A metallic lacquer kitchen can look spectacular on a mood board and still fail on site — if the finish is quoted against the wrong substrate, the door sizes are guessed from a 3D render, or the sheen level is described only as "glossy". Because these cabinets are made to measure, the quality of your enquiry decides how accurate the price is and how few surprises appear after production starts. This guide walks through exactly what to send when you want a firm quotation for metallic lacquer cabinets, and what a serious manufacturer will send back.
What "metallic lacquer" Actually Refers To
In our catalogue the name covers doors and panels finished with a pigmented lacquer system that carries a metallic flake or shimmer, rather than a printed foil or an acrylic sheet laminated to the board. The effect sits between a flat solid colour and a mirror finish: it reflects light across the door face, which is why it reads well on handleless, slab-front kitchens in apartments and villas where the kitchen is part of the living space.
Two practical consequences follow from that construction. First, the appearance depends on how many lacquer stages are applied and how the surface is finished between them, so two quotations can look identical on paper and behave very differently under kitchen lighting. Second, a metallic surface shows its surroundings — fingerprints on a low-traffic wall unit are easy to live with, but the same build-up next to a hob needs a wipe-clean specification you can actually maintain.
Our Metallic Lacquer Cabinets are listed as part of the Lacquer Kitchen Cabinet collection for residential kitchen projects, with made-to-measure sizing, material and finish options, and a layout tailored to each project. That is the honest starting point: the specification is set per project, not picked from a fixed shelf size.
Before You Send The Enquiry: Decide Four Things
Buyers who arrive with these four decisions already made usually get a usable price in the first round. Buyers who skip them get three rounds of questions and a quotation that moves.
- Sheen level. Say whether you want a reflective metallic surface or a lower-sheen metallic. If you are torn, ask for both to be quoted on the same door style — the difference in price is usually about the number of finishing stages, not the board.
- Door profile and edge detail. A flat slab with a wrapped or lacquered edge is a different job from a framed or profiled door, because profiled edges need more sanding between coats. Send a reference photo of the look you want, even if it is from another project.
- Where each door will live. Tall units, island fronts, wall cabinets above a hob and pantry doors take different amounts of wear. Group them in your enquiry so the finish can be specified per zone instead of everywhere at the most expensive grade.
- Scope. Confirm whether you are quoting carcasses and doors only, or a full fitted kitchen with worktops, interior fittings and appliances included.
The Information A Manufacturer Needs To Price It
Send drawings if you have them. If you do not, a set of measured photographs and a hand-marked plan is enough for a first quotation — but every item below should be answered somewhere in the file.
| Room and run dimensions | Overall room size, wall lengths, ceiling height, and the position of windows, doors, radiators, soil stacks and existing services. Note floor-to-floor heights for islands and tall units. |
| Layout intent | The work triangle, which walls carry base and wall units, and whether you want an island or peninsula. If a layout is still open, say so and request design support instead of pretending it is fixed. |
| Appliance schedule | Models and dimensions for built-in ovens, hob, extractor, dishwasher, fridge and any wine cabinet, including whether the extractor is ducted or recirculating. Appliance sizes drive cabinet widths more than anything else on the plan. |
| Finish specification | Colour or RAL reference plus sheen level for the metallic lacquer, and the same details for any complementary finish — for example a matte lacquer on tall units against metallic doors, which is one of the more common combinations we are asked to quote. |
| Substrate and construction | The board used for doors and carcasses, edge treatment, and door thickness. Ask for this in writing; it is where otherwise similar quotations diverge most. |
| Hardware and interiors | Hinge and runner brand or grade, handleless or handle detail, drawer versus shelf interiors, corner solutions, integrated lighting, and any glass-front display section. |
| Delivery and access | Ship-to address, delivery terms you want quoted, floor level, lift or stair constraints, and the site programme. For multi-unit work, list unit types and quantities so repeatable layouts are priced once rather than re-engineered per unit. |
How The Quotation Process Runs On A Custom Project
Our stated cooperation steps are straightforward: a project brief and design proposal first, then quotation with detail confirmation, then production, shipment and follow-up. In practice the middle step is where the money is either saved or wasted.
1. Brief and proposal
You send the file described above. We come back with a proposed layout, a finish direction, and an indicative budget range based on comparable projects. Treat this number as an order-of-magnitude check, not a price.
2. Quotation and detail confirmation
Once the drawings are agreed, the quotation is built from actual unit sizes, selected substrate, lacquer build-up, hardware list and interior fittings. This is also the point to confirm what is excluded — worktops, appliances, on-site making good, electrical circuits for internal lighting. A quotation that lists its exclusions is easier to compare than one that quietly omits them.
