How to Plan a Kitchen Renovation: The Decisions to Make, in the Right Order
Ask anyone who has renovated a kitchen where the money went, and the answer is rarely the tapware or the tiles. It went on changes: the sink moved after the plumber had roughed in, a benchtop re-cut because the new cooktop arrived 20mm wider, an extra fortnight of trades waiting on a decision. Knowing how to plan a kitchen renovation is mostly about making decisions in the right order, so each one locks in the next instead of undoing it.
Here’s that order, with the figures and rules worth knowing before anyone picks up a hammer.
Key Takeaways
- Set your budget and a 10–20% contingency before you talk to trades.
- Settle the layout before choosing finishes, and finishes before ordering appliances.
- Choose the benchtop alongside the cabinetry, not after it.
- In NSW, work worth more than $5,000 needs a licensed contractor and a written contract.
1. How Much Should You Budget for a Kitchen Renovation?
Most Australian kitchen renovations in 2026 cost roughly $15,000 for a cosmetic refresh to $65,000 for a mid-range rebuild, and high-end kitchens go well past that. Add a 10–20% contingency on top, because older homes almost always hide something behind the old cabinetry.
Three Birds Renovations’ 2026 cost guide breaks it down like this:
| Scope | Typical cost (2026) | What it usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | $15,000–$30,000 | New doors and drawer fronts, benchtop, splashback and tapware; same layout |
| Mid-range | $35,000–$65,000 | New cabinetry, benchtop and appliances; minor plumbing or electrical changes |
| High-end | $65,000–$130,000+ | Custom joinery, large island, premium appliances, layout changes |
Cabinetry and labour take the biggest share. What moves the number most, though, is the footprint: moving a sink, gas line or wall brings in plumbers, electricians and sometimes an engineer.
2. Should the Layout Stay the Same?
If your current layout works, keeping the sink, cooktop and fridge where they are is the biggest saving available. Every service you move adds trade hours, wall and floor patching, and days before the cabinetry can go in. Change the layout only when the current one fails you every day.
A good test is the work triangle: sink, cooktop and fridge close enough to move between easily, with nothing in the way. An island can add bench space without moving a single pipe.
Think about joins at this stage too. Most stone slabs are about 3.2 metres long, so a 3.6m galley run needs a join somewhere, while a 2.4m island can usually be cut from one piece. Ask where the join will fall. Away from the sink and close to a corner is usually best.
3. Why Choose Cabinetry and Benchtop Together?
Your eye reads the benchtop and cabinetry as one surface, so a colour or edge that looks right on its own can clash once they meet. The timing matters too: a fabricator can only template the benchtop after the cabinets are installed, so the choice has to be made early even though the install comes late.
Colour
Choose colour against the things that won’t change, such as the flooring, the cabinetry finish and the direction the light comes from. A white that looks crisp on a 10cm sample can read almost grey across a 3m island under downlights. That’s why it pays to see a full slab in daylight next to a cabinet door. This guide on how to pick a benchtop colour you’ll still like in ten years explains how light, veining and finish change what you see.
Edge thickness
The edge is the other big visual decision. A 40mm benchtop is usually two 20mm pieces mitred together at the edge rather than one solid slab, so it isn’t stronger. The cabinetry underneath does the real support work. Many kitchens use a 40mm edge on the island and 20mm on wall runs, where the edge is barely seen, because the real difference between 20mm and 40mm benchtops mostly comes down to look and budget.
Material
The material options have also changed. Since 1 July 2024, engineered stone with 1% or more crystalline silica can’t be supplied, processed or installed in Australia, although existing benchtops don’t have to be removed. Whatever surface you choose, ask your fabricator what it is made of and ask to see the documentation.
4. When Should You Choose Appliances?
Choose appliances before the benchtop is templated. The cooktop, sink and tap models set the size and position of every cutout, and changing a model after templating can mean a re-cut or a whole new benchtop piece.
Integrated fridges and dishwashers also set cabinet widths, so give the spec sheets to your cabinet maker early.
5. Do You Need a Licensed Builder for a Kitchen Renovation?
In NSW, yes, if the job is worth more than $5,000 including GST in labour and materials. Plumbing, electrical and gasfitting work needs a licensed tradesperson whatever the price. Other states set their own thresholds, so check with your state regulator before signing anything.
NSW’s home building contract rules set out the main protections:
- $5,000 to $20,000: a written small job contract.
- Over $20,000: a large job contract, a Home Building Compensation insurance certificate before any payment, and a cooling-off period of five clear business days.
- Deposits are capped at 10% of the contract price.
Before you sign, check the contractor’s licence online to confirm it’s current and covers the work.
The Kitchen Renovation Order at a Glance
- Budget and contingency
- Layout and service positions
- Cabinetry, benchtop and splashback
- Appliances, sink and tapware
- Licensed contractor and written contract
- Demolition and rough-in of plumbing and electrical
- Cabinetry installation
- Benchtop templating and installation
- Splashback, appliances and final fit-off
Final Thoughts
Kitchen renovations rarely go wrong because of a bad product. They go wrong in the gaps between decisions, when a trade is waiting on a choice that should have been made weeks earlier. Decide in order, put it in writing, and changes stay cheap edits on paper rather than costly fixes on site.
FAQs
What order should you renovate a kitchen in?
Budget first, then layout, then cabinetry and benchtop together, then appliances. Once the contract is signed, the site order is demolition, plumbing and electrical rough-in, cabinetry, benchtop templating and installation, then splashback and fit-off. Each step relies on measurements from the one before.
Should you choose benchtops or cabinets first?
Choose them together. The benchtop’s colour and edge thickness change how the cabinetry looks, and the cabinet layout sets where joins and cutouts fall. The benchtop is installed after the cabinets, because the fabricator templates from the installed cabinetry, but the selection should happen at the same time.
Do I have to remove an existing engineered stone benchtop?
No. Australia’s engineered stone ban covers supplying, processing and installing new engineered stone with 1% or more crystalline silica. Existing benchtops can stay in place. Any work that cuts, repairs or removes them is regulated, so use a contractor who follows your state’s work health and safety rules.