The appliance package, planned first
The kitchens that work in this suburb are the ones where the appliance list was settled before the elevations. Every built-in appliance carries a housing dimension, a power requirement and a service connection, and none of them tolerate being moved 200 mm after the carcass is made. A dishwasher needs a dedicated cold inlet, a drain connection above trap level and a 16 amp circuit. A built-in oven needs a 20 amp radial and a ventilated housing. A chimney needs a duct run kept short and straight or its rated suction becomes fiction. We fix the models at layout stage and issue a services drawing to the electrician and plumber before the joinery is cut — which sounds obvious and is the step most commonly skipped.
| Appliance package | What it adds to the kitchen | ₹ per running foot | Electrical scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic — hob, chimney, fridge | Standard cabinetry, one dedicated circuit | ₹20,200 – 25,500 | 2 circuits |
| Everyday — plus microwave and RO | Microwave housing, water line to the RO | ₹22,500 – 28,500 | 3 circuits |
| Working household — plus dishwasher | Inlet, raised drain, dedicated circuit, cabinet loss | ₹25,000 – 32,000 | 4 circuits |
| Full built-in — plus oven and hood | Tall oven housing, ventilated back, heavier supply | ₹28,000 – 37,500 | 5–6 circuits |
Ex-GST, per running foot of base and wall units. Appliances themselves are excluded and typically add ₹1.2–₹4.5 lakh.
Cooking starts at nine. Design for that
Worked example: 13 running foot parallel kitchen, Evershine Nagar
A 2004 flat in a gated layout. Both owners work on Link Road; the kitchen is used hard between 9pm and 10.30pm on weekdays and most of Sunday. Dishwasher, built-in microwave, induction and gas hob together.
| Scope | ₹ lakh | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Civil, plumbing and the dishwasher point | 0.24 | Dedicated inlet, raised drain, sink relocated to the window |
| Base and wall carcass | 1.02 | BWP under the sink and dishwasher, 710-grade elsewhere |
| Shutters — matt acrylic | 0.74 | Fingerprint-resistant; the kitchen is visible from the dining area |
| Hardware | 0.52 | Soft-close throughout; tandem drawers at the hob; corner pull-out |
| Quartz counter and full-height splashback | 0.44 | No grout lines behind the hob; 20 mm quartz with a mitred edge |
| Tall unit with built-in oven housing | 0.32 | Ventilated housing, 20 amp radial, pull-out larder above |
| Utility and loft storage | 0.10 | Washing machine housing in the utility; shallow loft over the tall bank |
| Total, ex-GST | 3.38 | ₹26,000 per running foot |
Add 18% GST. Excludes appliances. The dishwasher adds roughly ₹28,000 of plumbing, electrical and cabinetry work before the machine itself is bought.
Two constraints, geographically split
- The creek edge and the hardware schedule. Within roughly a kilometre of the Marve and Madh crossing, kitchen hardware pits and mild-steel supports rust. Hinges, runners and any exposed fixing go to SS 316, and the utility run goes to marine ply. Two kilometres inland this is a markup with no benefit, and the BOQ says which flats we have specified as coastal.
- Low-rise kitchens are generous and under-serviced. Orlem, Liberty Garden and the Kharodi low-rises have big kitchens by modern standards — often 60 to 75 square feet with a separate store — and services that have not been touched since the eighties. Expect a rewire of the kitchen circuit, a new drain connection and, quite often, the discovery that the existing window is timber and at the end of its life. The cabinetry is the easy part.
What we would spend on and what we would skip
- Spend on the extractor and its duct run. A short straight duct to the external sleeve makes a mid-priced chimney outperform an expensive one badly installed.
- Spend on tandem drawers at the hob. In a kitchen used at speed at 9pm, retrieving a pan should not involve kneeling.
- Spend on task lighting under every wall unit, separately switched.
- Skip the decorative backsplash. A full-height quartz or glass splashback behind the hob is easier to clean and looks better after two years.
- Skip an island unless the kitchen is over 100 square feet. Below that it takes the circulation two people need.
A last point about how these kitchens are actually used. In a household where cooking starts at nine, the kitchen is worked at speed under artificial light, and the lighting scheme matters more than it would in a kitchen used at eleven in the morning. A single ceiling fitting puts the cook's own shadow on the counter. Under-cabinet task lighting on its own switch, at around 4,000 K over the working runs and something warmer over any part visible from the dining area, is perhaps ₹14,000 on a kitchen this size and is the change clients mention most often afterwards.
For the suburb overall, see interior designers in Malad. For our kitchen materials, hardware brands and warranty, see modular kitchen designers in Mumbai.
Kitchen work by Greenbox Design Studio.
Frequently asked questions
What does it take to make a kitchen dishwasher-ready?+
A dedicated cold water inlet, a drain connection above trap level, a 16 amp circuit and about 600 mm of base cabinet given up. Around ₹28,000 of work before the machine is bought. Doing it later means opening a finished dado and losing a cabinet you have already paid for, so decide at layout stage even if you buy the machine next year.
Does my flat need marine-grade kitchen hardware?+
Only within about a kilometre of the Marve or Madh creek. There, hinges and runners go to SS 316 and the utility run to marine ply. In Evershine Nagar, Pushpa Park or anywhere inland it is money you will not see again, and we mark the specification basis in the BOQ so it is clear either way.
Why is the duct run more important than the chimney brand?+
Because a rated suction figure assumes a short straight duct. Two ninety-degree bends and four metres of flexible hose can halve the effective extraction, which is why an expensive chimney sometimes performs worse than a modest one well installed. We plan the duct route before choosing the unit.
What is different about an Orlem or Liberty Garden kitchen?+
They are bigger than modern kitchens and their services are forty years old. Expect a kitchen circuit rewire, a new drain connection and often a timber window at the end of its life. The cabinetry is straightforward; budget for the things behind it, which is the reverse of a new tower flat.
Should we have an island?+
Only above about 100 square feet of kitchen. Below that the island takes the clearance two people need to work at once, and in a household that cooks at speed in the evening that is a daily cost for an occasional benefit. A peninsula off the end of a run gives most of the same value in half the space.