When most homeowners think about custom cabinetry, their focus goes to the surface: colour, door style, overall aesthetic. These things matter — but an experienced carpenter knows that the decisions which define how your cabinets perform over ten or fifteen years are mostly invisible: the counter height relative to your body, the surface material on the inside of each cabinet, and the structural composition of the panels themselves. This guide addresses all three, along with the honest pricing question that comes up in every quotation conversation.

What Counter Height Should Your Kitchen Cabinets Be?

The most frequently asked question during kitchen design consultations. Our master carpenter’s answer is practical and direct:

For people of average height (approximately 160–170cm): a countertop height of 86cm is the comfortable standard
For taller individuals (175cm and above): 90cm is a more ergonomic option

One specific design suggestion to avoid: raising the sink area higher than the hob area. The reasoning sometimes offered is that different task heights optimise for washing versus cooking. In practice, there are two reasons this doesn’t work well:

Visually, a split-level countertop looks awkward. The broken horizontal line interrupts the continuity of the kitchen and makes the space feel less resolved.

The transition joint accumulates grease and dust. The step between two counter heights — particularly near the hob — becomes a grease trap. Oil vapour from cooking settles into the recessed fold, and cleaning it thoroughly requires dismantling the transition piece. Over time, this becomes a persistent hygiene issue.

Our carpenter’s recommendation: keep the countertop at a consistent height throughout, with the sink and hob on the same level. If your height is significantly above or below the averages listed here, discuss it directly with your carpenter — a one-size-fits-all answer is less useful than a measurement tailored to how you actually move and work in a kitchen.

Laminate and PVC: Clearing Up the Confusion

A misunderstanding that surfaces repeatedly: homeowners looking at board samples sometimes ask when they’ll be able to choose their materials — not realising that laminate is the material they’re already looking at. The confusion is understandable, because the distinction between laminate (a surface material) and the structural board beneath it isn’t obvious to someone outside the trade.

What laminate actually is:

Laminate is a surface cladding material — sheets of resin-impregnated paper compressed under high pressure into a hard, flat panel. It is not a type of wood or board in itself. Its surface can be printed and textured to replicate wood grain, marble patterns (marble), stone, or solid colour. It is scratch-resistant, durable under normal use, and available in an extensive range of finishes. It’s typically used on the visible exterior surfaces of cabinetry.

What PVC actually is:

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a plastic-based surface material, typically used for the interior lining of cabinet carcasses. Its primary advantages are moisture resistance and ease of cleaning — both important qualities for the interior of kitchen and bathroom cabinets that are regularly exposed to humidity and require periodic wiping down.

How they compare:

Property	Laminate	PVC
Primary use	Exterior cabinet surface	Interior cabinet lining
Design variety	Extensive	Limited
Scratch resistance	Good	Moderate
Moisture resistance	Moderate	Good
Relative cost	Higher	Lower

The combination used in quality cabinet construction is laminate on exterior surfaces for a refined aesthetic, and PVC on interior surfaces for durability and moisture resistance. This approach achieves both visual quality and functional performance without applying the more expensive laminate where it isn’t visible.

Why Double-Panel Construction Matters

When clients receive a quotation that’s higher than a competitor’s, the question that follows is predictable: what justifies the difference?

The honest answer: the differences are in the parts you can’t see.

Most budget-tier and mid-market cabinets use single-panel construction for side panels and internal dividers. A single panel is perfectly adequate when the cabinet is new. Over years of use under load, single panels are susceptible to:

Gradual bowing under sustained weight
Mid-span sag in long shelf spans
Reduced rigidity at fixing points, which loosens over time

Our master carpenter builds structural panels — particularly side panels and high-load dividers — using a double-panel construction method: two panels bonded together, which dramatically increases rigidity, weight capacity, and resistance to warping. The structural difference between a single-panel and double-panel side wall becomes apparent about five to eight years into daily use.

The secondary benefit of double-panel construction is a functional one: the void between the two panels provides a natural channel for electrical cable routing, allowing sockets to be installed cleanly within the cabinet structure with no exposed wiring on the exterior surfaces. The result is both neater and safer.

This is the specific reason why a quotation from a contractor using these methods may be higher than one that doesn’t — and why higher price in cabinetry is not the same as being overcharged.

How to Respond When a Cheaper Quote Arrives

Occasionally clients will present a competitor’s quote and ask directly: can you match it?

Our carpenter’s response is not defensive. It’s an invitation to compare what each quotation actually specifies:

What board type and thickness is stated for the carcass panels?
What is the formaldehyde emission rating of the specified board?
What hardware brand and model is listed — or is it listed at all?
Is the interior lined with PVC or left as bare board?
Are delivery, installation, and applicable taxes included in the total?

A lower quotation that omits these specifications, or leaves them vague, is not a cheaper version of the same cabinet. It’s a different cabinet — and the differences become evident three to five years after installation, when the door hinges start to drag, the panels begin to bow, or the interior finish starts to peel.

An honest contractor specifies every material decision in writing before signing. A contractor who resists doing so deserves caution.

Where to Save and Where Never to Cut Corners

From decades of experience, a practical guide to budget allocation in custom joinery:

Reasonable places to economise:

Storage rooms and utility areas with low aesthetic requirements — standard-grade laminate finishes are perfectly acceptable
Areas that aren’t customer-facing or frequently seen
Overhead ceiling features, which can be deferred if budget is constrained and added later

Places where compromising creates long-term problems:

Board formaldehyde rating — E1 grade minimum for all enclosed, inhabited spaces
Waterproof materials around the sink and in bathroom cabinetry
Hardware brands for high-use cabinets (kitchen, wardrobe, TV unit)
Interior surface treatment in humid environments

The financial logic is straightforward: savings on the wrong materials typically translate into repair or replacement costs within three to five years that exceed the original saving many times over. Investing correctly upfront is almost always less expensive in total.

Tell Your Carpenter What You’re Storing, Not Just Your Dimensions

A common approach homeowners take when briefing a carpenter: arriving with room dimensions and saying “I need a cabinet in this space.” The information is useful — but incomplete.

More useful: telling your carpenter what you intend to store in each section of the cabinet.

If you explain that a section is for large pots and cookware, the carpenter knows to design wider shelf spacing and deeper carcass depth. If you explain that a section is for spices, condiments, and small items, they’ll recommend additional shelving with narrower spacing to prevent items from getting lost. If you’re storing crockery, they’ll consider the load capacity of each shelf.

This detail-first approach to the brief is what separates cabinetry that is built to suit a specific person’s life from cabinetry that fills a space according to standard templates. The difference is something you notice and appreciate every time you open the cabinet door.

Conclusion: The Cabinets That Serve You for 15 Years Are Built on Decisions You Make Today

Counter height, surface materials, structural construction, hardware specification — each of these choices has consequences that compound over the years you live with your cabinets. Getting them right requires working with a carpenter who thinks beyond the installation day and considers how the finished product will perform through sustained daily use.

If you’re planning a kitchen renovation or full-home cabinet fit-out, we’d be glad to walk through your space and discuss these decisions together. Bring your ideas, your functional requirements, and your questions — a realistic assessment of what works in your specific home is always the most useful place to start.