How Much Does a Bespoke Kitchen Cost?
A bespoke kitchen in London usually starts around £35,000 for cabinetry, hand painting and installation. Worktops, appliances and building work sit on top of that figure.
A bespoke kitchen in London typically costs between £35,000 and £150,000 for the cabinetry, hardware, hand painted finish and installation. A compact flat kitchen sits at the lower end. A family kitchen with an island lands around £55,000 to £80,000. A large open plan scheme with a larder and utility runs from £110,000. Worktops, appliances, flooring, lighting and any building work are quoted separately and commonly add another £30,000 to £80,000.
Why bespoke kitchens are not priced per unit
Retail kitchens are priced from a list. Every 600mm base unit costs the same because every 600mm base unit is identical. Nothing in a bespoke kitchen is identical to anything else, so the price is built up from the drawing rather than looked up in a catalogue.
That means two kitchens of the same floor area can differ by fifty thousand pounds without either quote being unreasonable. The variables are the number of cabinets, the construction of the doors, the material specification, the complexity of the joinery and the finish. A run of plain slab doors on plywood carcasses is a very different piece of manufacturing from a glazed in-frame dresser with fluted detail.
Understanding what actually drives the number is the only way to compare quotes fairly. If you are still deciding whether bespoke is the right route at all, start with What Is a Bespoke Kitchen for the definition and the alternatives.
Bespoke kitchen cost by room size
These bands cover cabinetry, ironmongery, workshop finishing and installation for North London projects. They exclude worktops, appliances, flooring, decorating and building work.
London pricing sits above the national picture. Workshop rents, skilled labour, parking and access all cost more here, as does the practicality of delivering finished furniture into a terraced street. A national cost guide quoting a twenty thousand pound average is describing a different market.
What sits inside a bespoke quotation
A proper bespoke quotation is itemised. If yours is a single figure with no breakdown, ask for one. The anatomy below is typical for a mid sized North London kitchen with a budget around eighty thousand pounds for the furniture package.
| Line item | Share of the package | Typical figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinet carcasses | About 30 per cent | £24,000 | Plywood or moisture resistant MDF, machined to survey |
| Doors, drawer fronts and panels | About 22 per cent | £17,600 | Construction drives this more than colour |
| Hand painting and finishing | About 15 per cent | £12,000 | Priming, denibbing and topcoating in the workshop |
| Drawer boxes and internals | About 10 per cent | £8,000 | Dovetailed oak boxes, cutlery and pan storage |
| Ironmongery, hinges and runners | About 8 per cent | £6,400 | Named brand soft close, handles and knobs |
| Design, survey and drawings | About 6 per cent | £4,800 | Concept work, revisions and workshop drawings |
| Delivery and installation | About 9 per cent | £7,200 | Two fitters on site for two to three weeks |
Worktops are the single largest item outside that list. Stone templating, fabrication and fitting for a family kitchen with an island commonly runs from six thousand to twenty five thousand pounds depending on the material. Choosing a Kitchen Worktop covers the surface options and what each one really costs to live with.
How door construction changes the price
The single biggest swing inside the cabinetry figure is how the doors are built. This is where two quotes for the same room diverge most sharply.
In-frame construction costs more because the door sits inside a face frame rather than in front of the carcass. That demands tighter tolerances, more timber and considerably more workshop hours. It is a genuine difference in manufacturing, not a marketing tier. What Is an In-Frame Kitchen explains the construction. What Is a Shaker Kitchen covers the more affordable five piece alternative.
What pushes a quotation up or down
Once the layout is fixed, these are the levers that actually move the number. Some of them cost nothing to change at the drawing stage and thousands to change later.
| Decision | Effect on cost | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Number of cabinets | Large | Every unit is separately drawn, machined and finished |
| Door construction | Large | In-frame work carries far more workshop hours than slab |
| Worktop material | Large | Sintered stone and marble sit well above laminate or timber |
| Appliance specification | Large | The easiest place to move a budget without redrawing anything |
| Tall units and larders | Moderate | More material, more internal fittings, more finishing area |
| Curved or angled runs | Moderate | Non standard geometry adds machining and hand work |
| Glazing and beading | Moderate | Slow hand work on every glazed door |
| Paint colour | Minimal | Any colour costs the same to spray once the system is set |
| Handle choice | Minimal to moderate | Solid brass ironmongery adds up across forty pulls |
Reduce the number of glazed doors, choose a five piece Shaker rather than in-frame, keep runs straight, then put your money into carcass material and hardware. Those last two decide whether the kitchen still works properly in year twenty. Appliances can be upgraded later. Carcasses cannot.
Get a realistic figure for your own room
We quote against a drawing rather than a floor area, so the number you get is itemised and honest. Send us your plan and a rough budget. We will tell you what is achievable for it across Islington, Hackney, Barnet, Haringey, Enfield and Walthamstow.
How the money is paid
Bespoke work is manufactured to order, so payment follows the build rather than the delivery. A typical schedule looks like this.
| Stage | Typical proportion | When it falls due |
|---|---|---|
| Design fee | £1,500 to £5,000 | At the start, usually deducted from the final order |
| Order deposit | 40 to 50 per cent | On signing off the final drawings |
| Interim payment | 30 to 40 per cent | Before the furniture leaves the workshop |
| Final balance | 10 to 20 per cent | On completion of the installation and snagging |
Ask whether the design fee is refundable against the order, whether the deposit is protected, then what happens to your money if the workshop cannot complete. Those three questions matter more than a small difference in headline price.
