I think my situation is unusual as my current cabinets are high-quality and in excellent condition. Just a poor layout with ugly style door-fronts. So I'm re-using them in other locations and buying new, unfinished door fronts and just have to buy four cabinets. And once I finalize the sizes I need, I will visit Habitat for Humanity Re-Stores to search for the cabinet boxes o I'll only need to buy the new, nice door/drawer fronts for them and, possibly, new drawer boxes with better glides, keeping those costs down. I want painted cabinets as my house has tons of wood (MCM) so this is also keeping costs down. So my appliances, including sinks/faucets, will be more than double my cabinets. I realize my situation isn't the norm.

It can be hard to balance costs against our desires. If your budget is climbing out of your comfort range, you could always go with a lesser quality cabinet or the cabinets you want with less built-in storage features. Some of those can be added later with after-market items which generally cost less anyway. Or you could get the cabinets you really want and cut expenses elsewhere. Keep your old appliances and upgrade them later after your wallet has gained some breathing room. Go with an inexpensive laminate counter. If you yearn for stone or other more expensive counter material, you can also do it later.

Anyway, there is a way to have all you want. it just may mean you'll have to wait awhile for all of it. I suggest you get yourself a good, functional layout and great storage first. Then upgrade the pretties as you can afford them. A pretty but non-functional kitchen isn't worth a cent.

The most important thing about your budget is to buy what you can safely afford. Remaining realistic is where you want to stay. Things will still cost more than expected if you are remodeling. Allow for that and keep your eye on project creep. One doesn't need the best of everything for a beautiful and durable kitchen.

There are lots of tips around here for keeping cabinet costs down.

More details on your budget, scope of project, cabinet lines, layout, inserts, etc. would help people figure out alternatives that could reduce cost.

This question gets asked occasionally and the bottom line may be 35%-50%. Of course there are all sorts of if's and's and buts including value of house, DIY, forever home, that sort of thing, but that isn't a bad ballpark. It may be worth reading some of these threads:

Where should the budget go for high end remodel? (2013)

Cabinet Estimate (2010)

Allocating the money (2013)

My cabinets cost just about one-third of the entire kitchen remodeling cost. Mine cabinets are Bellmont 1900 series. My appliances were another third (built-inThermador fridge, Sharp drawer microwave, Fagor oven, Bosch induction cooktop, Bosch 800 series dishwasher). The rest was everthing else (installation, cabinet handles, electrical and plumbing, under-cabinet lighting, etc.)

Mine were about one-third of the kitchen's cost.

Well hmm...a third of the cost is definitely less than where I'm coming in at. I do have some additional labor costs due to removing a wall and running additional plumbing for a prep sink. I'm set to see the revised line item budget from the GC on Thursday so this will be interesting.

I'm currently looking to install Shiloh framless cabinets but am considering a few other options (all framed) to see if it's worth the budget sacrifice to me. I could step back down to Timberlake cabinets but after looking at all of the options with Shiloh it feels like a big step down and I'm not sure the price difference justifies it. Ugh...

as someone who thought she would be just fine with a lower level of semi custom cabinets, i will say buy the shiloh.
i was working with a small budget and thought doing medallion silverline would be way better than the builder grade aristokraft i had. they are nicer to look at but not very sturdy (already have dings/chips after 9/10 months)
i deeply regret not spending more for a higher end cabinet. don't skimp on the cabinets is my hindsight advice.
timberlake is not a popular choice here on gw and my guess is that it is for a reason.

Are the wall and plumbing included in what you are considering cabinet costs?

We have a small and DIY budget. Cabinet work (a few new cabinets and drawers, and new fronts) is a little less than 1/2. Countertop is just under 1/3. Hardware, lighting, range hood, sink, and backsplash is the rest. But we haven't paid for any labor (except counter.install) and we aren't replacing appliances.

Are you paying for a lot of extras (accessories, storage gadgets) etc? My cabinets were about 35% of my total budget but I had to work at it to keep the cost down.

I used Dura Supreme (mostly their standard frameless line). I didn't order any cabinet extras except for a super susan. I ordered frameless for all drawers but used framed cabinets (which cost less) for the cabinet over the fridge and the pantry cabinets (8ft tall, 18" deep). I was able to avoid the surcharge for 18" deep pantry cabinets but using cabinets they make for bathrooms (they call them a vanity cabinet). And I did order one wall cupboard in their custom line since they didn't have what I needed in their standard line. I didn't order any fancy end panels etc...tried to keep things simple.

