Pexlia
Measure the gap before you buy anything
Three measurements, five minutes, and it settles most of the questions people send us.
Last updated 28 September 2026
1. The clear run, not the total worktop
Take a tape measure and find the longest stretch of worktop with nothing permanently on it. Not the total length of the counter – the part that is actually free once the kettle, the drainer, the knife block and the bread bin are counted in. In a lot of flats the answer is between 40 and 60 cm, and that is the number that decides everything else.
2. The depth under the wall cupboards
Standard worktop is around 60 cm deep, but the usable depth is less, because the wall cupboards overhang. Measure from the back wall to the front edge of the cupboard above. Anything taller than that gap has to sit forward, which eats into the clear run you just measured.
3. The height to the cupboard
This is the one people forget, and it is the one that causes returns. Measure from the worktop to the underside of the wall cupboard. Then remember that anything that vents steam – a pressure cooker especially – needs clear space above it, not just enough to fit.
Write the three numbers on your phone. Clear run, usable depth, height to the cupboard. Send them to us with what you cook most and we can tell you which one fits, or that none of them does.
A note on what “compact” means
It is not a regulated word. Two appliances described as compact can differ by fifteen centimetres, which in a galley kitchen is the difference between usable and not. That is why we would rather you measured first and asked us second.