Kitchen Cost | Kubo Kitchens

A Guide To The Cost Of A New Kitchen

We both know that you can buy a kitchen from many different places nowadays, Builders merchants, large retail outlets, cheap furniture stores, posh high street showrooms and even online. I’ve seen this list increase massively over the past 15 years.

I mention on our website, I feel (IMHO) you can put Kitchens into three different categories:

  1. £3k – £15k – Off the Shelf (National retailers + trade suppliers)
  2. £15k – £60k – Made to Order (Decent Independents + better showrooms)
  3. £40k + Fully Bespoke (Joinery shops + high-end showrooms)

That age old saying ‘Horses for Courses’ comes to mind, and you may naturally have a category that your project is attracted to. It’s not quite as clear cut as this! There is some natural overlap between each, so it’s not always that easy. When we’re faced with so many options, it renders it much more difficult to make a choice, so I hope this blog helps you.

Naturally, one of the very first questions on your mind as a potential Kitchen buyer is:

But how much will my new kitchen cost?

I’ve answered this question hundreds of times over the years and I know I will get asked many times again, usually during the first few minutes of conversations. That’s ok, we get it! At Kubo it’s all about us answering your questions.

However, it’s a tricky question to answer in the early stages of your journey because kitchens have soooooo many variables. As a designer it’s often tough to work you out an accurate price until you have decided exactly what you want.

Why are they all so different?

Off The Shelf Kitchens

You probably realise that generic, mass-produced kitchens are definitely going to be your cheapest option. These cabinets will have loads and loads of drillings so that it can be used left or a right or have drawers a bin etc. The chipboard used will be lower quality, back panel may not be very thick, paper-thin edging on (only some of the cut edges) The big thing to look out for is the door hinges and runners will not be very good quality, at all. The door will be universal and come completely separately, (probably drilled for hanging either side and a bung for the two holes you don’t use) and will need fitting on site.

Made to Order Kitchens

Then you have the middle category, where the difference is that your furniture will be made to your design and specification. You will have more choice on the cabinet finishes, and these will be constructed using better quality timber and edging. Most importantly the moving parts (hinges and drawer runners) will be much higher quality. The doors, drawers and internals will come fitted as they are supposed to be, with no unnecessary drillings all over the cabinets.

Fully Bespoke Kitchens

When you have something made bespoke, you can obviously choose any material, any colour, any size and have any design! Handmade and painted by a small team is very labour intensive and will come with a large price tag accordingly.

What else affects the cost?

Door types would be the next thing to tell you about. Across most kitchens suppliers there will be varying price groups (our kitchens have six: 0A, 0B, 1,2,3 and 4) A cut and edged door will sit in a low-price category vs a painted to order solid timber door, that will be very top of the price list. When you introduce paint in the middle categories, that’s when the price goes up.

Something else to consider is, if you took two of the exact same kitchen layouts, but with the second you removed all drawers, bins, and internals, you could be talking a saving of between £2000 – £4000!

You can’t get away from the fact that there are usually other associated works to consider too, by that I mean things like, Plastering, Plumbing, Electrics, Flooring and Decorating. Sometimes even major building works are required.

Set a Budget and talk about it to save you time in the long run.

I would strongly suggest you develop a budget for the whole project and be prepared to willingly discuss this with us with your Kitchen Designer or Project Manager. When you’re working out your total ‘level of investment’, you’ll need to consider and include every task you’ll need to achieve from the list of above or ask advice from your kitchen designer.

To keep clarity on things, I always say the Kitchen aspect of your budget should include these 4: Furniture (c.40%), Appliances (c.20%), Worktop (c.25%) and Installation (c.15%) of these three. These are the parts you will deal with us on (but you can source your own appliances if you wish) and we’ll ask you to pay our sub-contractors directly.

I haven’t even touched the Rigid and Flatpack topic, I’ll do that in a separate blog or video. 

So, tell me what will a Kubo Kitchen cost?

A Kitchen from Kubo will cost you £20k – £60K. I would say an average project for us is typically between £25k – £35k.

Thanks for reading my first ever blog, I hope it has helped you and not muddied the water further!

Shop local people, and support small businesses if you can.

Don’t forget you can of course ask us any questions any time.