Design Plus Kitchens

How long a kitchen takes, and what makes it take longer

The stages a custom kitchen passes through from first visit to handover, and the four things that decide whether it is quick or slow.

27 October 2026

Nobody can give you a date on the first phone call, and a supplier who does is giving you a number rather than a commitment. What can be given early is the list of stages and the things that stretch them — and from that, a date the day the drawings are signed.

The stages

• The brief and the site measurement.
• The design, and choosing materials and colours.
• Your approval of the drawings and the dimensions.
• Manufacturing — cutting, edge-banding, assembly.
• Quality check inside the factory.
• Delivery and installation.

What stretches it

Site readiness is the biggest one, and it is the one the factory does not control. A kitchen cannot be measured for cutting until the walls are plastered, the floor is laid and the service points are final. Waiting on any of those pauses everything behind it.

The second is changes after approval. A changed dimension after cutting has begun is not an edit, it is a new piece. This is why the approval stage exists as its own step rather than being folded into the design.

The third is the size and complexity of the kitchen itself — an island, a tall run and a separate preparation kitchen are three jobs, not one. The fourth is anything that has to come from outside: particular appliances, a particular counter.

What you should get in writing

A date, fixed on the day the drawings are approved rather than estimated on the day you enquire. Ask for it in writing, and ask what happens to it if the site is not ready on the agreed day — that answer tells you more about a supplier than the date does.

Design Plus fixes the date the day the drawings are approved and builds to it. Tell us when you need to be using the kitchen and we will say straight away whether it is possible.