No two kitchens are identical, but the questions asked by the people who use them rarely change. Here are the questions we hear most often in twenty years of consultations — and the answers we have come to give, after building several thousand kitchens in Perth homes.
How much does a new kitchen actually cost?
The honest answer for a Perth home in 2026:
- $18,000 – $30,000 — a modest, well-built kitchen in laminate with a quality engineered-stone benchtop, mid-range hardware and standard appliances.
- $35,000 – $60,000 — a mid-range kitchen with mixed finishes, soft-close everything, an island, internal drawer organisers, integrated rangehood and quality European appliances.
- $70,000 – $130,000+ — a premium kitchen with bespoke cabinetry, natural stone or sintered benchtops, integrated fridge and dishwasher, butler's pantry, and full appliance specification.
The single largest variable is the benchtop. Engineered stone might cost $4,000 in a small kitchen; the same area in marble or sintered stone (Dekton, Neolith) can run $12,000–$18,000. The second largest variable is the appliances — and that is a budget you control entirely.
If you want a more granular breakdown, we have written a separate pricing guide.
How long will it take?
From first design meeting to fully installed kitchen, plan for eight to twelve weeks for a standard project. The breakdown:
- Weeks 1–3: Design, revisions, final drawings and contract signing.
- Weeks 4–7: Cabinet fabrication in the workshop while existing kitchen remains in use.
- Week 8 (or as scheduled): Demolition of existing kitchen and installation of new cabinetry — typically 4 to 7 working days.
- +1 week: Stone benchtop templated after cabinets are installed, then fabricated and installed.
- + 3–5 days: Splashback, plumbing reconnection, final appliances, snag list.
The two most common reasons for delays — and they are nearly always foreseeable — are structural surprises behind old wall cladding, and appliance availability. Order your appliances as soon as the design is signed off, not when the install begins.
Should I have an island?
Not always. An island needs at least 1000mm of walking space on every side it is used from, and ideally 1200mm. In a kitchen narrower than about 3.6 metres overall, a peninsula (an L or U-shape with one open end) or simply a longer single run will almost always serve you better than a small island shoved into the middle.
An island that is too small for the room is the most common, and most expensive, mistake in domestic kitchen design. It looks proud on a floorplan; in real life it forces every cook to shuffle sideways and every guest to stand awkwardly off to one corner. The kitchen photographs poorly because nobody can stand back from it.
Our rule of thumb: if you cannot draw an island that is at least 2400mm long and 1000mm deep, with 1000mm clearance on every used side, build a peninsula instead. The result is almost always better.
Drawers or doors?
Drawers — almost without exception — below the benchtop. A bank of three deep drawers (a shallow one for cutlery, a deep one for pots, a deep one for pantry items) gives you complete access to every cubic centimetre of the cabinet without bending or kneeling. A door-and-shelf cabinet, by comparison, hides everything behind the front shelf and forces you to remove the front items to reach the back.
Reserve doors for the under-sink cupboard (where the plumbing makes drawers impractical), the pantry, and any cabinet taller than the benchtop itself.
Drawers cost a little more than doors at the build stage — typically 10–15% more — and almost every client who has lived with both will tell you it is the best money they spent.
"There is no client we have ever revisited who wished they had specified more doors and fewer drawers."
Do I really need a rangehood?
If you cook with oil, garlic, fish, curry, or a wok — yes. A good rangehood, ducted externally, is the single most underrated component of a healthy kitchen. It removes grease, moisture, smoke and odours that would otherwise settle into your soft furnishings, your wardrobe, your child's bedroom across the hall, and the ceiling above the cooker.
Recirculating rangehoods (the kind with a charcoal filter that vents back into the room) are better than nothing, but they are no substitute for a proper ducted system. They remove smell but not moisture or fine grease aerosol. In an open-plan home, the difference between a recirculating and a ducted rangehood is the difference between a kitchen that smells like last night's dinner for two days and a kitchen that smells like nothing in particular.
If your home cannot accommodate external ducting — a common issue in apartments and older homes with concrete slab ceilings — a recirculating model is the realistic choice. But always plan ducting before the cabinets are drawn, not after, because the duct path determines the cabinet layout above the cooktop.
What height should the benchtop be?
The Australian standard is 900mm, which is a compromise that fits no one in particular. The honest answer: stand straight, let your arm hang naturally, then measure from the floor to the bend of your wrist. Subtract about 100mm. That is the height at which you will work most comfortably for the next twenty years.
Most adults are happiest between 880mm and 950mm. If two people in the household are very different heights — say a 165cm partner and a 188cm partner — there is a strong case for varying the height across the kitchen. A taller section for the pastry-maker, the kettle, or the dough-kneading bench. A standard-height section for everything else.
It costs almost nothing extra at the build stage to vary bench heights by 50mm across two zones. It is not even slightly noticeable to look at. And the back-pain savings over twenty years are immense.
Open shelving — yes or no?
Yes, in moderation. A short run of open shelves, well-lit, used for things you reach for daily — cookbooks, the everyday plates, a few jars of dry goods, a plant — brings warmth and personality to a kitchen.
A whole wall of open shelves is a museum. It looks beautiful in photographs and forces you to keep your kitchen photogenic at all times. In real life, dust settles on every horizontal surface, and the visual chaos of forty mismatched items is far less calming than a closed door.
Choose two or three shelves, no more. Style them with intention. Accept that they will need a wipe every week, and place them somewhere a wipe is easy.
Should I supply my own appliances?
Yes — and the cabinetmaker will usually thank you for it. We do not mark up appliances; you will buy them at retail prices either way. Sourcing them yourself gives you full control over brand, model, sale timing and warranty, with none of the awkwardness of "but the dealer said this one was just as good."
The one thing we ask for, very early in the process, is the full specification document for every appliance — particularly oven, cooktop, rangehood, dishwasher and integrated fridge. The cut-out sizes, ventilation clearances and electrical requirements determine the cabinetry around them. Order the appliances early, even if they sit boxed in your garage for a month.
Can I cook while my kitchen is being built?
Most of the build happens in the workshop — your existing kitchen stays fully functional for six or seven of the eight to twelve weeks. You will lose your kitchen for the install week itself.
Plan for it. Move the kettle, microwave, toaster and a small fridge into the laundry, the dining room or the garage for that week. Set up a temporary "kitchenette" with a sink alternative (the laundry trough works well) and an electric hotplate. Order more takeaway than usual.
Families with young children sometimes choose to take a holiday during install week. We have rarely had a client regret that decision.
Is a custom kitchen really worth it over flat-pack?
For most Perth homes, yes — but not for the reason you might expect. The cabinets themselves, in flat-pack and custom, can be built from very similar materials. The difference is in the fit.
A flat-pack kitchen is built from standard sized boxes. Your kitchen, almost certainly, is not a series of standard sized spaces. The result is filler panels, awkward gaps, wasted corners and compromised storage. A custom kitchen is drawn to your room, to the millimetre, and uses every cubic centimetre.
For a small, square, simple kitchen — a granny flat or a rental — flat-pack is genuinely fine and will save you several thousand dollars. For a kitchen with any complexity at all — angled walls, a window in an awkward spot, a load-bearing column, an existing tile floor you cannot move — custom pays for itself in usable storage alone.
We have written a more detailed comparison here.
Every kitchen project begins with a free in-home consultation across Perth, Rockingham and Mandurah. Bring your questions, your floorplan, your Pinterest board, your scribbles on the back of an envelope. There is no obligation, no pressure, and no bad questions.