Most homeowners think the stress starts when the renovation begins.
It does not.
It starts in the first two weeks — when decisions are made quickly, without fully understanding their impact. The builder is chosen on a recommendation and a quote that seemed reasonable. The scope is agreed on a handshake. The materials are selected from a showroom without checking lead times.
Then the build starts. And somewhere around week four, the homeowner realises that the tile they chose has a 14-week delivery delay, the quote did not include the electrician, and the builder has not been on site in six days.
Renovations do not fail loudly. They fail quietly, one small decision at a time.
This new blog of Select Kitchens is about the decisions that determine whether your kitchen or bathroom renovation in Melbourne goes the way you planned — before the first tradie steps through the door.
Without further delay, let’s jump into reading-
What Does a Kitchen and Bathroom Renovation Cost in Melbourne in 2026?
Cost is the first question every homeowner asks. Here is the honest answer — not a range wide enough to be useless, but real numbers broken down by what actually drives them.
Kitchen Renovation Costs
A standard Melbourne kitchen renovation — new cabinetry, benchtop, appliances, splashback, and installation — starts at around $25,000 to $35,000 for a mid-range finish. A full custom kitchen with premium materials, a kitchen island bench, and high-end appliances typically falls between $45,000 and $80,000. Larger or architecturally designed kitchens can exceed $100,000.
The biggest variables are the benchtop material and the cabinetry. Stone benchtops (engineered quartz or natural stone) add $8,000 to $20,000 depending on the size and stone selected. Custom cabinetry to ceiling height adds significant cost but transforms the proportions of the space.
Bathroom Renovation Costs
A standard bathroom renovation in Melbourne — including new tiles, vanity, toilet, shower or bath, tapware, and waterproofing — starts at around $18,000 to $28,000 for a mid-range finish. An ensuite renovation is typically $15,000 to $25,000.
Premium bathrooms with heated floors (hydronic heating installed below tile), freestanding baths, custom vanities, and high-specification tapware sit between $35,000 and $60,000. Some high-end Toorak and Armadale bathroom renovations exceed this significantly.
Doing Both Together
Renovating a kitchen and bathroom at the same time has a real cost advantage. The tradie coordination cost is shared. Project management is consolidated. And in many Melbourne homes, the plumbing runs for kitchen and bathroom are adjacent — which reduces the cost of any plumbing changes compared to doing the rooms separately.
| Room | Budget Range | Premium Range | What Drives the Cost |
| Kitchen | $25,000 to $45,000 | $50,000 to $100,000+ | Benchtop material, cabinetry height, island bench, appliances |
| Full bathroom | $18,000 to $30,000 | $35,000 to $60,000 | Waterproofing, tiling, tapware, freestanding bath, heated floors |
| Ensuite | $15,000 to $25,000 | $28,000 to $50,000 | Same as bathroom but smaller footprint |
| Kitchen and bathroom combined | 10 to 15% less than separate | Depends on scope | Shared project management and tradie coordination |
| The quote is not the final cost. The decisions you make after the quote — the tile upgrade, the benchtop change, the extra power point — are where budgets quietly expand. |
A homeowner in Malvern signed a kitchen contract at $52,000. By the time they had upgraded the benchtop stone, added soft-close mechanisms to all cabinetry, and changed the splashback material twice, the final invoice was $67,000. None of those changes were forced. But none of them were in the original quote either.
Cost is only the first layer. There is a planning question most Melbourne homeowners do not think to ask — and it is the one that creates the most expensive surprises.
Do You Need a Council Permit for a Kitchen or Bathroom Renovation in Melbourne?
This is the question that catches most Melbourne homeowners off guard.
For most standard kitchen and bathroom renovations — replacing fixtures, retiling, new cabinetry, new benchtops — a building permit is not required. The work is classified as maintenance or like-for-like replacement.
However, a permit is required when:
- You are moving plumbing — relocating the kitchen sink to a different wall, or moving the bathroom wet area (the area subject to water) to a different position in the room
- You are removing a wall or altering the structural footprint of the kitchen or bathroom
- Your home is in a heritage overlay zone — many Melbourne suburbs including Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, and Camberwell have heritage overlays that add planning requirements
- You are adding a new bathroom or wet area where one did not previously exist
In Melbourne, building permits are issued by a registered building surveyor — not by the council directly. Your builder should manage this process and confirm what is required before the scope is finalised.
A Camberwell homeowner wanted to move the kitchen to an open-plan layout — which required removing a wall. The wall turned out to be load-bearing (meaning it carries structural weight from the floor above). Removing it required a structural engineer’s report, a building permit, and a temporary support structure during demolition. The permit process added six weeks and $8,500 to the project. Their builder had not mentioned it was a possibility.
Permits and structural surprises are the hidden variables. But the one that derails the most projects is simpler than either — and it is entirely predictable.
How Long Does a Kitchen or Bathroom Renovation Take in Melbourne?
· Design and Planning: 4 to 8 Weeks
This is the phase most people underestimate. A good design takes time. The initial consultation, the design presentation, the revisions, the material selection, and the final sign-off typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. Rushing this phase is one of the most common causes of mid-renovation scope changes — which are expensive.
