What a bespoke kitchen actually costs in London

Almost every kitchen enquiry starts with a budget question, and we usually have to ask several questions back. Two kitchens of identical size can differ by a factor of three, and very little of that difference sits in the doors you can see.

The first driver is how much of the room changes. A like-for-like replacement, where the sink, the waste, the gas and the extract all stay put, is a different job from one that moves services across the room or opens a wall. Building work, first fix and making good are frequently a bigger line than the cabinetry.

The second is construction. Rigid, made-to-measure carcasses in moisture-resistant board with proper drawer runners cost more than flat-pack, and they last longer. Painted timber doors get sprayed, cured and handled several times before they arrive.

The third is the worktop. Stone is cut, templated after the units are in, and fitted by specialists. Book-matched slabs, mitred edges and integrated drainers all move the number, and all of them get decided long before anyone visits a stone yard.

Appliances are the line clients most often underestimate, and the one where we push hardest for an early decision, because what you choose changes the cabinetry around it.

We survey first and produce a full cost breakdown before you commit, including where we think the money is worth spending and where it is not. You see the design, the approvals, the costs and the timings as we go.