Kitchen Renovation Dubai: New Kitchen Design, Supply and Fit Out
Renovel renovates kitchens across Dubai apartments and villas, from a two-week cosmetic update to a full remodel with a new layout, island, stone worktops and integrated appliances. Cabinets are made in our own joinery workshop, worktops are templated on site after installation, and the building NOC and municipality permit are handled as part of the job.
Three Levels of Kitchen Renovation
Almost every kitchen project in Dubai falls into one of three brackets, and the honest first question is which one your kitchen actually needs. A ten-year-old kitchen with solid carcasses and tired doors is a very different job from a kitchen with water damage under the sink unit.
Cosmetic update, cabinets stay
The carcasses are sound, so we keep them and change everything you touch and see: new doors and drawer fronts, new handles and soft-close hardware, a new worktop, a new splashback, a new sink and tap, and better lighting. The fastest and cheapest route to a new kitchen in Dubai, and usually a one to two week job.
Full replacement, same layout
Old kitchen out, new kitchen in, with the sink, cooker and appliance positions staying where they are. New cabinets throughout, quartz or stone worktop, splashback tiling, new sink and tap, updated sockets and lighting, and appliance installation. This is the most common kitchen renovation we do in Dubai apartments.
Full remodel with layout change
Walls opened to the living area, an island added, the sink or hob moved, tall unit runs, integrated appliances and full MEP rework. Moving water, drainage or a gas point is what pushes the cost, and it is also what triggers a municipality permit. The result is a kitchen designed around how you cook rather than around 2010 developer plumbing.
If the kitchen is one part of a bigger job, it is usually cheaper to do it inside a single contract with the rest of the property. See apartment renovation in Dubai for whole-unit projects, or turnkey renovation where you want one fixed price covering everything.
The Kitchen Fit Out Process
Nine stages from first measure to the day the oven is tested. The order matters more than people expect: worktops templated before installation, or cabinets fitted to unstraightened walls, are the two mistakes that produce visible gaps in a finished Dubai kitchen.
Survey and Measure
We measure the room to the millimetre, check where the drainage stack, water feed, gas point and extraction duct actually run, and photograph the existing services. Those four positions decide what a layout change will cost before any design work starts.
Design and 3D Visuals
Cabinet layout, worktop and splashback selection, appliance schedule, lighting plan and socket positions, presented as 3D visuals so you can see door heights, handle style and worktop veining before committing.
Samples and Fixed Quotation
Physical samples of door finish, worktop and tile on the table, then a line-by-line quotation naming every cabinet run, appliance and material with quantities and exclusions written down.
NOC and Permit
We lodge the building or community NOC, and where the scope moves plumbing, drainage, gas or electrical points we run the Dubai Municipality, DDA or Trakhees modification permit alongside it.
Strip-Out and Protection
Floors, corridors and lifts protected, old kitchen removed, waste taken out through the route your building specifies and inside the permitted hours. Any hidden damage behind the units is photographed and reported immediately.
MEP First Fix
Water, waste, electrics, appliance circuits, extraction ducting and any gas alteration installed and tested. Wet zones are made good and the walls straightened, because cabinets fitted to a wavy wall never sit right.
Tiling and Finishes
Floor tiling or stone, wall preparation, splashback substrate and paint. Ceilings and any cove lighting detail are finished at this point, before the cabinets arrive.
Cabinet Installation
Carcasses levelled and fixed, fronts hung and aligned, tall units and appliance housings set. Only then is the worktop templated on site, so the stone matches the kitchen as built rather than the kitchen as drawn.
Worktop, Appliances and Snagging
Stone fitted and sealed, sink and tap plumbed, appliances installed and tested, lighting commissioned. We snag our own work first, then walk it with you and close your list before handover.
Kitchen Layouts That Work in Dubai Homes
Dubai apartment kitchens are frequently closed galleys tucked behind a wall, sized for a household that eats out. If you cook, the layout is worth more attention than the door finish.
Galley and single run
The default in one and two-bedroom towers. Gains come from taller units to the ceiling, deeper drawers instead of base cupboards, and moving the fridge out of the run to free a metre of worktop.
L-shape with peninsula
The usual answer when a partition wall between kitchen and living area can come out. A peninsula gives seating and a work surface without needing new drainage in the middle of the floor, which keeps the plumbing cost down.
Island kitchen
Wanted in almost every villa brief. An island with a sink or hob means drainage or gas routed through the slab or a raised floor build-up, so it is a permit job and needs to be designed early, not added later.
Open plan to living
Removing the kitchen wall transforms a Dubai apartment, but check first whether it is structural and whether the extraction can still reach a shaft. Where it cannot, a recirculating hood plus a glass partition is the practical compromise.
