Kitchen Planning Checklist Before You Order a Modular Kitchen

The costliest kitchen mistakes are not expensive materials — they are cheap omissions frozen into an order: a power point that ends up behind the fridge, a drawer that a door handle blocks, a chimney placed where no duct can reach the shaft. Once the shutters are cut and the counter is cast, these are no longer tweaks; they are demolition. A modular kitchen is a manufactured product, and like any manufactured product it is only as good as the brief it was built from.

This is that brief, as a checklist. It walks through the kitchen in the order a good designer does — measure, fix the layout, plan the hidden services, then storage, finishes and appliances — and ends with the red flags that should stop an order in its tracks. Tick every box on paper before signing, because paper is where a kitchen is cheap to change. Aaditya Interior runs a version of this list on every kitchen before release to the factory; the numbers here stay consistent with this site's modular kitchen price guide.

Stage 1 — Measure and fix the layout

• Measure every wall length, the ceiling height, and the height of every window sill and opening — twice.
• Mark the shaft, the beam lines and any duct or pipe that drops below the ceiling.
• Choose the layout — straight, L, U, parallel or island — against the room shape and the work triangle.
• Keep the fridge, sink and hob as a usable triangle; avoid forcing a long walk between them.
• Set the counter height to the main cook (commonly 850–900 mm) rather than a default.
• Keep a clear aisle of about 1050–1200 mm for one cook, and more where two people cook at once.
• Leave door-swing and drawer-pull clearance so a tall unit or fridge door does not foul a handle.

Stage 2 — Plan the hidden services

• Fix the sink position against the existing drain and inlet, or budget to move the plumbing before cabinetry.
• Place the hob so the chimney above it can duct to the shaft by the shortest route — long duct runs lose suction.
• Plan electrical points for every appliance: hob or cooktop, chimney, fridge, microwave, oven, dishwasher, RO, mixer.
• Add two or three free counter-top sockets at backsplash height for small appliances, away from the sink zone.
• Keep sockets off the wall directly behind the fridge and behind tall units where they become unreachable.
• Confirm the gas line route and the position of the cylinder or piped-gas point, and keep it ventilated.
• Decide the chimney type — ducted is far more effective than recirculating for Indian cooking — and the duct path.

Stage 3 — Storage, finishes and appliances

• Match storage to how the family cooks — tall pull-outs for groceries, drawers for utensils, a dedicated tall unit if space allows.
• Plan a place for the daily clutter: a pull-out bin, a tray for keys and chargers, a spot for the water bottles.
• Choose the carcass first — BWR plywood or HDHMR for a humid kitchen — then the shutter finish for looks.
• Set the countertop material against use and budget: quartz for low upkeep, granite for value, with the sink cutout detailed.
• Specify soft-close hinges and channels and good corner hardware — the parts you touch every day.
• Plan lofts and overhead cabinets to a reachable height, and the backsplash to suit cleaning, not just the photo.
• Confirm appliance sizes before the cabinetry is drawn, so the hob cutout, chimney width and fridge gap all fit.

Red flags before you sign

The quotation and drawing are the last point at which the kitchen is free to change. Once the order is released to the factory, the carcass sizes, the cutouts and the hardware are frozen, and every later change is a chargeable modification or a piece of on-site carpentry that never looks as clean as the original. A few minutes spent checking the list below against the drawing is the cheapest insurance in the whole project, because each of these red flags costs almost nothing to fix on paper and a great deal to fix after the shutters are cut.

Frequently asked questions

What should I decide before ordering a modular kitchen?

Lock down three things on paper: the measured layout and work triangle, the hidden services (plumbing, gas and a power point for every appliance), and the appliance sizes. With those fixed, the storage, finishes and hardware are choices rather than gambles. The cabinetry for an L-shaped kitchen typically costs ₹1.5–3 lakh in October 2026, with the shutter finish moving the number more than the size.

How many electrical points does a modular kitchen need?

More than most plans show. Budget a point for each appliance — hob or cooktop, chimney, fridge, microwave, oven, dishwasher and water purifier — plus two or three free counter-top sockets at backsplash height for small appliances, kept away from the sink zone. Adding points after the carcass is fixed means cutting into finished cabinetry, so plan them before the order.

Ducted or recirculating chimney for an Indian kitchen?

Ducted, almost always. Indian cooking produces heavy oil and spice-laden smoke, and a ducted chimney carrying it outside the shaft is far more effective than a recirculating one that filters and returns the air. Plan the hob position so the duct reaches the shaft by the shortest route, because every bend and every extra metre of duct loses suction.