How to Design and Install a Kitchen

There are few things more pleasant than cooking, eating and entertaining in a kitchen that’s well laid out to suit your own style. And a beautiful kitchen is an added source of joy and pride. Designing and installing your own kitchen need not be as difficult as you may think, if you have reasonable DIY carpentry skills. It also requires good preparation, some homework, patience and the ability to work accurately and neatly. For this project, we opted for custom-built cabinets, as some additional design flexibility was required. But regardless of whether you choose modular or custom-built cabinets, the installation steps are basically the same. Some kitchen companies will suggest that you use their own designers and installers. We recommend the same if you have any doubts about your ability to take on such a project. If you decide to DIY, shop around and you will find many kitchen manufacturers who are happy to assist with your design and build your cabinets on a supply-only basis.

Modular or custom-built?
Kitchen cabinets are usually custom-built or modular. Modular kitchen cabinets are generally built to set sizes or ‘modules’, and they can be a good choice if your kitchen is straightforward and has the right colours. A range of finishes and module sizes is available to suit most jobs. They are generally available in an off-the-shelf or ‘flat-pack’ form, which requires you to assemble the cabinets at home. In my experience, these often need some modifications or filling panels to compensate for limited stock sizes.

How much can I save?
Generally speaking, you could save 20 to 30 per cent – or about $4,000 off the cost of that $15,000 kitchen you covet! Kitchen companies will be happy to send their sales representatives to your home to create a design for you, but you can save money by shopping around for the best deals, doing your own drawings, then taking them direct to a manufacturer. You can also make significant savings by arranging all your own sub-trades (plumber, electrician, tiler etc).One word of warning here, however: once your cabinets have been delivered and you’ve accepted them in good condition, you will have to wear any mistakes you may make during fitting. A licensed installer can charge $1,000 or more to fit your cabinets, but the benefit is that they will also generally take responsibility for any mistakes.

The design
Make a scrapbook of ideas about materials and colour schemes you like, then visit kitchen showrooms to get additional inspiration. Some manufacturers will design your kitchen free of charge, using computer programs that will generate a three-dimensional simulation of the plan. It’s a good idea to look at a few different concepts, then combine the best features from all of them.
Some of these designers may be CKDs (Certified Kitchen Designers). Don’t be surprised to find some who’ll only let you keep their designs for your new kitchen when you’re prepared to sign on the dotted line and pay a deposit. If your kitchen is fairly straightforward, you can design it yourself. You will need an understanding of standard cabinet construction and sizes (Diagram 2 on page 5) and the ability to draw accurately to a scale (1:20 usually works fine) or on graph paper (Diagram 1 on page 5). Cut out small pieces to represent the appliances, and move them around until you’re happy with how the kitchen functions (don’t forget about the ‘work triangle’.

Appliances
Have your appliances selected (but not necessarily ordered) and the brochures on hand before designing your kitchen. Why? That huge fridge and cooker you’ve always wanted may be just a tad large for your new bachelor-pad. Clearances around appliances, while specified in their technical information, will also need to conform to Australian Standard AS4386–1996 (Parts 1 and 2).

Site preparation
If you’re replacing a kitchen, set up a temporary kitchen in another room. Alternatively, if the kitchen is part of a new addition to your home, try to avoid decommissioning the old one until your new one is up and running. Aim to have the location completely ready for the cabinets when they arrive. This will mean you’ll need to coordinate the plumbing, electrical and wall finishing. It’s much easier and faster to paint the walls beforehand, but resign yourself to some touching up afterwards. It’s easiest, and most cost-effective, to lay some types of flooring (such as the timber shown here) before fitting the cabinets. It’s also a good idea to get the floor sanded, but don’t apply more than one coat of finish at this stage, as it’s almost impossible to fit the cabinets without marking the floor. After completing our installation, we had the floor scuffed back and finish-coated. Lay other flooring, such as vinyl or tiles, after the kitchen is in, but put the underlay down beforehand. If your walls and floor are really out of whack – say 10mm out of plumb for walls (top to bottom) and 10mm out of level for floors (over the length of a 1200mm level), consider hiring a professional installer. Preparing yourself and family? Well, that’s another story.

Setting out the site
(Photos 1 and 2) Check the room corners for square, and mark a level line around the walls at the height of the bench underside – 870mm in our case. This could vary slightly, depending how much packing the bases need for levelling. Check the walls for plumb and mark the stud centres for fixing the cabinets.

Start with the base
(Photo 3) Although it’s virtually hidden when completed, the base is a critical element of the job. Get it level and straight, and the job will generally fall into place from there. Use a variety of different thickness packers (small pieces of ply, MDF and laminate chips work well). You can also use wedges, but unless they are cut with long tapers, they can work loose. Some cabinets (such as modular units) have adjustable legs or ends that are notched at the bottom to form a kickboard.

Work from the corner
(Photos 4 and 5) Start in a corner. Remove the doors and position the first cabinet. You may need to pack it up behind to compensate for walls being slightly out of plumb or square. Alternatively, the back corners of the corner cabinet may need to be slightly belt-sanded if the setting on the internal plasterboard corner holds it out from the wall a bit. Our walls were out of square and plumb, so to help position the cabinets, we joined two together before fixing them to the walls. Fixing end panels (Photos 6 and 14) Fix the end panels only after the cabinets are fixed to the wall or, in the case of island benches, to the floor. Scribe the end panels carefully to match the walls and/or floor.
IMPORTANT: If the panel is beside a door or drawer, ensure that its front edge is positioned at least the thickness of the door or drawer front (plus 2mm) forward of the cabinet front edge.