If you can't afford to do it right, then put it off until you can. "Right" doesn't mean 9K of premium marble countertops on top of 4K cheap Chinese cabinets either. It means planning something that will work for your budget and your neighborhood. If everyone else in your neighborhood is doing custom cabinets and marble, and you do a knockoff version of it, it'll show and won't be wisely spent money. If everyone else is doing mid grade maple with laminate, then, again, you're wasting your money on those "upgrades" that you want. If your budget is 20K, and you have to have a contractor do the work, then you don't have enough saved for your project at the level you envision it, not to mention the problems that you will find when start the remodel. If you don't have enough money to handle contingencies and/or enough experience to be able to tell if a contractor is doing the job his contract called for, then you're not ready for a remodel.

My suggestion is to begin picking up some skills somewhere with a smaller DIY project and live with the kitchen you have until you accumulate more money or more skills. And really and truly asses your needs vs. wants vs. neighborhood comps.

Thanks live wire oak -

You are right, we are probably not ready to do it now, but I'm sure we are behind with regards the neirghborhood...our house is in a pretty desirable one and everyone around us has gone thru major remodeling.
But point well taken, if done, got to be done right..
I think i'm going to change the sink and features and live with the kitchen a bit longer, attack minor projects around the house and save until we have enough to do it right, including a contingency as well.
thanks again!!

Since I didn't hear anything in your message about having loads of experience, handy family members, or an enjoyment of hands-on major projects, I would recommend you hire this out.

Don't be afraid to figure out what you want and do the research to see what that would probably cost, both in terms of materials, and also for the unseen parts like plumbing, electrical, structural, and inspections.

If you find the right contractor, he or she will be willing to look at options to work in your budget and still have a satisfactory outcome.

I would generally say that if you are just remodeling and not adding on or moving things into different positions or moving walls, doors, etc, that can make the job less costly. But sometimes the disfunction of a poor layout is more important to fix than ugliness.

Function is more important than looks if you plan on being in the home long term. If you will move in 5-7 years then you can just update the look. So you need to consider all of this in your planning.

my experience would be to add up the cost of all the "stuff" from your research, then double this $ amount and add 20%, and that is about what it will cost when you are done. Not nice to hear, but running out of money mid-project isn't nice either.

This doesn't need to have an all or nothing answer. You can contract out the more challenging items and tackle the simpler projects yourself.

Obviously, you aren't going to manufacture a marble counter yourself, but a subway tile backsplash is definitely DIY material.

Have you been over to the kitchens forum? I'd recommend spending a couple of weeks reading over there and just absorbing. Sure, there are a lot of drop-dead $100k kight-end kitchens, but there are also some 10k DIY ones... and lots in between.

I think you can do this and get the kitchen you want without hiring it ALL out to a GC. Sort of your option B. The first thing you need to do is come up with the layout. That's where the kitchen forum can really help. If your current layout is great, that's one huge hurdle overcome. REmember that changing plumbing will add a lot to the cost.

Second, get some cabinet quotes so you can see what you're working with, budget-wise. I'm currently helping a friend with a budget, semi-DIY kitchen remodel. She really wants Carrara marble counters like mine, but may need to trim her budget elsewhere to afford them. WE're looking at Ikea cabinets (some googling will show you some gorgeous otherwise high-end kitchens with Vikings and Liebers and marble that used Ikea cabinets, so don't discount them out-of-hand.) as well as mid-priced semi-custom ones.

Her strategy is to do the design and sourcing herself, but hire out the electrical (maybe), cabinet installation (unless Ikea), and countertop fabrication/installation. If there was any plumbing involved, she'd probably hire that out too. She'll remove the old cabinetry, install the faucet, tile the backsplash, paint, do minor electrical, patch drywall.

In this way she does not need to hire anyone terribly skilled = expensive. Countertops are what they are, cabinet install is usually done by some subs the cabinet-seller recommends, etc.

If you are a good planner, organizer, and scheduler, this might work for you.

Since your willing to wait for awhile, take measurements now. Since you need to replace the cabinets, have your measurements stuck away somewhere, in case you find a great deal somewhere. There are so many options to a marble or granite countertop now. Better values, eco-friendly, warranties, and the such. Sometimes the most expensive isn't always the best. As Live Wire Oak mentioned, don't price yourself out of the neighborhood, especially with todays economy. If your willing to wait awhile, sales will fall into your lap. I rehabbed my living room, floor to ceiling, in 1 week. But I had a vision in mind, and bought items here and there for an entire year. Good Luck.

thanks for all your comments! I was out of town for a week and couldn't log on...

After doing a bit more research I found that are some houses around that are not recovering the investment made in granite tops and custom cabinets because of the real state market now, so I think we can definitely wait a bit.

Our layout works, so i dont believe there will be much plumbing involved. My husband in pretty handy so I'm sure he can tackle most of electrical, replacing faucet and so for. And although I confess I'm not as handy as he is, I can definitely paint and maybe (just maybe) do the backsplash :)

Thanks juliekcmo for your tips for budgeting. And thanks staceyneil and rehaber, you are right, I'm pretty sure that with good planning I can do this in a year or so.

In preparation, I went ahead and hired a designer to help me draw the kitchen(among other small projects in my house) so I can start looking for materials, contractors, and start pricing lighting and other accessories. She recommended new laminate and having a contractor refinish the MDF cabinets to update the look, if we are not sure that we will keep the house past 7 years. What do you guys think of that?

thanks again for all your help!

Based upon what you just wrote, I think that your designer makes a valid point. You definitely need to look at how long you plan to stay, especially now that the economy has gone so low. We (I) am dying to redo our kitchen too and have planned everything out but it'll have to wait. However, if you really want a fresh look another option is to replace the cabinet doors. If your boxes are in decent condition, it might be the facelift you need.

Frankly, I would hire separate people to do each job. you can get a granite countertop cheaper now. My MIL went to some company that only did countertops and got a granite counter top plus stainless steel sink (and installed) for $1500. You can hire someone to do the floor, someone else for the cabinets.

It will be cheaper than paying someone a ton of money to do everything. I know people will disagree, but I think it's easier to stay on budget this way. Plus, sometimes if you hire one company to do everything, they nickel and dime you to death. Just do one thing every six months to a year, or whenever you have money