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By Skarvin team

How to plan a custom kitchen in Tartu: a 6-week timeline

A finished custom kitchen with matte blue cabinets and brass hardware in a Tartu home.

TL;DR

A custom kitchen in Tartu typically takes six weeks from the first measurement to install. Two weeks for design and material decisions, three weeks for production, one week for delivery and assembly. The timeline shifts when you change the brief mid-design or pick a finish that needs a longer drying cycle. This post walks through each week, what gets decided when, and the choices that affect the schedule most.

Why six weeks?

Six weeks is the typical window from brief to install for a single kitchen at a workshop running a normal production schedule. The number is not arbitrary. Two weeks cover the design and decision phases, where the kitchen actually gets defined. Three weeks cover the manufacturing — material cutting, CNC milling, edge banding, painting and the drying cycle for painted fronts. The final week is delivery and on-site assembly.

This timeline assumes the client makes decisions in step with the workshop’s schedule. Delays usually come from one place: indecision on material or finish.

Week 1: brief and measurements

The first week is conversation and measurements. You meet a designer, describe what you want, and we measure the kitchen space — walls, ceiling, plumbing positions, electrical sockets, gas line if there is one. The measurement is done with a laser level and a steel tape; we record everything to the millimetre.

What you decide this week:

  • Approximate layout (L-shape, U-shape, island, galley)
  • Style direction (modern minimal, classic wood, mid-century, painted shaker)
  • Budget bracket (this affects which materials are in scope)

What we do this week:

  • On-site measurement
  • Preliminary sketch (one or two layout options)
  • Initial material recommendations based on style and budget

You do not commit to specific colours, hinges, or hardware yet. That comes in week 2.

Weeks 2–3: design and material selection

This is the most decision-heavy phase. We turn the sketch into a detailed 3D rendering, you visit the workshop to see physical samples (door fronts, edge bands, MDF and plywood swatches, finished painted samples in different colours), and we lock in:

  • Carcass material (usually 18 mm birch plywood for premium, MDF for painted fronts)
  • Front material (MDF for painted, solid wood for natural, melamine for budget)
  • Finish (matte vs gloss, RAL or NCS colour code)
  • Hardware (Blum or Hettich hinges, soft-close drawers, handles vs push-to-open)
  • Worktop (laminate, solid wood, stone — we work with several stone suppliers in Tartu)
  • Appliance integration (which appliances stay visible, which hide behind cabinet fronts)

By end of week 3, you sign off on the technical drawing and pay the 50% deposit. Production starts the next day.

The most common reason this phase stretches: the client visits the showroom, takes a sample home, then asks for two more colour samples to compare under their kitchen lighting. Realistic. Add 3–5 days when this happens.

Weeks 4–5: production

Production runs in three rough stages:

  1. Cutting and CNC milling. Full sheet stock is cut to size on a panel saw, then individual parts go through CNC for any non-standard shapes (sink cutout, oven cutout, decorative grooves). Tolerance is 0.1 mm.
  2. Painting or finishing. Painted MDF fronts go through a four-stage finish: prime, sand, paint, sand and clear coat. Each coat needs a drying cycle in a dust-free chamber. This is the longest single stage — typically 4–7 days for painted fronts.
  3. Edge banding and assembly. Plywood and melamine edges get ABS or PVC edging on a modern edgebander. Carcasses are pre-assembled to make on-site work faster.

You will not visit the workshop during this phase. We send photo updates after each stage.

Week 6: delivery and assembly

The delivery team arrives with the kitchen broken down into parts (carcasses, fronts, hardware boxes, worktop). On-site assembly takes one to two days for a typical kitchen — longer for islands and complex installs.

What you should arrange before delivery day:

  • Plumbing turned off at the main valve
  • Electrical work for sockets and lights completed
  • Old kitchen removed (we don’t do removal — see our FAQ for recommended services)

The team installs cabinets, mounts fronts, fits hardware, levels everything, and tests every drawer and door. Worktop install follows if you ordered one through us — stone tops sometimes ship a few days later.

What can shift the timeline

Three things slow projects most often:

  1. Indecision on colour or material. Asking for additional samples after week 2 adds 3–5 days each time.
  2. Custom worktop suppliers. Stone yards have their own lead times; we order in parallel, but a delayed stone slab pushes delivery.
  3. Brief changes after deposit. If you change layout after the technical drawing is signed, the project resets to week 2.

Things that do not slow the timeline (we plan for them):

  • Standard delivery slot scheduling
  • Hardware availability (Blum and Hettich are stocked)
  • Painting drying cycles (built into our 3-week production estimate)

Frequently asked questions

Can the timeline be faster? Yes, in some cases. A small kitchen with standard materials and pre-stocked finishes can ship in four weeks. A large island kitchen with multiple custom colour samples and a stone worktop can stretch to eight weeks. We give you a realistic timeline in the initial quote.

Do you work on weekends? The workshop runs Monday to Friday. Install days can be scheduled on Saturdays for an extra charge.

What if I’m not in Tartu? We deliver across Estonia and to Latvia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Delivery and install scheduling add 2–5 days depending on the destination.

What if something is wrong on install day? Minor adjustments happen on the spot. If a part is wrong (cut to the wrong size, wrong colour), we remake it within 2–3 weeks under warranty. The install crew flags it before they leave; you don’t pay the final 50% until you accept the install.

Sources and references

This article reflects the standard production process at Skarvin (Mööbel Plus OÜ) in Tartu, Estonia. Want to start a project? Send a price request or book a meeting with a designer.

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