For a lot of homeowners, the kitchen is the most important room in the house. It is where you prepare your family meals, where your family gathers at the end of the day, and where everyone loves to meet and talk at a party. Whether you’re looking to up your home’s resale value or simply trying to give your place an update, the kitchen is a great place to start.
While a remodeled kitchen can both increase your satisfaction with your home and help you sell it faster, it can also be an extremely expensive undertaking. With all the appliances, cabinets, and drawers, the costs add up quickly. So what does that total end up being?
Cost of a Kitchen Remodel
According to HomeAdvisor, the average kitchen remodel costs $21,637. While this is the average cost, a higher-end kitchen with customized cabinets and counters, upscale materials, and a layout change can easily cost $50,000 or more. Although the costs can vary widely based on materials, the size of the room, and the amount of customization, most homeowners spend between $12,756 and $32,993.
These costs can be broken down even further to see which aspects are the most expensive:
Because the cost of a kitchen remodel can vary so widely, it is important to carefully budget beforehand. Knowing the big-spender items early on can help you plan ahead to cut down on costs. For example, since cabinetry and hardware are such a big part of the budget, you can save money by choosing stock cabinets over custom. Read on for more money-saving tips!
Tips for Saving Money On Your Remodel
Keep Your Structure
Having to redo plumbing and electrical work to accommodate reorganizing your entire kitchen space can make your costs skyrocket. By keeping the original structure and the appliances and fixtures in the same locations, you can keep the costs down and save time.
Refinish Your Cabinetry
Installing new cabinets can take up 30 percent of your entire remodeling budget. You can cut that cost down to almost nothing by keeping your existing cabinets and refinishing them instead. With a fresh coat of paint or some new doors, you can get a new look without the new price. Updating your cabinet hardware can also give your old cabinets new life.
As mentioned earlier, if your cabinets need a total overhaul, you can still save money by going with stock cabinets over custom ones or a combination of custom and stock.
Shop Around For Your Counters
While a laminate countertop is a more affordable option, if resale value is important to you then granite or tile is more attractive to buyers. Granite is expensive, but you can get great deals by shopping around and visiting smaller, local suppliers as opposed to big-box stores. Whichever supplier you choose, make sure the bid you get includes installation cost. Some stores will offer cheap per-foot granite but jack up the cost of the installation.
Add a Backsplash
Adding a backsplash is not only an opportunity to add a little color and style to your kitchen, it also protects the walls from cooking stains. There are plenty of affordable peel-and-stick backsplash options that make updating your kitchen's appearance easy and budget friendly.
Save on Flooring
Wood floors look great in kitchens and can create a nice flow between the flooring of the other rooms in the house, but natural wood does not come cheap. A lower-end option that achieves the same feel is engineered wood floor, which is a substrate with natural wood veneer over the top. Ceramic tile is another option that looks beautiful without breaking the bank, plus it is easy to maintain.
Appliances
Upgrading your appliances is going to be a large part of your budget no matter how you swing it. While there are some tricks to save on cost, this is not a place where you want to cut back too much. Higher quality appliances will generally outlast lower end versions, plus choosing energy efficient appliances will save you money in the long term. Buying an appliance is a lot like buying a car. Visit a few shops and get to know the salespeople, and see if one of them will contact you next time they have a sale. Don’t settle for full price!
Don’t Bust Your Budget
The kitchen of your dreams doesn’t have to come at an astronomical price. With a little shopping around and a few compromises, you can make the most important room in your home your most loved room as well.