-lacquered backsplash panels coming out of Italy. -

Show us! What is mid-range price? We've got everything on here from $1,200 to $72,000 and more.

Do you mean like the ones in http://www.greendemolitions.com/silvermet.htm? Sorry, I don't know how to imbed a picture.

What other elements are in your ideas? Which items, specifically, did the KD say made your design "high-end"? The Miele speed-oven, obviously; but were there others? (Backsplash? Other elements?)

Did you tell the KD you were going to use IKEA cabinets (i.e., getting them on your own, not going through her)?

Was she an independent KD or did she also sell cabinets? (It's not necessarily bad if she does, but it might color her thoughts/opinions/attitude.)

You can definitely pick & choose what you want to spend a lot on and what you want to spend as little as possible on and still get a nice kitchen...even a "high-end design" kitchen. But keep in mind all the costs...not just cabinets and appliances, but labor and other materials as well. Are you taking down a load-bearing wall? Purchasing all high-end appliances?

Finally, as Pinch_Me asked, what do you consider a "mid-range" price/budget? What part of the country do you live in (that can have a big impact on prices and what's "mid-range" for the region)?

Round cabinets:

http://www.pediniusa.com/

http://www.snaidero-usa.com/italian-modern-kitchens/acropolis-modern-italian-kitchen__kc-4.html

http://www.smallbone.co.uk/UK-RoW/handmade-kitchens/macassar-kitchens.html

Is this what you mean?

By the way, I chose a miele speed oven for my family, (actually one for the main kitchen and a second for the wet bar upstairs.) I'm getting a lot of flack from family and builder about what a luxury item it is, because of the extra wiring. As if it was just a shiny new toy! We use a microwave and toaster oven daily, so I expect this to be one of the most heavily used appliances, way ahead of the full size oven, or even the stove. It may not be kitchen tradition, but times are changing, and this is how we eat today. I also find it safer than a toaster oven.

Don't let a label like high end scare you. Only the price numbers matter, and you get to personalize your own priorities.

Well, the space isn't big, perhaps 80 square feet. I was thinking $30K without the appliances. I found a picture of a kitchen I really liked, although on a much bigger scale. No, I don't know how to adapt it, it's only a picture on a mood board:

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

What I really like is that except for the island, the cabinets are actually straight--it is the granite and drywall that is curved.

The expense is going to be in the labor. Creating a round space with square cebinetry involves a lot of finesse at fitting it all together. Round or curved drywall is also not easy to fabricate.

The contractor that I occasionally use that would be capable of doing a round space bills out @ $85 an hour per person onsite. $85 x 2 = $170 x 8 hours = $1360 per day for labor for two workers ($680 for one) + materials and expenses.

I use less expensive contractors as well, but I am not sure they would be able to execute a round kitchen

forget a round kitchen if you have a budget!

I agree about curves being bad for the budget Not sure how representative this is, but (talking LIST price here, to give you an idea):

A 36" corner cabinet with a single fixed shelf and a full-height door lists at between $783-$1529, depending on wood species and door style. (According to a StarMark price list that I have.) The same cabinet with a curved in door goes from $2747-$3616.

A 24" angle base cabinet lists from $888-1750; A curved out 24" corner cabinet lists from $4539-$5971.

A 12" angled end base lists from $450-879; the same sized curved out base end cab goes $5000-$6599.

Yowsa.

(Disclaimers: YMMV; these prices would be discounted a ton but the percentage differences from angles to curves could be similar; I do not sell or make cabinets for a living; I do not even know if these examples make sense for your kitchen. There's nothing to see here; move along.)

You can do a medium budget square/rectangle based modern kitchen quite well. Think Ikea shiny white cabinets, stainless appliances, shocking orange or lime green Silestone counters, etc. However, using round design cabinet or structural elements takes you well out of a medium budget into high, and stratosphere.

However, there are some tricks that you can use to incorporate some circular elements into a design without using rounded cabinets or rooms. For your counters, you can use a white Corian and inset large circles of another color into it on an island or breakfast bar area. You can design a circular bar area that is supported by a large column in the middle. You can do little or no uppers and do a mosaic in that upper wall space using circular designs, or on a smalle scale using pennyrounds. Put in a couple of porhole windows. Use VCT or Marmoleum on the floor with inset round designs. Do a glass insert on a double cabinet that's 1/2 of a circle, matching the circle on the other door to create a sphere. Think round blobs of color light fixtures. Simple almost 50's diner style bar stools. Round rugs. GE Profile appliances have "granny glasses" circular elements to them. Etc.

