A fitted kitchen is built from standard-sized units adjusted to your room. A bespoke kitchen has units built to your room’s actual dimensions.
That is the difference in one line, and everything else follows from it. Standard units come in fixed widths, usually 300, 400, 500, 600, 800 and 1000mm. Your kitchen wall is not a multiple of those numbers, so the leftover space is filled with panels. Bespoke avoids the leftover space by making the units to suit the wall.
Both are legitimate products. In a square room with flat walls, a good fitted kitchen is an excellent buy and the difference between the two narrows considerably. In an older property where nothing is square, the gap becomes obvious.
The difficulty is that the words get used loosely, and plenty of suppliers describe standard units as bespoke. This guide sets out what actually separates them, so you can tell which you are being quoted for.
Written from over 20 years of fitting kitchens across Jersey.
Side by side
| Fitted kitchen | Bespoke kitchen | |
| Carcass sizes | Standard increments | Made to your dimensions |
| Gaps at the ends | Filler panels | Scribed to the wall |
| Where made | Factory, in volume | Workshop, for your room |
| Design | Chosen from a range | Drawn for your space |
| Doors | Standard sizes from a catalogue | Made to each carcass |
| Carcass material | Usually faced chipboard or MDF | Specified per job, often ply and MDF |
| Finish | Factory-applied, from a colour range | Sprayed or hand polished, any colour |
| Awkward corners | Dead space or a standard corner unit | Designed to use the space |
| Lead time | 2 to 6 weeks | 8 to 12 weeks |
| Typical cost | £8,000 to £22,000 | £22,000 to £60,000 |
| Realistic lifespan | 10 to 20 years | 25 years and beyond |
| Repairable | Sometimes, while the range exists | Yes, and matchable later |
The bit in the middle nobody explains
There is a third category that sits between the two and causes most of the confusion.
| Fitted | Made to measure | Bespoke | |
| Carcasses | Standard | Standard | Made to your room |
| Doors | Standard | Cut to fit the opening | Made to the carcass |
| Filler panels | Yes | Yes | No, scribed instead |
| Marketed as | Fitted | Often “bespoke” | Bespoke |
Made to measure usually means standard carcasses with a door cut to size. It is a real product, it can look very good, and it costs less than true bespoke. It is also frequently sold using the word bespoke, which is where homeowners come unstuck comparing quotes.
The question that settles it every time: are the carcasses made to my room’s dimensions, or are they standard sizes with filler panels?
A company making to your room will answer plainly and usually go on to explain how they handle the walls. A company selling standard units tends to redirect toward door styles, colours or hardware.
Where the differences actually show
The filler panel problem
In a fitted kitchen, the run of units will not exactly match the wall length. The shortfall, typically anywhere from 20mm to 200mm, is covered with a filler panel: a strip of matching material screwed in to bridge the gap.
One filler in a corner is barely noticeable. The trouble is that a typical kitchen has several: at each end of a run, beside a tall unit, where a run meets a window reveal, and in the corner where two runs meet.
What that costs you:
- Usable space. A 150mm filler is 150mm of worktop with nothing beneath it.
- Appearance. Fillers are visible on close inspection, particularly where they meet an uneven wall.
- Access. A corner filled rather than fitted creates dead space that nothing reaches.
A bespoke kitchen has none, because each unit is made to suit the space remaining.
Uneven walls
This is where the gap becomes dramatic, and it matters far more in older buildings than the general advice online allows for.
A factory-square unit against a wall that bows will rock, sit proud at one end, or leave a tapering gap running floor to ceiling. Fitted kitchens handle this with trim and scribe strips, which is a filler doing the job under a different name.
Bespoke handles it by scribing: the end panel is made oversize, offered up to the wall, and the wall’s exact profile transferred onto it with a compass. That line is cut, and the panel then follows every bow and lean, sitting flush along its whole length.
In Jersey this is routine rather than exceptional. Granite cottages, farmhouses, converted outbuildings and older townhouses have rubble walls where a single run can vary by 30 or 40mm along its length.
Sloping floors
A run of base units in a room with a falling floor will produce a visibly tilted worktop unless each carcass is levelled independently and the difference absorbed in the plinth.
Fitted kitchens can be levelled, and a good fitter will do it. But standard plinths come in standard heights, so there is a limit to how much fall can be hidden before the plinth has to be scribed to the floor, which is bespoke work being done on a fitted kitchen.
Non-standard dimensions
The situations where standard sizes simply do not work:
- A wall too narrow for 600mm units but wasted by leaving it empty. A bespoke 400mm or 250mm run turns it into pantry storage.
- Low ceilings, where standard wall units leave an awkward gap or will not fit at all.
- High ceilings, where wall units stop well short and create a dust shelf unless a bulkhead is boxed in.
- Deep window reveals, common in granite properties, where a standard unit either blocks the reveal or leaves a gap beside it.
