Cost · Published 2026-07-14 · 6 min read
What a kitchen actually costs, broken into its two halves
Malaysian 2026 guides put a full kitchen renovation in a wide band, and the width comes from two different things being priced together: carpentry, and everything that is not carpentry.
| Kitchen type | Typical scope | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Condo kitchen | Cabinets, countertop, sink, tap, backsplash | RM18,000 to RM38,000 |
| Single kitchen, landed | Cabinets, countertop, basic M&E, no wet/dry split | RM25,000 to RM45,000 |
| Full wet and dry kitchen | Two zones, moisture-resistant boards, extra M&E | RM35,000 to RM85,000 and up |
These are indicative market ranges, not a quote. They are compiled from Malaysian sources published in 2026 and listed at the bottom of this page. Book a free consultation and we will give you a scoped figure instead of a range.
This sits inside the wider pattern we cover in our renovation cost guide for Malaysia: carpentry is usually the single largest line in any renovation, and a kitchen is where that fact is most visible, because almost the entire room is carpentry.
Why carpentry is priced per foot, and why that trips people up
Kitchen cabinets are priced per foot run, not per kitchen and not per room. A run is measured along the wall: a 6-foot base cabinet, a 4-foot wall cabinet and a 3-foot tall unit add up to 13 feet of carpentry, each foot priced according to the board it is made from.
Melamine is the entry point. Standard melamine-coated particle board runs roughly RM150 to RM200 per foot run at the cheapest grade, or RM180 to RM280 for the more durable E0-rated board most designers now specify for health and longevity reasons. It suits dry cabinets, away from water and steam.
Plywood and HMR cost more, and belong nearer water. Mid-range cabinets with a plywood carcass, or high moisture resistant (HMR) board, run roughly RM320 to RM550 per foot run. This is the board to insist on for any cabinet within splash range of a sink, because standard melamine swells and delaminates in humid conditions within two to three years.
Marine ply and aluminium are the wet kitchen standard. For the wet kitchen itself, where frying, washing and heavy steam happen daily, marine ply or fully moisture-proof aluminium with ACP doors is the safer specification. Aluminium cabinets typically start around RM300 per foot run and reach RM650 to RM700 for premium honeycomb-core options, a real cost but one that avoids replacing swollen cabinetry a few years in.
Base cabinets, which carry more hardware, more weight and often the sink and hob cutouts, are typically quoted as a more expensive foot run than the wall cabinets sitting above them in the same kitchen, even when both are made from the same board. Ask your carpenter to break the quote into base, wall and tall units rather than a single blended figure, so you can see exactly what you are paying for in each.
Countertops are priced separately, and the range is wide
Countertop pricing is quoted per square foot and sits outside the cabinet price entirely.
| Tier | Quartz | Granite |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | RM110 to RM180 per sq ft | RM15 to RM50 per sq ft |
| Mid-range | RM145 to RM400 per sq ft | RM60 to RM150 per sq ft |
| Premium | RM282 to RM1,000+ per sq ft | RM250 to RM600+ per sq ft |
Entry-level granite is genuinely cheaper than entry-level quartz, which is why it remains common in budget kitchens, but quartz is non-porous and more consistent in colour, which is why most mid-range Malaysian kitchens specify it despite the higher price per square foot. A typical 25 to 35 sq ft Malaysian kitchen countertop in mid-range quartz lands somewhere around RM3,000 to RM14,000 on its own, before the cabinets underneath it are counted.
What the headline price usually leaves out
- Appliances. The hob, hood, oven, and fridge are typically excluded from a kitchen quote. "Kitchen renovation" and "kitchen renovation with appliances" are two different budgets, and a low headline price sometimes means the appliances were simply never in it.
- Plumbing relocation. Moving the sink even a short distance from its existing water point can trigger work behind the wall and under the floor that a quote written before opening the wall could not have priced accurately.
- Extra electrical points. An induction hob, a built-in oven and a hood each need their own circuit in most modern kitchens. Budget roughly RM1,000 to RM2,000 for the additional electrical work a kitchen upgrade commonly needs, on top of the main quote.
- Backsplash and wall patching. Removing old tiles behind the counter and making good the wall underneath is routine, but routinely missing from a cheap quote.
- Hood ducting. Venting a hood to the outside, rather than leaving it recirculating indoors, is extra work that is easy to leave off a quote and expensive to add afterwards.
The cheapest kitchen quote is frequently the one that quietly assumed you keep the sink where it is, buy your own appliances, and never mention the extra socket behind the fridge. None of that makes it dishonest. It makes it incomplete, and the two look identical until the invoice arrives.
How to compare two kitchen quotes properly
- Ask for the cabinet quote in feet run, split by base, wall and tall units, with the board named for each. "Kitchen cabinets: RM22,000" tells you nothing about what you are getting.
- Confirm the countertop material, thickness and brand, not just "quartz." A budget local quartz and a branded international quartz can be three times apart in price for the same square footage.
- Ask explicitly whether appliances are included. If not, get a separate estimate for the hob, hood and oven you actually want, so the total budget is real.
- Confirm whether the sink and stove positions are moving. If they are, ask what plumbing and electrical work that triggers and whether it is already priced.
- Check whether the quote assumes a wet and dry split or a single kitchen. These are structurally different projects with different board specifications throughout.
We build both kitchens as part of a full design and build project and as a standalone kitchen renovation. Either way, the cabinet quote comes broken into feet run by section, the board is named, and the countertop material is specified before you sign, so the number you agree to is the number the kitchen is actually built from.
How we price a kitchen, since you asked
We measure the actual run in feet before we quote it, not after. If your sink is moving, that plumbing cost is in the document you sign, not in a message once the old cabinet has already come out. Appliances are listed as included or excluded, never left ambiguous, because "the kitchen is done" should mean the same thing to us as it means to you.
Sources
Cost ranges on this page are drawn from Malaysian sources published in 2025 and 2026, including EverGreen Custom Cabinets' kitchen cabinet price guide, FindContractor.my's kitchen renovation cost guide, AMP Quartz's kitchen cabinet price breakdown and its guide to melamine cabinets, The Cabinet Maker's cost breakdown, Trendeco's aluminium kitchen cabinet guide, Sinno Stone's 2026 stone countertop price guide, Outbox Design's quartz versus granite comparison, AMP Quartz's wet and dry kitchen guide, Klaas Design & Build's wet and dry kitchen guide, and EverKitchen's guide to kitchen renovation hidden costs. Ranges vary between sources and none of them replaces a scoped quote for your own kitchen.
Read next: What a renovation actually costs in Malaysia · kitchen renovation · design and build