What we are working with
The good news about a 1970s Bandra kitchen is that it is a real room — window, ventilation, a dry balcony and usually 9 to 14 running feet of usable wall. The complications are all in the services.
- Cast-iron soil and waste stacks. Common in pre-1985 blocks. They can be connected to, but the junction has to be made properly and the stack tested afterwards. Moving a sink more than about 1.2 m from the existing connection means a run with a workable fall, and in a 2.6 m kitchen that is not always available.
- Cylinder gas. A large share of older Bandra West societies have never taken a piped connection. That means a cylinder cabinet with ventilation at low level, a regulator run that is accessible, and a hob position that respects the cylinder's location rather than the other way round.
- The dry balcony. Almost every kitchen here has one, and it is the most underused 25 square feet in the flat. Converted into a louvred utility with a washing machine, a sink and vertical storage, it removes the single biggest clutter source from the kitchen itself.
- Chimney duct routing. Getting the duct through a 230 mm masonry external wall is straightforward; getting it out of an internal kitchen in a converted layout is not. We check the duct route before the layout is fixed, because a recirculating chimney in an Indian kitchen is a compromise, not a solution.
- Window position. Old Bandra kitchens have big windows in awkward places, and they are worth keeping. We plan around them rather than blocking them with a tall unit, which is what a standard modular layout will do if nobody intervenes.
Rate card, per running foot of counter
| Finish | ₹ per running foot | Carcass and shutter | Hardware |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laminate on BWP | ₹24,000 – 31,000 | BWP carcass, matte laminate shutter, 0.8 mm edge | Ebco soft-close hinges and runners |
| Membrane or matte acrylic | ₹33,000 – 40,500 | BWP carcass, membrane or matte acrylic, 2 mm edge | Hettich, tandem box drawers |
| High-gloss acrylic | ₹42,000 – 55,000 | BWP carcass, high-gloss acrylic, 2 mm PVC | Hettich or Blum, full extension with soft close |
| Veneer, PU or lacquered glass | ₹57,000 – 60,000 | BWP carcass, veneer or PU with a hand-finished edge | Blum, with servo options |
Per running foot of counter, ex-GST, all-in: carcass, shutters, hardware, countertop, dado, sink, tap, chimney and hob, electrical, delivery and installation. Excludes free-standing appliances. The membrane row matches the Bandra West figure on our Mumbai kitchen cost page.
Worked example: 11 running foot L-shaped kitchen, Union Park
High-gloss acrylic at ₹52,000 per running foot, which is mid-way up the Bandra West gloss tier. Eleven running feet of counter, third floor, no goods lift.
| Component | ₹ lakh | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Acrylic shutters — 11 rft base, 9 rft wall, two tall units | 1.49 | 2 mm PVC edge; colour-matched to the counter |
| BWP carcass, 18 mm, with WPC under the sink | 1.43 | Every cut edge sealed before assembly |
| Hettich soft-close hardware, tandem drawers, corner carousel | 0.80 | The component you touch most, so not the one to economise on |
| Quartz counter — 22 sq ft, with sink cut-out | 0.62 | Jointed on site at the corner; a full slab does not reach the third floor |
| Dado, backsplash and dry-balcony waterproofing | 0.44 | Large-format porcelain to the underside of the wall units |
| Electrical, under-cabinet lighting and the gas-line shift | 0.34 | Six new points; the cylinder cabinet vented at low level |
| Chimney ducted to the external wall, and the hob | 0.38 | 1,200 m³/hr, 4-burner hob |
| Tempo delivery, stair carry, on-site cutting and installation | 0.22 | Includes the stack test after the new waste junction |
| Total, ex-GST | 5.72 | ₹52,000 per running foot on 11 running feet |
Add 18% GST. Excludes free-standing appliances — refrigerator, dishwasher, oven — which the client bought separately at about ₹2.6 lakh.
Kitchens built around stacks that cannot move
Two things that catch people out
- The counter arrives in pieces. A 3 metre quartz or granite slab weighs 180 to 260 kg and cannot be carried up a 1.05 m Bandra staircase. Counters here are templated after the carcass is installed, cut to jointable lengths, and seamed on site with a colour-matched epoxy. Done well the joint is invisible; done badly it is the first thing a guest notices, which is why we template rather than working from the drawing.
- The society may need to approve the plumbing, not just the work. Cutting into a shared cast-iron stack affects the flats above and below. Several Bandra West committees require notice, a plumber's method statement and a test after connection. We include the test in the scope and give the society the result, which has prevented more disputes than any amount of goodwill.
One more Bandra West habit worth keeping: the old kitchens have high windows and generous sills, and the temptation is to build a tall unit across them. Resist it. Daylight and cross ventilation in a Mumbai kitchen are worth more than the twelve cubic feet a tall unit would add, and the loft above the window recovers most of it anyway.
For the suburb overall see interior designers in Bandra West; for a whole-home project see residential interior designers in Bandra West. Our kitchen specification, brands and warranty across the city are on modular kitchen designers in Mumbai.
Kitchen work by Greenbox Design Studio.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move the sink in an old Bandra West kitchen?+
Usually by up to about 1.2 metres, sometimes less. The limit is the fall you can achieve to the existing cast-iron stack connection within the floor build-up available. Beyond that you are either raising the floor, boxing a visible run, or asking the society for permission to make a new stack connection — which is a different conversation and not always granted.
Is cylinder gas a problem for a modular kitchen?+
Not a problem, but a constraint. The cylinder needs a ventilated cabinet at low level with a permanent air path, the regulator must stay accessible, and the run to the hob should be short and visible rather than buried. It fixes the hob position more firmly than a piped supply would. If your society is considering a pipeline conversion, it is worth waiting for it before finalising the layout.
What does a Bandra West modular kitchen cost in total?+
For a typical 10–12 running foot kitchen, ₹3.3 to ₹6.6 lakh ex-GST complete — carcass, shutters, hardware, counter, dado, chimney, hob, sink and installation — with free-standing appliances on top. Our Union Park example was ₹5.72 lakh for 11 running feet in high-gloss acrylic. A 14 foot kitchen in veneer, plus a premium appliance package, reaches ₹12 lakh all told.
How long does a kitchen-only project take here?+
Three to five weeks from measurement to working kitchen, of which about ten days is factory fabrication. The variables are the countertop template — which cannot happen until the carcass is in — and any stack work, which needs the society's notice period. We keep the old kitchen usable until the demolition day wherever the layout allows.
Should I keep the dry balcony or absorb it into the kitchen?+
Keep it, nine times out of ten. Absorbed, it gives you two or three extra running feet of counter. Kept and fitted as a louvred utility, it takes the washing machine, the mop, the bulk stock and the recycling out of the kitchen entirely — which does more for how the kitchen works than the extra counter would. In Bandra West it is also often the only ventilation path for a service area.