Pricing
When it comes to bespoke, luxury kitchens, one of the first questions on people’s minds is just how much does a new kitchen cost?
The easy answer is, it depends on the size and the specification. And whilst this is absolutely the case, we thought it would be useful to give three real examples of kitchens showing the costs involved.
The three kitchens shown are all high-quality, high-specification kitchens, featuring fully factory built German cabinetry. This is made to order in Germany and then delivered fully assembled. They also all feature Siemens integrated appliances and Caesarstone Quartz worktops. Read more details after the examples.
Kitchen Example 1
Cabinetry – £16,588
Worktops – £5,400
Appliances – £6,520
Sink & Tap – £2,520
Installation/Delivery – £5040
Total £36,068
Kitchen Example 2
Cabinetry – £22,256
Worktops – £6,485
Appliances – £9,995
Sink & Tap – £2,150
Installation/Delivery – £5,800
Total £46,686
Kitchen Example 3
Cabinetry – £22,680
Worktops – £9,840
Appliances – £7,620
Sink & Tap – £1,944
Installation/Delivery – £5,200
Total £48,324
Beyond the size of your kitchen there’s a few other key factors that will affect how much your new kitchen will cost.
Kitchen Cabinets
There’s two main types of kitchen cabinet, one is flat packed, and the other is a rigid, factory-built cabinet. The difference is flat packed kitchens are essentially like Ikea furniture, they are a set of components that are assembled on site. This is cheaper to produce and to transport, so it is a good choice if you are looking to save money. The downside is you are very dependent on the skills of the person assembling the cabinets in determining the quality of the finished product.
The other option is rigid, factory-built cabinets. These are, as the name suggests, built in the factory and then transported pre-assembled. Some rigid cabinets are sold as a shell, with the drawer boxes fitted on site. Whilst the very best option is a fully assembled cabinet where all the moving, internal components are fitted. This ensures the very best product as you can guarantee perfect alignment and tensioning of all the drawer runners, hinges etc. It is the most expensive but when it comes to ensuring quality, there is no question it is the best option.
Door Finish
The cheapest door finishes are vinyl wrapped doors. These are made by wrapping vinyl around a base material. These types of doors are prone to peeling and delaminating and are often used when cost is the main driver behind the project. They look fine in the short term but longer term they can be problematic.
A better choice is a lacquered door. This is effectively a machine sprayed door, the lacquer is applied using the same technology as is used to apply car paint. It is very hard wearing and provides a silky-smooth finish. And because it is sprayed on there is no risk of anything peeling off or delaminating.
Moving further up the price scale are solid wood doors. These are usually made with a solid wood outer frame with a MDF veneered center panel. They are then then either hand painted or factory lacquered. Or sometimes, finished with a clear coat lacquer for a natural appearance.
At a similar price point are real wood veneers. These types of doors use a highly stable material for the core of the door which is then covered in a thin sheet of real wood. This veneer outer layer is often a highly luxurious oak or walnut finish and whilst they are expensive, they are also incredibly beautiful. What’s behind the door – A simple cupboard with shelves is the cheapest option. As you add pull-out drawers or pull-out corners the cost goes up. Sometimes a small kitchen with two or three internal corners can be more expensive than a larger kitchen for this reason. As a basic rule, drawers cost more than cupboards, but they give you much more practical storage.
Appliances
You can buy a built-in Indesit oven for £154 (AO.com) and you can also buy a Miele one for £9,649 (Miele.co.uk) They are both the same size and will essentially both do the same thing, that is they both get hot. But beyond this they are very different. The Miele oven is stacked with features and if you are serious about cooking it will undoubtedly be a vastly superior oven to the Indesit one. Most of the time the happy medium lies somewhere in between. With the Miele oven you are paying a lot for the features and build quality, but you are also paying a lot for the brand. This matters to some people and to others, it simply doesn’t.
When you factor in that most kitchens have at least five integrated appliances you can see how there is a vast amount of money that can either be saved or spent on appliances.
Worktops
The middle ground in high quality kitchen worktops is Quartz. This is crushed stone mixed with a small amount of resin which is then pressed into an extremely dense, hard-wearing slab. It mimics natural stone to the touch and is the go-to for most kitchen designers as it represents good value for money and excellent durability. There is also a vast array of colours and finishes available, so it should be possible to find something you like that will work with your design.
Relatively new to kitchen worktops are ceramic surfaces. These are made in the same way as ceramic floor tiles, just much larger and usually a little thicker. They offer excellent resistance to heat and scratching but are considerably more brittle than quartz so can be more prone to chipping. In terms of cost, they are similar to quartz.
If you want to save money laminate worktops are a good choice, they are now very realistic in either wood or stone effect finishes and are also highly durable. And at the other end of the spectrum, if money is no object, then natural stone or marble could be the way to go, providing a truly unique and mesmerizing surface for the ultimate statement for your worktop or splashback.
Bells and Whistles (lighting, boiling taps, automation, etc.)
Cabinetry, worktops and appliances are the starting point with all modern kitchens but these days they don’t end there. There are all sorts of luxury things you can add to your kitchen like an instant boiling water tap or integrated LED lighting. And like everything else in kitchen design, they are absolute “must haves” to some people while for others, they prefer to stick to the basics and keep things simple.
Expertise
When deciding how to progress with your new kitchen you also have the choice to go the DIY route and do everything yourself or else you can turn to a professional company that will handle everything for you. As with everything, this is totally up to you. If you go the DIY route you can save considerable amounts of money, but you will need to be prepared to get your hands dirty. The other route is call in the experts. When you are employing the services of a professional team, including a designer, project manager and the fitters, you are getting their combined expertise to ensure the success of your project, but this comes at a price. For many people, it is well worth spending that extra money to ensure things are done properly, especially given how expensive luxury kitchens are nowadays and how important they are to a happy home.
There is no right or wrong way to allocate your budget for your kitchen. Just like the design, it should be truly unique to you and should reflect what you think is important.
We hope you find the examples on this page useful and if you are interested in discussing your upcoming project we would love to hear from you, so please get in touch.