- Chimney breasts, where the recesses either side are rarely the same width as each other.
- Awkward corners, where a standard corner unit wastes a large volume that a made-to-fit one would use.
Carcass construction
Under the doors, the two are built differently.
| Typical fitted | Typical bespoke | |
| Carcass material | 15 to 18mm faced chipboard or MDF | 18mm birch ply or MDF, specified per location |
| Back panel | Thin hardboard, sometimes stapled | Full-thickness, set into a rebate |
| Joints | Cam locks and dowels | Glued and jointed, or dowelled and glued |
| Shelving | Same material as carcass, on pegs | Ply in housings, thicker where loads are heavy |
| Edges sealed | Faces only | Every face including backs and undersides |
| Moisture resistance | Standard board except near sinks | MR board wherever humidity or splashing occurs |
That last row matters more here than most guides acknowledge. Higher ambient humidity in a coastal climate, combined with carcasses sitting against cold granite external walls, means unsealed backs are where swelling begins. Usually two or three winters in, long after anyone connects it to the original decision.
The finish
Fitted kitchen doors are factory-finished, typically foil-wrapped, laminated or sprayed in a production line. The consistency is excellent and the colour range is decent, but it is a range rather than a choice.
Bespoke doors are sprayed in a booth at the workshop, which means any colour matched to a paint code, even coverage on profiles and edges where a production line struggles, and the ability to re-spray the same colour years later.
One honest point in favour of fitted: modern factory finishes are genuinely durable, and on a slab door the visual difference against a sprayed finish is small. The gap widens on detailed door styles, where sprayed work handles profiles and shadow lines better.
Cost compared
| Fitted kitchen | Bespoke kitchen | |
| Small kitchen, 8 to 10 units | £6,000 to £12,000 | £14,000 to £25,000 |
| Medium kitchen, 12 to 15 units | £9,000 to £18,000 | £22,000 to £40,000 |
| Large kitchen with island | £15,000 to £28,000 | £35,000 to £65,000 |
Cabinetry, worktops and fitting. Appliances, other trades and flooring sit outside these figures.
Roughly speaking, bespoke costs two to two and a half times a comparable fitted kitchen.
Cost per year
The purchase comparison is the wrong one, since the two do not last the same length of time.
| Purchase | Realistic lifespan | Cost per year | |
| Fitted kitchen | £14,000 | 15 years | £933 |
| Bespoke kitchen | £30,000 | 25 years | £1,200 |
Bespoke is still more expensive per year. That is the honest position, and anyone claiming it works out cheaper is selling. But the gap is far narrower than the headline figures suggest, and it narrows further once you account for bespoke work being repairable, refinishable and extendable in a way a discontinued modular range is not.
Where the extra money goes
It is not margin. The cost difference is real work:
- Every unit made individually rather than produced in volume
- Design and drawings specific to your room
- A longer survey, recording level, plumb and multiple measurements
- Workshop machining on a panel saw, planer, thicknesser and spindle moulder
- Glued and clamped assembly with curing time
- Spray finishing in a booth, with days of drying and curing between coats
- Longer installation, because scribing and independent levelling take time
Lead time and disruption
| Fitted | Bespoke | |
| Design to delivery | 2 to 6 weeks | 8 to 12 weeks |
| Installation | 3 to 7 days | 5 to 10 days |
| Kitchen unusable | 2 to 4 weeks | 3 to 6 weeks |
Fitted kitchens are quicker because the units already exist in a warehouse. Bespoke units have to be made, and the finishing in particular cannot be compressed, since coatings need days to cure properly rather than just to dry.
On the island, add time to either for anything shipped rather than held locally.
Both are affected by the worktop gap. If you are having stone or quartz, it cannot be templated until the base units are physically installed, which adds one to two weeks with units in place and no surfaces on them. That applies equally to both types.
Which should you choose?
Six questions. Count the yes answers.
1. Are your kitchen walls flat and reasonably plumb?
If yes, that argues for fitted. If they bow, lean or belly, bespoke.
2. Is the floor level?
A noticeable fall argues for bespoke, since independent levelling and a scribed plinth are how it gets hidden.
3. Do standard unit widths roughly suit your wall lengths?
If the run works out with minimal filler, fitted is a strong buy.
4. Is the ceiling a standard height?
Very low or very high ceilings suit bespoke, since standard wall units will either not fit or leave an awkward gap.
5. Are there awkward features to work around?
Chimney breasts, deep reveals, boxed-in stacks, sloping sections. All argue for bespoke.
6. Will you be here more than ten years?
The longer you stay, the more the lifespan difference matters.
Four or more yes answers to the first five questions means fitted will probably serve you well. Two or fewer, and bespoke will solve problems a fitted kitchen cannot.
Where fitted genuinely wins
Being straight about this, because the answer is not always bespoke.
- Modern houses with square rooms. If standard units fit with minimal filler, you are paying for problem-solving where there is no problem.
