If you can tell us your cabinet budget, and how many cabinets you need (upper, lower, oven, microwave, etc.), people here might be able to suggest which lines will be worth looking into.

Give the KD the budget and tell them to come back with what choices allow you to meet it. It's the job.

I agree with jakuvall, give the designer the budget and a list of must haves and go from there....why waste your time and the designers time

Isn't giving the KD the budget the same as walking on a car lot and telling a salesman "I've got $25,000 to spend, what can you sell me?" You know where that story is headed.

Why is it not the other way around? I mean, why is the pricing so secretive?

The other issue is that there's a lot of ways to come up to a price. They could give you all the bells & whistles on a low-brand cabinet, or no-frills on a well-made cabinet.

We've got about $30k to spend on cabinets & counters. Need to do a kitchen and a couple bathrooms. Would like to have some left over for pantry & dining built-ins. Simple shaker style, painted. Inset would be preferred, but full overlay or faux inlay could do. I'm guessing here on the dimensions, but I think we need about 30-32' of lowers and 15' of uppers. Is there some avg cost/ft guideline to picking brands??

Ikea is having a 20% sale right now. I know many people on this forum and many contractor do not like Ikea kitchens, but they are excellent choice for a medium budget renovation.

With shaker style, you will have wooden doors, high end Blum hardware made in Germany, etc.

You can try Ikea 3D planner which will calculate the cost for you immediately. Then subtract 20%.

Tt's not clear whether the KD you met with works for your developer/contractor and you are stuck with the products s/he sells, or whether you can go anywhere and get anything. Most KDs work for a cabinet shop and sell a variety of brands at various price points. Its up to you whether you get a cheaper brand with more bells & whistles or a more expensive brand in a simpler style.

Can you shop around a bit? Tell the designers your approx budget and let them know you're getting quotes to find the best design, price, etc. If they want your business, they will have to try to keep their price down.

FWIW, I hope you're considering getting a quote from a custom cabinet maker. They can often come in under the price you'd get from a store, and at better quality.

Realistically, you wouldnâÂÂt really go to a car lot and say âÂÂI have 25K to spend, whattaya got?â YouâÂÂd choose a Lamborghini lot or a Volvo lot or a Pontiac used-car lot. To a certain extent, youâÂÂd have defined your budget before you left the house. A kitchen designer, be s/he the rep in Home Depot or a KD who represents different cabinet companies, needs similar guidance. S/he has to have enough confidence in you to trust that your budget is a real number, not a test of his/her integrity, and you need to trust that s/he has the creativity and money sense to give you the best available for your money. It should be a collaborative process; s/he's not trying to rip you off, just maximize the value for your dollars.

I don't see cabinet pricing as being secretive so much as difficult to quantify. What wood species? "Shaker style" - flat panel, raised panel, beadboard? "Painted" - standard color or custom, any glazing? Inset or full overlay will change the price too. Linear feet is just not a good way to estimate, since that includes everything from standard-size base cabinets with doors, to corner cabinets, to drawer cabinets, to specialty items like an apron-front sink cabinet or a cabinet for a wall oven. Uppers come in different heights and depths.

Did you review your quote with the KD? Ours was very open in telling us: (1) the cherry weâÂÂd selected initially was approximately a 15% upcharge over other wood species offered by the manufacturer, (2) we selected one of the manufacturerâÂÂs two most budget-friendly door styles, and (3) our wish-list was heavy on specialty cabinets which boosted the overall price.

You might want to narrow down your budget by taking out the counter cost up front. YouâÂÂre thinking $30K total for cabs and counters; there are good online estimators for countertop materials, and you might want to get a good grasp on that first ($30/sq foot for laminate or $100/sq foot for marble?) so you know if your real cabinet budget is $20K or $28K.

Good luck!

Usually I would say to be vague about your budget but because this is an allowance I would do this..... Tell each KD your allowance, style, must haves, etc. and ask for the most bang for your buck and see what they come up with. With our cabinets we found a lot of savings not getting a glaze and getting cherry instead of maple. Never assume prices. Also, trim work and "extras" really can add up.

