Just some suggestions

-get the cabs unpainted and finish them yourselves - you would not believe how much it costs to get cabs painted professionally

-just buy new doors, again, unpainted and paint them and mount them yourselves.

-buy your hardware off ebay. Even with shipping it is waaaay cheaper. If you're not sure order just one and check quality then order how many you need.

-get wood counters from IKEA and then do just a small area of stone around the sink. You could do this for less than the cost of new laminate and a wood counter can look even better than stone.

-stop looking at kitchens on the FKB that cost 50K :-)

budge1-- Thanks for the tips! I just might buy the cabs unfinished. It'd be a ton more money, but if it's money that can be spent elsewhere, it might be worth it. Can I look at 100K kitchens? That's probably closer to what hers cost anyway... :)

oops-- not a ton more money-- a ton more WORK. My brain couldn't keep up with my typing...

What exactly is it about her kitchen that you must have (by the way, I adore it too but had a 20 K budget). If it is the white cabs, please paint them yourselves. It is totally possible and can look great (I'm in the process myself).

Glass fronts in the cabs? You can cut out the panels yourself and get a glass shop or stained glass shop to make inserts that you can attach to the insides.

You can add inexpensive paint grade crown moulding to add a nice touch, and poplar 1 x 4's or 1 x 6's to build up moulding on the toe kicks, etc that will make a huge difference.

There are online lighting stores that have great deals, even the big box stores have very nice stylish lighting that won't cost so much but can still have a super look.

Ikea has nice wood tops, or maybe you can get just one nice counter in the middle out of cambria or another quartz product or even uba tuba granite which is not as expensive as others, and do laminate on the rest or wood from ikea.

Amerock pulls are not very expensive from online dealers, I'm sure there are tons more out there that are a few bucks a pop instead of 20.

Do you have a RESTORE nearby? people donate used kitchen and building supplies and the proceeds to habitat for humanity. Fun to peek around there and make your kitchen really unique.

It takes a bit more elbow grease and investigation, but it is totally possible!

Good luck and have fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: My DIY budget kitchen blog (still a work in progress)

It all starts as "how handy ARE you?" In addition to the "how handy" question, there is another. How much WORK do you want to do for shopping around for bargains, and will you be happy with giving up a kitchen that will require that much effort to achieve? Analyze the details that make your inspiration kitchen special, and decide how much trouble/money you want to go to in order to be able to achieve a similar effect. And, how important is it that you achieve The Look vs. The Feel of the kitchen. What is it that is appealing about the kitchen? Is it the open and airy feel? The sereneness of the monochromatic palette? WHAT do you find appealing?

You can do marble tiles on the perimeter, and if you're really careful and buy extra, you can get the veins flowing almost like a slab. You can use stock lumber and stock corbels and build some of the fancy details and paint them the same white as your cabinets. The glass doors can be ordered separately than your main cabinet line from a aftermarket door maker and you can order glass locally. That fab coffered ceiling can still be done in an 8' ceiling if you don't make the coffers as deep (maybe 4"and can install the recessed lighting yourself and do the hours and hours of molding applied to make it look special. I've seen some amber pendants at big box stores for less than $50 a piece, and take a look at lighting stores clearance areas as well as Ebay. Don't forget special order even at big box stores. Most carry a lot more than they display in their showroom.

i don't want to speak for stiles....but i'd guess that this kitchen is WAY over 50k!!!!!

i guess i ditto everything above. it will take time, work and research to find the things out there that will make your kitchen have the feel of stiles. do your homework before every purchase. it may be exhausting, but worth it in the end............

We all love her kitchen. Given your kitchen, and you can DIY, spend the bulk of your money in cabinets and countertops. We did Kraftmaid & Granite and our cabinets were about $10,000 (with your size kitchen about) but that also included an extra hall cabinet and we had cherry/ginger glaze with an higher end door style. Don't rule out - shop around - we used Just Cabinets who cater to DIY. There are tons of granites, composites, and other countertops and given your kitchen is small, you aren't spending as much due to the size which can allow you to spend more per square foot. A lot of the pretty part that is appealing to you is the details and to be honest in your kitchen it will look very funny to have that type of ceiling and too many details - stick to nice molding (we have 8 foot ceilings too) and the special touches, but a lot of what she has done is amazing, but works in a much larger space. The ceiling, which I adore, would look silly in your house or mine, as well as the range hood, etc. Splurg on a few light fixtures... $100-200 is ok because you don't need very many . You can buy ORB at HD/Lowes or even ebay reasonably. You can get a reasonably priced counter-dept fridge if you shop right that accepts panels - ours was only $1000 delivered/online from Sears two years ago with a cool digital panel.

What pcjs said is so true. You have to make whatever you do work in your home. That kitchen would not look right in my home, with 8 foot ceilings and oak stained woodwork everywhere. So, we found a way to make a lighter, happier design work in our place and our budget.

