How to Measure a Kitchen

Despite misconceptions, you do not need to be a professional surveyor to get started. Provided you have a tape measure and a little patience, you can build a plan of your kitchen, before your design consultation, but you can also have your chosen fitter double-check those measurements and verify them before you go ahead and order.

We’ve explained, step by step, how to measure your kitchen, with some tips and practical advice.

What Do You Need to Measure a Kitchen?

Before you begin, it’s worth having everything you’ll need to hand, including:

• A tape measure
• The Smile Kitchens’ online kitchen planner
• A stepladder if your ceiling is high
• A phone or camera for photos
• Your existing plans or architectural drawings, if you have them

We suggest taking measurements in millimetres where possible to ensure your designer has the same amount of detail throughout, and to have someone with you to help with measuring longer walls.

Having one person hold the tape measure, and the other note down the measurements can reduce the risk of mistakes and make the whole process a lot easier.

How Do You Measure a Kitchen Step by Step?

The first stage to measure a kitchen is to sketch out a basic shape of your kitchen, and while this doesn’t need to be artist-level perfect, it does need to show the walls, doors, windows and any fixtures that can’t be moved.

From there, you can work your way around the space, noting each measurement as you go.

1. Measure Each Wall

Measure the length of each wall, including the shorter sections between corners, doors, windows and other fixtures. It’s also important to measure the ceiling height.

Tips:

• If you have a sloping roof, measure the ceiling’s shortest and tallest points.
• Try to measure the ceiling in 2 areas on opposite sides of the room, as it can fluctuate.

2. Measure Doors and Windows

Mark each door and window in your plan and then add their measurements. It’s best to look at all the dimensions, including the width and height, distance from corners to windows, the direction in which windows open and windowsill depth.

The same applies to doors, recording the width and height of the opening and the way the door opens.

Tips:

• Try to include the windowsill height so that we can see if we can place furniture underneath it.
• Mark if your doors open inside or outside of the room, knowing this will help your designer refine the flow of the kitchen.

3. Measure Fixed Features

Your kitchen plan should show anything that might affect the design, that can’t be moved or that you don’t want to change, which could include:

• Radiators
• Boilers
• Pipes
• Plumbing
• Gas connections
• Plug sockets
• Light switches
• Extractor fans
• Chimney breasts
• Pillars
• Alcoves and unusual corners

While you might decide to relocate some of these aspects, such as light switches or plumbing for sinks, your designer needs to know where everything is now to create a plan around that.

Tips:

• Don’t worry if you don’t know where sockets are going yet.
• Include the height, width, and depth of your boiler and if there are any pipes and attached filters associated.

4. Take Photos

It’s really helpful for your designer to have as much detail as possible, including plans, designs and photos, especially where you have tricky design details to incorporate, such as an unusual corner, pillars, beams or sloped ceilings.

Tips:

• Pictures of any unusual spaces help, as well as any boilers you have in the room.
• A quick video is also a great option to give your designer a better understanding of your space.

How the Smile Kitchens Kitchen Planner Tool Helps

Our online planner is a completely free tool to make recording these measurements easier. Here’s how it works:

1. Choose a room shape, such as an L-shape, rectangular or square kitchen.
2. Add the length and width measurements of the whole room and the kitchen height.
3. Insert windows, doors and archways, adding their measurements and opening direction.
4. Browse options for worktops, walls and flooring, alongside handles for doors and drawers, adding them to your plan as a visual guide.
5. Be aware that some ranges have different planning tolerances. i.e. Linje profiles can make units measure wider.
6. Add furniture, including base and wall units, appliances, tall cabinets, sinks and taps.
7. Finalise your plan.

The planner can help you get an idea of how different layouts might work, but it is also a useful way to record all those measurements and ensure they look correct.

Which Are the Most Important Measurements for a Kitchen Design?

There are several measurements your designer will need to look at to see where and how cabinets, appliances and worktops will fit into the room; here are a few of the most important.

Checkatrade also recommends you double-check your measurements as you go, rather than taking down all the dimensions and then repeating the process, and suggests having a professional check them if you have any concerns.

Once you’ve recorded your measurements, now is a great time to book a kitchen design consultation to share your thoughts or seek ideas from one of our experienced team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What If I Measure My Kitchen Incorrectly?

Don’t panic, because your selected fitter can check and confirm your measurements before you finalise your order. If anything needs to change, we’ll update the design and quote before the order confirmation letter is signed.

Can I Design a Kitchen Independently?

Yes, you’re welcome to use our AI design tool or planner to experiment with different layouts and styles, although you might wish to have your saved plan available during a design consultation if you’d like expert help refining it.

Get Started on Planning Your New Kitchen

Measuring is just the start, because this helps you start looking at layouts, or enables you to work with a Smile Kitchens designer to create your very own bespoke design.

In the meantime, if you’d like more practical advice, you’ll find our guides to how many kitchen cabinets you need, kitchen sizes and how to make your kitchen look bigger readily available online.

When you’re ready to turn those measurements into a custom design, please book a free consultation, and we’ll walk through the next steps.