Kitchen renovations in Bentleigh, specified before they are built
BENCHTOP
20 mm stone, mitred to a 40 mm edge
WHERE THE BUDGET GOES
Material choices set the budget. Style follows.
A kitchen is decided by a short list of calls: how the carcass is built, what the door front is made of, which benchtop you can live with, and how the splashback meets the bench. Those decisions are written down first, line by line, so the quote describes a specification you can read instead of a picture you liked.
THE SLAB ABOVE
Veining runs one way. Plan the joins for it.
Slab selection, edge profile and the position of the sink cut-out are settled at the design stage, not on installation day. The same discipline applies behind the doors.
CARCASS
16 mm board, moisture-resistant under sinks
The box does the structural work. Edging on every exposed face is what keeps it square and clean after a decade of steam.
DOOR FRONT
Two-pack, laminate, melamine or timber veneer
Fronts carry the look and most of the cost difference. Matte finishes hide cutlery marks; gloss shows every fingerprint near the sink.
HARDWARE
Soft-close runners, adjustable hinges, full extension
The part of a kitchen you touch most and see least. Drawer weight rating and extension decide how the deep pot drawers behave.
DOOR
Timber veneer
Grain direction is a decision. Run it vertically on tall units and horizontally across a bank of drawers.
SPLASHBACK
Tile, set out to a grid
Set-out starts at the cooktop centreline so cut tiles land in the corners, not behind the tap.
HANDLE
Pull or finger groove
Handleless fronts read calmer but need a rail detail and tighter tolerances at every join.
STORAGE
Drawers over doors
Deep drawers reach the back of a base cabinet. Doors ask you to kneel. Plan the split before cabinetry is cut.
The twelve-line schedule
Strip-out to handover under one scope
Measure, plan, elevations, specification
Built to the wall, not to a catalogue
Galley, unit and cottage floor plans
Handleless fronts, matte and satin finishes
Stone, veneer and butler’s pantry detail
Engineered, natural, porcelain, timber, laminate
Slab, tile or glass, full height or set
Clearances, overhang, services and storage
Walk-in, butler’s, drawer systems, corners
Cabinetry, trades, template and fit-off
Same layout, new fronts, tops and handles
Every line above is a scope you can ask about on its own. Some kitchens need the whole schedule; others need one row replaced. Tell us which lines matter and the quote is written against those, with the rest left out.
OUR 12-STEP RENOVATION PROCESS
Twelve stages, in the order they happen
Each stage has a decision attached to it. Selections close before demolition starts, which is what keeps a kitchen moving once the old one is out.
01 Consultation
02 Measure
03 Design
04 Quote
05 Material selection
06 Demolition
07 Cabinetry
08 Plumbing & electrical
09 Benchtops & splashback
10 Installation
11 Finishing
12 Handover
Kitchen guides
Planning-stage reading written for people still deciding on layout and materials. Each guide points to the service page that carries the detail.
Scope, cabinetry construction, benchtop material and moving services — the four things that move a figure.
Galley, L-shape, U-shape and island plans, with the clearances each one needs to work.
How engineered stone, natural stone, porcelain, timber and laminate behave under heat, stains and daily use.
Drawer systems, pantry types and the corner and overhead space most plans waste.
Stage durations mapped against the twelve steps, and the selections that usually cause delays.
ASKED BEFORE ANYTHING IS DRAWN
Four questions that come up first
Can we keep the existing layout?
Often, yes. Where the carcasses are sound and the plumbing stays where it is, a makeover replaces the doors, benchtop, splashback and handles without moving a wall.
Does everything have to be selected before demolition?
Material selection closes at stage five for a reason: cabinetry is cut and stone is templated against decisions already fixed. A late change reopens an earlier stage.
Can one line be quoted on its own?
Yes. A benchtop, a splashback or a storage run can be scoped apart from a full renovation, and the quote is written against only the lines you ask about.
What happens while the kitchen is out?
The old kitchen leaves at demolition, so a temporary sink, fridge and bench are worth arranging before strip-out week. The renovation checklist sets out what to organise.
KITCHEN STYLES
Five directions, written as specification
A style name is a set of decisions — front type, handle, benchtop and finish — rather than a look bought whole.
Flat fronts, rail or finger pull, matte and satin finishes
Slab benchtops, veneer joinery, butler’s pantry detail
Classic shaker — profiled door, painted finish, visible handle: a cabinetry decision before a style one.
Hamptons-influenced — shaker fronts with pale stone and a tiled splashback.
Warm minimal — timber veneer against plain stone, read against what ages well in design trends.
What a project record will contain
Projects are documented to a fixed structure so one kitchen can be compared with another: suburb, property type, client brief, before and after, layout, cabinetry, benchtops, materials, design solution and final result. Records are published as work is documented — nothing stands in for them in the meantime.
PRIMARY AREA
Bentleigh, Victoria
ALSO SERVING
Bentleigh East, Brighton East, Hampton East, Moorabbin, McKinnon, Ormond and nearby suburbs
Much of the local housing stock is inter-war and post-war, which means non-square walls and undersized service runs. Cabinetry is measured on site rather than assumed from a plan.
Tell us what the kitchen has to do
Send the room, the scope and the lines from the schedule you care about. You get a written response about layout and materials before any figure is discussed.
THE FORM ASKS FOR
Name, email, phone and location
SCOPE
Subject, budget and timeframe
DETAIL
Project details, in your own words
Describe the room, the scope you want priced and the corner that fails you now. If photographs would help, we ask for them in the reply once your enquiry arrives.