Workshop · Tirana, Albania
Custom kitchens, built to your space
A kitchen has to fit your walls, your habits, and your budget, not a catalogue page. You bring the idea: a photo you love, a sketch, or your architect’s drawing. At Formo Atelier we build it in our Tirana workshop, from the first measurement to the final hinge adjustment, so every centimeter of your space works for you.
Free, itemized quote within one business day.
- Years at the bench, from the workshops of Athens to our own in Tirana.
- 30+
- Commissions built to measure and installed by our own team.
- 300+
- European-standard materials and hardware, on every piece, no exceptions.
- 100%
What we build
Every layout, made to measure
From compact apartment kitchens to open-plan layouts with an island, your idea is drawn to your exact walls and approved by you before anything is cut.
Straight and galley kitchens
Single-wall and two-wall layouts that make narrow spaces efficient, with full-height storage where the room allows it.
L-shaped and U-shaped kitchens
Corner solutions with proper carousel or pull-out mechanisms, so no corner becomes dead space.
Island and peninsula kitchens
Work surfaces and seating planned together, with clearances checked against how you actually move and cook.
Tall units and integrated appliances
Ovens, refrigerators, and dishwashers built into the cabinetry, with ventilation and service access planned in from the start.
Storage and organization
Drawer dividers, pull-out pantries, and internal fittings sized to what you store, not generic inserts.
Materials and finishes
Materials and finishes for a kitchen
These are the six board and finish families we build kitchens from. Carcass and fronts can be mixed, and we show you physical samples before you decide. Our guide to MDF vs melamine for kitchen cabinets goes through the trade-offs in detail.
Melamine
Chipboard or MDF faced with a hard, printed melamine layer. Scratch- and moisture-resistant, easy to clean, and available in hundreds of wood and plain decors. Our standard for carcasses and the most practical choice for fronts.
MDF (lacquered or moisture-resistant)
A dense, uniform fibreboard that machines cleanly. Moisture-resistant grades go into carcasses near water; lacquered MDF gives smooth matt or satin fronts in any colour, with no visible joints or grain.
High-gloss acrylic
MDF faced with a thick acrylic layer for a deep, mirror-like gloss that stays colour-fast. Scratch-resistant in daily use, easy to wipe down, and the usual choice for modern handleless kitchens.
Wood veneer
A thin layer of real oak, walnut or ash bonded to a stable board core. The look and touch of solid wood with far less movement, so large doors and panels stay flat for years.
Solid wood
Oak, beech, walnut and ash, selected and dried for interior use. For worktops, table tops, frames and handles, where the surface has to take knocks and be sanded back to new.
Plywood
Cross-laminated wood layers, usually birch: light, very strong and stable. For shelves that must not sag, drawer boxes, exposed-edge shelving and joinery that shows its construction.
How it works
From the first message to the last hinge
Consultation
Tell us what you need. We reply within one business day.
Site measurement
We measure the space ourselves, including walls out of square, sockets and pipes.
Drawings and quote
You approve 3D views and technical drawings alongside an itemized quote. Nothing is cut before that.
Build and install
Built in our Tirana workshop and installed by the same team, with a handover inspection together.
Materials and hardware that last
Kitchen carcasses take moisture, heat, and daily slamming, so material choice matters more here than anywhere else in the home. We build with moisture-resistant MDF and high-grade melamine boards, solid wood and veneer where your design calls for it, and edges sealed properly on every panel. The same carcasses and boards go into our bathroom furniture.
Hinges and drawer runners are European-made with soft-close as standard. They are the parts you touch every day, and the difference between hardware that lasts two years and hardware that lasts twenty is exactly where a custom kitchen earns its price.
Worktops, splashbacks, and lighting are planned with the cabinetry so the finished kitchen arrives as one coherent piece, not a collection of parts.
Worktop height, clearances and appliance gaps follow the figures in our kitchen measurements guide, adjusted to how tall you are and how you cook.
What a modern kitchen looks like this year, the fronts, colours and layouts we are asked for most, is in our modern kitchen trends 2026 guide.
How a custom kitchen is built in our workshop
The four order steps are above. This is what happens inside the Tirana workshop, from the first board to the last door, and why a custom kitchen takes longer than one off the shelf.
Carcasses cut to the drawing
Every carcass is cut from the technical drawing you approved, sized to your real walls rather than to standard modules. The wall that is out of square or the pipe found at measurement goes into the cut list, not into the installation day.