Closed kitchen with utility
Common in Arabic-style briefs: a show kitchen for daily use plus a separate wet or spice kitchen for heavy cooking. It keeps odours out of the living space and is worth planning if you cook with heat and spice daily.
Small and studio kitchens
Integrated appliances, a slimline dishwasher, a compact sink and pull-out storage let a studio kitchen work properly. In JVC and Business Bay studios this is most of what we do, and it is a two to three week job.
Materials and Finishes Built for UAE Conditions
Coastal humidity, hard water and constant air conditioning are hard on a kitchen. These are the specifications we use, and why.
Cabinet carcasses
Moisture-resistant MDF or marine-grade plywood, edge-banded on all cut faces. In a Dubai kitchen, where humidity spikes and a chilled water leak is a real risk, the carcass material is the difference between a kitchen that lasts fifteen years and one that swells at the base in three.
Door fronts
Acrylic and high-gloss lacquer for a seamless modern look, matt lacquer and fenix-style laminates for fingerprint resistance, HPL for value, and painted or veneered timber for classic and shaker styles. Handleless J-profile and push-to-open are the most requested details in Dubai apartments.
Worktops
Engineered quartz is our default for kitchen worktops because it is non-porous and shrugs off citrus, coffee and turmeric. Natural marble is stunning and does stain and etch, so we specify it where the client accepts a patina, and sintered stone or porcelain where a marble look with quartz-level durability is wanted.
Hardware
Blum or Hettich soft-close hinges and full-extension runners as standard, with lift-up mechanisms for upper units and internal drawer organisers. Hardware is where cheap kitchens give themselves away within a year, so it is the last place to save.
Splashbacks
Large-format porcelain or a stone up-stand carried from the worktop for a joint-free finish behind the hob, mosaic or metro tiling where a decorative line is wanted, and toughened glass where the wall is uneven.
Extraction and lighting
Ducted extraction where the tower allows a route to the shaft, recirculating carbon filtration where it does not, which is common in Dubai high-rises. Under-cabinet LED strip on a separate circuit, plus dimmable ceiling lighting rather than a single central fitting.
Cabinet construction, finishes and pricing per linear metre are covered in more depth on our custom kitchen cabinets Dubai page, and stone options on our marble countertops page.
Kitchen Renovation Cost: A Quick Orientation
Most Dubai kitchens land between AED 30,000 and AED 120,000. Cabinetry is the largest line item and is priced per linear metre: around AED 800 to 1,200 for modular acrylic units, AED 1,800 to 3,500 for custom joinery with soft-close and handleless profiles, and AED 2,500 to 6,000 for premium and imported specifications with marine-grade carcasses.
The other cost driver is movement. Keeping the sink, hob and drainage where they are keeps the project simple and permit-light. Moving them brings plumbing, drainage, electrical and approval work with it, typically adding AED 8,000 to 20,000 before anyone has chosen a tile. After that the variables are worktop material, appliance level and whether the ceiling and flooring are being redone at the same time.
VAT at 5 percent is added to the contract sum. For the full itemised breakdown, including worktop rates per square metre, appliance allowances and where kitchen budgets usually overrun, read our kitchen renovation cost guide for Dubai. We convert the range into one fixed number after the site survey.
Approvals for a Kitchen Renovation in Dubai
A building or community NOC is needed for practically any kitchen work in a Dubai apartment, even a like-for-like swap, because trades, lift use and waste routes have to be cleared with facilities management first. Review usually takes about 5 to 7 working days, and the building will attach conditions covering working hours, protection standards, insurance and a refundable security deposit.
A Dubai Municipality building modification permit comes on top when water, drainage, gas or electrical points move, when a wall between the kitchen and the living area is removed, or when ceilings carrying MEP are altered. Municipality review commonly runs 10 to 12 working days, and applications are lodged through the BPS portal by a registered engineering consultant rather than by the owner. Trakhees covers Palm Jumeirah and other PCFC areas, and the Dubai Development Authority covers Business Bay and the TECOM districts.
Renovel prepares the drawings and lodges both applications as part of the scope. Unapproved work carries fines that can reach AED 50,000, plus a stop-work order and loss of the community deposit, which costs far more than the permit ever would. The two-layer approval system across all property types is explained on our Dubai renovation services page.
What Is Included, and What Is Not
Kitchen quotations in Dubai are easy to compare wrongly, because one includes appliances and worktop and another does not. Here is exactly where our line sits.
