Ex-Display Kitchens: The Styles, Finishes and Quality You Get for the Money

Walk into any kitchen showroom and you are looking at the very best a manufacturer can put out. The displays are built to sell the range, so they use the good doors, the proper worktops and the nicer handles. When that display comes down, all of that quality goes with it, at a price that has nothing to do with what it originally cost. That is the real appeal of an ex-display kitchen: you are buying showroom standard for a fraction of showroom money.

Shaker: the one that never dates

The shaker door, with its simple recessed centre panel and clean frame, is the most popular kitchen style in the country and has been for years. It suits a period cottage and a new-build equally, and it takes paint beautifully, which is why so many showroom shaker kitchens come in soft greens, greys and off-whites. Bought new in a painted finish, a shaker kitchen sits at the pricier end. Bought ex-display, that same quality comes down to something far more sensible. It is the safe choice that rarely looks like a compromise.

Handleless: clean lines, modern room

Handleless kitchens do away with the handle entirely, using either a routed groove in the door edge or a recessed rail that your fingers tuck into. The result is a flat, uninterrupted run that looks calm and current. It is a popular showroom style because it demonstrates the precision a manufacturer is capable of, which means the ex-display examples tend to be well made. If you want a modern kitchen without visible ironmongery breaking up the lines, this is the look.

In-frame: the quality benchmark

In-frame is where cabinetmaking shows off. The door sits inside a solid timber frame fixed to the front of the carcass, the way traditional furniture is built. It takes more material and more skill, so it is the most expensive way to build a kitchen and it is usually reserved for the top of a manufacturer's range. That is exactly why finding one ex-display is such a result. You are getting genuine furniture-grade construction, the kind of kitchen most people rule out on price, for a number that suddenly makes it possible.

Painted and gloss finishes

The finish changes the character of a kitchen as much as the door style does.

• Painted: a hand-painted or factory-sprayed finish gives depth and a soft, solid colour. It is more expensive new, and it is one of the most common things you find on ex-display shaker and in-frame kitchens.
• Gloss: a high-gloss finish bounces light around and makes a smaller kitchen feel bigger and brighter. It suits handleless and modern slab doors and wipes clean easily.
• Matt and woodgrain: matt has taken over from gloss in a lot of newer displays for its understated look, and woodgrain finishes bring warmth without the upkeep of real timber.

Because showrooms display their best finishes to win the sale, ex-display kitchens tend to carry the premium finishes rather than the entry-level ones. You are buying up the range, not down it.

Why the value is so good

An ex-display kitchen has never been cooked in. It has stood on a showroom floor being admired, wiped over now and then, and taken down carefully when the retailer refreshed the display. The doors, the soft-close hinges, the drawer runners and often the appliances and worktop are all there and all working. The only reason the price is low is that the shop needs the floor space back and cannot sell a display as new.

That gap between condition and price is the whole opportunity. A kitchen that would have been well beyond your budget brand new becomes an easy yes ex-display. See what is available at ex-display kitchens, and if you are after a particular style, it is worth checking back regularly because the good ones go quickly.

Building on what you find

Not every ex-display kitchen arrives complete, and that is fine. If a layout is close but a little short, you can top it up with matching or complementary kitchen units and cabinets, and a clearance clearance worktops offcut will finish the run for far less than a new template and fit. Start at the main ex-display kitchens section, get a feel for the styles and prices, and you will quickly see how much kitchen your money actually buys this way.