Kitchen Cabinet & Unit Cost Calculator

Kitchen Planning Guide

What do I need to know about Standard Unit Sizes?

UK kitchen base units: standard height 720mm (to accommodate standard 40mm worktops giving 760mm worktop height). Standard depths: base units 560-600mm. Wall units 300-350mm deep. Common widths: 300mm, 400mm, 500mm, 600mm, 800mm, 1000mm. Corner solutions: carousel corner unit (internal diameter approximately 800mm on each run) or L-shaped unit. Tall larder units: 2,000-2,200mm height, typically 600mm wide. The work triangle principle: for efficient kitchen design, the distance between sink, cooker/hob, and fridge should form a compact, unobstructed triangle.

What should I know about Kitchen Costs by Budget?

Average UK kitchen costs (2024, supply only — no fitting): flat-pack (IKEA/B&Q): £1,500-4,000 for a medium kitchen. Rigid mid-range (Howdens, Magnet): £3,000-8,000. Premium rigid (Wren, Symphony): £5,000-15,000. Bespoke (handmade, specialist): £15,000-50,000+. Add approximately 30-40% for fitting (trades: fitter, electrician, plumber, plasterer). Worktops: laminate £100-300 for a typical kitchen; solid quartz or granite £1,500-4,000; real wood £800-2,000. Appliances: budget to premium ranges exist for oven, hob, and extractor, with built-in appliances generally costing more than freestanding equivalents of similar quality.

What do I need to know about Kitchen Fitting Trade Sequence?

The correct order of trades prevents rework: First fix plumbing (soil pipes, supply pipes, waste routes). First fix electrics (ring main, cooker circuit, extractor circuit). Plastering and skimming. Floor laying (if tiling — before units go in). Unit installation. Second fix plumbing (sink, appliance connections). Second fix electrics (sockets, switch plates). Tiling (splashback, around extractor). Worktop installation (after units are level). Appliance installation. Snagging. Getting the sequence wrong — for example tiling before worktops are installed — can mean redoing work or leaving unsightly gaps, so following the standard order matters even on a DIY job.

What's the key thing to understand about Building Regulations for Kitchens?

Most kitchen work does not require planning permission. Building Regulations Part P applies if the work includes new electrical circuits (new cooker circuit, new ring main for kitchen island) — this requires a registered electrician or Building Control notification. Part G applies for new boilers or hot water cylinders. An extractor fan with ducting through an outside wall may require a Party Wall Act notice if the wall is shared. Listed buildings and conservation areas require consent for changes that might otherwise be permitted development elsewhere, so always check before starting work on a protected property.

What do I need to know about Corner Unit Solutions?

Corner base units are one of the trickiest parts of planning a kitchen run, because a standard straight unit's full depth isn't usable right into a corner, and several different corner solutions trade off usable storage space against cost and complexity. A simple blanked corner, where one unit's door is left as a dummy front and the space behind is only reachable from the adjoining unit, is the cheapest option but wastes a meaningful amount of the corner's storage volume. A carousel or Lazy Susan unit, with rotating shelves, gives much better access to the full depth of the corner but costs more and needs slightly more precise installation. A diagonal corner unit with its own angled door is a middle-ground option, while a 'magic corner' or pull-out corner system, where shelves swing or slide out of the cabinet entirely, gives the best usable access of all but is the most expensive option per corner. When calculating a kitchen layout's total run length and unit count, it's worth deciding on the corner solution early, since different corner unit types take up different amounts of linear run space on each side of the corner, which affects how many straight units fit either side.

What should I know about Worktop Overhang and Standard Depths?

Standard UK base units are typically around 600mm deep from front to back, but the worktop fitted on top is cut slightly deeper, commonly extending the worktop's front edge by around 20-40mm beyond the unit doors below. This overhang isn't just cosmetic — it protects cabinet doors and drawer fronts from drips and spills running down the worktop edge, and gives a small amount of extra counter space without needing deeper, more expensive units. At a breakfast bar or peninsula where people will sit with their legs under the worktop, the overhang is deliberately much larger, often 250-300mm or more, to give knee clearance, and this needs additional support since the worktop is no longer fully carried by the units beneath — typically steel brackets fixed back into the unit carcass or the wall, sized according to the span and the worktop material's own weight and rigidity. Heavier worktop materials such as granite or quartz need this support calculated more carefully than lighter laminate worktops, since an unsupported overhang in stone can crack under weight that a laminate equivalent would simply flex under without damage.

