This is one of the best I found around.
See if this helps you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Budgeting for Kitchen

I think that's a really good article on budgeting.

A few things though - you also will need to consider the costs for where you live and the particular work that you need done which will affect your budget proportions.

Where I live, labor costs are higher, especially electrical work, so a larger share of my budget had to go to that.

Your best bet is to get several detailed estimates. Give them your bottom line and whether that includes appliances. The biggest part of my budget was the cabinets.

Those percentages are rough guides, depending on where your needs and priorities are.

You mention replacing a ceiling. I've got leaky-drafty windows. We both may end up spending less than the average 48% on cabinets to make room for these things in our budgets. I'm looking at spending maybe 30% of my budget on cabinets, for example. I'm splurging on some appliances (counter depth fridge) and squeaking by on others (keeping old dishwasher til it dies, re-using garbage disposal which is barely a year old anyway).

Take stock of what you have and what your needs are, and budget according to that, not some magic formula. Gotta have granite counter tops? What can be built with a cheaper material instead? The whole kitchen does not have to be all at the same grade of material. I just saw a kitchen on this forum where they went with IKEA cabinets and then put in high-end Dacor for appliances.

Also consider your taste for DIY. I'm considering hiring a KD, which would be a splurge, but may save me some time and shopping aggravation, and skimping on paint and window treatments. DH can paint; I can sew curtains and hang them on IKEA rods. I am NOT going to be the GC, though. Too much stress.

--Janet

We already know we're going to have to have the house rewired. That's $5,000. I really want to paint the pine ceiling white and keep it, but it has a large hole that was cut in it under the current light fixture. So that will either have to be fixed (which means we have to find wood that is milled the same way this was) or replaced. I hope we can repair and paint, but I'm preparing for the worst.

I know they say not to over-invest in your home but we live in a rural area so my house value is relatively low. If my house was situated 15 miles north it would be nearly double the current value. Since we plan to stay in this house forever, I feel it would be ok for us to spend more than is generally recommended.

How do you find a kitchen designer?

How do you find a kitchen designer?

I dunno. I haven't found one that I've hired yet. I'm interviewing one Monday. This person was on a list that I got at the Master Builder's Association booth at a home show.

We have also talked to acquaintances who have redone kitchens. The "word on the street" was very mixed on the KDs they used. One co-worker said, "best money I ever spent" (but he lost her contact info). Another said, "I gave her 1000 bucks and I don't think she did anything to earn it." (so not interviewing that one) Hence, I'm starting with a random name on a list. I do plan to check references.

Before I started looking for "paid help", though, I posted floor plans on this forum, and I got a free cabinet quote from a lumberyard to give me a rough idea of what semi-custom cabinets would cost for my space. I also researched appliances on-line and peeked at my top choices at an appliance store. Website searches on things like "floor refinishing" and "replacement windows" gave me some vague ballpark estimates to plug into a preliminary budget.

But, now that I have a layout that I like, and a feel for a couple big chunks of my budget, I need some help with dealing with the tons of little details and options. I want to have my materials options pretty well decided before I start interviewing contractors, because if each contractor fills in their own materials, then the bids won't be apples-to-apples comparisons.

My advice would be to figure out as much as you can on your own or with stores that offer free advice before you consider paying someone else by the hour for help. As you do your research, keep asking around and maybe you'll come across some names. At the very least, if there is a builder's association for your area, you might be able to find a list like I did.

Good luck.

Thanks. I'm thinking and looking and thinking some more, I just find the whole process a little overwhelming. I'm sure you can relate.

Budget your construction needs FIRST! Any electrical, plumbing, windows, taking down walls, etc. should be accounted for first. As expensive as all of that can be, there may not be much left over for "kitchen products". But, that's the "guts" of the home, and you can't skimp on that.

Definitely budget for the "guts" ... then in the order of how hard or expensive it will be to replace later

1 - infrastructure (rewiring, plumbing moves, wall moves, etc.)
2 - floors and cabinets
3 - countertops
4 - appliances
5 - fancy faucets, cabinet hardware, backsplash tile made by leprechauns, etc.

"... backsplash tile made by leprechauns . . ."

*snort*

I think it also helps to have wish lists. You might not be able to move the sink wall AND get the fancy cabinets AND get the leprechaun tile AND get the Wolf range. If there is something that is really important to you, it's OK if it seems like it is "over" its allotted percentage for a general plan.

In our kitchen the pricy item was the countertop. The quartz was fully 31% of the entire budget, which included all new appliances. Appliances were 25% (all on sale/closeout/floor model) and cabinets were less than 20% because they were IKEA.

I second and third about budgeting for infrastructure first.
Ceiling: if you have a good mill around, they may be able to special mill to match your current ceiling. This may be cheaper than replcing your entire ceiling. Go ask. If the ceiling is getting painted, then you don't have to match the stain, so I think it will be doable.

Do you need to upgrade plumbing for other part of the house? If plumbing is marginal (old galvanized pipe), you should upgrade as much that is exposed as possible now. Even if you have to expose a bit more walls, this will save you money for the future....

Before you work on a budget, get a feel for what things cost first.
Go to the appliance store and see what $1000, $5000, versus $10,000 appliances will get you. Even though you don't have the budget for the entire high end package, you will figure out where you may want to splurge. Unless you have information, you can't make good decisions.
Do the same for cabinets. You will get a good feel for what different cabinet grades are for each price point.

My rental house, my budget is about 10k to 15k. I have decided to do Ikea kitchen because for the price, it was really the best value. Their limitation is a lack of wide range of "door" styles. For a rental, not much of an issue.

All good advice. As I said, we know we HAVE to rewire. We also hope to repair, but may have to replace, the ceiling. If the structure allows we also would like to open up, not remove- it's load bearing, the wall between the kitchen and dining room and close the current opening to improve the flow of the kitchen and maximize the space. I think opening the wall will be around $4,000. I guess I need to go let a cabinet rep give me a quote on cabinets so I can have a rough idea what that will cost.

Thanks for the input. As I said, I've got time to think about this. I just want to make sure I have the best kitchen I can for the space and monies we have. (Just like everyone else

I didn't have time to read all the posts before mine...so if I'm repeating advice I apologize..

Just wanted to tell you of my experience. We got 2 bids. There was a $15,000 difference between those bids. Fortunately I really prefered the ideas and the personality of the lower bidder. I feel very comfortable with him and he is so patient with all of my questions.

So I guess my advice would be to get at least 2 or more bids! Best of Luck to you!

One more thing...
Everyone has said this but you MUST put money aside for contingencies. The more infrastructure work you do, the more you need to set aside for contingencies. This cannot go into what you cannot absolutely afford. So if your absolute max is 30k, then your bids and everything else must come below 25k or less... etc

Secure financing for the overage before the project starts. You don't want to end up finishing the project by putting it on high interest CC.....

We have had projects where the cost overages has been huge!

Do you need to upgrade plumbing for other part of the house? If plumbing is marginal (old galvanized pipe), you should upgrade as much that is exposed as possible now. Even if you have to expose a bit more walls, this will save you money for the future....

Actually we just redid the plumbing this fall when we gutted our teeny tiny walk through bathroom and turned what was our den into a large bathroom. I'm so happy I don't have to stand on the side of the tub to brush my daughter's hair anymore. The bathroom was too narrow for both of us to stand in front of the mirror together. Now I wish I had a picture of that. I said all that to say most of the plumbing has been redone, thank goodness.