Designing your kitchen cabinets: 8 tips from reno experts

When most people renovate their kitchens they focus on the obvious features and big ticket items – the benchtop, the sink, the fixtures and appliances. But in reality, the most important part of any kitchen renovation is cabinetry. 

Get yours right and you’ll set your kitchen up to be both beautiful and functional, get it wrong and you could blow your budget and worse. With that in mind we’ve put together a short guide including eight easy ways to make sure your kitchen cabinetry is on point. 

1. Choose your experts

The quality of your cabinetry is only as good as the people you’re working with. If you’re building a kitset kitchen, make sure you buy from a reputable brand and get help from an experienced expert if you’ve never built one. If you’re building custom cabinetry it may be helpful to hire a kitchen renovation company or project manager to oversee it – and if not you’ll want to work with a good interior architect and an experienced cabinet maker too. As with any service provider, check online reviews and get multiple quotes before committing. 

2. Measure and understand your space

Before you browse kitset kitchens or speak to a cabinet maker it can be helpful to take basic measurements of your kitchen. Measure the length, width and height of areas where cabinetry may be installed and note the positions of windows, doors and other features. This can be helpful when getting a rough idea of costs from tradesmen, or mocking up a design yourself. 

3. Consider the work triangle

Every kitchen’s cabinetry design should consider the work triangle. That is, the space between the oven, the sink and the fridge, where whoever’s working in the kitchen will spend most of their time. It’s important to place the majority of cabinets around this space, especially for frequently used items like pots, pans, cooking utensils and storage for leftovers. 

4. Identify and carry through your style and colour

What sort of style are you going for? And what’s your colour scheme going to look like? It’s a good idea to ask and answer these questions early in the process, so that you end up with a cohesive design throughout your kitchen. A few rules of thumb to consider:

• Your kitchen’s design and colour scheme should carry through from the rest of the home. 
• Neutral colours like grey, black, white and beige are an easy and safe choice, but if you want something that stands out incorporate colour. 
• Lighter colours usually suit darker, smaller spaces, whereas dark and bold colours usually only suit larger, well lit spaces. 
• High-gloss finishes reflect light for a clean, modern look, whereas matte finishes tend to be more understated and elegant. 

If you don’t have an eye for design, it’s a good idea to let an interior architect or kitchen renovation company handle this bit for you. 

5. Match your fittings, fixtures and appliances

Your kitchen’s fixtures and fittings (like your sink, taps, mixers and oven) should match or complement your cabinetry – both its colour and style. For example, if your cabinetry is modern, minimalist with muted colours, a sink from the Schock range of granite sinks might suit perfectly. Or if you’ve got more colours and an old school, elegant aesthetic, a sink from the Chambord Fireclay range may be better. 

6. Research materials

The materials you choose will decide the cost, look and functionality of your cabinetry, so it’s an important choice. Here are the main ones to consider:

• Solid wood: durable, beautiful, but can be expensive. 

• • 2Pac cabinetry: painted cabinetry that can be expensive but is very customisable.

• Melamine: durable but can look a little less authentic.

• • Acrylic: high gloss, modern but can scratch over time. 
  • Veneer: Looks a bit like real wood but is cheaper and can chip over time. 

• Medium density fibreboard (MDF): the cheaper option, but lacks water resistance. 
• Laminate: high-gloss, modern finish, but not as water proof. Can be hard to repair. 

Wood and 2Pac cabinetry are generally great choices, but they are both expensive so you may have to consider other options depending on your budget. 

7. Set your budget and make a plan

When you’ve chosen professionals to help and created your design it’s time to estimate the total cost of the project. Do this (or ask your project manager to do it) in as much detail as possible, considering all the labour and materials required to make your kitchen come to life. 

According to hipages, kitchen cabinetry usually costs around 29% of a total kitchen renovation cost or around:

• $2,800 to $4,000 for flatpack cabinetry. 
• Around $4,500 for budget kitchen cabinetry with melamine fronts. 
• Around $11,000 for custom mid-range kitchen cabinetry using 2Pac. 
• Around $15,000 starting for timber or 2Pac high-end kitchens. 

Keep in mind that these costs are only estimates as of April 2024, and the cost that you incur may differ depending on your location, the scale of your project and what happens to the price of materials and labour in future. 

8. See it in person

If you’ve never renovated a kitchen it’s near impossible to know what you like or don’t like and understand what fixtures and fittings will suit your kitchen. To get an idea visit your nearest Abey Showroom, where you’ll find kitchen inspiration and an expert on site to answer your questions.