How to Measure Your Kitchen for Units: UK Step-by-Step Guide

Measuring up is the single most important step in planning a new kitchen — get it right and your units slot together perfectly; get it wrong and you’re left with gaps, returns and frustration. The good news is you don’t need to be a professional. With a tape measure, a pencil and an hour of care, you can produce a plan accurate enough to order a whole kitchen with confidence. This step-by-step guide shows you exactly how.

1. Why accurate measuring matters

Kitchen units are sold in fixed widths, and you combine them to fill each wall. If your measurements are even a couple of centimetres out, a run of cabinets may not fit — or you’ll be left with an ugly gap. Careful measuring lets you plan the exact units you need and know precisely where fillers, appliances and the sink will go before you spend a penny. It’s far cheaper to redraw a plan than to send cabinets back.

2. What you’ll need

• A steel tape measure (at least 5m) — cloth tapes stretch and mislead.
• A pencil and squared or plain paper for your plan.
• A step ladder to reach the tops of walls and windows.
• A second pair of hands makes long runs much easier.

Write every measurement down as you go, in millimetres — kitchen units are specified in millimetres, so working in the same unit avoids conversion mistakes.

3. Measure your walls

Measure the full length of each wall, from corner to corner, at worktop height (around 900mm from the floor). Then measure the same wall again lower down and higher up — walls are rarely perfectly square, so always plan to the smallest measurement so your units are guaranteed to fit. Note the ceiling height too if you’re planning tall or wall units up to the ceiling.

4. Doors, windows & services

Mark the position and size of everything that affects where units can go:

• Doors and windows — measure their width, height and distance from the corner. Remember door swings and window sills.
• Water & waste — note where your sink supply and drain are; keeping the sink near them saves money.
• Electrics & gas — mark sockets, the cooker point and any gas supply.
• Radiators and boilers — these often dictate where a run has to stop or start.

Moving plumbing and electrics adds cost, so a plan that works around them is usually the cheapest and easiest.

5. Allow for appliances

Leave the correct gap for every appliance. Most are built to standard widths, which makes planning simple:

Add a small tolerance around each appliance so it slides in and out without scraping the units either side.

6. Plan your run of units

Now add up the widths of the units you want along each wall — our kitchen cabinets come in widths from 150mm to 1000mm, so you can get very close to your wall length. Any small gap left at the end of a run is closed with a slim filler panel. If you’re not sure which sizes to combine, our kitchen cabinet sizes guide breaks down every unit type.

7. Double-check before ordering

Before you buy, measure everything a second time — ideally on a different day with fresh eyes. Check your unit widths add up to less than your smallest wall measurement, confirm appliance gaps, and make sure doors and drawers have room to open without clashing with a corner or another unit. It takes ten minutes and saves a world of trouble.

8. Common measuring mistakes

• Assuming walls are square — they almost never are; always plan to the smallest measurement.
• Forgetting door and drawer clearance — leave room for them to open fully.
• Ignoring skirting boards and pipe boxing — these eat into usable depth.
• Not allowing a filler — you’ll almost always need one to take up the last gap.

9. Buying with confidence

With an accurate, double-checked plan in hand, ordering a kitchen becomes straightforward. When you’re ready, read our full kitchen units buying guide for the bigger picture, then browse the kitchens range to build your list.