Kitchen Remodeling - looking for examples and prices

Expect to pay 15-20K if you are picking mid grade everything. The price jumps up a lot if you use full wood cabinets or even more if you have built on site cabinets. We are in the same boat as you. You have to factor in the cost of the appliances, plumbing, electrical, tile work, backsplash etc.

In our current house we kept the original cabinets and had them restained/sealed and added granite on top. It was fine for our first house but for our next kitchen I want it to be nicer.

 

^^^ My aunt only spent 800 dollars for her granite to be installed, the individual used left over granite from the new homes he was working on. She did not choose the color but it was a hell of a deal for just $800.

 

coming just from a layperson, though one who has owned too much single family residential real estate, and done some remodeling...

I'd agree, $5k for granite sounds expensive. As with most things, you look at granite on a per foot basis, and installed, can range anywhere from $15 per foot (super cheap, crappy) to $100+. Still, even at $100 per foot, that would imply 50 square feet of granite. Which might have been the case, but considering in a kitchen, a counter top usually ins't more than 3 feet deep, that would mean over 15 feet length wise of granite... again, all very possible, but I wouldn't expect to pay over that.

When we redid our kitchen in our last house - sorry, no pictures, we took a very similar approach to you. No major structural changes, and no new cabinets, but we did get new cabinet doors, did have the cabinet structure sanded, and painted everything white - I know people like wood stain these days, but I'm actually a pretty big fan of the painted wood white. You don't have to use as high quality a wood, you don't have to sand, etc. as perfectly. And it creates a nice, bright kitchen. And I think painting is easier then staining - we hired it out, but because it was a paint job, the painter was able to tape everything else up and do the spray method, which was quick and easy to get a few coats up. I do think you need some style to the cabinet doors though - just a flat piece of wood ala some of the 70's/80's doors in galley kitchens = boring, ugly.

we went with something like the shaker design seen here
http://www.kitchendoordepot.com/cabinetdoors.php/profile/door
not that exactly, but just wanted to quickly google search to show you something.

on countertop, we went granite. i can't remember what the all-in cost per foot was, but I don't think it was more than $50, including installation. Like others have mentioned, we effectively used "scrap" pieces. These aren't bad pieces, or ugly pieces (though they can be), but "extras" or pieces that have sat for a while, etc. This requires more work on your behalf, ESPECIALLY if you want something other than the standard boring granites, but can be done. There is a master tile off of 59 - www.mastertile.net - that has a decently large warehouse/showroom. I'd go and walk it and just get a feel for prices... maybe target $50 bucks all-in just for a rough budget.

you can do the same with flooring if you are going to replace that - you can find some quality tile / wood options, even at a place like Lowe's, and get a solid price quote so you know what number to use.

Don't forget the little things - cabinet door knobs, faucets, light switch covers, backsplash (potentially a big thing), etc. these can add up.

assuming you aren't having any major electrical, plumbing or structural work done, I think you can hit your $15k budget - depending on size of the kitchen, but doesn't sound huge. This won't get you a high high end kitchen, but should get you a decent modernized one.

That said, just a word of advise if it is your first home purchase - make sure you do your homework on the plumbing, electrical and structural. yes, you will have an inspector, but consider inspector's have very very limited liability. not that they aren't trustworthy, but if they say the plumbing looks great, you buy the house and come to find out over the next 12 months the whole house needs to be re-plumbed as you have old rusty pipes, you can't sue the inspector (you could, but wouldn't win). i haven't had something this bad happen to me, but have definitely learned to be wary of inspection reports. you have to be aggressive, and picky when it comes to this. you have to make sure the inspector is laying everything out for you as clearly and precisely as possible. if there's crap in the attic blocking access to area x, it needs to be moved - there could be something in area x that needs $5k worth of work. these are all worst case scenario type things, but you want to know upfront what the issues with the property are - that is your only time to renegotiate with the seller or walk away if necessary. and keep in mind there aren't very many Mike Holmes of the world (HGTV's inspector expert). Most aren't nearly that good and if there is any concern about any specific area/function of the house, you should spend the extra money to get a specialist to that particular function (i.e. - foundation expert, or electrician) to come out and given you their expert view.

i mention this because if all your kitchen really needs is some cosmetic work, you should be good. but if the cosmetic work reveals any kind of plumbing or electrical need, then the costs can really start to go up.

hope it is helpful advice!

 

Depending on who you get to install your granite countertops... expect to spend, at minimum, around $3K (materials and labor), depending on the size of your kitchen. A friend of ours recommended the installers and they did a pretty good job. There were some nicks here and there on the wall from the installation but we were able to patch those up easily.