Planning a Modular Kitchen for Your Bengaluru Home: The Complete Guide

A kitchen is the most used room in an Indian home and the hardest one to change later. Wardrobes can be re-arranged and a living room repainted, but a kitchen is fixed to its plumbing, its gas point and its walls for ten years or more. The decisions you make before anything is made matter far more than the colour of the shutters.

This guide walks you through those decisions in the order a good designer will ask them, so you arrive at your first meeting knowing what you want.

Start with how you cook

Before layouts and finishes, think about a normal day in your kitchen. The answers decide everything that follows.

• Who cooks, and how many at once? Two people cooking together need more worktop and a wider walkway than one.
• What do you cook most? Daily tadka and pressure cooking need strong ventilation and a large burner; a lot of baking needs a tall unit for an oven.
• What sits on the counter all day? Mixer, water purifier, rice cooker, toaster. Each one needs a plug point and a place that isn't in the way.
• Where do groceries go? Indian kitchens store more dry provisions than most. Plan a tall pantry or deep drawers for them, not the back of a high shelf.
• Do you have a utility area? If the washing of large vessels happens outside the kitchen, the sink inside can be smaller.

Write the answers down. They are more useful to your designer than any picture from the internet.

Choose the layout that fits the room

The shape of your kitchen usually chooses the layout for you. Most Bengaluru apartments fit one of four.

• Straight: everything along one wall. Best for narrow kitchens and open plans; keep the sink between the hob and the fridge so you have worktop on both sides.
• Parallel (galley): two facing runs with a walkway between. Very efficient: cooking on one side, washing on the other, everything a step away.
• L-shaped: two walls meeting at a corner. The most common layout in apartments; it leaves open floor for a small table or a second person.
• U-shaped: three walls of storage and worktop. The most space, for larger kitchens, as long as the walkway stays wide enough.

You can try all four layouts in 3D on our modular kitchens page and see how the same cabinets rearrange.

Get the measurements right

A few numbers make the difference between a kitchen that is comfortable and one that tires you out.

• Worktop height: usually 850 to 900 mm from the floor. If the main cook is tall or short, say so: it can be adjusted to suit.
• Worktop depth: about 600 mm, enough for the hob and a chopping board in front of the wall.
• Walkway: at least 1,000 mm between facing units, more if two people cook together.
• The work triangle: the hob, the sink and the fridge should be close to each other but not crowded. If you have to walk around an obstacle between any two, the layout needs another look.
• Wall units: leave about 600 mm between the worktop and the bottom of the wall units, so you can see and reach the back of the counter.

Your designer should measure the room themselves before drawing anything. Builders' floor plans are a starting point, not a measurement: walls are rarely exactly where the drawing says.

Choose materials that survive Bengaluru's humidity

Bengaluru has two monsoons and long humid spells, and the kitchen sees water every day. The board inside your cabinets matters more than the finish outside.

• Sink and base units: use a water-resistant plywood. Particle board and MDF swell when water reaches an edge, and the sink base is where it reaches first.
• Edges: every edge of every board should be sealed with edge banding, including the ones you never see.
• Wall units and tall units: a good moisture-resistant ply works well here.

For the finish on the shutters, the common choices are:

• Laminate: hard-wearing, easy to clean and available in hundreds of colours and textures. The practical favourite.
• Acrylic and high-gloss finishes: a deep, reflective look that brightens a small kitchen; it shows fingerprints more and needs gentler cleaning.
• Lacquer (PU paint): smooth and seamless in any colour; best where it won't be knocked.
• Veneer: real wood, so each shutter is slightly different. Warm and rich, and it needs a little more care near water and heat.

Plan storage you will actually use

Good storage is less about the number of cabinets and more about how easily you reach what is inside them.

• Drawers beat shutters below the worktop. You pull a drawer out and see everything at once; with a shutter you kneel and reach to the back.
• Plan a tall unit. A floor-to-ceiling pantry holds dry provisions, cleaning things or an oven and microwave at a comfortable height.
• Use the corners. An L or U layout has a blind corner; corner pull-outs or carousel fittings turn it into usable space.
• Keep heavy things low. Pressure cookers and large vessels belong in deep drawers near the hob, not on high shelves.
• Think about the bin and the cylinder. Both need a place that is easy to reach and easy to clean, and the cylinder needs ventilation.

Hardware, lighting and electrical points

These are the details you notice every single day.

• Hinges and drawer channels: soft-close fittings stop doors slamming and last longer. Ask which brand is used, and make sure it is written in the quote.
• Lighting: a ceiling light alone leaves your shadow on the counter. Strip lights under the wall units light exactly where you chop and cook.
• Plug points: count every appliance that will sit on the counter, then add two. Points above the worktop should sit clear of the sink and the hob.
• Chimney: plan the duct route to an outside wall before the units are made, and keep it as short and straight as possible.
• Water purifier and dishwasher: decide early. Both need water and drain points in the right place.

Countertops

The worktop takes heat, water, stains and knocks every day.

• Granite is the most common choice in Bengaluru: hard, heat-resistant and good value. Darker granites hide stains well.
• Quartz is non-porous and very consistent in colour, so it resists stains; keep very hot pans off it.
• Plan the cut-outs for the sink and hob with your designer, so the stone is cut once and correctly.

Many new apartments come with a builder's granite slab already fitted. Check its height and depth before planning around it: sometimes it is worth replacing.

What decides the cost

Two kitchens of the same size can cost very different amounts. The price depends mainly on:

• The size of the kitchen and the number of units.
• The core material inside the cabinets.
• The finish on the shutters.
• The hardware: hinges, drawer systems and corner fittings.
• Accessories: baskets, pull-outs, tall-unit fittings, lighting.
• The countertop, if it is part of the work.

Your quote depends on the finish, the core material and the design you choose. For a first idea of the range for your home, try our cost estimator. It takes about a minute.

Why in-house production matters

When a kitchen is designed by one company and made by another, things get lost between the two: a measurement, a finish, a date. At Multiwood your kitchen is designed with you and made in our own in-house production, then fitted by our team.

• One designer stays with you from the first conversation to handover.
• Made to measure, for your walls and your way of cooking.
• Checked three times: at the factory, during installation and at handover.

A kitchen made by the same people who designed it and fit it has no one else to blame. That is exactly why it comes out right.

Your checklist before you sign

1. Has the designer measured the kitchen themselves?
2. Is the board named for every unit, especially the sink unit?
3. Are the shutter finish, the hardware brand and the countertop written into the quote?
4. Are the plug points, water and drain points and the chimney route marked on the drawing?
5. Is it clear what is included and what is extra, such as accessories, lighting or civil work?
6. Who makes the units, and who installs them?

A quote that answers all six in writing is one you can hold your interior company to.

Ready to plan yours?

Book a free design consultation, at your home or by video call. Bring your answers from the first section and your floor plan, and your designer will help you turn them into a kitchen that works.