If this is a new build, then builders are notorious for completely lowballing all allowances. I can't tell you the last time that I came in on budget when working with a builder's customers and a real wish list. They do that so that the house won't appear as expensive up front as it really will end being in the end. No one would go with a builder who told them that the house really cost 400K if they get a builder that tells them that it's 300K. But then, there's that pesky matter of the 125K worth of "upgrades". Most of my area builders have a 5-10K allowance for cabinets. The average price of the kitchen that their customers actually put in is 15-40K.

I can do a "White Shaker" kitchen that's $3000 and one that's $60,000. Of course, that 3K kitchen is small, and in an entry level line with 30" tall cabinets, no molding, and no interior accessories, and the 60K one has stacked cabinets with glass, stacked crown, and tons of custom details. But, both are white shaker.

Unless you give me some clues as to which level might be appropriate for you, I'm not even gonna start doing anything. There's simply no point in wasting your or my time.

And, there's no point in doing any work if the budget isn't realistic from the beginning either. You have to match your dollars to your wish list. Or, reduce your wish list.

Here's one of the Merola tiles I'm more seriously considering. It says it's a crackle, but it looks pretty subtle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Merola Subway Mix

Whoops. I posted that in the wrong place - sorry!

I would start at a couple big shops, like Ikea and Home Depot, and get a couple full quotes. You'll get two baseline prices, and from there you can see if you would like to and have budget to go up.

When I priced Home Depot Innermost cabinets last year, the sales person walked through all the requirements, prepared a model and came back with a fully itemized list.

I would not start by asking a KD to tell me what I can get for a specific price.

Isn't giving the KD the budget the same as walking on a car lot and telling a salesman "I've got $25,000 to spend, what can you sell me?" You know where that story is headed.
Why is it not the other way around? I mean, why is the pricing so secretive?

Well not giving them the price didn't turn out so well. It's not secretive, it's just not that easy. This comes up on here all the time. I wish I didn't have to spend 4-8 hours pricing out a job in two lines and nudging the details to see if I can bet it to fit the budget- life would be easier.
In 15 years I can count the number of times someone has had more money to spend than what they want costs-exactly once someone said to me- "that's all? what else can I add"

Allowances are even worse as noted- one in a hundred is adequate if a KD was not involved to begin with.
Most just dump in a number on a "builder cabinet" with nothing in it to keep the total price down. Client gets to deal with it after they have the job. I have a few builder that I price things out for ahead of time- but those tend to be better builders.

I use a simple approach- if I can get you what you want for what you want to spend (and you like me) you'll buy from me. That means I get paid. If not I don't get paid. Doesn't matter how good I am, how much time I spend, how much you like me...if it doesn't work for you then you will go somewhere else. No matter how you approach it you are in charge of the sale.

I carry 4 brands- from middle of the road to top of the line. I can take the middle of the road cabinet and detail it so it looks like the top end. Details cost extra, not just the sexy bells and whistles everyone gets caught up in, the real details. How things are put together for install, how they fit-flush ends, extended stiles, extended top rails, how is the molding stacked, where do the counters land on talls....can be as little as 8% or as much as 18.
Add to that that even though brand x costs 10% less than brand y for Mr. Peabody's kitchen brand y came out to 3% less.

Your in charge until you sign- trust or not- same results.
Years ago someone taught me something about trust that I use to this day.
-Everyone will at some point fail the trust you give them. Question is at what point and how much do you get hurt.
-Trust is given, it is NEVER won.
-you get to decide when and how much to trust- or not
-if you choose to trust you have the benefit of that until the point at which the trustee fails (remember they will fail at some point)
-if you choose not to trust you don't have the benefit, they will still fail, just won't hurt as much.
In the case of shopping for cabinets- assuming your shopping a few places, you have nothing to lose and the KDs do most of the work unless you insist on shopping for different plans at the same time (even then)

sjhockeyfan, gladys1924 We're not tied to this particular shop. We're told it's who the builder uses most often though. It's a custom build, not a spec house, so I suspect we have some decent level of control in what gets used. But I suspect things would go smoother using the products and business with which he has an established relationship. The difficulty with shopping around is that we're building an hour away from where we currently are, so shopping around would require a lot of leg work. I'll probably have to scan dozens of cabinet sites, find one that looks like what we like, make guesses at the cost of that brand, then find a shop up in that area that deal 'em. It'd be easier if there were some cost/quality info openly available.

zeebee I agree with what you say about so many various options that affect pricing. It's a complex combinatorial problem. I just wish they had online "build & price" apps, like most car companies. I'd prefer to start by doing my own layout, seeing the price immediately, then bringing it to a KD to tweak/refine/finalize.

