Choose what works for your room — understand the trade-offs before you build.
A room is far more than its cabinets. Water, air, light, power, doors, windows, surfaces, furniture — each is a decision, and each one changes how the room works, what it costs and how it looks. Here is the whole set, shown three ways, so the trade-offs are visible before anything is built.
Start with your room
Which room is this for?
Saved here as a preference for ELS to review. It is not an approval, and nothing on this page is priced.
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The same decisions, organized the other way.
Each room page lists its planning decisions and marks each one Available now (its options are set out on this site), Requires consultation (covered only in part; ask ELS about yours) or Coming soon (no comparison on this site yet).
Pick options above and your spec assembles here — the choices, their cost direction, and where ALUMAX prices each one.
Design options
The options, side by side.
Numbered so you can point to one.61 sets of design options — 36 with named options · 25 visual referencesThese are concept design options — looking at one chooses nothing and prices nothing. Quoting one needs your choice, the room it is for, and an ELS check against the specification.Cost lines are relative and typical for the illustrated specification. Relative cost names the direct cost drivers, consequential work names what else changes, and watch out names the checks required. Exceptions and site conditions can change any of them. A relative direction, not an amount. Nothing here is a price; the figure belongs to whoever supplies the item and is set after measurement.
Design intent — subject to feasibility and site measurement; any variation is agreed with you before work continues.
Concept renders — a design render, not a photo. Shown as design options for one decision.
Supply and installation confirmed with your specification. How this is priced is confirmed after measurement, by whoever supplies it.
A fully handleless look with a continuous horizontal line, and a good fit where circulation is tight because nothing protrudes.
Watch out
The aluminium channel collects dust and grease and must be wiped along its length; a door out of alignment telegraphs down the whole rail.
Cost and scope2
Relative cost
Typically higher than a pull for the illustrated specification — the profile, its end caps and the fabrication all add; the premium depends on run length and finish.
Consequential work
Sets a continuous rail across the run, so cabinet heights, filler panels and the profile finish must all coordinate before fabrication.
Integrated edge pull
Best for
A quieter line than a bar pull while keeping a real finger grip.
Watch out
The lip collects grease directly under the hand — the first place a wet kitchen shows wear.
Cost and scope2
Relative cost
Slightly above a bar pull.
Consequential work
Needs consistent door gaps across the run or the shadow line reads uneven.
Integrated J-pull
Best for
A handleless front with nothing to catch on — fingers hook into a J-profile cut into the door's top edge, so the line stays flush without a channel in the carcass.
Watch out
The recess collects dust and grease and needs wiping. On base units the grip is at the top edge and on wall units at the bottom, so the two feel different in use.
Cost and scope2
Relative cost
Above a bar pull; below a gola channel, because nothing changes in the carcass.
Consequential work
The profile is cut into the door at fabrication, so the front material must take a machined edge, and the choice cannot be reversed once the fronts are made.
Bar pull (surface-mounted)
Best for
Everyday kitchens where a confident grip matters more than a flush line — and the easiest handle to replace later.
Watch out
Protrudes into circulation; in a galley it catches sleeves and pockets. Screw centres are fixed, so a later swap is limited to the same drilling.
Cost and scope2
Relative cost
The reference point — the least expensive of the four.
Consequential work
Fixes door drilling at carcass stage; changing your mind after fabrication means new fronts.
Planning starting points for clearances, shown top-down instead of buried in a paragraph. Each is confirmed against the actual users, products and site — ELS sets the figures per project.
Galley kitchen
Base run · 600mm
↔ 1100Walkway · 1100mm
Base run · 600mm
For two runs facing each other, about 1000–1200mm between them is a planning starting point, so two people can pass and appliance and cabinet doors open fully. Confirm it against the actual users, appliances and site.
Wardrobe & bed
Wardrobe · 600mm
↔ 900Clear floor space · 900mm
Bed
In front of a wardrobe, aim for 900–1000mm or more with the doors closed. That is a planning starting point: test the actual door opening and the way past the foot of the bed separately. ELS preliminary planning targets, not Malaysian regulatory minimums or substitute fabrication specifications. Confirm it against the actual door, bed and room.
Dining pull-out
Table
↔ 700Chair pull-out · 700mm
↔ 600Walk behind · 600mm
For a seated diner with the chair pulled out, about 700mm is a planning starting point; add roughly 600mm more if someone walks behind them. Confirm it against the actual table, chairs and room.
Bathroom wet & dry
Dry — vanity & WC
Wet — shower
Keep the vanity and WC in a dry zone; contain the shower as a wet zone with a threshold and floor fall, so water stays where it should.