Knowledge base · Dimensions

Standard kitchen dimensions, and when they pinch

The dimensions almost every kitchen drawing starts from, and the places where they stop working in a real room.

Black run of kitchen units against the side wall of a townhouse with an ornamented ceiling, with a tall oven unit, a white extractor above the induction hob and a brass tap by the window

Below are the dimensions we start from ourselves, each with a note on where they stop holding up in practice.

The appliances

The dimensions that are not yours

Your appliances are 60 cm. That says nothing about the cabinets beside them. And what an appliance needs is not its width but its opening.

Appliance	Opening width	Opening height	Opening depth
Oven, 60 cm	560 mm	590 mm	550 mm
Combi microwave	560 mm	380 or 450 mm	550 mm
Dishwasher, fully integrated	600 mm	820 mm	550 to 570 mm
Built-in fridge	560 mm	880, 1,020, 1,220 or 1,780 mm	550 mm
Hob, 60 cm	cut-out in the worktop	about 560 by 490 mm	depends on the model

Common opening dimensions. Every brand differs by a few millimetres, so we only draw a cabinet definitively once the model number is settled.

The height

Why 900 mm is an average

The working height is not one component but the sum of three.

Component	Common dimension	What it does
Plinth	100 to 150 mm	Freely chosen without changing the cabinet
Base unit carcass	720 mm	Determines how much drawer fits inside
Worktop	20 to 40 mm	Follows from material and edge finish
Together	840 to 910 mm	In practice around 900 mm

Better measure your elbow: the worktop belongs 10 to 15 cm below it. If height is the problem, the plinth is the simplest adjustment, because it leaves the cabinet unchanged.

Kitchen island and cabinet wall in walnut veneer under the black beams — Walnut under the beamsAntwerp

Depth and width

The grid your wall does not fit

Component	Common dimension	Where it pinches
Base unit, carcass	600 mm deep	Shallower is possible, and saves a narrow room
Worktop	600 to 650 mm deep	Handleless and a thick edge need an overhang
Wall unit	320 to 350 mm deep	Deeper is possible, but you bump your head
Cabinet widths from a range	150, 200, 300, 400, 450, 500, 600, 800, 900, 1,000 and 1,200 mm	No wall is a multiple of those
Tall unit, height	2,000, 2,100 or 2,300 mm	Your ceiling is rarely exactly above that

A wall of 3,415 mm fits no grid. From a standard range that means a filler strip, and a dust rail on top of the units. Drawn for that wall, the difference is spread out and you never see it.

Cabinet in light oak built in right up to a preserved plaster cornice with acanthus leaves — No tall unit height from a range follows a sloping ceiling.

Above the worktop

The space you only notice when it is too small

Distance	Common dimension
Worktop to underside of wall unit	500 to 600 mm
Hob to extractor, with gas	650 mm
Hob to extractor, with induction or ceramic	550 to 800 mm
Height above which a shelf is storage only	about 1,900 mm

The manual for your extractor states a minimum of its own. That takes precedence over this table.

If the wall unit hangs too low you bump your head. Too high, and the top shelf is where things disappear.

Black cabinet wall and black kitchen island with a brass tap and bar stools — Black island with brassAntwerp

Circulation space

The dimension that is not a cabinet

Situation	Minimum	Comfortable
Passage alongside a run of units	900 mm	1,000 to 1,200 mm
Between two runs, or between a run and an island	900 mm	1,000 to 1,200 mm
When two people cook together	1,200 mm	1,200 mm or more
Worktop overhang for sitting at the island	300 mm	300 mm

The real dimension is the door, not the passage: an open dishwasher or oven door reaches about half a metre into the room.

In practice

What bespoke work does with these dimensions

Even in bespoke work these tables remain the starting point. The difference is that every line becomes a choice: the working height follows your elbow, the plinth height is free, the widths fill the wall exactly, and the tall unit stops at your ceiling. What does not move is the aperture for your oven.

If you want to see what that means in practice, with the standard specifications, the appliance brands and the lead time, that is on bespoke kitchens in Antwerp. Kitchens we installed are listed with their price under the projects.

Finally

About these dimensions

The dimensions above are what is customary, not a standard; niche sizes differ by brand by a few millimetres, so we only finalise a cabinet once the model number of your appliance is fixed.

Want to know which dimensions are possible in your room?

Send the dimensions of your room, or a short description with the position of the door, the window and the services. We redraw it and tell you what fits, what pinches and where a few centimetres gain a lot.

Phone +32 3 318 74 56, also on WhatsApp.
Email hello@cervano.be