Modular Kitchen Planner: Let Buyers Plan Their Kitchen Units Online
7 min read
Buyers know their wall length but not how many units will fit. How to let them plan a modular kitchen online and send you a request with the plan done.
A modular kitchen planner answers the questions buyers keep sending you. "My wall is 3200 mm, how many units will fit?" "What do I do with the corner?" "Where do the fridge and oven go?" "How will white fronts look with an oak worktop?" When each answer goes by email, one modular kitchen can take weeks of back and forth. This article covers how to let buyers plan the kitchen online themselves and send you a request with the plan already done.
Short answer
Online kitchen planning works when the buyer enters wall lengths in millimetres and the configurator offers only the units that fit. The buyer places cabinets, the corner unit and appliance housings, chooses fronts, worktop and handles, sees the kitchen in 3D and sends you a request with the plan and a list of units.
What buyers ask before they choose modular kitchen units
A modular kitchen appeals because it is built from standard parts. But "standard" means little to the buyer. They know their wall length, where the window is, and that the water comes in at the corner. They need three answers:
- Will it fit? How many units go on my wall, and how many millimetres are left over.
- Will it work? Where the sink and hob go, whether the dishwasher sits next to the sink, whether a door can open against the wall.
- How will it look? Front colour, worktop, handles, wall units up to the ceiling or not.
A photo gallery only answers the third question, and not even about their kitchen. A configurator answers all three in one place.
Which units to show and what the buyer needs to see
Each unit type raises its own question. The table lists the common ones, their usual widths and what the buyer wants to check before choosing.
| Unit type | Common widths | What the buyer needs to see |
|---|---|---|
| Base unit with door | 300, 400, 450, 600 mm | Which way the door opens, how many shelves inside |
| Drawer unit | 400, 600, 800 mm | Number and height of drawers, whether pans will fit |
| Sink unit | 600, 800 mm | Where the sink sits, room for recycling bins below |
| Corner unit | 900 x 900 mm, or 1000 mm blind corner | The corner solution: carousel, pull-out baskets or blind corner |
| Oven and microwave housing | 600 mm | The oven height, and what sits above and below it |
| Integrated fridge housing | 600 mm | Height, door split, where the frozen compartment sits |
| Dishwasher space | 450 or 600 mm | That a front covers it and it sits next to the sink |
| Wall unit | 300, 400, 600, 800 mm | Height, side or lift-up opening, whether it reaches the ceiling |
| Extractor unit | 600, 800 mm | That the hood is above the hob and fits under the wall units |
If your units come in other widths, the configurator uses your list. What matters is that buyers only see what you actually make.
How the buyer plans a modular kitchen, step by step
A well built planner takes the buyer through the same order your own designer would follow:
- Layout. Straight, L-shaped, U-shaped or with an island. This decides how many walls need entering.
- Wall lengths. The buyer types each wall in millimetres, for example 3200 mm and 2400 mm, and marks the window, door and water supply.
- Corner. In an L or U kitchen, the corner unit comes first. It takes the most space and sets where everything else goes.
- Appliance housings. Sink, hob, oven, fridge and dishwasher. The configurator can warn when the dishwasher is too far from the sink.
- Remaining base units. The buyer fills the gaps with drawers and cupboards. The configurator shows how many millimetres are left and offers a filler panel when no unit fits.
- Wall units. Above the base units, with the extractor over the hob. The buyer picks the height and whether units go up to the ceiling.
- Fronts, worktop and handles. Colour or wood grain, worktop material and thickness, handle style or handleless fronts.
- Review and request. The buyer turns the kitchen around in 3D, checks the list of units and sends the request.
The buyer never faces a hundred options at once. Each step settles one question.
Rules that keep the plan buildable
Buyers don't know your production limits, so the configurator has to know them on their behalf. The usual kitchen rules are:
- the total width of units can't exceed the wall, and any gap left is closed with a filler panel;
- no drawers in the corner unit if your corner solution doesn't allow them;
- an oven under the hob only in a 600 mm unit;
- the dishwasher only next to the sink unit;
- some worktops only up to a set length without a joint;
- handleless fronts only with matching opening hardware.
You write these rules down once. From then on the configurator applies them to every buyer, and you get plans you can actually build.
What it looks like for the buyer
Below is an example kitchen configurator built by Trimata. You can change the layout, fronts and worktop and watch the 3D view update.
There is more on what a kitchen configurator can show on the kitchen 3D configurator page. If you are still comparing a configurator with ordinary photos, see the 3D configurator overview.
What every request brings you
- the layout and every wall length in millimetres;
- a list of units with widths and their order;
- the corner solution and appliance positions;
- the chosen fronts, worktop and handles;
- images of the buyer's kitchen from several angles.
With a request like that, the first call starts from a real plan. Your designer refines the details rather than starting from zero. The site visit stays, but it becomes a check, not the first meeting.
If you'd like buyers to plan your kitchen units the same way, send us your list of units and a few photos. We review your request within 24 hours.