Should You Choose Flat-Pack or Rigid/Built Kitchen Units?

Flat-pack kitchen units arrive disassembled and are built on-site, typically from budget to mid-range kitchen suppliers, while rigid (sometimes called "built" or pre-assembled) units arrive fully constructed from the factory, generally used by mid-range to premium kitchen suppliers. The main practical difference is structural rigidity and longevity: rigid units, assembled under factory conditions with stronger joinery methods, generally hold their shape better over years of use and are less prone to developing the slight sagging, loose joints or misaligned doors that can appear in flat-pack units after some years, particularly flat-pack units built using weaker cam-and-dowel construction rather than screwed and glued joints. Flat-pack units cost meaningfully less, both in the unit price itself and often in delivery logistics, since they pack down to a much smaller, flatter volume than fully assembled units, which can be a significant saving on larger kitchens with many units. Installation time also differs: flat-pack units take considerably longer to install since each one must be built from panels before fitting, adding labour cost and time to a project, while rigid units simply need to be positioned, levelled and fixed — a meaningful consideration if a fitter is charging by time rather than a fixed project price. For a kitchen expected to last many years in daily heavy use, rigid units generally offer better long-term value despite the higher upfront cost; for a tighter budget, a shorter-term plan, or a rental property, flat-pack remains a reasonable and much cheaper choice.

Standard Appliance and Unit Dimensions Reference

Worked Example: Fitting Units Along a Wall Run

A kitchen wall measures 3,600 mm and needs base units plus a 600 mm integrated dishwasher and a 600 mm integrated fridge-freezer housing. After the dishwasher and fridge housing (600 + 600 = 1,200 mm), the remaining run for ordinary base units is 3,600 − 1,200 = 2,400 mm. Using standard 600 mm base units: 2,400 ÷ 600 = 4 units exactly, a clean fit with no filler panels needed. If the remaining space had instead been 2,300 mm, three 600 mm units (1,800 mm) plus one 500 mm unit (2,300 mm total) would fit exactly, or four 600 mm units (2,400 mm) would be 100 mm too wide and require either a narrower end unit or a 100 mm filler panel — exactly the kind of check worth doing on paper before units are ordered, since standard cabinet widths rarely divide a real wall length evenly.

Worked Example: Costing a Worktop

A kitchen run measures 4.2 m in total length, using the standard 600 mm worktop depth. Worktop area needed: 4.2 m × 0.6 m = 2.52 m². At a laminate worktop price of roughly £180 per m², the material cost is 2.52 × £180 ≈ £453.60. The same area in a stone-effect quartz or granite worktop, priced more like £450 per m², would cost 2.52 × £450 ≈ £1,134 — roughly two and a half times more for the same footprint. This kind of per-m² costing, done before any units are ordered, is what lets a worktop material decision be weighed directly against the rest of a kitchen budget rather than guessed at after fitting has already started.

Walkway and Island Clearance Guidelines

Beyond fitting units to the wall, kitchen designers commonly recommend minimum clearance distances to keep the space workable once appliances, open doors, and people moving around are accounted for. A single-person walkway between units is generally recommended at a minimum of around 1,000-1,100mm, while a main working walkway used by two people passing, or one person working with a door open opposite, is usually recommended at 1,200mm or more. Around a kitchen island, 1,000mm of clearance on the non-seating sides is a common minimum, rising to around 1,200mm or more where stools and seating are included on one side, to leave room for someone to pull a stool back and stand without blocking the walkway behind them. These are general design guidelines rather than Building Regulations requirements, but ignoring them is one of the most common regret points reported after a kitchen renovation, since a kitchen that looks fine on a floor plan can feel cramped in daily use once appliance doors, drawers, and people are all moving through it at once.