· Manufacture and Lead Time: 6 to 10 Weeks
Custom cabinetry manufactured in Melbourne typically has a lead time of 6 to 10 weeks from final sign-off to delivery. Imported cabinetry can take longer. Benchtop stone templates are taken after cabinetry installation — add 1 to 2 weeks for fabrication.
A homeowner in Ashwood chose Italian tiles that their designer sourced through an importer. Lead time: 16 weeks. Their build was ready in 5. The project paused for over two months waiting for tiles that could have been substituted for a local product in week one. The lesson: check delivery times before you fall in love with a material.
· Construction: 3 to 6 Weeks
The actual build for a kitchen renovation is typically 3 to 5 weeks. A bathroom renovation is 3 to 4 weeks. Both together, well-coordinated, is 4 to 6 weeks. The coordination of trades is where timelines blow out — plumber, electrician, tiler, cabinetmaker, and plasterer all need to sequence correctly.
| Phase | Kitchen | Bathroom | Both Together |
| Design and planning | 4 to 8 weeks | 3 to 6 weeks | 4 to 8 weeks (shared) |
| Manufacture and lead time | 6 to 10 weeks | 4 to 8 weeks | 6 to 10 weeks (shared) |
| Construction | 3 to 5 weeks | 3 to 4 weeks | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Total from brief to handover | 13 to 23 weeks | 10 to 18 weeks | 14 to 24 weeks |
The Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Contract
Here is the part no one tells you clearly enough.
Most homeowners ask the wrong questions before signing. They ask about style and timeline. They should be asking about registration, trade management, and what happens when something goes wrong.
o Is the builder a registered building practitioner?
In Victoria, any domestic building work over $10,000 must be carried out by a Registered Building Practitioner (RBP) under the Building Act 1993. This is not optional. Unregistered builders cannot legally issue contracts for work over this threshold, and the work will not be covered by domestic building insurance. Verify registration at the Victorian Building Authority website before signing anything.
o Who manages the trades?
The most stressful part of any renovation is not the design. It is the tradie coordination. Find out who manages the sequence of plumber, electrician, tiler, cabinetmaker, and plasterer. Is it you or is it the builder? If it is you, and you have never done it before, budget extra time and significant patience.
o What happens if there is a structural surprise?
Behind walls in Melbourne’s older homes, surprises are common — asbestos in pre-1990 homes, deteriorated waterproofing in bathrooms untouched since the 1980s, undersized electrical wiring. Ask the builder how variations (additional work not in the original scope) are handled, documented, and priced before they proceed.
o Is the quote fixed-price?
A fixed-price contract means the price is set and variations require a separate written agreement. An estimate means the final cost could be higher, with little you can push back against when the invoice arrives. Always get a fixed-price contract for a kitchen or bathroom renovation in Melbourne.
Design Trends Melbourne Homeowners Are Choosing in 2026
Kitchens
Handleless cabinetry with push-to-open or integrated finger-pull mechanisms has moved from premium kitchens into the mainstream. Natural stone benchtops — particularly book-matched (where the stone slab is mirrored to create a pattern) marble and travertine — are appearing in Toorak and Malvern kitchens. Warm timber tones in cabinetry and island benches are replacing the cool greys that dominated Melbourne kitchens between 2015 and 2022.
Bathrooms
Terrazzo (a composite surface material made from chips of marble, quartz, or glass set in cement — originally industrial, now a design statement) has moved firmly into Melbourne bathroom renovations. Large-format tiles (tiles larger than 60 x 60 cm) continue to dominate — fewer grout lines, easier cleaning, and a more contemporary look. Freestanding baths remain aspirational but are increasingly paired with walk-in showers rather than over-bath showers for practical reasons.
5 Mistakes Melbourne Homeowners Make Before the Renovation Starts
- Getting quotes before the design is finalised. A quote without a detailed design is a guess. Changes after signing are expensive.
- Choosing materials before checking lead times. A tile or tapware with a 16-week lead time can push a 5-week build out by months.
- Not allowing a contingency. A 10 to 15% contingency on the total budget is standard. In Melbourne’s older housing stock, it is not optional.
- Assuming the renovation will happen in summer. Melbourne renovation calendars book out 3 to 6 months ahead. Planning to start in summer means planning now.
- Choosing a builder on price alone. The lowest quote often does not include everything the higher quote does. Compare line by line, not total to total.
Conclusion
A kitchen or bathroom renovation in Melbourne is one of the larger financial decisions a homeowner makes. The outcome depends less on the design choices and more on the groundwork — the builder you choose, the contract you sign, the materials you lock in early, and the contingency you keep in reserve.
Get the planning right and the build is manageable. Get it wrong and you spend the next three months solving problems that were already avoidable.
If you are still in the early planning stage, speaking to a designer before finalising anything is the most useful first step. It gives you a realistic picture of scope, cost, and timeline before any decisions become binding.
Select Kitchens has been designing and building custom kitchens and bathrooms in Melbourne for 25 years, with showrooms in Ashwood and Braeside. Free design consultations are available for homeowners who want clarity before committing to anything.
