Nolan Kitchens compared: price, specification and who fits it

24 September 2026 · The Home Upgrade Co.

Nolan Kitchens is one of the names you meet early when you start pricing a kitchen in Dublin, and with good reason. They have been at it for over forty years by their own account, they make their kitchens in their own Dublin facility, and unlike most of the trade they publish starting prices on their website. This page is not an argument against them. It is a straight comparison of two ways of buying a kitchen at roughly the same money, and of what each of us tells you before you sign.

Who are Nolan Kitchens?

A Dublin kitchen manufacturer trading over forty years by their own account, making kitchens in their own Dublin facility, with showrooms in Dublin 12 and Mullingar seen by appointment.

Their site says every Nolan kitchen is crafted in their Dublin based manufacturing facility, and that they specialise in kitchens for new builds and home renovations, working with your contractor. They also run a separate in frame brand. Both showrooms are by appointment, arranged through a design consultation form, and both carry Google reviews you can read before you go.

Where Nolan Kitchens is the stronger choice

Three things they have that we do not: four decades of trading, a Dublin factory of their own, and customers who have already reviewed them.

Forty years is forty years. They have been making kitchens in Dublin since long before we existed, they own the building they are made in, and you can walk into a showroom in Dublin 12 or Mullingar and look at the work. Their Google reviews are there to be read across both locations. We are new, we have no showroom, and we have a single review against their many. If track record is what settles it for you, that settles it.

They also publish starting prices, which most of this trade still refuses to do. We give them credit for that, because it is the same reason we publish ours.

How do the two compare, side by side?

The short version: similar money, and the difference is in what each of us puts in writing before you commit.

Everything in the Nolan Kitchens column is taken from their own website in September 2026. Where it says not published, that means we looked and could not find it, not that it does not exist. Ask them, and ask us the same questions.

How do the published prices line up?

Their painted shaker with a quartz worktop starts at EUR 13,000. Ours starts at EUR 12,000 fitted including VAT. That is close enough that price should not be what decides it.

Their prices page lists three points: from EUR 13,000 for a painted shaker with a quartz worktop, an undermounted sink, a tap and a knurled bronze handle; from EUR 16,000 with an island; and from EUR 20,000 with a large island. They are clear that the final cost moves with kitchen size, door style, worktop material and appliance choice, which is true of any made to measure kitchen including ours.

The one thing their prices page does not say is whether fitting is inside those figures. Ours is: EUR 12,000 is fitted and includes VAT, and a typical family kitchen with quartz runs EUR 15,000 to 25,000, with large rooms with an island and integrated appliances sitting above that. Appliances are excluded either way. If you are comparing the two numbers, that is the question to settle first, because fitting is not a rounding error.

Everything we supply is premium and made to the highest spec, and it is priced to that standard. Quality at this level is not a budget purchase, and we would rather say so here than at your kitchen table. If you are working to a tight budget, we are honestly not the right fit.

What is the carcase made from?

The carcase is the box behind the door, the part you never see. We publish ours. We could not find theirs published anywhere on their site.

This matters because of water. A carcase spends its life under a sink, beside a dishwasher and behind a washing machine, and board that swells once never goes back. The first sign is a door that stops closing flush. Plywood also holds a screw better over time, which is what keeps hinges from dropping after years of a heavy door swinging on them.

Ours, in full, so you can hold it against any quote: carcases in 18mm melamine faced plywood, faced both sides and E1 rated, with 9mm melamine plywood backs. Doors and fronts in 18mm MDF with a single face flat lacquer, sprayed and oven cured. PUR edge banding. DTC soft close hinges and DTC undermount soft close drawers as standard, with Blum available as its own priced line rather than the standard build.

One honest note on our own wording. We say melamine faced plywood and not marine grade plywood, because we do not hold the glue grade in writing from the factory. Plenty of companies would say marine ply and move on. We would rather tell you only what we can stand over.

Who actually fits it?

Their site describes working with your contractor. With us the same contractor supplies and fits, so if something is wrong there is one number to ring.

Nolan Kitchens describe themselves as working with your contractor to bring your dream kitchen to life, and we could not find a statement on their site that they fit the kitchen themselves. That model is common and it suits a job that already has a builder on site, which is much of their new build work. It does mean you need a contractor, and that responsibility is split between whoever made the kitchen and whoever installed it.

On our quotes, freight, customs clearance, delivery to site and installation all sit in one price carried by one contractor. Dismantling the old kitchen and making good are included on most of our quotes but not all, so read the exclusions rather than assuming. Ask us and ask them the same two questions: is fitting in the price, and who is responsible if the worktop template is out.

Showroom appointment, or a visit to your house?

Theirs is a free consultation at a showroom by appointment. Ours is free too, but it starts with someone in your kitchen with a tape measure.

A showroom is better for deciding how it will look, and theirs are worth seeing. A visit to the house is better for catching what costs money later: the floor that is not level, the soil pipe boxed into the corner, the window board lower than you assumed, the door that will not open once the island goes in.

Our sequence is fixed. Stephen calls out within 2 working days to measure and photograph. Our designers then produce full 3D plans of your actual room, including ceiling light positions and LED plinth and under cabinet lighting, with an itemised quote within a further 2 working days. From sign off, allow 12 weeks to an installed kitchen. No cost, no obligation, and you decide in your own time.

How should you decide?

• Track record is what matters most to you: forty years and reviews you can read, and that is them.
• You already have a builder on site, especially on a new build: their model is built for exactly that.
• You want to see a showroom before committing: Dublin 12 or Mullingar by appointment, and we have none.
• You want one contractor carrying supply and fitting: that is how we work.
• You want the carcase board, the hinges and the warranty in writing before you sign: ask both of us. Ours are published above.
• You are working to a tight budget: neither of us is the answer at these figures.
• You cannot decide: get both quotes itemised and compare them line by line.

See it before you decide anything

We design and fit fitted kitchens across Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, including shaker kitchens and kitchen islands. The design visit is free: we call out, measure your kitchen, and our designers create full 3D plans so you can see exactly how the room will look. You get the designs and an itemised quote, and you decide in your own time. No cost, no obligation.

Frequently asked questions

Are Nolan Kitchens any good?

By the measures you can check, they are well established: over forty years by their own account, their own Dublin manufacturing facility, showrooms in Dublin 12 and Mullingar, and Google reviews you can go and read.

How much is a Nolan kitchen?

Their prices page lists a painted shaker with quartz from EUR 13,000, from EUR 16,000 with an island and from EUR 20,000 with a large island. It does not say whether fitting is included, so that is worth asking.

Do Nolan Kitchens fit the kitchen themselves?

Their own site describes working with your contractor, and we could not find a statement that they fit. Ask them directly, because who carries the fitting decides who is responsible when something goes wrong.

What should I ask any kitchen company before I sign?

What the carcase board is and how thick it is, what the hinges and runners are, whether fitting is included in the price you were quoted, and what the warranty covers and for how long.