3. Production, shipment and follow-up
After sign-off, doors and carcasses are made to the confirmed dimensions. Freight can move by sea, air or rail with the customs paperwork handled as part of logistics and door-to-door delivery; import duties, taxes and local site preparation remain your local costs and should be budgeted separately. Final dimensional checks before production are far cheaper than corrections after the lacquer is applied.
Comparing Two Quotes Without Being Misled
Lacquer is where low quotations hide. Before you choose, put both offers side by side on these five points:
- Finish build-up. How many primer, colour and top-coat stages, and whether the metallic effect is a lacquer system or a film applied to the board.
- Edge quality. Wrapped, machined or hand-lacquered edges. On metallic doors the edge is the first thing you notice in raking daylight.
- Board specification. Density and moisture resistance of both door substrate and carcass board, stated explicitly.
- Hardware grade. Same brand and same runner rating on both quotations, or the comparison is meaningless.
- What happens to off-cuts and tall panels. Full-height doors may need a different substrate or a joining method; ask which option is priced.
If a supplier will not answer these in writing, that answer is itself useful information.
Common Reasons A Metallic Lacquer Quote Changes After The First Round
- Appliance dimensions arrive late. A built-in oven 30 mm taller than assumed changes adjacent tall-unit heights and the whole run above it.
- Sheen was decided by photo, not sample. Metallic finishes shift noticeably with coat count and lighting; confirm against a physical sample before sign-off.
- Handleless detail unspecified. A routed pull, a profiled aluminium channel and a push mechanism are three different prices on the same door.
- Cut-outs for extractors and sinks measured on site after ordering. Field-measure before production release wherever the building is still open.
- Access not declared. Long island fronts and full-height doors that cannot reach a lift may need to be split into panels, which changes both price and joint positions.
Sample Enquiry Structure You Can Copy
A short, structured message gets a faster and more accurate response than a long narrative. This is the shape we can price directly:
- Project type and location: villa renovation / apartment / multi-unit development, city and country.
- Quantity: number of kitchens, and unit types if repeatable.
- Scope: cabinetry only, or with worktops, appliances, interior lighting and installation.
- Finish: metallic lacquer doors with sheen preference; complementary finish for tall units if any.
- Documents attached: measured plan or sketch, elevations, appliance schedule, photographs of the space.
- Programme: required delivery month and site access date.
- Delivery terms: port or door address you want quoted.
If you are still developing the layout rather than pricing a fixed one, start with interior design services — space planning and 3D renderings let you settle the metallic finish against your actual floor and wall tones before any cabinetry is quoted. Where a project also needs wardrobes, media walls and doors in matching lacquer, ask for those under custom furniture design and prototyping so the same finish build-up is specified across every joinery item.
Questions Buyers Ask Before Requesting A Quote
Do you need drawings before you can request a price?
No. Measured photographs, a hand-marked plan and your appliance list are enough for an indicative quotation. Detailed production drawings follow once the layout is agreed, and that is also when final dimensions are confirmed.
Can metallic lacquer be matched to an existing colour?
Send a physical sample or a RAL reference rather than a photograph, and specify the sheen you want. Metallic appearance depends on flake load and coat count, so matching is confirmed against a produced sample before the run is made.
Is a metallic lacquer door more fragile than a matte one?
What changes is how the surface shows wear and how it is repaired, not some universal durability rating. High-reflectivity faces reveal marks and swirls more readily and need the cleaning method agreed at specification stage; ask for that method in writing with the quotation.
Can one quotation cover cabinets plus wardrobes, doors and wall panelling?
Yes, and it usually should. Sending every joinery item together lets the same substrate and lacquer specification carry through the project, which is what keeps a metallic kitchen coherent with the bedrooms and corridors off it.
Send A Brief And Get A Number You Can Compare
The buyers who get the best results on made-to-measure cabinetry are not the ones with finished drawings — they are the ones who state their constraints clearly enough that two quotations can be compared line by line. Dimensions, appliances, sheen, substrate, hardware and delivery address: send all six, and hold every supplier to the same list.
Send your plan, appliance schedule and finish preference to SANTERSON for a project-specific quotation on made-to-measure lacquered cabinetry. Email santerson@qq.com or reach us by phone / WhatsApp on +86-13928214007 (attention: PHILLIP). Enquiries receive a response within 24 hours, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM–6:00 PM GMT+8.