The first thing almost everyone asks us is “how much for the kitchen?” And the honest answer really is “it depends.” That's not us dodging the question. A 10-foot kitchen in a brand-new condo and a 10-foot kitchen in a 30-year-old terrace can sit thousands of ringgit apart for reasons that have nothing to do with how they look. Trouble is, “it depends” is useless when you're trying to set a budget. So let's put some real numbers on it.
One caveat before the figures. These are rough 2026 ranges for the Johor Bahru area. The only number that actually means anything is the one written on a quote for your kitchen, so treat this as a way to sanity-check what you get told, not a price list.
Most of the price is the carcass and the door
Cabinets get quoted by the running foot, and two choices decide most of the cost: what the box (the carcass) is made of, and what goes on the door. Everything else, like hinges, handles, and the fancy pull-out you saw on Xiaohongshu, sits on top of that base.
- Moisture-resistant plywood carcass with a laminate door: roughly RM230–RM380 per foot for base and top cabinets. This is where most homes land.
- The same plywood box with an acrylic or sintered-stone-look door: roughly RM380–RM550 per foot.
- Tall units, pantry towers, and anything floor-to-ceiling: more per foot, simply because there's more material and more door.
- Solid surface or sintered stone countertop: usually a separate line, often RM150–RM400+ per foot depending on the slab.
If a quote comes in dramatically cheaper than this, it's nearly always the carcass. Swapping moisture-resistant plywood for particle board is the classic way to make a number look good on paper. It's also the classic thing to swell and sag the first time the kitchen meets real humidity and a slow leak under the sink.
What quietly pushes the number up
- Hacking and rebuilding old wet works, or moving the sink and hob. Plumbing and tiling are their own line items.
- Soft-close everything, drawers-inside-doors, pull-out baskets. Lovely, and they add up fast.
- Odd wall lengths and out-of-square corners in older units, which mean filler panels and more cutting.
- Premium hardware brands. Good hinges are worth it; just know that's where some of the money quietly goes.
Where people overspend
Two spots, over and over. First, tall glossy upper cabinets that get opened twice a year. You reach them with a stool and then forget what's up there. Drawers at waist height beat high shelves for daily cooking almost every time. Second, spreading the budget evenly across the whole kitchen instead of loading it where your hands actually go, which is the stretch between the sink, the chopping spot, and the hob. Spend there. Go easy on the corners nobody touches.
How to get a number you can trust
The only way past “it depends” is to get specific. We measure the real walls, settle the carcass and the door with you, then show you the kitchen in 3D before anything gets cut. The quote that comes out of that is one you can hold us to, not a figure that quietly creeps up 30% halfway through the job. Send us your floor plan and a couple of photos and we'll talk you through a realistic range for your space.