Something else to consider as part of you budget. A reputable interior designer. Ask around, they don't all charge an arm and a leg- a good one (like ours) will help you see the possibilities that you may not see yourself. And, a good one can help you avoid costly and/or time consuming mistakes.

And a common misconception is that a designer will "tell you what to do". A good one will listen to you and work with your ideas, visions, etc. and not push their look on you. (Maybe we were just lucky and Linda is the exception to the rule?!) just consider it as a wise part of the budget.

Ask around and see if anyone can recommend one- You don't need to go to the one with the biggest ad in the phone book. On the contrary, a really good one won't even need to advertise! Without Linda, my dream kitchen would not have happened- I had no idea how great it would be! (and it's not even finished)

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY dream kitchen on a budget blog (still in progress)

Moving from the general to the specific, HD carries 12 styles of amber pendants. None of them are exactly like your inspiration pic, but one might work for you, and one is $25! I'm attaching a link.

There's an ebay vendor mentioned occasionally on this forum with knobs and pulls for $2 each, and a website called yourhomesupply (or something like that) that also has amazingly inexpensive knobs & pulls. I used coolknobsandpulls.com for $6 glass knobs.

Here is a link that might be useful: I searched Home Depot for

I sometimes think the inspiration kitchen is a dubious tool - unless you can look very critically at what you like about the room. It is obviously a gorgeous kitchen that cost probably in the neighbouhood of $200 grand (depending on how many of the elements were already in the space). If what you like is the scale of the room or the period detail you are probably out of luck.

As it happens I don't particularly like this kitchen (it is gorgeous but not for me - scale, the period, pallette etc., nothing is my taste). However there are design aspects of this kitchen that I like very much and could be reproduced in virtually any kitchen:

-there is a single opaque finish on the cabinetry

-the cabinetry is very uniform there are not 6 different heights or a huge variances in the widths

-simple crown

-only 2 countertops surfaces and they have a strong relationship to one another

-kept the use of handles\knobs very straightforward

-simple lines in the faucets (which are repeated at each sink)

-use of repetition in a number of elements

-dark flooring to ground the space

Most of these things relate to a sort of modified minimalism that I think makes the space very inviting and visually soothing. I think given the vast differences in the scale of your room and your budget compared to this one that you need to look very critically at what you like about this space if you want to use it as a jumping off point. Good luck there is a lot of good design in this space that could add tremendously to your kitchen reno.

Thank you for all of your wonderful input-- I know a kitchen this grandiose is way out of league for my own space. I guess what I like is the bright, open, airy feel (that and I'm in LOVE with craftsman style homes-- which my house is clearly NOT). I think I could achieve this look in my own kitchen, minus the amazing coffered ceilings and lavastone/marble countertops of course, and get the same feel.

At the same time, maybe I should just be smart and keep it simple. We're only going to be in this house 2-5 more years (depending on the military situation) max, so it's probably be best to go in a direction that would appeal to many potential buyers. I've never been attached to a property before, and I think putting so much heart and soul into a place would make it hard to leave!

Thanks again for all of the input-- you've given me a lot to think about, and I will for sure be checking out those budget kitchen blogs!

I'm doing a kitchen facelift because we didn't want to pay for an entire remodel and my cabinets were in very good condition. I added moldings to my cabinets - (paint grade crown, shaped "feet" with a new kick mold behind them, boxed moldings on the ends of the cabinet runs and finished off the desk area with baseboard molding. I painted my old honey oak cabinets with a cream paint and did a heavy chocolate glaze on them. I thought I was finished, but have decided we need to paint the walls instead of keeping our old wallpaper. (The cream cabinets just don't pop out against the wallpaper.)

Here's where I spent the bulk of my money: new granite counters and a new range. I kept my diswasher because it was black and that's the color I wanted. And I painted my old almond colored fridge black. Yes, I was stupid enough to attempt that!!! It worked, but I would never do that again.

You know what your budget is and if you can do most of the work yourself you can achieve a new look in your kitchen and stay within your budget. But it requires alot of time and elbow grease.

I planned on being done with my facelift in 4 weeks and it has taken 7 weeks, but I've done everything myself.

If you are only staying in your home for up to 5 years - be smart and only invest what you can recoup when you sell!!!

1. If your cabinet boxes are structurally sound, just repaint them and put new doors on them. Get a few glass front doors for not a whole lot of extra money.

2. Buy light fixtures at lowes or HD. Cheaper but certainly very attractive.

3. splurge on stuff that really makes an impact....like the countertops and back splash.

4. look for floor display applinaces. You can save a lot here!

Sorry to butt in david123, Is RESTORE a chain? Does it have a descriptive name, like "Restore Home Improvements or such? IÂm going to look for one.

Restore is Habitat for Humanity. Like a thrift store for building supplies and such. Things that builders have left over, things that people have taken out of their own remodels, and even new stuff, leftover/obsolete stock from stores, building centers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Restore listing.