Included in the fixed price
- + Site survey, measured drawings, kitchen layout, 3D visuals and the finishes schedule
- + Building or community NOC, plus a Dubai Municipality, DDA or Trakhees permit where plumbing, gas, drainage or electrical points move
- + Strip-out and disposal of the existing kitchen, with site protection throughout
- + Cabinets manufactured in our own joinery workshop, delivered and installed
- + Worktop templated on site after installation, fabricated, fitted and sealed
- + Plumbing, electrical, extraction and appliance installation, with all wet connections tested
- + Tiling, splashback, making good, painting and final deep clean
- + Snagging, hardware adjustment after settling, and warranty documentation at handover
Not included, quoted separately
- − VAT at 5 percent, added to the contract sum
- − Appliances, unless they are listed as a supplied line item in your quotation
- − Refundable building or community security deposits
- − DEWA load amendment where a new induction hob or double oven exceeds the existing supply
- − Gas provider connection and certification fees where a gas point is added or relocated
- − Concealed damage behind the old units, such as failed waterproofing or corroded pipework, priced as a variation once opened up and photographed
Why Renovel for a New Kitchen in Dubai
Cabinets made in-house
We manufacture in our own joinery workshop, so sizes are built to your room rather than forced from a catalogue, and a damaged panel is remade in days instead of reordered from Europe.
Worktops templated on site
Stone is templated after the cabinets are installed and levelled, which is the only way to get tight joints against out-of-square Dubai walls.
One contractor, all trades
Plumbing, electrics, extraction, tiling, joinery and stone are ours. No gap between a kitchen supplier and a fitter, and nobody to blame when something needs fixing.
Approvals and building rules
We hold the NOC and permit relationships, work to your building on hours, lift bookings and waste routes, and keep the community deposit intact.
We fit kitchens across Dubai Marina, JLT, Downtown, Business Bay, JVC, Al Barsha, Jumeirah, Palm Jumeirah and the northern emirates, and we also handle bathroom renovation in the same visit where clients want both wet rooms done together. Send us the unit layout and a few photos of the existing kitchen and we will book the survey.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a kitchen renovation cost in Dubai?
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As an orientation, refacing an existing kitchen with new doors, hardware and a worktop runs AED 12,000 to 30,000. A full replacement in the same layout runs AED 45,000 to 90,000. A full remodel with a layout change, island and integrated appliances runs AED 90,000 to 250,000 and above. Cabinetry is the largest single line item and is priced per linear metre: roughly AED 800 to 1,200 for modular units, AED 1,800 to 3,500 for custom in-house joinery, and AED 2,500 to 6,000 for premium and imported specifications. Moving the sink, hob or gas point typically adds AED 8,000 to 20,000. Our kitchen renovation cost guide carries the full breakdown.
What does a kitchen fit out in Dubai include?
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A Renovel kitchen fit out covers survey and measured drawings, layout design and 3D visuals, the building NOC and any municipality permit, strip-out of the old kitchen, plumbing and electrical first fix, extraction, tiling and splashback, cabinet manufacture and installation, worktop templating and fitting, sink, tap and appliance installation, lighting, then snagging and handover with warranties. You approve the design and the fixed price, and one project manager runs the rest.
How long does a kitchen renovation take in Dubai?
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On site, a cosmetic update takes 1 to 2 weeks, a full replacement in the same layout 3 to 5 weeks, and a remodel with a layout change 5 to 8 weeks. Add design, approvals and manufacturing in front of that: custom cabinets need about 3 to 4 weeks in the workshop, and imported appliances or natural stone can run 8 to 14 weeks, which is why selections are locked before we start on site.
Do I need approval to renovate a kitchen in a Dubai apartment?
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Yes. A building management or master developer NOC is required for practically any kitchen work, including a like-for-like replacement, and normally takes about 5 to 7 working days. A Dubai Municipality building modification permit is required on top when the scope moves water, drainage, gas or electrical points, removes a wall between the kitchen and the living area, or alters ceilings carrying MEP. Municipality review commonly runs 10 to 12 working days. Working without approval risks fines that can reach AED 50,000, a stop-work order and loss of your community deposit. We prepare and lodge both applications.
Can I get a cheap kitchen in Dubai without it looking cheap?
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Yes, if the money goes to the right places. Keep the existing layout so no plumbing or gas moves, keep sound carcasses and change the fronts, choose a good laminate or matt lacquer front rather than an entry-level gloss, and put the saving into worktop, hardware and lighting. Those three are what people register as quality. A budget-focused kitchen renovation in Dubai realistically starts around AED 12,000 to 20,000 on that basis, and we will tell you honestly when a kitchen is too far gone to be worth refacing.
Can you install a kitchen I have already bought?
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Yes. We regularly fit kitchens supplied by IKEA, imported Italian and German brands and local suppliers, handling the strip-out, plumbing, electrics, extraction, tiling, installation, worktop and appliances. We survey first and flag anything in the delivered kit that will not work with the room, since supplier drawings are frequently made without a site measure. Where we supply the cabinets ourselves they are made in our own workshop, which is covered on our custom kitchen cabinets page.
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