- Tight budgets. A good quality fitted kitchen beats a cheap bespoke one comfortably. If bespoke would mean cutting corners on materials or finish, buy fitted and buy well.
- Rental and investment properties. Durable, replaceable and cost-effective.
- Short-term homes. If you will move within a few years, the lifespan advantage never gets realised.
- When you need it quickly. Six weeks versus twelve is a real difference if you have just moved in.
- Simple door styles. On a slab door, the visual gap between a good factory finish and a sprayed one is small.
The middle path
The decision is not binary, and mixing is often the sensible answer.
Bespoke where the room is awkward, fitted where it is not. The run against the bowed granite wall and the corner where nothing standard fits go bespoke. The two straight walls take good quality standard units. Everything sprayed or specified to the same colour so the kitchen reads as one piece.
This is more common than most companies advertise, because it requires a joiner willing to work alongside standard units rather than replace them. It regularly brings a kitchen that needed bespoke into a budget that would not have stretched to bespoke throughout.
Questions to ask either way
Take these to every quote:
- Are the carcasses made to my room’s dimensions, or standard sizes with filler panels?
- How many filler panels will there be, and where?
- What material are the carcasses, and are they moisture resistant near the sink?
- Are the backs and undersides sealed?
- How will you handle the walls and the floor in this room?
- Will I see drawings to approve before anything is made or ordered?
- What hardware is specified, by brand and finish?
- Is the worktop included, and when can it be templated?
- What is in the price, and what other trades will I need separately?
- What does the guarantee cover, for how long, and is it in writing?
Three kitchens and which route made sense
Composite examples of how the decision plays out.
A modern house where fitted was the right call. A square room, flat walls, a level floor, and wall lengths that worked out to standard unit widths with around 90mm of filler in total across the whole kitchen. A good quality fitted kitchen was specified and fitted properly, and the money saved went into a quartz worktop and better appliances. Bespoke would have solved problems that did not exist.
A granite cottage where fitted would not have worked. Rubble walls with reveals varying by nearly 40mm along one run, a floor falling toward an old external door, and a ceiling height that left standard wall units 200mm short. Bespoke throughout: each carcass levelled independently, the plinth scribed to the floor line so the worktop reads dead level, end panels scribed to the bowed wall, and a shallow 250mm run along a wall too narrow for standard units, turning a dead corridor of wall into pantry storage. The fitted quote had been considerably cheaper and would have needed extensive on-site scribing and packing that nobody had priced.
A kitchen that used both. A budget that would not reach full bespoke. The wall with the bow and the awkward corner beside the chimney breast went bespoke. The two straight walls took good quality standard units. Everything finished in the same colour so the room reads as one kitchen. The result solved the problems that needed solving, and the client could not point out where one stopped and the other began.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a bespoke kitchen and a fitted kitchen?
A fitted kitchen uses standard-sized units adjusted to your room with filler panels covering the gaps. A bespoke kitchen has units built to your room’s actual dimensions, so there are no fillers and end panels are scribed to follow uneven walls.
Is a bespoke kitchen worth the extra money?
It depends on the room. Where walls are uneven, the floor falls, the ceiling height is non-standard or there are awkward features to work around, bespoke solves problems a fitted kitchen cannot. In a square modern room, the gap narrows considerably and fitted is often the better buy.
How much more does a bespoke kitchen cost?
Roughly two to two and a half times a comparable fitted kitchen. A medium fitted kitchen might be £9,000 to £18,000 for cabinetry, worktops and fitting, against £22,000 to £40,000 for bespoke.
Can a fitted kitchen work in an old house?
It can, but expect filler panels, packing and on-site scribing, and check the quote includes that work. In a property with significantly bowed walls or a noticeable floor fall, the compromises become visible.
Are bespoke kitchen carcasses better quality?
Usually, though not automatically. What matters is the specification: carcass material, whether backs and undersides are sealed, whether moisture-resistant board is used near water, and how the joints are made. Ask about those rather than assuming the label guarantees it.
Can I mix bespoke and fitted units in one kitchen?
Yes, and it is often the sensible route on a limited budget. Bespoke where the room is awkward, good quality standard units where the walls are straight, everything finished to the same colour so it reads as one kitchen.
Getting started
The most useful first conversation covers the room rather than the units. How straight the walls are, what the floor is doing, where the awkward features sit, how you cook and how long you expect to be there all shape which route makes sense. A survey then establishes what the space is actually like, which is usually what decides it.
Davision Interiors Ltd has designed, built, finished and installed kitchens across all parishes of Jersey for over 20 years, handling full renovations from strip-out to snagging, with spray finishing and French polishing carried out in house. We are happy to tell you honestly when a room does not need bespoke, and to combine approaches where that gets you a better kitchen within the budget. Every project starts with a free design and survey visit, all work is covered by our workmanship guarantee, and we are fully insured. Get in touch to arrange a visit and a no-obligation quote.