We didn't do a line-item review of the quote, but I asked about changes to bring the cost down without a full redesign or brand change. The KD said that based on what we initially said we liked, they picked the top custom line that they sell. We just weren't informed it was the top cost brand. Now we know what to ask. Live and learn.

debrak We (wrongly) assumed that the KD had a conversation with our builder about the price target. Now that it's been established, they're going back and redesigning with a lower brand.

livewire It is indeed a new build. In this case though all the builders we interviewed and got quotes from came in about the same. The general consensus was that high 20s should be sufficient for cabs & counters, so that's what we went with.

Have you priced local custom cabinet makers? I got 3 quotes from reputable custom cabinet makers and one quote from Home Depot. Guess which one was the most expensive?

I ended up going with a local one man shop, got to stop by whenever I wanted and watch him building them from scratch, full overlay shaker built out of ash, and they cost just a little over 5000. I have a 12x12 U shaped kitchen.

I'm always amazed at how much cabinets cost, especially when they are only semi custom.

The ikea calculator sounds like a good starting point to get a feel for costs. People here think they are good solid cabinets. Google some threads. There are some very nice kitchens being accomplished with them. I don't know how long they have been making them.

I would not want to give someone a dollar amount to spend, cause they will and will probably try to upsell from that point too. Nor do you know how much you need to spend at this point for decent enough quality.

Look for lines you like the design and finish of and would consider using, then find out where they fall on the pricing tier. If they are KCMA certified they pass quality tests for performance. Also ask what their budget and mid priced lines are so you have a place to start and aren't wasting time on ones you can't afford.

Here is a link that might be useful: kcma

First, look at resoures to see if your budget is appropriate for your area and level of construction. The traditional guideline for a kitchen redo is 10-20% of the home's value, with half of that number going to cabinets. Those % for cabinets will likely carry through for new construction as well if you are to be in line with the neighborhood. Then, double check national reporting data for actual numbers for projects done in your area. Remodeling Magazine does an annual report of data from various projects in locations all across the country that you can check. Again, the cabinets (and their install) should end up being around 50% of the project total.

Not telling a KD your approximate budget is like going on a car lot and askng for a red car. You might get shown a manual transmission Civic, or a loaded Impala, or that niftygullwing Mercedes. If you're in the market for that mid-life crisis mobile, you'd leave if you were shown the Honda. And you'd do the same if you were looking for your 16 year old's first car and were shown the Mercedes.

A successful design is a product of a collaborative effort. Just like sex. And, just like good sex, communication of each parties needs is what makes it work. No one is a mind reader. If you don't commuicate your needs----including your budget---then you probably won't get those needs fulilled. And you'll be frustrated. And the KD will be frustrated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cost vs Value 2014

i can tell you in my town a "custom" house going for $730k (median home price is around $300k) has merrilatt classic cabs, their mid grade line with stapled drawers and no soft close, etc so the cab allowance is probably not adequate for your idea of a kitchen. that said, talk to your kd about what you want to achieve because you may not realize that some of the things you want are pricey. for example i was on a small budget as well and found out that boxing in the refrig with a deep cab was about $2k, adding in crown molding $1k, light rails $650?, beading or molding on cab doors added quite a lot, changing to veneer doors vs solid wood was a $1500 difference, plus super susans, drawers, special toe kicks are extras and we all could list more that i haven't mentioned. your kd will know what extras will jump your cost. i made peace with my budget and still got the look i was going for and improved functionality for slightly over my beginning number. my budget was unrealistic unless i was going ikea! also counter material may end up being more than you plan for. i budgeted $3k for counter and i could have managed it but all the granites i liked were closer to 5k and the quartz were the same or more! i looked around and found a granite i love for $4k , i went over budget but it was worth it to look at a counter i love daily. if you are particular, you are probably going to have to spend more than your allotment