Size and how much cabinetry there is
Cost follows linear metres of cabinetry more closely than room area. A compact galley with two runs is a materially different job from a large kitchen with an island, a bank of tall units and a butler's pantry.
Pricing guide · Canberra & the ACT
Kitchen renovation costs in Canberra
Most complete kitchen renovations we do in Canberra land somewhere around $25,000 to $45,000. That's the whole renovation — design, cabinetry, benchtops, trades and installation — not cabinetry alone. This page explains what sits behind that figure so you can work out where your kitchen is likely to fall.
Read this first
Why nobody can price your kitchen from a web page
Two kitchens the same size in the same suburb can be thousands of dollars apart, because most of the cost is decided by things you can't see in a photo: how much cabinetry there is, what's behind the walls, whether services move, and which surfaces you choose.
The range on this page is a genuine reflection of the work we do, not an advertising figure. Some kitchens come in under it. Some go above it — a large renovation with significant structural or trade work will, and we'd rather tell you that at the first phone call than discover it halfway through.
We give you an itemised quote after measuring your kitchen: cabinetry, benchtops, installation and the trades involved, each shown separately, so the agreed scope is set out in writing before any work starts.
Cost drivers
What actually moves the price
In rough order of impact for the Canberra kitchens we renovate.
Whether the layout changes
Keeping existing service locations can be one of the easiest ways to control renovation costs when the existing layout already works. Moving the sink, waste or power — or removing a wall — brings in more trades and more make-good.
Benchtop material
Laminate and engineered stone sit at genuinely different price points, and so do the details: waterfall ends, thicker profiles, mitred edges, large islands that need bigger slabs.
Doors, panels and finishes
Standard Polytec and Laminex ranges are excellent value. Specialist finishes, textured or timbergrain doors and shaker profiles carry more material and more machining.
Hardware and storage
Soft-close Blum and Hettich runners and hinges are standard in our kitchens. Costs climb with drawer count, internal drawers, corner solutions, bin systems, pantry pull-outs and lift-up systems.
Demolition and rubbish removal
Taking out the old kitchen, making services safe and getting the waste off site. Straightforward on most jobs, more involved where there's tiling to old walls or asbestos-era materials that need assessment.
Plumbing and electrical
New circuits for appliances, relocated waste, rangehood venting and lighting. Older Canberra homes often need more electrical work than expected simply to meet current requirements.
Splashbacks, flooring and make-good
Tiling or glass, and whatever the old kitchen leaves behind: floors that stop at the old cabinet line, damaged plaster, bulkheads to remove, painting to finish the room properly.
Appliances
Usually supplied by the homeowner and sitting outside the renovation budget, but they influence the cabinetry. It's worth deciding on them early either way.
Budget scenarios
What different budgets typically buy
Illustrative scopes based on the kind of work we do, not quotes and not past customer prices. Your kitchen is priced on its own design and requirements.
Lower end of the range
Around $25,000
A compact to mid-sized kitchen keeping its existing layout and service positions. Quality Polytec or Laminex doors, laminate or entry engineered-stone benchtops, soft-close hardware throughout, standard splashback tiling, minor electrical.
Typical complete renovation
Around $30,000–$38,000
A family kitchen with a modest layout change, an island or peninsula, engineered stone, a good drawer and pantry storage package, relocated plumbing or power, splashback, and make-good to floors and paint.
Larger or more involved
$40,000–$45,000+
A large kitchen, a significant layout change such as opening to the living area, extensive tall and pantry joinery, upgraded stone with waterfall ends, integrated appliance cabinetry, or matching laundry joinery done at the same time.
These scenarios describe scope, not a fixed price list. Not every kitchen can be completed within the published range, and we'll say so early if yours can't.
Getting value
Where to spend and where to save
- Spend on hardware. Runners and hinges are the parts you touch thousands of times a year, and they're the first thing to fail in a cheap kitchen.
- Spend on layout. Getting the plan right costs drawing time, not materials, and it's the thing you live with every day.
- Save by keeping services where they are, if the layout still works. Moving a sink is rarely worth it on its own.
- Save on door finish before you save on carcass construction. A good cabinet in a standard range outlasts a specialist finish on a poor box.
- Be realistic about appliances. They're often a bigger line item than people plan for and they sit outside the renovation budget.
Related reading
What's included in a complete renovation
The full scope your quote covers, from demolition through to handover.
How design affects the budget
The decisions made at design stage that set most of the final cost.
When you pay and what happens when
The seven stages of a Vibrant renovation and where the quote sits in them.
Where the benchtop decision sits
Stone-style surfaces versus laminate, and what that choice does to a fixed budget.
Cabinetry and finishes
What you're paying for in the cabinetry, and how finish choices affect the figure.
Storage and hardware
Where extra drawers and better hardware are worth the money, and where they aren't.
Get a real number for your kitchen
Tell us your suburb, the kitchen you've got and roughly what you want to spend. We'll tell you honestly whether that's realistic before anyone visits.