Skip to content

( Story )

Common questions about elegant custom cabinetry

The five questions clients ask first when they are considering custom cabinetry — and the honest answers.

Journal article: Common questions about elegant custom cabinetry

Most of the conversations we have with new clients begin with the same five questions. Worth answering them on the page.

( 01 )

How long does a custom kitchen take?

From design sign-off to install, ten to fourteen weeks for a standard kitchen, sixteen to twenty for a complex one. The design phase before that — measure, drawings, sign-off — usually takes four to six weeks. The total is between four and six months from first visit to "kettle on in the new kitchen". Anyone quoting a fortnight is selling a flat-pack.

( 02 )

Hand-painted or sprayed?

Both have their place. Hand-painted is warmer, takes a knock better, and can be touched up forever. Sprayed is sharper, cleaner, and harder to repair without a respray. We do both. We will tell you which one suits the finish you want and the way the kitchen will be used.

( 03 )

Why is bespoke more expensive than fitted?

Because every cabinet is made to your room. The cabinets are deeper or shallower than the standard 580mm where the wall needs them to be. The tall larder is the height of your ceiling, not the height of the catalogue. The cost is in the design hours and the workshop hours; the materials are the same.

( 04 )

What kind of guarantee comes with it?

Ten years on the cabinetry. Ours is among the longer guarantees in the trade because we make the cabinetry ourselves and we are willing to back it. Worktops and appliances follow their manufacturer warranties.

( 05 )

What happens if I want to change something later?

Built-in cabinetry is not built-in forever. We can swap doors, repaint, replace handles, or change appliances ten years from now. Because every part of the cabinetry is documented in our workshop, the upgrade is a refit not a rebuild.

( 06 )

Beyond the FAQ

If you want a longer answer to any of these, book a design visit. Most of the questions we answer in writing are easier to answer in front of the kitchen.

Amir Azimi

( About the writer )

Amir Azimi

Production Director

Co-owner and workshop lead. Amir bridges design and manufacture so every line, joint, and finish reads as intended.

View author profile →

( The virtual showroom )

Pale oak kitchen with an ivory stone island and illuminated cabinetry, Posh Design studio work

Find your kitchen palette.

Put your ideas into the Virtual Showroom, our free 3D kitchen visualiser for colours and finishes. Explore cabinetry, worktops, flooring and lighting, then save a material board to share with your designer. No sign-up needed.

Explore the Virtual Showroom

About the kitchen colour visualiser

( Design Answers )

Try our kitchen design tools

Compare the details before you decide. These free visualisers let you change one part of a kitchen, see the difference and read the practical considerations behind it.

All kitchen design tools

( The journal is published by Posh Design )

We design the rooms we write about.

Posh Design is a bespoke joinery house, designing kitchens, bedrooms and cabinetry hand-made in our Birmingham workshop.