Your fitters have a start date. Your old kitchen still has a fridge freezer in it, a dishwasher plumbed into the wall, and about fifteen boxes’ worth of pans, plates and things you forgot you owned. Somewhere between now and then, all of it has to go somewhere else, and you need to know how big “somewhere else” needs to be before you can book it.
That is the question this page answers. Not the story of what living through a kitchen renovation feels like week to week (we have already written that one, and we will point you to it), but the number you actually need today: what size storage unit fits your kitchen.
What size storage unit do you need for a kitchen renovation?
For a standard fitted kitchen, a full-size fridge freezer, a dishwasher, an oven, a dining set and around fifteen to twenty boxes, a 50 to 75 sq ft unit is usually enough. A smaller galley kitchen with less to store needs less, typically 25 to 50 sq ft. A larger kitchen, or one with an American-style fridge freezer or a range cooker in the mix, needs more, usually 75 to 100 sq ft or beyond.
If you only read one paragraph on this page, that is the one. Everything below shows you how we got there and helps you check your own kitchen against it.
Quick self-check, if you are reading this on your phone with a tape measure in your other hand:
- Galley kitchen, no dishwasher or a slimline one, single oven, no dining set to store: 25 to 50 sq ft.
- Standard fitted kitchen, full-size fridge freezer, full-size dishwasher, single or double oven, four-seater dining set: 50 to 75 sq ft.
- American-style fridge freezer or a range cooker anywhere in the mix, six-seater dining set: 75 to 100 sq ft, sizing up to 150 sq ft if the dining set is large or the larder overflow is heavy.
- Not sure which one describes your kitchen: keep reading, the full decision table is two sections away.
What actually has to move out of a kitchen during a renovation?
Before you can size a unit, it helps to see the whole list in one place, because kitchens generate more displaced volume than people expect until it is sitting in the middle of the living room. A typical fitted kitchen sends four things into storage: the appliances, the furniture, the boxed contents, and often the units or cabinets themselves if they are being replaced rather than reused.
The appliances
Fridge freezer, dishwasher, and an oven or range cooker. These are the biggest, heaviest and most awkwardly shaped items on the list, and they are also the ones that decide your unit size more than anything else, which is why we measure them properly in the next section.
The furniture and the boxed overflow
A dining table and chairs, usually disassembled to travel and store flat. Then the boxes: crockery, pans, small appliances, the larder cupboard’s worth of tins and packets that has been accumulating for years. Most standard kitchens produce somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five boxes once everything is actually packed, more if the household has been in the same kitchen for a decade or two.
The exact dimensions of common kitchen appliances (UK standard)
Full-size UK dishwashers run 60cm wide, 55 to 60cm deep and 82cm high, with slimline models coming in at 45cm wide and the same depth and height. That is a directly verified figure, taken from B&Q’s own dishwasher sizing guide, and it is a useful anchor because it sits on the same 60cm cabinet grid that most of a UK fitted kitchen is built around.
Dishwashers, full-size and slimline
As above: 60cm (or 45cm slimline) wide, 55 to 60cm deep, 82cm high. Both sit comfortably against a kitchen wall and, once wrapped, stack against other flat-sided items in a unit.
Fridge freezers, standard, integrated and American-style
A freestanding fridge freezer typically runs 55 to 70cm wide, 55 to 70cm deep and 150 to 200cm tall. Integrated models are built to a 60cm housing but the appliance itself is closer to 54 to 56cm wide and deep, in heights around 82 to 83cm for undercounter models, up to 177 to 178cm for tall ones. American-style, side-by-side fridge freezers are the outlier: roughly 90cm wide, 70cm deep and 180cm or more tall, and they cannot be laid down for storage, which we come back to below.
Ovens and range cookers
A built-in single oven is around 60cm wide, 58 to 59.5cm high and 54 to 57cm deep. A built-under double oven is a little taller, 70 to 72cm high, at the same width and depth. A range cooker is a different scale entirely: 90cm or more wide and typically the same in depth, a genuinely large freestanding footprint that does not nestle in alongside boxes the way a built-in oven does.
One thing worth knowing before you measure anything: check the gap the old appliance leaves behind, not just the spec sheet for a new one. Integrated appliances are built into a cabinet niche, and manufacturers often quote the appliance body without handles or doors, so the space it actually occupies once installed tends to run a little deeper than the number on the box. If you are sizing against the hole in your kitchen rather than a brochure, measure the hole.
Storing appliances safely, what to know before you pack them away
Most fridge freezers, and especially American-style or no-frost models, need to stay upright in storage and in transit. Laying one on its side can let refrigerant oil settle somewhere it should not, and on some models it can affect the warranty as well as how the appliance runs once it is switched back on.
Can a fridge freezer be stored on its side?
No, as a rule, and it is one of the details people get wrong most often. Keep it upright throughout the move and the stay in storage, allow it time to settle before switching it back on at the other end, and leave the door very slightly open with nothing left inside so it does not develop damp or odours while it waits.
