Open Plan Kitchen Redesign
Taking out a wall to make one room for cooking, eating and sitting. The engineer, the steel, the permissions and the price, in order.
Free, no obligation. One local fitter prices it, not five.
Short answerGet an engineer to check the wall first. A steel beam is €2,000 to €4,000. Interior-only works are usually exempt from planning, unless the house is protected.
What open plan means here
Taking out the wall between the kitchen and the dining or living room so they become one room. It's the biggest redesign there is, and the one that needs the most people: a structural engineer, a builder, often a plumber and an electrician, then the kitchen fitter.
The wall
- Is it load-bearing? Only an engineer can tell you. If it is, it gets a steel beam: €2,000 to €4,000, plus the engineer's design.
- Planning permission. Works that affect only the inside of a house are exempted development, unless the house is a protected structure or in an Architectural Conservation Area. That covers the wall, not an extension.
- Services in the wall. Sockets, switches, radiators and pipes in it have to move.
Designing the new room
- Decide where people sit. The table or sofa end gets the window or the garden. The kitchen goes on the wall with the drains.
- An island or peninsula separates cooking from sitting without a wall. Leave 1200 mm round an island.
- One floor finish all the way through makes it read as one room. Flooring is often outside the kitchen price, so ask.
- Extraction matters more once the cooker shares a room with the sofa.
What open plan costs
For a kitchen inside the existing walls of a three- or four-bed semi, a mid-range kitchen is €12,000 to €22,000, plus €2,000 to €4,000 for the steel, €1,000 to €3,000 for tiling and €500 to €1,000 for waste and delivery. If the open plan comes with a rear extension, the whole job runs €50,000 to €90,000.
Redesign your kitchen in the Studio
Free. About two minutes. Your redesign is drawn on your own photo, and when you like it, one kitchen fitter near you can price it.
- Photo your kitchenAny phone photo of the room.
- Rethink itLayout first, then the doors, colour, worktop and finishing touches.
- See it, then tweak itYour redesign on your own photo, then ask the AI designer for changes.
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Start with the shape of the room
Kitchens come in a handful of shapes. Each one has its own fixes.
Galley kitchens
Two runs facing each other. The gap between them decides everything.
More on galley kitchens →
L-shaped kitchens
Two walls and a corner. Win the corner back, add a table or an island.
More on L-shaped kitchens →
U-shaped kitchens
Three walls of storage. Open one arm into a peninsula with stools.
More on U-shaped kitchens →
Kitchen islands
Needs 1200 mm clear all round. What to put on it and what it adds.
More on kitchen islands →
Small kitchens
Shallow units, drawers, one tall unit and more light out of the same few metres.
More on small kitchens →Redesign without a new kitchen
If the units are sound, change what you see: the doors, the colour, the worktop.
Kitchen respray
From €700
New colour on the doors you have, in one to three days.
More on kitchen respray →
Replacement kitchen doors
From €48 a door
New fronts on the units you have.
More on replacement kitchen doors →
Kitchen worktop replacement
From €800 fitted
Laminate, wood or stone on the units you have.
More on kitchen worktop replacement →Get your redesign priced
Three taps about the kitchen, then your number. It goes to one kitchen fitter who covers your area, and they ring you to talk it through, measure up and price it.
Kitchen Redesign guides & price breakdowns
Straight answers to what people ask most: itemised costs, specifications, planning or grants, and what to check before you book.
More guides & resources: Kitchen Redesign Studio: see yours redesigned , free · All guides & calculator hub · Technical & trade glossary · Frequently asked questions · About this site
Questions people ask
Do I need planning permission to knock a wall between kitchen and dining room?
Usually not: works affecting only the inside are exempt, unless the house is a protected structure or in an Architectural Conservation Area. You still need an engineer if the wall is load-bearing.
How much does a steel beam cost for an open-plan kitchen?
€2,000 to €4,000 for the beam and the structural work. The engineer's design is separate.
How do I zone an open-plan kitchen?
An island or peninsula between cooking and sitting, the table by the window, and one floor finish all the way through.
Who will ring me?
One kitchen fitter who covers your area. Your number isn't sent to a list. They ring you within one working day, ask about the room and what you want to change, and arrange to measure it before giving you a written price. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
Kitchen Redesign across all 26 counties
Requests from all 26 counties go to one vetted local specialist who covers your county — from Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick to Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Waterford and Donegal. Pick your county below for local prices, specifications and advice.