Thanks for your replies. I do want to reiterate that this image does not feature round cabinets. The cabinets are regular, but installed on an angle. The countertops and walls are curved. I understand that curved drywall and granite is pricier, but I was focused on the cabinets. These images show regular cabinets installed in a unique way. That's what I mean by "high-end design." The hard part is the design and planning part, not necessarily the cabinets.

I think only one reply mentioned curved cabinets:

Each cabinet would either need to be ordered with extended styles on each side or with a filler for each side. Each of these fillers will need to be mitered to a number of degrees determined by how many sides the polyhedron that forms the circumference of the circle is. If all the cabinets are identical in width, this angle will be the same. If each cabinet is a different width, which is most likely on the base for sure. each angle will have to be determined by how much length that particular side of the polyhedron takes up of the circumference of the circle. This can be figured out mathematically on paper but onsite it will involve some finessing and perhaps even some jigs or sacrificial pieces to get it done right. If the cabinets are prefinished you would have to order a certain amount of overage to account for cutting and error.

The design might actually be the easy part--thats on paper. The tough part would be the execution, believe me. If you are doing the install yourself, and can spend a lot of time with the cabinet installation then the idea is great. If you are paying someone else to do it, it will not be a budget friendly project. IF you can find someone willing to/ skilled enough to take it on.

I love it when palimpsest talks geometry.

The reason the kitchen in your picture "works" as a design is the architecture. Without the drama of the architecture, you're left with no reason to even have a circular design. Putting a "round room" kitchen in a square space--even a loft style space---wouldn't have the same effect and would most likely look ludicrous with the rest of the square/rectangular home unless you do a whole home remodel and concentrate on adding architectural circular elements.

You should take a look at the ikeafans.com site. Although you may not necessarily be interested in Ikea cabinets, you will find that a LOT of folks on that site are all about high-end design with a reasonable budget. There's a lot of creative thinking there (though I find the site maddeningly clunky to use), and a great can-do attitude.

Take a look at this, picturing it in YOUR colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: round inspiration?

"The hard part is the design and planning part, not necessarily the cabinets."

Not exactly true!

Just like palimsest says, labor to install those square cabinets in a curved design is going to be about double too. In fact it is MORE difficult for the installer especially if he has to calculate and construct a filler between cabinets to maintain the design / radiuses. The geometry on paper doesn't work in the field either. It's close but, but cabinets, walls, the install always get a bit out of square, and plumb and those fractions of an inch translate into big offsets on those fillers which need to be made oversize and then tweaked into fitting. I've seen some take two hours by a seasoned installer.

Everyone has to be versed in radius work, counter top guys, trim guys, framers, drywallers, you'll need custom fabricated toekick and base / crown, ect...

The design IS the easy part.

I can't help thinking about how much waste there would be if you went with curved stone countertops (either that, or an unacceptable number of seams), and that would definitely be pricey. I like LWO's idea of using solid surfacing, and maybe if you're really sold on the radius idea, that would be a less costly way to achieve it. At least with Corian and the like (at least the typical "speckly" stuff), you could have a lot of seams without them being noticeable.

Another thought: how handy are you? Could you frame and drywall the kitchen yourself? If so, that could help offset the cab installers' costs. I'm solidly in the where-there's-a-will-there's-a-way camp, so I will be rooting for you to get your round kitchen within your budget! :o)

We're remodeling our kitchen and one of the new walls is going to be curved. The current kitchen is a galley. One end of one wall will be pushed about 2 feet back and a bit sideways. The other end needs to stay where it which which means the new connecting half wall will be somewhat diagonal. We didn't like the angle of that half wall so the architect designed it to be an S curve. It works well on paper and we've laid it out in the space with masking tape. Now that we're in the stage of getting bids, we do see that the drywall and counter top are going to be higher than they would have been had we had a straight angled wall. Our cabinets on the curved wall are going to have to be set in a sort of fan pattern with fillers placed in the wide part of the fan. The curved half wall will have a curved soffit above it. That alone will cost $1000. The cabinet installation is costing about $2000. A laminate countertop was priced at $2000 and a base granite at $4000. All together we're estimating to spend about $32000 on drywall, cabinets and countertop (if we go with base granite). Does that give you an sense of how much your design might cost you? I'm in the midwest if that's any help.