Mitre 10 vs Bunnings (Kaboodle) vs IKEA vs Mastercraft kitchens: what each actually offers

Which of these are actually flat-pack kitchens?

Mitre 10, Kaboodle (Bunnings) and IKEA sell cabinetry in standard modules that are assembled on site or, in Mitre 10's case, optionally delivered pre-assembled. Mastercraft is a different product: custom cabinetry made to your measurements by an independently owned local workshop under a national brand. Comparing all four is still useful, because people shop them against each other.

Mitre 10 kitchens: what the retailer publishes

Mitre 10 sells an exclusive range it describes as NZ-made, designed for Kiwi homes, in four styles (Alpine, Coastal, Country and Metro) plus a Value Kitchens line for tight budgets. Its kitchens page lists a free design service, a 15-year warranty on cabinetry, soft-close drawers and doors, 70+ showrooms, nationwide delivery and finance options.

Two details matter for a DIY-minded buyer. The range "can be delivered nationwide, with options to have cabinetry delivered pre-assembled", which removes the flat-pack assembly step if you want it to. And the Value Kitchens page says plainly that "if you are more confident at DIY you could assemble the flat pack cabinetry yourself before an installer puts the kitchen in", and that you can demolish the old kitchen yourself, as long as trades remove the electrical and plumbed-in items.

Mitre 10 publishes no prices for its kitchens online. The Value Kitchens page shows four compact display kitchens (Coast, Cottage, Craggy and City) with their cabinet fronts, benchtops and splashbacks named, but you get a figure only after booking a consultation. Our flat-pack vs custom guide describes the installation arrangement Mitre 10 has offered at design consults.

Bunnings kitchens: it is Kaboodle, and Kaboodle makes it in Auckland

The kitchen Bunnings designs for you is a Kaboodle kitchen. Kaboodle describes itself as a family-owned manufacturer of over 300 people with a company-owned, purpose-built factory in Auckland that makes cabinets, doors and benchtops, including customised widths, so the modular range can be filled out with made-to-measure pieces.

Bunnings' kitchen consultation is free whichever way you take it: in-store, online or in your home. Its page says an appointment runs 1.5 to 2 hours and produces realistic 3D renders, a grid floor plan and "the full list of products you will need to build your kitchen with a full quote breakdown". In-home and in-store consults are not available at every store. The page also notes that customised Kaboodle kitchens are manufactured and dispatched until 24 December 2026, with operations resuming on 4 January 2027, which is the kind of lead-time detail worth knowing before Christmas.

Kaboodle positions itself as DIY: "you can make it all yourself or get an installer to help you out". Neither Bunnings nor Kaboodle lists an installation service on the pages we read, so budget for an installer separately, and remember that the plumbing and electrical work must go to licensed trades regardless (who has to be licensed). Kaboodle has an online price estimator and a 3D planner, but publishes no cabinet price list.

IKEA kitchens in NZ: the only one with prices on the page

IKEA New Zealand sells two systems. METOD is the fully configurable one, with a 25-year guarantee; KNOXHULT is a simpler unit kitchen with a 5-year guarantee. IKEA is the only retailer here that lists cabinet prices online, which makes it the easiest to budget without a consult.

Those are IKEA NZ's listed prices on 23 October 2026, in New Zealand dollars, for cabinets only: no benchtop fitting, no appliances, no delivery and no installation. A KNOXHULT run is a bedsit or rental kitchen, not a family one, and METOD is priced per component through the planner rather than as a published list.

IKEA's planning service is a free session of up to 60 minutes, online or in-store, producing a 3D design, parts list and quote. Installation is by referral rather than by IKEA: its integrated option connects you with Refresh Renovations, and its lighter option refers you to Builderscrack to find your own installer. In both cases the agreement and the payment are between you and the installer. The one New Zealand store is at Sylvia Park in Auckland, with collection points elsewhere, so delivery is a real line in the budget outside Auckland.

• KNOXHULT complete kitchen, 120 cm wide: $388.
• KNOXHULT complete kitchen, 180 cm: $578.
• KNOXHULT complete kitchen, 220 cm: $815 or $925 depending on configuration.
• KNOXHULT base cabinet with doors and drawer, 120 cm: $289; wall cabinet with door, 60 x 60 cm: $89.

Mastercraft Kitchens: custom joinery under a national brand

Mastercraft is the odd one out. Its about page says every Mastercraft location is an independently owned and operated business licensed to represent the brand, and that the national office supports 29 kitchen licensees. Each workshop designs and manufactures its kitchens in-house, so what you get is custom cabinetry, not modules.

The guarantee reflects that: a 10-year craftsmanship guarantee that transfers between owners of the property, covering products the licensee manufactured in-house against defects from faulty craftsmanship, with other supplied products carrying their own makers' guarantees. Mastercraft publishes no prices, which is normal for custom joinery; the price is the quote. Expect it to sit where custom cabinetry sits, well above a flat-pack run.

The brand name is what people search for, but the quality and the quote come from the local licensee. Treat each as the independent business it is: check the licensee's own work, contract and timeline, as you would with any joiner, using the questions in our contract guide.

So which should you choose?

If the room is close to square and the budget is the brief, the three retailer ranges are all credible, and the choice is mostly about the finish you like, the warranty length and how much of the assembly you want to do. If the room is old, out of square or needs cabinetry to the millimetre, Mastercraft or an independent joiner is the better fit, and the price gap is the cost of that fit.

Whichever you pick, a measured plan drawn for your room, not for a retailer's range, lets you compare all four on the same thing. That is what our design consult produces, and it works with any supplier.

• Want someone else to handle assembly and installation with a retailer's design? Mitre 10's pre-assembled option is the most hands-off of the three.
• Want to build it yourself with a free in-home design? Kaboodle through Bunnings is built around that.
• Want to know the number before you talk to anyone? IKEA, because it is the only one with prices on the page, and the 25-year METOD guarantee is the longest here.
• Want cabinetry made to the room? Mastercraft, or any custom joiner, with the quote decided by the design.