A washing machine can fit neatly under the worktop and still stop the cutlery drawer opening. The culprit might be the curve of the glass door, projecting just far enough to catch a handle on the next run of cabinets. A tape measure will find that clash before you spend anything, provided you open the drawer while you measure.
Start with three sketches on a sheet of paper. Draw the gap from the front, the kitchen from above and the route from the street. Give each its own measurements in millimetres. You can then compare several machines against the same kitchen, even when their product listings use different definitions of depth.
Find the smallest part of the opening
Measure between the inside faces of the units on either side. Take a width near the floor, halfway up and just below the worktop. Repeat towards the back wherever you can reach comfortably. Write down the narrowest figure and circle the spot on your sketch. A strip of skirting or a cabinet fixing at one corner can matter more than the width across the front.
Suppose a gap measures 608 mm across the front and 602 mm at the back. A washer 598 mm wide leaves just 4 mm in total at the pinch point. If its manual requires 5 mm on each side, the opening needs to be 608 mm throughout. The figure at the front looked ideal, yet the installation would leave insufficient clearance around the new machine.
Measure height from the floor that will carry the machine to the lowest point overhead. Check both sides and the entrance to the gap. In an older fitted kitchen, new floor tiles may finish at the front feet of the old washer. The height inside the recess might be generous while the tiled lip leaves less room to slide the replacement underneath.
If your current machine blocks the view, record which dimensions you can actually see. A photograph into an accessible side gap can help identify an obstruction. Leave any hidden dimension blank until the retailer or fitter can confirm it. The measurements of the old machine tell you what passed through the opening once, possibly before that new floor went down.
Work out where the glass door will sit
Lay a straightedge across the fronts of the neighbouring cupboard doors. Measure back from that line to the wall, then to any projecting pipes, hoses or sockets. Sketch their positions too. If the worktop overhangs the cupboard fronts, measure the overhang separately. These two front edges give different answers to the question of how far the washer sticks out.
Find the installation drawing for the exact model code. Look for the minimum opening and any specified space beside, above and behind the appliance. Use the manufacturer’s allowances for that machine. Where a drawing already gives the full installation depth, adding another allowance for the same space would count it twice. Check the end points of the dimension arrows.
For a real example, the Bosch WGG24400GB specification sheet gives three depths. They are 588 mm for the appliance body, 632 mm including the closed door and 1,049 mm with the door open. If the back of this washer could sit exactly 600 mm behind your cupboard fronts, its closed door would project 32 mm. Any extra space needed behind it would move the front further into the kitchen.
Try loading it with a basket
Mark the proposed front of the machine on the floor with a piece of paper. Look up the hinge side as viewed from the front. On your plan, draw the direction the drum door opens and check the space it sweeps through. A measurement straight out from the machine can miss a radiator or a bin standing just to one side.
Put your usual laundry basket where you would set it down. Can you crouch next to it and reach the back of the drum? Open the kitchen door, the nearest cupboard and any drawer that runs across the washer front. In a galley kitchen, try the opposite dishwasher door too. You might happily load those appliances at different times, but you will want to know if either blocks the only way out.
Try pulling the detergent drawer towards you. A projecting worktop edge can make it awkward to see the markings inside, particularly if you fill it from a large bottle. Look at the maintenance flap near the floor if your chosen model has one. Make sure the kitchen layout leaves you room to open it and place a shallow tray underneath when required.
Check what holds the cupboard door
A freestanding washer has its own visible front. An integrated washer is designed for a fitted kitchen and takes a matching furniture door. If you want to reuse your existing panel, open it and photograph its inside face. Record its width, height and thickness, the hinge side and the positions of the old hinge holes.
Compare the figures with the new machine’s fitting diagram. Beko’s guidance on décor doors directs buyers to the individual manual for the required dimensions. Ask the fitter whether the old panel can be used and whether the service includes fitting it. A continuous plinth needs checking too, particularly where the bottom of the furniture door swings towards it.
Walk the delivery route from the pavement
Take the tape measure outside. Follow the route a delivery crew would use, including any side gate, shared entrance, lift or landing. At each doorway, open the door as far as it will normally go and measure the clear passage. A tape stretched between the timber frames misses the thickness of a door that stops against a wall before it opens fully.
At a right angle, measure both corridors and the distance from the turn to the next obstacle. Note radiators, handrails and low ceilings on stairs. For a lift, take the clear door width and the internal width, depth and height. Send photographs of tight turns from both directions so the delivery team can see how much approach space it has.
Ask for the packed dimensions and find out where the crew can unpack. Compare the route with the dimensions they will actually be moving through it. A box measuring 650 mm across will not pass straight through a 640 mm opening in that orientation. Another orientation might work, depending on the other dimensions and the space to turn. Ask the delivery company to assess it before booking.
Take the measurements to the checkout
Keep the model code beside its dimension drawing when ordering. A similar looking machine in another capacity can have a different depth. The John Lewis washing machine guide explains where to find aperture drawings for integrated models and how it describes freestanding depth. Read the equivalent notes on whichever listing you use.
Give the retailer the tightest measurements and ask specific questions. Will the boxed machine turn off that landing? Will the proposed position leave the furniture door clear of the plinth? Keep the answers with the order confirmation. On delivery day, the person answering the door can point to the exact turn the crew assessed and the position agreed for the appliance.