their self-employed Design Consultants will visit your home, measure your space and create a design and quote for you. Naturally, the cost of this is built into your quotation.
Some people prefer not to have the hassle and stress of a salesperson being in their home trying to convince them to buy, or potentially badgering them afterwards. At Online Bedrooms, our service is entirely remote for maximum convenience.
You simply add in your information (including measurements for your space and desired style, colour, handles, internals etc) to one of our online Quote Forms and a designer will be in touch within 2 working days to produce a free 3D design and transparent quote, with each item individually priced for full visibility of where your money is going.
You can arrange a Zoom meeting to tweak the design further, or discuss via phone and email.
Minimum order value & pricing transparency
Howdens do not showcase any pricing or suggested pricing on their website. Their quotations do not give itemised costs for each part of your fitted bedroom, but rather a final cost and then a space for discounts.
They almost always have a large discounted offer available on selected ranges, often with a minimum order value.
At Online Bedrooms, we have no minimum order value at all, regardless of whether we're running a promotion or not, with the exception of our Buy Now Pay Later offer.
All Online Bedrooms quotes are fully transparent and itemised so you can see exactly how much every single element of your bedroom order costs, giving you the flexbility to make tweaks to get the quotation to suit your budget.
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