How to: Fit Your Own Kitchen

Last Updated on November 19, 2011

Fitted kitchens cost a small fortune, and with good reason. Fitting a kitchen from scratch is a lot of work, and requires careful measuring, cutting, and planning. Most people don’t have the time or the tools required to fit their own kitchen, however, if you are a DIY enthusiast, there are a lot of jobs that you can do yourself which can greatly reduce the cost of remodeling your kitchen.

Building an entire kitchen from scratch is a feat that most people would not want to undertake, however, if you’ve found a semi-built kitchen that you really like, then installing it is a slightly less daring undertaking. If you’ve already fallen in love with some Omega counters, or some Maia Worktops, and you’ve measured up an undermount sink, picked out the perfect cooker hood, and otherwise finished your shopping list, then why not try putting it all in place?

Get the Right Tools

If you want your kitchen to be attractive and functional, rather than lopsided and wobbly like something installed by the Chuckle Brothers, then you’ll need to use the right tools. At a minimum, you’ll need:

• A spirit level
• Some basic hand tools (hammer, screwdriver set, chisel, combination square, pliers, etc.)
• A cordless drill
• A heat gun
• An electric cross cut mitre saw

Preparing your kitchen

Fitting a kitchen takes time. If you’re replacing the flooring at the same time as doing the rest of the kitchen then it could take several days to get everything done. If you’re planning on attempting the entire job yourself, then make sure that you have several days off work, and alternative eating arrangements – be that a reliable local takeaway, or plans to live on sandwiches and microwave meals for the duration of the job.

The easiest bits to install are the wall units, since they won’t require any cutting or heavy work. The base units and worktops are next on the list. If you’ve bought pre-finished flat pack units then these should be fairly easy to install, although if you need to cut them to fit your room it can be a lot of work. Remember, measure twice, cut once – and take your time when sanding and re-finishing!

Jobs best left to the professionals

If you’re a DIY novice, then plumbing and wiring work are jobs that are best left to the professionals. This is especially true if you’re planning on getting any fancy work done, such as getting water filters fitted to your taps, or having Zip Heater taps installed instead of standard hot and cold water taps on your sink.

Some people will insist that you can do your own plumbing if you’re not afraid of a little hard work, and are capable of following instructions. This may be true, but if you’re not confident, and you’ve just invested a lot of time and effort into lovingly installing your kitchen worktops, do you really want to have to risk all that work by attempting to do some plumbing, and having it go wrong and flood your carefully designed kitchen?

This article was written by James Harper on behalf of The Kitchen Appliance Centre, who offer Maia worktops and Zip taps amongst other stylish kitchen ranges.

James is currently considering renovating his kitchen, but is undecided on whether to do the work himself or call in the professionals.