Kitchen Renovation: What to Decide Before Your Cabinets Are Made

Start with an appliance schedule, then approve the cabinetry

Before you approve kitchen cabinets for fabrication, confirm the appliances that determine their openings, the space each appliance needs to operate, and the routes for power, water, drainage and ventilation. Put these decisions in one appliance schedule: a shared list used by the kitchen designer, carpenter, appliance supplier and relevant trades.

A cabinet elevation can look complete while these decisions remain unresolved. The fridge might fit between the side panels but its door may hit a wall. An oven may fit beneath the worktop while leaving insufficient space for the chosen hob above. Bosch's Singapore guidance explicitly says installation methods and measurements vary by model. Use the actual model's installation instructions to resolve the detail.

For a landed home with separate wet and dry kitchens, label every item by room and position. Two sinks or two cooking zones need separate entries. Describe what happens in each space: daily frying, occasional baking, breakfast preparation or entertaining. This makes it easier to decide which appliances belong together and which services each room actually needs.

Sources: Bosch Home Appliances Singapore: Ovens installation: ventilation and installation options

Fill in the details that a product shopping list misses

Give each item an identifier, such as K1-HOB or K2-FRIDGE, and put the same identifier on the drawings. Record the exact model code, supplier, installation manual and its revision, new or retained status, and delivery date. For a retained appliance, obtain its model details and have the installer confirm its condition and suitability for the new arrangement.

Then complete the checks below. The table is a coordination worksheet, not an installation specification. Have the responsible trade enter the actual measurements and requirements from the selected appliance documents. Use millimetres consistently on the drawings, and distinguish the finished opening from the outside dimensions of the cabinet.

Check the hob and oven together, not as separate purchases

The space under an induction hob is part of its installation. Bosch distinguishes an installation above a drawer from one above an oven, and directs installers to check the oven's instructions when additional separation is needed. Its oven guidance separately addresses ventilation, the connection location and door clearances. A dimension copied from just one diagram cannot settle the whole assembly.

Consider an illustrative design: a homeowner chooses an induction hob above an oven and asks for a shallow drawer in the same cabinet. Each appliance appears to fit when checked on its own. The combined section drawing must now show the worktop thickness, hob body, required space beneath it, oven niche and any proposed drawer. It must also show where air enters and leaves. Until that section is checked against both manuals, the drawer is a design proposal, not confirmed storage.

Ask the designer to resolve any conflict by changing the cabinet arrangement or choosing a compatible appliance combination. If the manuals appear inconsistent, obtain clarification from the suppliers before fabrication. Do not ask the carpenter to recover space by closing a ventilation opening or reducing a specified separation.

Sources: Bosch Home Appliances Singapore: Ovens installation: ventilation and installation options · Bosch Home Appliances Singapore: Induction hobs installation

Decide where cooking air goes before closing the ceiling

A ducted hood carries extracted cooking air outside through a duct. A recirculating hood filters air and returns it to the room. Bosch's guidance describes this distinction and notes that the extraction route affects performance. The choice therefore changes the cabinetry and ceiling work, not just the appliance order.

For a ducted arrangement, ask the installer to draw the entire route to the outside, identify the duct specification and confirm how replacement air enters. Check what the route passes through before accepting a neatly concealed bulkhead. A proposed penetration through structural construction needs the appropriate professional assessment; a kitchen sketch does not authorise cutting it.

For recirculation, confirm that the chosen model supports this mode, which accessories are needed, where filtered air returns and how filters will be accessed. Draw these openings rather than assuming the surrounding cupboard can be sealed. Ask the supplier how this arrangement will serve your actual cooking habits and how the kitchen's general ventilation will be handled.

Sources: Bosch Home Appliances Singapore: Cooker hoods installation FAQ

Make the services plan part of the kitchen design

Prepare a list of appliance connection loads for the electrical designer, including equipment you expect to use at the same time. Bosch advises checking household electrical capacity for an induction hob and using the actual model's specification. A landed address or an unused socket does not establish that the proposed cooking appliances can be supplied as planned.

Ask the Licensed Electrical Worker to confirm the supply and circuit arrangements and coordinate connection locations with the cabinets. EMA identifies changes to wiring and power points as work to be carried out or supervised by an appropriately licensed electrical worker. This is a design and installation check, not something to solve with adaptors after handover.

If retaining or changing piped gas cooking, identify the gas service work early. EMA's worker-licensing guidance includes alterations to piped gas installations and requires testing and certification by a licensed gas service worker before supply is turned on. Keep this responsibility separate from appliance delivery.

For the sink, dishwasher and any plumbed drinking-water unit, have the plumber mark the water and discharge arrangements against the actual cabinet interiors. PUB requires Licensed Plumbers for regulated water service and sanitary plumbing work, while listing specific simple-work exceptions. A tap replacement and a redesign of the kitchen's pipework are different scopes: have the proposed work classified rather than assuming that every plumbing task has the same requirement.

Sources: Bosch Home Appliances Singapore: Induction hobs: pre-installation tips · Energy Market Authority: Engaging Licensed Electrical Workers · Energy Market Authority: Worker licences · PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency: Plumbing works

Draw the kitchen with doors open and storage in use

Check the operational space, not only the closed fronts. Put the fridge door, oven door, dishwasher door and adjacent cabinet doors on the plan in their open positions. Check whether someone can stand where they need to load, unload or clean, and whether the main route through the kitchen remains usable.

For an integrated dishwasher, confirm the exact installation type before the cabinet fronts are ordered. Bosch distinguishes integrated arrangements by how the matching panel and controls are incorporated. Give the carpenter the chosen model's panel and fitting instructions; a front that visually matches the kitchen is only one part of the detail.

Under the sink, sketch the bowls and plumbing before promising a full-depth drawer, pull-out bin or filter system. Ask for a view with each item shown in place and with the space needed for servicing. At the fridge, check the manufacturer's door-opening requirements and whether internal drawers can be removed beside the proposed wall or tall unit.

Finally, ask how a failed appliance will come out. A dishwasher should not become trapped by a later change in floor level, and an access point should not disappear behind fixed joinery. Have the installer review the finished floor and cabinet arrangement before signing off the removal route.

Sources: Bosch Home Appliances Singapore: Built-in dishwasher installation FAQ

Use two decision points: cabinet fabrication and worktop cutting

Treat approval of the cabinet drawings and release of the worktop cut-outs as separate decisions. The first fixes the cabinet structure around confirmed appliances. The second checks the cut-outs against the actual site, selected products and fabricator's requirements. Agree the sequence with the supplier and fabricator rather than assuming a delivery date automatically authorises cutting.

Keep one dated drawing set and schedule, with changes recorded. If an appliance goes out of stock, a replacement with the same advertised width still needs a review of its opening, connections, ventilation and moving parts. Release only the parts of the job whose unresolved dependencies have been settled.

Bring these questions to your kitchen planning meeting

You do not need to resolve technical installation details yourself. You do need a clear record of who has checked them. Ask the kitchen contractor to walk through the schedule with the drawings and identify any decision that still prevents fabrication.

For a DirectHome kitchen renovation enquiry, bring your existing kitchen photographs, a rough layout, the appliances you want to keep and the models you are considering. Describe how you use the wet and dry kitchens and whether the work forms part of a larger renovation. This gives the discussion a useful starting point before measurements and technical checks.

• Kitchen renovation for landed homes

  Discuss the kitchen layout, appliances and the trades needed to deliver it.

• Carpentry and built-ins

  Coordinate storage and joinery with the equipment they surround.