Start with the room you have and the work you want it to do. A fridge door that catches the doorway, a sink with too little space beside it or cupboards that are hard to reach will tell you more about the brief than a showroom display. Write those problems down. They give your designer something specific to resolve.
The next decisions concern the scope, budget and layout. Before ordering units, establish how the proposed kitchen will connect to the building and what needs to happen before installation. This guide takes you through those decisions, with links to more detailed advice where the room needs a closer look.
In this guide
- Define the work
- Set a budget around the scope
- Decide whether to keep or move the kitchen
- Test the layout with doors open
- Establish the service routes and approval requirements
- Agree the design and supply responsibilities
- Plan the floor before choosing the finish
- Separate preparation time from time on site
- Prepare for daily life during the work
- Prepare a useful project enquiry
Define the work
A kitchen renovation can reach beyond the cupboard doors. Removing units may expose pipework, damaged plaster or a floor that needs preparation before the new kitchen goes in. Decide how much of the room you intend to change. That decision shapes the investigation and the quotation.
| Intended project | What to establish before pricing |
|---|---|
| Replace the kitchen in its existing layout | The product specification, condition of the room and whether the existing services suit the new appliances. |
| Renovate the room and change the layout | The measured design, new service positions, floor and wall preparation, and the extent of making-good. |
| Move the kitchen into another room | The proposed design, drainage and ventilation routes, electrical scope, structural implications and any required approvals. |
Make a separate note of work outside the kitchen. A new floor continuing into the hallway or electrical work elsewhere in the flat can affect access and the programme. Show those boundaries on the brief. They are easy to miss when attention is fixed on the units.
Set a budget around the scope
Cabinets and worktops are only part of the total. The route to a new sink, the condition behind the splashback and the work needed beneath the flooring can change the construction scope before a finish is chosen. Allow for that work in your budget. A price for units alone cannot tell you the cost of completing the room.
As at October 2026, Sweet Homes publishes an indicative range of £18,000–£54,000 including VAT for a fully managed kitchen renovation (£15,000–£45,000 plus VAT). The measured room and agreed specification determine the quotation. Structural alterations or a more complex scope can take a project beyond that range; the kitchen renovation service page explains the current basis.
When comparing quotations, check what each includes beside the cabinet schedule. Appliances, worktops and service alterations need a clear place in the scope, as do wall preparation and the work required to leave the room finished. Check the VAT basis. Separately appointed design or engineering fees should also have a place in your overall project budget.
Our Edinburgh renovation cost guide explains the wider cost drivers and how allowances relate to different scopes. Use it when the kitchen work extends into the rest of the property.
Decide whether to keep or move the kitchen
Moving units within a room and moving the whole kitchen into another room are different proposals. A new sink position needs a workable drainage route; a relocated hob may change the ventilation and electrical requirements. Establish those routes early. They can affect how much floor or wall must be opened and restored.
A drawing of the proposed room is a starting point. Your appointed designer and any other suitable professionals need to establish the information required for the change, including structural details where relevant. Sweet Homes reviews the defined design for construction buildability before pricing. An island drawn between two cabinet runs is not enough information to establish what sits beneath it.
Keep an option in the existing room under consideration while relocation is investigated. A different door arrangement or a shallower unit run may resolve the original problem with a smaller scope. The tight tenement kitchen planning guide covers the measured checks worth making first.
Test the layout with doors open
Supplier drawings often show a tidy room with every door shut. Add the oven, dishwasher and fridge in their open positions, then check the space left to stand and pass. Test the drawer access too. A fridge can fit in its allocated gap while a wall beside it prevents the door opening far enough to remove a drawer.
| Layout | Useful starting point | Check on the measured drawing |
|---|---|---|
| Galley | A narrow room with units along one or both sides. | Passage width and appliance doors opening into it. |
| L-shaped | Units following two adjoining walls. | Corner access and the working space beside the sink and hob. |
| U-shaped | Storage and worktop along three sides. | Usable width inside the U and access to corner units. |
| Island | A separate working surface within the room. | Circulation, appliance openings and any services needed at the island. |
| Peninsula | A projecting worktop connected to a unit run. | The entrance to the working area and the route around the projection. |
These are starting points for a design. A chimney breast, deep window reveal or wall that runs out of square can change the usable dimensions. Include those features on the drawing. The shape of the room matters as much as its headline width.
Our guide to Edinburgh kitchen layouts compares the five layouts in more detail.
For detailed clearance checks, read planning a tenement kitchen when space is tight. For storage, appliance and visual choices in a narrow room, see making a narrow Edinburgh kitchen work better.