Timing matters too, because deposits fall due long before anyone arrives on site. How Long Does a Bespoke Kitchen Take sets out the programme so you can plan the cash flow alongside the build.
How to compare two bespoke quotes fairly
Headline figures tell you almost nothing on their own. Put both quotations side by side and check these six points before you compare the totals.
- Carcass material and thickness. Plywood against melamine faced chipboard is a real difference in cost and in lifespan.
- Drawer box construction. Dovetailed solid timber against a stapled panel box changes what a loaded pan drawer does after ten years.
- Where the painting happens. Workshop finishing gives a harder surface than site painting and should be priced accordingly.
- What is excluded. Worktops, appliances, splashbacks, lighting, electrics, plumbing and making good are frequently outside the furniture quote.
- Who installs it. Employed fitters who work only on that workshop's furniture behave differently from a subcontracted crew.
- The guarantee. Ask what it covers, for how long, then whether it survives a change of ownership.
Two quotes that differ by twenty thousand pounds usually differ on four of those six points. Once you normalise them the gap often closes. Whether the remaining difference is worth paying is the question we take apart in Is a Bespoke Kitchen Worth It.
Bespoke against the alternatives
For context, here is where bespoke sits against the other ways of buying a kitchen in London, using the total furniture and fitting spend rather than the sticker price of the units alone.
| Route | Typical London spend | Realistic lifespan | Rough cost per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat pack, self assembled | £6,000 to £12,000 | 8 to 12 years | £750 to £1,000 |
| Trade supplied fitted units | £15,000 to £35,000 | 12 to 20 years | £1,250 to £1,750 |
| Bespoke, workshop made | £35,000 to £150,000 | 25 years plus | £1,400 to £2,400 |
| Bespoke, repainted at year 15 | Plus £4,000 to £8,000 | 35 years plus | £1,100 to £1,900 |
The last row is the one most cost guides leave out. A hand painted bespoke kitchen can be rubbed down and recoated for a fraction of a replacement, which changes the arithmetic considerably over a long tenure. Broader kitchen budgets across all routes are covered in How Much Does a New Kitchen Cost. If you are extending as well as refitting, Kitchen Extension Costs covers the building side.
Every guide on bespoke kitchen budgets
Costs, worktops, islands, timescales and door styles, written for people commissioning a kitchen rather than buying one. Everything is collected in our Bespoke Kitchen Guides library.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a bespoke kitchen cost in the UK?
Across the UK a bespoke kitchen typically costs between £20,000 and £75,000 for cabinetry and installation. In London the range is higher, usually starting around £35,000 and running to £150,000 for large schemes, because workshop overheads, skilled labour and access costs are all greater in the capital.
How much is a bespoke kitchen for a small London flat?
A compact flat kitchen of eight to twelve units generally starts around £35,000 and reaches about £50,000 for the cabinetry, hand painting and fitting. Small rooms cost less in total, yet they rarely cost proportionally less, because the design work, survey, delivery and setup are much the same whatever the room size.
Why is a handmade kitchen more expensive than a fitted one?
Every cabinet is drawn, machined, assembled and painted individually rather than pulled from stock. That replaces an automated production line with skilled workshop hours. The materials are also heavier specification, with plywood or moisture resistant carcasses, dovetailed drawer boxes and workshop applied paint rather than foil wrap.
How much does a Shaker kitchen cost compared with in-frame?
A five piece Shaker door usually adds fifteen to twenty five per cent over a plain slab on the same carcass. In-frame Shaker adds thirty to forty five per cent. In-frame with glazing and beading can add up to sixty per cent. The difference is workshop hours and tolerance, not decoration.
Are worktops and appliances included in a bespoke kitchen quote?
Usually not. Most bespoke quotations cover cabinetry, ironmongery, finishing and installation only. Worktops, appliances, flooring, lighting, electrics and plumbing are quoted separately and commonly add another £30,000 to £80,000 on a London project depending on specification.
What deposit is normal for a bespoke kitchen?
Forty to fifty per cent on signing off the final drawings is standard, because manufacture begins at that point and the furniture has no resale value to anyone else. Ask whether the deposit is protected and what the position is if the workshop cannot complete the order.
Where to go next
A number quoted before anyone has seen your room is a guess. The useful step is a survey and a drawing, then an itemised quotation you can actually interrogate. Our Bespoke Kitchens North London page explains how we price, what is included and what is not.
More from this guide series
- What Is a Bespoke Kitchen for the definition and the alternatives
- Is a Bespoke Kitchen Worth It for the cost per year arithmetic
- How Much Does a New Kitchen Cost for budgets across every supply route
- Choosing a Kitchen Worktop for surface costs and depths
- Kitchen Island Sizes and Cost for island pricing and clearances
- Bespoke Kitchen Guides for every guide in the series
Send us a floor plan, a few photographs and the budget you have in mind. We will tell you honestly what that figure buys.