Custom kitchen Dubai: cost, materials and what is involved

A made-to-measure kitchen in Dubai usually lands between AED 1,800 and AED 3,500 per linear metre in a mid-range lacquer finish, and AED 4,000 or more per linear metre once you move to premium veneer with quartz or porcelain. Most jobs take four to six weeks from deposit to handover.

Why work with Crafty Clare decoration design LLC

• In-house joinery workshop in Jebel Ali
• Turnkey service from design to final finishing
• Kitchen carcasses and doors built in our own workshop, not sub-contracted
• Itemised fixed quote agreed before fabrication starts
• Google rating 5.0 from 1 review
• Direct WhatsApp and phone line on 050 857 0938

Why an off-the-shelf kitchen rarely fits a Dubai villa or apartment

Standard modular kitchens are built around fixed widths of 300, 450, 600 and 900 mm and one fixed 600 mm depth. Dubai buildings ignore those numbers.

In a Jebel Ali apartment the DEWA meter cupboard, the water heater and the drainage stack often sit inside the kitchen wall. A run that looks perfect on a catalogue plan ends up blocked by a service box you are not allowed to move. Villas bring different problems: 3 m ceilings, an off-centre window, a door swing that eats 900 mm of usable wall, a water point 400 mm from where the sink needs to be.

Fillers are the giveaway, those blank strips a joiner adds to close gaps. A kitchen full of 100 to 200 mm fillers is a kitchen that never fitted. Made-to-measure work removes most of them, which is why custom kitchen design and joinery in Dubai starts with a site survey instead of a catalogue.

Ceiling height matters as much as width. Apartments often run 2.4 to 2.7 m, villas 2.8 to 3.2 m. Standard wall cabinets stop at 720 mm, leaving either a dusty gap or a boxed pelmet that looks like an afterthought. A bespoke run can go to the ceiling or stop on a deliberate line.

What a custom kitchen really means: carcass, doors and worktop

Custom is three buying decisions, and each one has its own price band and its own failure mode.

Part	Options	What it means in Dubai
Carcass	18 mm marine plywood, moisture-resistant MDF, melamine-faced board	Plywood holds screws better and copes with the humidity around a dishwasher and a washing machine
Doors	MDF lacquer, veneer, PET, acrylic, laminate	Lacquer is the mid-range default, veneer is premium, PET and acrylic resist fingerprints and wipe clean
Worktop	Quartz, porcelain, sintered stone, solid surface	Quartz is the value pick, porcelain and sintered stone handle hot pans better but cost more
Hardware	Soft-close hinges and runners	Ask for the brand and the warranty length in writing, not just the word soft-close

Doors sprayed in a workshop finish better than doors sprayed on site, because dust is the enemy of lacquer. Edge banding should be 1 mm or 2 mm, not 0.4 mm. Ask what happens if a door arrives damaged, because respraying one door and matching it to twelve others is a real skill.

Carcasses are only part of a turnkey job. The same workshop turns out wardrobes, TV units, vanity counters and bedroom joinery, so one order can cover more than one room.

A fitted kitchen Dubai apartment owners ask for most often: flat panel doors, handleless lines, quartz worktop and integrated appliances.

Custom kitchen cost in Dubai: what the AED numbers look like

Expect AED 1,800 to AED 3,500 per linear metre for a mid-range lacquer kitchen covering carcass, doors, drawers, standard hardware and installation. Premium veneer, handleless profiles and quartz or porcelain start at AED 4,000 per linear metre and climb quickly.

Here is a worked example: a 4 linear metre galley kitchen in a Jebel Ali apartment.

• Base and wall units, mid-range lacquer at AED 2,400 per linear metre: AED 9,600
• Quartz worktop, 4.5 linear metres at AED 450 per linear metre: AED 2,025
• One tall oven housing: AED 900
• Total before VAT: about AED 12,500
• With 5 percent VAT: about AED 13,100

Now the same footprint at the premium end, with a 2.4 m island.

• Base units and tall units in veneer with handleless profiles at AED 4,200 per linear metre: AED 16,800
• Island at AED 4,200 per linear metre: AED 10,080
• Porcelain worktop, 8 linear metres at AED 1,200 per linear metre: AED 9,600
• Total before VAT: about AED 36,500

Appliances sit outside both figures. Budget AED 6,000 to AED 25,000 separately, depending on brand and whether you want integrated or freestanding.

What pushes the price: worktop length and material, appliance cut-outs, integrated appliance door panels, tall units, handleless J profiles or Gola rails, an island, curved or fluted fronts, internal lighting, and sink and tap choices. Relocating a water point or adding a drain adds plumbing cost on top of joinery.

You can sanity check any quote against see our completed custom kitchen projects to see what the money buys at each level.

