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Most kitchens get ordered in the wrong sequence. The shutter finish is chosen first, because it is the fun decision and someone has seen a photograph. The hardware is chosen last, out of whatever is left.
That order costs money twice. A basket gets bought that does not fit the cabinet the carpenter already built, or a finish gets picked that the cabinet width will not take cleanly. Deciding in the order below avoids most of it.
Start with the wall, not the cabinets
Measure the run, corner to corner, and write down where the immovable things are: the sink, the hob, the window, the door swing, and every socket and pipe. Note the ceiling height if you want cabinets to the top.
Take the measurements at floor level and again at counter height. Walls in older buildings are rarely parallel to themselves, and a 20mm difference over three metres decides whether the last cabinet needs scribing or the whole run needs rethinking.
The corner is the part people underestimate. A corner either gets a proper unit or it becomes dead space you reach into with a torch. Decide which one you are accepting before the carcasses are cut — the corner cabinet options are sized to specific cabinet widths, and retrofitting one is not realistic.
Then the carcass board
This is the structure, and it is the decision that quietly sets everything else.
18mm is the usual answer for carcasses and shelving, and thinner board for backs and drawer bases. Which board for kitchen cabinets sets out why, and the buying guide covers grades and how to check a sheet before you pay. We stock A-Grade from 3mm upward — the plywood and boards page has the range.
The one thing to settle here rather than later: the glue. Anything that lives near water wants a boiling-water-resistant board rather than a moisture-resistant one. That is a different sheet, not a different treatment applied afterwards.
Then the shutters
Now pick what the kitchen looks like, knowing the widths you are working to.
Three materials cover most kitchens here, and they are not interchangeable — LMDF, PVC and UV board each have a place and each have a situation that ruins them. The short version: put PVC wherever water is, pick the rest for looks.
Bring a photograph of the room in its actual light if you have one. Finishes read differently under a shop light than under a kitchen window, and gloss in particular photographs nothing like it looks.
Then the hardware, with the widths in front of you
This is where the sequence pays off. Pull-out baskets, waste bins and corner units are made for specific cabinet widths, so with the carcass widths settled the choice is quick and nothing is bought that will not fit.
Worth deciding deliberately rather than by default:
- Which cabinets get drawers and which get doors with a shelf. Drawers cost more in hardware and are worth it in the ones you use daily.
- Where the bin goes. A bin in the wrong cabinet is a bin nobody uses.
- Whether the tall cabinet is shelves or a pull-out. That decides at the carcass stage, not after.
- How the spice storage works, if it matters to whoever cooks.
The kitchen accessories guide runs through the Wellmax range with the sizing detail for each.
What to bring for an estimate
Estimates are free, and the more of this you bring the more useful the number is:
- The wall measurements, including ceiling height
- Where the sink, hob, window and sockets are
- A rough cabinet layout, even sketched on paper
- A photograph of the room
- Which finish you are leaning towards, if you have one
You do not need a finished design. A sketch and honest measurements are enough for us to work out board quantities, panel counts and what hardware fits.
Where we are
Ali Plywood Center, Purani Hattian, New Mirpur City, 10250 — next to Janjua Timber Merchant. Open 8AM–8PM, Friday 8AM–12PM.
Call +92 349 7677791, WhatsApp +92 355 6415415 with your measurements, or send the details here and we will come back with what the job needs.
