The short answer
A kitchen of 3 to 4 linear metres, with German-made units, worktop, sink and tap, runs €6,000 to €12,000. Add appliances (€1,500–6,000) and the building work (€2,500–8,000) and the whole project lands between €11,000 and €22,000. The range is wide because the finish and the worktop move the price more than the size does.
Why nobody quotes a kitchen over the phone
Because the price of a kitchen does not depend on metres, it depends on how many units fit into those metres and what is inside them. Two 3.5-metre kitchens can hold seven units or fourteen. One with full-extension drawers, the other with doors and shelves. And the gap between a laminate worktop and a porcelain one, over those same metres, is €1,200.
What can be said over the phone is an honest range, and what moves it. That is what follows.
The five line items in every kitchen
A kitchen project is always the same five things. Seeing them separately is the only way to compare two quotes.
| Line item | Range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Units | €3,500 – 9,000 | Number of units, drawers rather than doors, door finish |
| Worktop | €600 – 2,800 | Material and metres; the edge detail and cut-outs for sink and hob |
| Sink and tap | €250 – 1,100 | Undermount or inset; pull-out tap or filtered tap |
| Appliances | €1,500 – 6,000 | Whether the fridge is integrated, whether oven and microwave go in a tall unit |
| Building work and fitting | €2,500 – 8,000 | Whether drains move, whether walls come out, tiling and paint |
The first two items are what people mean by "the kitchen". The next three are the ones left out when asking for a price, and the ones that blow the budget later.
What actually moves the price
In order of impact, most to least:
- Drawers instead of doors. A 60 cm base unit with three drawers costs €120 to €200 more than the same unit with a door and a shelf. Change six base units and there is your €1,000. It is also the thing you notice most using the kitchen every day.
- The worktop. From laminate to porcelain, over 4 metres, the gap is €900 to €1,800. It is the single decision that moves the most money at once.
- The door finish. A matt lacquer with anti-fingerprint treatment costs more than melamine, and open-pore timber more than either. Expect 15 to 30 % on top of the units line.
- Tall units. An oven-and-microwave tower, or a larder with pull-outs, are tall units full of hardware. Each one adds €600 to €1,400.
- The metres. They count, but less than you would think. Another half metre of base unit with worktop is around €400.
What almost nobody puts in the quote
These costs exist whether or not they appear on the paper. If one quote is strikingly cheaper than another, the first thing to check is whether these are missing.
- Stripping out and removing the old kitchen, including taking it to the tip: €250 to €600.
- Moving a drain or a water feed: €200 to €500 per point.
- A new electrical circuit for the induction hob, if the wiring is old: €300 to €800.
- Tiling or a panel between units and worktop, fitted: €300 to €1,200.
- Painting the ceiling and the walls left on show: €250 to €600.
- An extractor vented outside, if a duct has to be cut: €200 to €700.
Added up, those six lines come to €1,500 to €4,400. That is exactly the gap people find between "the price I was given" and "what I ended up paying".
Where to cut if the number does not work
If the budget will not stretch, there are places where cutting costs you little and places where it costs you every day for fifteen years.
| Cut here | Better not to cut here |
|---|---|
| The door finish: good melamine lasts as well as lacquer | Drawer hardware: it is what you open twenty times a day |
| The decorative extractor hood | The worktop around the sink and the hob |
| The tiling, if what is there is sound | The carcase: 16 or 19 mm moisture-resistant board, not 12 |
| Top-end appliances, which get replaced after ten years | The sink base unit, which takes the most punishment |
The carcase and the hardware are what you cannot see and what decides whether the kitchen reaches fifteen years or sags at six. The doors are what you can see, and the first thing you would change if you ever wanted a different look.
Finance: the number that matters is not the monthly payment
Almost any kitchen can be financed, and €150 a month sounds better than €12,000. But the payment on its own tells you nothing: you need the term and the APR, because what you pay in the end is the payment times the months.
Twelve thousand euros over 96 months at 9 % APR is about €175 a month and €16,800 in total. The same twelve thousand over 48 months is about €300 a month and €14,400 in total. That is €2,400 difference for the same furniture.
Questions we get asked
What does a small kitchen cost, say 2.5 metres?
Between €4,500 and €8,000 for units and worktop. The metres come down but the sink, the tap and the building work cost much the same, so the complete project rarely comes in under €8,000.
What does a kitchen with an island cost?
An island adds €2,500 to €6,000 depending on whether it carries a sink or a hob, because water, waste and power have to be run to the middle of the room. A project with an island rarely comes in under €16,000 all in.
Is it cheaper to buy the appliances separately?
Sometimes, on price. But if the fridge or oven you buy elsewhere does not fit the opening designed for it, the unit has to be remade, and that eats the saving. If you do buy separately, bring us the exact dimensions before the design is signed off.
When do you pay?
The normal pattern in the trade is a deposit when the order is signed, a payment when the kitchen leaves the factory and the balance when fitting is finished. What is neither normal nor advisable is paying the whole thing up front.
Shall we look at it with your kitchen on screen?
An hour in the showroom, your kitchen on screen and the price fixed the same day. No commitment, and no follow-up calls unless you want them.