Every panel edge-banded
All visible edges and those facing the sink and dishwasher are sealed with ABS edging or the same material as the front, so moisture cannot get into the board. This is what separates a five-year kitchen from a twenty-year one.
Hardware and fronts
Hinges, drawer runners and corner mechanisms are fitted and adjusted in the workshop, not in your home. Fronts are lacquered, veneered or cut with the grain running continuously from door to door.
Dry-fitted before it leaves
The kitchen is assembled in the workshop first: joints, door swing and appliance gaps are checked. Only once it passes that check is it packed for transport.
Installation and worktop
On site the carcasses are levelled and fixed to the wall, then the worktop is templated on the installed kitchen so it arrives at the exact size. Finally the fronts are adjusted, the joints sealed, and we hand the kitchen over together with you.
A master craftsman with 30 years at the bench
Sherif Hamiti built cabinetry and fine joinery in Athens for three decades before co-founding Formo. Every joint, edge and finish that leaves the workshop passes through his hands.
Technical drawings before the first cut
Ardineli Caci turns your idea into 3D models and production drawings that you approve first, so what gets built is exactly what you signed off, to the millimetre.
European boards and hardware, as standard
Moisture-resistant MDF and quality melamine boards for carcasses, solid wood and veneer where the design calls for it, soft-close hinges and runners on every door and drawer, edges sealed on every panel.
Installed by the team that built it
The same people who measured and built your piece install it: aligned fronts, adjusted hinges, sealed joints against the wall, and a handover inspection with you.
Cost
What affects the cost of custom furniture?
Every project is quoted from real site measurements, so there is no price list. These are the things that move a quote up or down:
Size and layout:
the number of units, tall columns, corners, islands and how much wall you are covering.
Materials:
melamine, lacquered or acrylic fronts, veneer and solid wood sit at very different points, and carcass and fronts can be mixed.
Hardware:
soft-close is standard; pull-out pantries, corner mechanisms, lift-up doors and internal organisers add to it.
Integration:
built-in appliances, lighting, sockets and ventilation planned into the cabinetry.
Site conditions:
walls out of square, pipes to work around, access and floor levels all affect the work on the day.
Questions
Common questions about custom kitchens
How much does a custom kitchen cost?
It depends on the size, the materials, and the appliances you want integrated. A small straight kitchen in melamine costs a fraction of a large island kitchen in veneer. Contact us and we will prepare a free, itemized quote.
How long does a custom kitchen take?
Once you approve the drawings and the final measurements, production and installation are scheduled and you get a clear timeline with your quote. Custom work takes longer than buying off the shelf, and that time goes into building for your exact space.
I only have a photo of a kitchen I like. Is that enough?
Yes, that is how most orders start. We measure your space, turn the photo into technical drawings adapted to your walls and appliances, and you approve every drawing before production begins. The idea stays yours; the building is ours.
Do you take the measurements yourselves?
Yes. We measure the space ourselves before production, including walls that are not square and pipes or sockets that need working around. Your quote is based on real site measurements, not estimates.
Which materials do you recommend for a kitchen?
For carcasses, moisture-resistant MDF or quality melamine board. For fronts, it depends on the look you want: melamine and lacquered MDF are the most practical, veneer and solid wood bring the warmest finish. We show you physical samples before you decide.
Ready-made kitchen or custom kitchen?
A ready-made kitchen comes in standard 30, 45, 60 and 90 cm modules and costs less when the wall takes them with nothing left over; the gaps are closed with filler panels. A custom kitchen is cut to your wall, uses every centimetre, the corner and the full height to the ceiling, and takes longer because it is built for you. When walls are out of square or the room is small, custom is the choice that leaves no centimetre empty.
Can you furnish the rest of the apartment too?
Yes, and the kitchen is the usual place to start. Once we have measured the flat for the kitchen, the wardrobes, the living room and the children’s room can be quoted on the same visit and built in the same materials. See furnishing a whole apartment for how the rooms are sequenced.
Do you install the kitchen as well?
Always. Installation by the same hands that built the kitchen is how the details stay right: aligned fronts, adjusted hinges, sealed joints against the wall. We inspect everything with you at handover.
Keep exploring
Start a commission
Ready to plan your kitchen?
Contact us and we will come back with ideas and a free quote.
Workshop in Tirana. We build and install across Albania: Durrës, Vlorë, Shkodër, Elbasan, Fier and beyond.