You and I and Stiles all obviously like a WHOLE lot of the same things. A point that's probably been hit, but just in case not, what separates this kitchen from other white ones for me is above all the elaborate coffered ceiling, then adding in other charming architectural detail as a frosting job on top of the basic elements most kitchens have. It's also strongly distinctive for its windows and very generous natural light.

This's a really lovely kitchen, but since you have no intention of developing an elaborate coffering in your current home, and it seems probable that your current space lacks the quality of light this one has, I'd strongly recommend setting this picture aside for a future home and selecting another inspiration kitchen for this time around. This picture can go under that one in your folder now as a reminder for specific little details you like.

One biggish distinctive detail that could be copied now is a white counter that blends with white cabinets for a very different effect than the more typical (on this forum anyway) dark contrasting counter. I also note that the backsplash is not developed as a focus of attention but rather functions calmly as part of the background. These two regressive features are typical of most of my own favorite kitchens, which have a lot of harmony between the larger surfaces and rely on other elements for their bang--such as the hood, ceiling pattern, and the view out those windows.

This is a great thread for any person just starting their kitchen plans. Makes you really think about what it is that you love in a photo beyond color, granite, etc. Just one idea here - if you are wanting ORB cup style pulls and ORB knobs, the hands down cheapest place to get those is CripeDistributing.com (no "s" in Cripe). I got this idea from a DIY-er on this forum and my KD and cabinet maker were astounded at the quality for the price (.50 per knob!!) You DO have to order in a 25 pack but most kitchens would need that many normally.

OMG! Stiles has the Best Kitchen EVER, and I too am looking for that look on the cheap....I am lucky enough to have original solid Mahogany cabs to start with-so paint or refinishing will help with budget. Question about the 2 height bar- I was hoping to do a penisula with stools on one side/cab on other to give me a nice work area. What is the standard height/why does Stiles have 2 levels?

hoodgrad, I can't speak for Stiles but one of the reasons for bilevel peninsulas is to hide the cooking/prep side (the mess, dirty pots etc) from view of the eating side. We will also have a large peninsula - the sink , trash and dishwasher will be on the prep side and the other side is counter seating as well as the information/message center. We were going to do a bilevel but changed to a single level after seeing Flash407's beautiful kitchen (sorry I don't know how to provide a link to her picture.) Before that I hadn't even really considered that I could do a single level because of the main sink being on the peninsula, but I was assured that as long as the peninsula is wide enough it will be fine. The GC recently dismantled the framing for the bilevel and now that the whole peninsula (still just framed out) is down at counter height (standard 36"), I am thrilled. It opens up the kitchen so much. But if your intention is to keep the two areas of your kitchen separate, then you may want to opt for the bilevel. It certainly looks lovely in Stiles' room!

I think knowing that you'll be moving in a few years can make a big DIY project like this easier in some ways. Less temptation to splurge on big ticket items you've always wanted, because you can't take it with you. Less stressing out about the inevitable things that aren't perfect. Substitute time for $$ per the many wonderful suggestions above, and think of it as a learning experience. The kitchen you do in your next home will be even more beautiful.

Looking at this kitchen I think the over all look could be acheived in the posters home. Really shop around for less expensive cabs that are still well made. Ikea might be worth checking out. I haven,t looked at their cabs. but I keep reading that alot of people here are happy with them. If you really look around you can probly find that light grey marble look in a less expensive finish like formica. You could buy a plain island add the detailing to the island your self and I would splerge on really nice top like this one has. I bet you could find those high arched faucets in a less expenive brand as well. For the ceiling you could put of the textured wallpaper that looks like ceiling tin in a large rectangle with really nice wide trim around it.

hi kmgard...
i love design on a dime!! where are Summer and Charles when you need them most!! anyway...we did a DIY kitchen (still haven't finished backsplash, sadly) and several of the previous posters hit on some of the things i think worked for us, cheaply.
1) home depot has amber globes for pendant lamps. we got schoolhouse electric fixtures (whew expensive) but home depot globes ($4). if the lamp accepts the 2 1/2 or 2/4 inch standard globe (can't remember the standard right now), you can get your amber glass globes at the big box.
2) ikea wood counters have worked nicely for us. people have actually been impressed (haha they were cheaper than formica...). we got the birch.
3) what distinguishes your inspiration kitchen for me is the light. were those photos done professionally??? this is what we sought for our kitchen and what your buyer will appreciate...more light. we added doors where we had windows, plus 2 more windows (sacrificing a wall cupboard). i would advise that whatever are you choose to spend the most on, it would be adding an extra or bigger window if you can. The thing that is really great (IMO) about the inspiration kitchen is that all the light comes from the sides of the room, without a skylight. it's striking!
4) the other detail that you could really replicate successfully might be the open framework between kitchen and dining. maybe not to the same scale, but that white wood (and relatively simple) frame over the peninsula is a very classy touch IMO good luck kren

What a great thread, and I am adding the Stiles kitchen to my "Dream" file. Thanks for the photo. :)