Establish the service routes and approval requirements
Mark the sink, hob and appliances on the agreed layout before the construction scope is priced. Their positions affect the work behind the cabinets and beneath the floor. The relevant professionals need to establish the drainage and ventilation arrangements; electrical work needs an appropriate scope for the selected appliances. Keep that information with the drawings.
If a wall is to be altered or services relocated, establish the approval position for the actual proposal before work starts. Edinburgh Council distinguishes qualifying replacement or repair work from other alterations, and its exemptions have conditions. A rule quoted for work inside a house may not settle the position for a flat. Use the Council’s Building Standards guidance and seek confirmation for your proposed work where needed.
Listed status can affect internal work as well as changes visible from the street. Historic Environment Scotland explains that internal alterations affecting a listed building’s character can require listed building consent. Establish that position before removing or changing the relevant fabric. Where the proposal affects shared parts of a tenement, ask your professional adviser what further arrangements are needed.
Our guide to rewiring during an Edinburgh tenement refurbishment explains how electrical work interacts with open floors, finished walls and periods without power. It is useful when the kitchen is part of a wider refurbishment.
Agree the design and supply responsibilities
Keep one agreed record of the kitchen drawing and product codes. A worktop thickness, appliance model or cabinet change can affect neighbouring details, even when it looks small on a supplier’s order. Record revisions clearly. Everyone pricing or building the room needs to be working from the same specification.
Clients appoint their kitchen designer, interior designer or supplier design service. Sweet Homes reviews the agreed layout for buildability and prices the defined construction work. Our projects are supply and fit. If you have already selected units or appliances, we use their product codes to price the supply and installation together, with the responsibility recorded in the scope.
Before ordering, establish who confirms the measurements and who checks the delivery. A damaged cabinet found while its packaging is still present is easier to document than a missing part noticed when installation reaches that corner. Our guide to local kitchen suppliers and online supply routes explains the practical comparisons.
Plan the floor before choosing the finish
A flooring sample does not show the full build-up beneath your feet. Preparation and any additional layers can affect the height at doorways, under appliances and beside adjoining floors. Check those interfaces first. The finish needs to work with the room that will be built.
Record the floor specification alongside the kitchen drawing. The position of units and the chosen flooring system can affect installation order, while access to services may require parts of the existing floor to be opened. Agree the sequence before installation. Our guide to flooring choices in an Edinburgh tenement renovation covers the wider preparation and clearance questions.
Separate preparation time from time on site
The site start is one date within a longer process. Before the old sink comes out, the design needs to be agreed and the construction information ready; any required approvals and product availability also need to fit the programme. Ask what must be settled before that date. An order confirmation does not necessarily mean every item is ready for installation.
The current Sweet Homes kitchen service page gives indicative site allowances of about 2 weeks for a smaller refit in the existing layout and usually 3–4 weeks for a full renovation. Structural work or specialist finishes can extend that period. These are early allowances; the quotation and agreed programme set out the basis for the particular project.
Use the programme to identify dependencies. A worktop that requires templating after units are fitted has a different sequence from a product ready to install immediately. Confirm the relevant supplier’s arrangements. The same applies to deliveries that need to arrive before another trade can finish its work.
Before fixing the start, establish how the programme handles a late product, a specification change or an unexpected condition behind the units. Each can affect later work. Keep the expected effect and the approval process visible in the project documents.
Prepare for daily life during the work
Plan around the days when the sink, cooker or electrical supply will be unavailable. A kettle in another room may cover hot drinks, but it does not resolve washing up, refrigeration or the route through the flat. Discuss the practical arrangements before work starts. Safe temporary supplies and access need to suit the particular scope.
In a tenement, deliveries and waste removal may use the same entrance as the household and neighbours. Keep that route in the plan. Decide where deliveries can be stored and which room remains usable, especially if electrical or plumbing work extends beyond the kitchen.
Our guide to living through a kitchen renovation covers those arrangements in more detail. Remaining at home depends on the work and the services available during it; it should be discussed against the actual programme.
Prepare a useful project enquiry
You can make a first enquiry before every cabinet is selected. Describe the room and the changes you are considering, including anything still undecided. A sketch or a few photographs can help explain a tight doorway or the proposed sink position. Say what stage the design has reached.
Useful information includes:
- The general area and property type.
- What you want to change, including any work beyond the kitchen.
- Whether the kitchen will stay in the same room.
- Any drawing or product specification already prepared.
- Your preferred timing and whether you expect to remain at home.
For the construction scope and completed work, explore our kitchen renovation service in Edinburgh. When you want to discuss your proposal, tell Sweet Homes about your kitchen plans. Include the decisions still outstanding so the next step can address them.