Accessories and such will add greatly to the cost of the cabinets. Look at all these items to see what can be eliminated or where you can purchase elsewhere for less. Instead of buying the open shelving and beadboard accents from the cabinet co. which were outrageous we bought our own and painted it black.

Our cabinets were about 35%. Not counting the actual construction cost of the addition.

Yeah I've already slashed the end panels, the wood hood, etc. The only organization I'm pricing out is a double trash a lazy susan, and 1 set of rollouts on a 24 inch deep pantry. I think it's just quite a bit of cabinets due to the expansion. I'll get the line item detail on the labor on Thursday but it was a little higher than I was expecting but don't seem crazy out of line. Right now it seems like if I push I can get the cabinets down to around 45% of the total budget including all of the labor for the wall and soffit tear out.

And ardcp thanks for your thoughts; that's exactly my fear and why my first thought was to just delay the project a few months versus downgrading the cabinets.

My figure of 35% included only the cabinets....the installation was done by my gc as part of the other 65% of my remodel cost.

This post was edited by itsallaboutthefood on Mon, Jan 19, 15 at 22:19

Mine too.

About 35%. Our upper cabinets were our one true splurge in the kitchen. We got IKEA base cabinets and installed them ourselves for cheap. Then we had custom uppers and a matching pantry cabinet made and are getting custom leaded glass inserts for some of the upper doors for another $1000.

If you are confused about your budget, then visit IngwallKöket. They will suggest you what should you do.

Ours were also about 30%. We kept cost down by getting most inserts after market. We also got no end panels and bought our bead board at Home Depot instead of through the cabinet shop. Splurged on all drawers on the lowers and mostly all glass doors on the uppers as well as glass shelves for the uppers. In addition we needed a 3" pullout at the last minute due to a measuring mixup. I bought just the front panel from the cabinet shop and got the actual pullout (rev-a-shelf) from Amazon. Saved a few hundred dollars that way.

It is amazing how much you can save by doing some DIY and getting creative. Even if you have a GC and KD you can work with them to save money by doing some DIY, but one think I have learned thru this remodel is to spend where it is important to you and try to save on the other stuff.

One of the casualties of the age of the internet is people's cabinet budgets. The constand Pinterest and Houzz pics of super duper fabulous 150K kitchens has given people a really big want list for their own kitchens without the budget to match.

So, the best way to manage your kitchen renovation budget is to unplug from all of that for a couple of weeks and don't even think about "inspiration" pics. Those pics are lying to you. Then, start to think about what you might actually need vs. want. If you separate yourself from influence long enough, you start to figure out the differences between those.

Focus on the needs.

I just did someone's cabinets for 3K. They will provide for their needs just fine. They would provide for most everyone's needs. Everything else IS an upgrade, whether you view it that way or not. Pick your upgrades selectively. Start at the base, with no frills. Then go up to your budget with your upgrades. Then stop.

Ok well now I have lots of info to take to my meeting with my KD this afternoon! I'm sure one thing driving the cost up is the number of cabinets I'm looking at.

for me 3k was incredibly unrealistic! ikea would have been closer to 5k and that is without any inserts!
the cost is going to be geographically driven. i had 19 cabinets. i only had 1 insert which was a $200 2 tier cutlery tray (very good use of space) no pantry, no boxed in frig, no wall ovens. i do have a super susan and an ez reach corner but i consider them function vs form as i have a smaller kitchen. i also hated my pullouts and did all drawers for bases except one. i am north of albany ny and medallion siverline came in at 8k (full overlay maple door with veneer and regular stain) again only ikea, chinese imported or american woodmark came in less and not a lot less. believe me i bargain hunted for a long time.
and in hindsight, i wish i had spent more, not less! all new cabinets look pretty but the real question is how will they hold up to a family that actually, gasp, cooks in the kitchen?! mine are not impressing me at all and my standards were pretty low. go with the highest quality you can afford...i wish i did!

My cabinets (including installation) were about 60% of the total, but the project was mostly about the cabinets. Electrical/lighting was minimal (undercabinet lights, and move the stove outlet); minimal plumbing (sink in same location); no walls moved; small amount of flooring.

DH and I did our own demolition, and I painted the room before the cabs went in. We weren't planning to replace the fridge and range, but ended up doing so, but went low-end with both.

Our total project cost (including appliances) was about $30K; custom cabinets (local builder) were $19K. Cambria counters were the next biggest expense, but I love them - well worth it.

After a year and a half, I can only come up with two or three small things that I would do differently.