Kitchen door replacement vs full kitchen replacement: what does it cost in 2026?
· Buying advice · 7 min read
If your carcasses are sound, replacing just the doors and panels can save you 60–80% versus a full new kitchen. Here's when it makes sense.
If you walk into a kitchen showroom in Dorset, the conversation will almost always start with replacing the entire thing — units, worktops, doors, the lot. That's fine if your existing kitchen is genuinely past it, but for a lot of homes it's overkill.
Most kitchen carcasses are either solid timber or 18mm MFC. If they were fitted in the last 20 years, they're typically still mechanically sound — the doors and visible panels are simply tired or out of style. In that case, door replacement gives you 80% of the visual upgrade of a new kitchen for 20–40% of the cost.
Typical 2026 pricing in Dorset: a full new kitchen runs £15,000–£35,000 fitted. A door-and-panel replacement on the same kitchen runs £2,500–£6,500 depending on size, finish and style. We always offer Shaker, Slab and Handleless as the three style families, with painted, foiled and real-wood-veneered finishes.
When does it not make sense? Three situations: if the carcasses are water-damaged; if the layout itself doesn't work and you'd reorganise; or if the worktop is integral to the units and you want to change that too. In those cases the saving disappears once you start cutting and lifting, and a fresh kitchen is the better bet.
We offer a free home assessment specifically for door replacement — we'll measure the existing units, advise on whether replacement is realistic, and give you a fixed written quote with samples to keep.