Kitchen design & cabinets in Kenya

Kitchen design is part of our residential interior design work, and one of the most requested. A kitchen has to look right and work hard every day, so we get the layout and storage correct first, then the finishes.

What a fitted kitchen includes

• Layout: the work triangle (sink, hob, fridge), worktop runs and circulation
• Cabinets: base units, wall units, tall and corner storage built to your run
• Worktops: granite, quartz, laminate or solid surface to suit budget and use
• Finishes: door fronts, handles, splashback and under-cabinet lighting
• Services: plumbing and power planned in, not chased in afterwards

Kitchen cabinet designs: modern and simple

Modern kitchen designs use handle-less or slab doors, flat fronts and feature lighting for a clean look. Simple kitchen designs keep shaker-style doors and a tighter budget while still looking sharp. Both suit Kenyan homes, the right choice depends on your taste, your space and what you want to spend. Most of the photos people send us fall into a handful of looks, and each one has a sensible price range:

• Modern handle-less: flat slab fronts in matt or gloss laminate, push-to-open or J-pull doors, integrated lighting. The crisp apartment look in Westlands and Kilimani.
• Two-tone: a dark base (charcoal, deep green, wood-grain) with light wall units. The most requested design in Kenya right now.
• Shaker / simple: framed doors, classic and forgiving, works in maisonettes and family homes and costs less than slab.
• High-gloss white: bounces light, makes small kitchens feel bigger, still the go-to for compact apartment kitchens.
• Wood-grain: laminate or veneer with a real timber feel, warm and good with stone worktops.

Kitchen layouts: L-shaped, U-shaped, straight and island

The layout decides how the kitchen works long before the doors go on. We pick the shape around your room, your doors and windows, and the work triangle (sink, hob, fridge):

• L-shaped: cabinets on two walls meeting at a corner. The most common shape in Kenyan apartments and a good fit for open-plan kitchen-diners.
• U-shaped: three walls of storage and worktop, the most cabinet space you can get, suited to standalone kitchens in maisonettes and bungalows.
• Straight / single-wall: everything on one run, the right call for narrow apartment kitchens and servant-quarter conversions.
• Galley: two parallel runs, fast to cook in if you have the width.
• Island: a free-standing block for prep, breakfast seating or a hob, only where you have at least 1m of clearance all round.

Door fronts, worktops and finishes

Once the layout is set, the finishes set the look and a big part of the price. For door fronts we use laminate, MDF (painted or sprayed), veneer or, for some looks, solid wood and aluminium. For worktops the usual choices in Kenya, cheapest to dearest, are laminate, then engineered granite, then natural granite, then quartz. Granite is the workhorse here because it is locally available, handles heat and hides marks. Add a tiled or glass splashback and under-cabinet LED strips and the kitchen is done. The materials guide compares the door and carcass options in detail.

Small and apartment kitchens

Compact kitchens in Kilimani, Kileleshwa and Westlands apartments need every centimetre to work. Tall units to the ceiling, corner carousels, a pull-out bin and a layout planned around the door and window turn a small kitchen into one that holds far more than it looks. We keep door fronts light, run the wall units full height so there is no dust-collecting gap on top, and put the microwave in a built-in housing instead of on the worktop.

Built for Kenyan kitchens

We build for how Kenyan kitchens are used and for our climate, blockboard or marine plywood in wet zones rather than bare MDF, finishes that survive heat and steam, and storage for the way you actually cook. That means a deep drawer for sufurias and a tall larder for the unga, rice and dry goods most homes keep in bulk. The materials guide compares the options.

What kitchen cabinets cost in Kenya

Cabinets run roughly KES 12,000–28,000 per running foot depending on material and finish, so most kitchens land between KES 150,000 and 600,000. As a rough guide by tier:

• Budget / simple: KES 150,000–250,000. Blockboard carcass, laminate fronts, laminate worktop. Good for a rental or a starter kitchen.
• Mid-range: KES 250,000–450,000. Marine plywood in wet zones, MDF or quality laminate fronts, engineered or natural granite worktop, soft-close hinges.
• High-end: KES 450,000–800,000+. Sprayed or veneer fronts, quartz worktop, full-height units, integrated lighting and premium hardware.

We quote per metre and itemise everything in shillings, no lump-sum guesses. See the kitchen cabinet cost guide and the wider interior design cost guide.

Mistakes we help you avoid

• Buying ready-made units that leave awkward fillers and waste 15–20cm of run.
• Bare MDF near the sink, which swells the first time water gets behind it.
• No tall storage, so the kitchen looks neat but never has room for the bulk shopping.
• Worktop and floor chosen separately, then clashing once both are in.
• Hardware skimped on, so the doors and drawers feel cheap within a year.

How we work

One team from measure to install: site measure, a design and quote in about a week, then building and fitting. The same workshop and joiners do our fitted wardrobes and joinery, so a matching kitchen and wardrobe set is easy to plan together. See our process and our pricing.

In scope: kitchen design, cabinets, worktops, splashbacks and fitting. Out of scope: moving structural walls and major plumbing relocation.