Keeping appliances clean, dry and secure in storage
Beyond the fridge freezer rule, the practical basics apply to every appliance you are storing: keep them upright where they are designed to stand, raise them off the floor on a pallet or boards rather than sitting them directly on the ground, and do not leave anything plugged in while it is in storage. A clean, dry and secure unit does the rest of the work, keeping your appliances protected from damp and knocks while they wait out the renovation.
What bumps you up a size tier
Four things reliably push a kitchen renovation into the next unit size up: an American-style fridge freezer, a range cooker instead of a built-in oven, a six-seater or larger dining set, and years of accumulated larder stock. Any one of these on its own can add a tier. Two or more together usually mean it is worth sizing up rather than trying to make the smaller unit work.
The range cooker effect
At 90cm or more wide and roughly the same in depth, a range cooker is not a shape that nestles in around boxes the way a built-in oven does. It needs its own footprint, and that footprint alone often accounts for the difference between a 50 to 75 sq ft unit and one closer to 100 sq ft.
The American fridge freezer effect
Because it has to stay upright and cannot be laid flat or stacked under or over anything else, an American-style fridge freezer effectively claims a chunk of floor space for the entire stay, not just a corner. Plan around it as a fixed, standing shape rather than something you can tuck away.
Bigger dining sets and years of accumulated crockery
A six-seater table and chairs takes noticeably more room than a four-seater, and a kitchen that has been in daily use for fifteen or twenty years tends to have quietly built up five to ten extra boxes of crockery, serving dishes and larder stock that never make it into most people’s mental inventory until it is time to pack it. Both are exactly the kind of thing that tips a borderline decision up a tier.
Here is the case that makes this concrete. A couple with a galley kitchen and a four-seater table book the cheapest unit they can find, because on paper a galley kitchen sounds small. Then the range cooker and the dining set arrive at the unit alongside the fridge freezer, and there simply is not room. The fix is not complicated, it is just better to do it before moving day than on it: measure your specific kitchen against the table below rather than assuming “compact kitchen” automatically means “smallest unit.”
The kitchen-to-unit-size decision table
Match your kitchen to the row that fits best. Each row shows what is typically being stored, the unit tier that comfortably holds it, and the one thing that would push you up to the next size.
| Kitchen configuration | What’s being stored | Wigwam unit tier | Size up if… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galley or compact kitchen | Fridge freezer, single oven, 8 to 12 boxes | 25 to 50 sq ft | You also have a full four-seater table to store |
| Standard fitted kitchen | Fridge freezer, full-size dishwasher, oven, four-seater dining set, 15 to 20 boxes | 50 to 75 sq ft | You’re storing a range cooker or larder overflow too |
| Large, American-fridge or range-cooker kitchen | American fridge freezer, range cooker, six-seater dining set, larder overflow, 20 to 30+ boxes | 75 to 100 sq ft, up to 150 sq ft | The dining set is large or the larder overflow is heavy |
Treat this as a general sizing guide, not an exact fit guarantee. Every kitchen is a little different, and if you are genuinely unsure between two rows, it is worth sizing up or calling the team to talk it through rather than guessing small.
Know your size? Get your instant quote and check availability near you.
How long should you book the unit for?
Most kitchen renovations run six to eight weeks from the day the old kitchen comes out to the day the new one is finished, so that is a sensible length to plan storage around. Wigwam’s minimum term is two weeks, and if your renovation wraps up early, you get a refund for the unused days rather than paying for time you did not need.
For the full week-by-week story of what a six-to-eight-week stay actually feels like, from the dust and the takeaways to the day the new units go in, read Kitchen Renovation Storage: Where Your Old Kitchen Lives Safely. If your renovation stretches beyond the kitchen into the rest of the house, our complete guide to storage during a home renovation covers the broader picture.
Get the size right, then get your quote
Once you know your tier, the only step left is checking price and availability near you, not more guesswork. That is the whole point of working through the table above before you book anything.
Get your instant quote for the size you’ve landed on, or find your nearest Wigwam location if you would rather talk it through with someone first.
Frequently Asked Questions
For a standard fitted kitchen, a full-size fridge freezer, dishwasher, oven and a four-seater dining set, plan for 50 to 75 sq ft. A smaller galley kitchen typically needs 25 to 50 sq ft, and a larger kitchen with an American-style fridge freezer or a range cooker usually needs 75 to 100 sq ft or more. Use the decision table above to match your own kitchen.
No, not as a rule. Most fridge freezers, and especially American-style or no-frost models, need to stay upright throughout the move and the storage period, both for the appliance to run properly afterwards and, on some models, to protect the warranty.
Most kitchen renovations take six to eight weeks. Wigwam’s minimum term is two weeks, with a refund for any unused days if your renovation finishes ahead of schedule.
No. Wigwam units are clean, dry and secure, which is what appliances need to sit safely through a renovation. There is no temperature or humidity control involved, and standard appliances do not need it.