How the process runs, week by week

1. Site survey, day one to three. Measurements, photographs and notes on the water point, drainage, gas, DEWA meter position, service shaft, floor level and ceiling height.
2. Design and 3D drawings, week one. Two or three layout options, then a locked appliance schedule. Everything after this point depends on those appliance sizes.
3. Itemised quote and deposit, week one to two. The deposit, usually 50 percent, releases materials and starts the cutting list.
4. Workshop fabrication in Jebel Ali, week two to four. Carcasses cut and edge banded, doors sprayed and left to cure between coats. Because the work happens in our own workshop, a change to a drawer height is a conversation rather than a subcontractor negotiation.
5. Delivery and installation, week four to five. Two to four days on site. Quartz and porcelain worktops are templated once the carcasses are level, then installed five to seven days later.
6. Snagging and handover, week six. Door alignment, silicone, kickboards, lighting.

Total lead time is usually four to six weeks from deposit, and up to seven if you choose a stone worktop. Start with book a free kitchen design consultation if you want a survey date before you decide anything.

The same Jebel Ali workshop that cuts kitchen carcasses also builds bedroom joinery, headboards and fitted wardrobes.

Permits, practicalities and the mistakes that add 20 to 30 percent

Most straight kitchen replacements in a Dubai villa or apartment need no building permit. You will still need landlord approval and often a developer NOC for building access and lift use. Anything touching the water supply, drainage or the external facade is different, and that route runs through Dubai Municipality, DET, Trakhees or the free-zone authority depending on where the unit sits. Buildings in JAFZA and master-community properties on Palm Jumeirah and similar developments have their own NOC process, and none of them allow cutting a service shaft.

The mistakes that quietly add 20 to 30 percent:

• Ordering before the appliance schedule is fixed. A 900 mm range cooker instead of a 600 mm built-in changes every base unit on that wall.
• Ignoring the service shaft or the DEWA meter position until install day, when the only fix is a shorter run.
• Skipping the dry fit. Assembling carcasses before the worktop is templated catches level and clearance problems early.
• Choosing the worktop before the layout. Thin porcelain overhangs need support, quartz does not.
• Buying appliances from three brands with three different depths, then asking for a flush finish.
• Leaving any plumbing relocation to the last minute.

Choosing a custom kitchen company in Dubai: workshop or broker

Ask one question first. Can I visit the workshop? A company that builds its own carcasses and doors will say yes, and that visit tells you more than any showroom. You will see the panel saw, the edge bander, the spray booth and the drying racks.

Then ask for these in writing:

• An itemised quote, priced per unit and per worktop, not one lump sum
• The hardware brand and its warranty
• Carcass thickness, 18 mm, and edge banding thickness, 1 mm or 2 mm
• Whether doors are sprayed in-house or sent out
• Lead time from deposit, and what happens if a door is damaged
• The deposit percentage and the payment stages

Brokers sit between you and a workshop and typically add 15 to 25 percent. That money buys coordination, not joinery. It can still be worth it on a full villa renovation, but on a single kitchen it is mostly margin. If you want to compare scope before you call anyone, the more interior design and renovation guides on our site cover wardrobes, joinery and renovation sequencing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a custom kitchen cost in Dubai?

Mid-range lacquer kitchens run about AED 1,800 to AED 3,500 per linear metre, and premium veneer with quartz or porcelain starts at AED 4,000 per linear metre. A 4 linear metre galley in a Jebel Ali apartment with a quartz worktop typically comes to around AED 12,500 before VAT, or about AED 13,100 with 5 percent VAT. Appliances are separate.

How long does a custom kitchen take?

Plan on four to six weeks from deposit to handover. The site survey and 3D design take about a week, workshop fabrication in Jebel Ali takes two to three weeks, and installation runs two to four days on site. Quartz and porcelain worktops add five to seven days because they are templated after the carcasses are installed.

Is a custom kitchen cheaper than an imported one?

Often yes at the same specification. Imported kitchens carry shipping, customs and a dealer margin, and the carcasses are still cut to standard widths. A kitchen built locally in the same materials is usually 20 to 30 percent cheaper, and changes during installation are simpler. The gap narrows if you compare against a European brand with a very specific finish.

Do I need approval for a kitchen renovation in Dubai?

Replacing cabinets, doors and worktops in the same position normally needs no building permit, but you do need landlord approval and usually a developer NOC for access. Moving water or drainage points, or changing the external facade, brings in Dubai Municipality, DET, Trakhees or the free-zone authority. Never cut or box in a service shaft.

Do you build the kitchen yourself or sub-contract it?

Carcasses, doors and most of the finishing are made in our own joinery workshop in Jebel Ali. Quality control happens before the units reach your home, and a late change to a drawer height or a shelf position is a workshop instruction rather than a negotiation with a third party. Worktops are cut and installed by specialist stone fabricators, which is standard practice.