How much do kitchen designers earn?

Whether you’re starting out as an apprentice kitchen designer, thinking about setting yourself up as a self-employed kitchen designer or you run your own kitchen design company – this guide is for you.

How much does a kitchen designer earn in the UK?

The average earnings for a kitchen designer in the UK will vary, but you can expect to earn anywhere from around £9,271.68 a year as an apprentice, up to about £54,015.96 as a kitchen design limited company owner.

Your exact earnings as a kitchen designer will depend on your qualifications, skills, experience, and where you’re based – as well as the size and complexity of the kitchen design jobs you do.

One thing is clear though, if you start your own kitchen design and fitting business you’ll have the potential to earn a lot more than being employed – whether that’s as a sole trader or a limited business.

Average kitchen designer salary per year

So, how much does a kitchen designer earn in a year? Here are the figures for the average kitchen designer’s salary per year:

• Apprentice kitchen designer – £9,271.68 (£9,138.76 take home)
• Newly qualified kitchen designer – £18,297.52 (£15,935.99 take home)
• Employed kitchen designer – £42,681.60 (£32,517.17 take home)
• Sole trader kitchen designer – £49,826.85 (£32,700.41* take home)
• Kitchen designer company owner – £54,015.96 (£35,790.34* take home)

Kitchen designer wage per month

Based on the kitchen designer salaries above, we’ve calculated the average monthly kitchen designer wages in the UK:

• Apprentice – £915.13 per month
• Newly qualified – £1,805.99 per month
• Employed – £3,556.53 per month
• Sole trader – £5,854.75 per month
• Kitchen design limited company owner – £6,346.98 per month

Certified kitchen designer salary per week

When you break down the average certified kitchen designer wage into a weekly figure, this is roughly how much a kitchen designer earns per week in the UK:

• Apprentice – £211.20 per week
• Newly qualified – £416.80 per week
• Employed – £820.80 per week
• Sole trader – £1,351.20 per week
• Kitchen design limited company owner – £1,464.80 per week

How much does a kitchen designer make in a day?

Due to the nature of kitchen design, jobs are often charged using a day rate – so it’s useful to know how much you can earn per day as a kitchen designer.

Here are the average UK kitchen designer day rates:

• Apprentice – £42.24 per day
• Newly qualified – £83.36 per day
• Employed – £164.16 per day
• Sole trader – £270.24 per day
• Kitchen design limited company owner – £292.96 per day

Hourly rate for kitchen designers

The average hourly rate for kitchen designers in the UK will vary, depending on your skills and experience – and whether you’re employed or run your own business.

Here’s a guide to the average kitchen designer wage per hour:

• Apprentice – £5.28 per hour
• Newly qualified – £10.42 per hour
• Employed – £20.52 per hour
• Sole trader – £33.78 per hour
• Kitchen design limited company owner – £36.62 per hour

Average kitchen designer salary in London

As with most trades, kitchen designers in London tend to be in constant demand and often the average kitchen designer’s salary in London will be higher than in other parts of the country.

How much do self-employed kitchen designers earn?

When looking at earning potential, starting your own kitchen design and fitting business as a self-employed kitchen designer can massively boost how much money you can make.

Below are the average earnings for a self-employed kitchen designer in the UK:

• Hourly rate – £33.78 per hour
• Day rate – £270.24 per day
• Yearly salary – £49,826.85 per year
• Annual take-home pay – £32,700.41* per year

It’s worth noting that, as a self-employed kitchen designer, your take-home pay above reflects the deduction of tax, as well as the costs for running your business – such as your work vehicle, fuel, tools and insurance, etc.

How much do kitchen designers earn in profit as a business?

On average, a self-employed kitchen designer can expect to earn an average take-home salary somewhere in the region of £32,700.41* as a sole trader. While you’re looking at an average take-home salary of around £35,790.34* as a kitchen design limited company owner.

Want tips to expand your kitchen design business? Check out our guide on how to grow your business:

How to grow your trade business in 2023 – Free guide included

How to make your kitchen design business more profitable

When you run your own kitchen design business, it’s important to make sure that you earn a profit on all the jobs that you’re doing.

To help you boost your profits, we’ve put together our top tips to make your kitchen design business more profitable:

• Make sure you’re charging enough to cover your outgoings (including tools, materials, insurance, marketing, wages, fuel etc)
• Focus on the jobs that make you the most money and require you to spend the least (for tools, materials, etc)
• Limit how far you travel to avoid vehicle and fuel costs eating into your profits
• Minimise your outgoings by trying to have no or as little debt as possible
• Shop around for the best deals (like our member partnerships) on tools, equipment, materials and workwear
• Get your business name out there through marketing (your website, customer reviews and SEO).
• Provide the best customer experience to all your customers to build a strong reputation and win more work
• Join a trade directory like Checkatrade to build your reviews and online reputation.

Expert tips to increase profits as a tradesperson

Become your own boss with your new kitchen design business

You could get your kitchen design business started with the help of our ‘Become the Boss’ series.

You’ll get seven emails in total (and a cheeky bonus email) featuring fellow tradespeople who were once in your position, a free business strategy call, and at the end of it all, you could be the founder of your new business.

To get trade business insider secrets sent to your pocket, put your email address in the form below so we can help you to get started:

FAQs

Is kitchen design a good career?

Being a kitchen designer can be a very rewarding career, and it’s certainly possible to earn a decent salary. You’ll most likely need to work weekends and some evenings as part of your kitchen design jobs, but you can expect to earn anywhere up to £42,681.60 per year as an employee. And, if you start your own kitchen design company, you have the potential to earn £54,015.96+ per year.