Here is a rough breakdown of my remodel. My kitchen is 11 x 19. We didn't move any plumbing or walls but we did move doorways and removed soffits, therefor replacing all the drywall.

IKEA cabs - $4800
Marble counters - 4000
Cork floors - 2200
Bosch range - 2000
LG frige - 2000
KA dishwasher - 800
Kenmore hood - 500
Lighting fixtures and labor - 1700
Two sinks and faucets - 650
Drywall and labor - 3000
GC labor - 5000 (includes work on powder room)

The backsplash and hardware haven't been chosen yet. We did the painting and when the painter comes to do other work in the house we will have him do the window and exerior doors in the kitchen.

When I made up a budget I didn't assign percentages. I gave myself 2K for the floor, 1K for sinks and faucets, etc. Sinks and faucets were their own category - I don't know why they always seem to be included with appliances. To me an appliance has a plug! Counters were on their own as well. Basically I outlined everything as I did above.

If you are planning on half for cabs and 1/3 for appliances, that leaves you 1/6 for everything else! Unless you have a very robust budget (where 1/6 would still amount to a good deal of money) I don't see how you are going to install appropriate flooring, counters, sinks and faucets, hardware and lighting. And where are your labor costs?

So to answer your question, yes, you are off in my opinion. But not waaayyy off. Have you researched your appliances yet? Maybe they don't need so much of your budget. Hopefully the cabs will come in under 50% of your budget.

My advice would be for you to do more research into the cost of everything before setting your budget. Then you'll have a better idea of what you would be willing to compromise on, and what you don't need to.

Nicole

Thanks, Nicole! I'm just starting to fill in the budget which is why I asked :) I'll know better after I meet with the cabinet maker and he gives me a ballpark estimate, though I expect them to cost a lot more than the counters--I might be way off there. So if I'm reading what you did correctly, yours was about 40% finishes and labor, 35% cabinets and counters (to rise with backsplash and hardware), and 24% appliances and sinks. That makes sense!

Here's our rough breakdown. We DIY-ed the whole thing, so it includes no labor costs:
Cabinets: $20K
Counters (granite): $6K
Backsplash: TBD, but probably ~$500
Floor (radiant heat, Ditra, thinset, porcelain tile): $2400
Appliances: $4000
Sink: $200
Faucets (pulldown & potfiller): $300
Hood: $200
Lighting: $300
Pulls (got some free with cabinets): $250

Plllog, your estimates don't seem too far off from what I ended up spending. I didn't move any walls, plumbing, or need any major electrical work done. My breakdown is something like this:

Cabinets, including installation, hardware, and glass - 51%
Appliances, including installation - 17%
Granite, including installation - 15%
Flooring, including labor - 6%
Lighting fixtures/electrical work - 5%
Sink and Faucet, including installation - 2.5%
Backsplash, including labor - 2.5%
Painting - Obviously things like this can vary widely, depending on what features are most important to you. I consider most of my choices "upper-middle" - definitely not high end. Hope this helps!

Our situation is a little different than some - not only a very tight budget, but the kitchen is the knock-on effect of a larger project opening up the attic into 2nd-story living space. But fwiw here's how it's breaking down at this point (gee, I hope I don't jinx it by talking about it before it's ENTIRELY done - I don't want to suddenly uncover any hidden extras!).

Total of ~15K to spend on the kitchen portion of the project (this is why I went the used route for cabinets and counter, and bought appliances off Craigslist!), to include some major structural changes.

Materials
2ndhand KM Cabinets - $1100
2ndhand Quartz Counter - $625
New GE appliances - $700 (otr mw/dw/stove)
Ikea faucet - $180
Blanco sink - included with counter
kitchen tile - free (somebody gave us their leftovers)
light fixtures - $200
handles - $100 (although I don't really count these as part of the budget)
backsplash - $125

Labour and structural materials for the following:
- removing and reinforcing a load bearing wall
- relocating plumbing
- relocating gas
- installation of all appliances
- installation of all cabinets, to include some custom carpentry
- electrical/wiring/installing new light fittings and switches
- tiling kitchen floor
- tiling backsplash
- demo, cleaning up walls, laying new wood floor in old kitchen to turn it into dining area
- painting both rooms and all trim

Have I mentioned recently how much my GC rocks? :)

This is a good thread idea. My construction costs (for kitchen and laundry additon, new roof) are $34,000.

Cabs are $5,500
Cab pulls $100
Counters will probably be $5,000 (choke, I'm having a hard time swallowing that one)
Sink & faucet $500
Cooktop, oven & DW $3,300
Disposal $150
Range hood $100
New tankless water heater $1,800

I wanted to keep the "outfitting" of the kitchen to under $15,000. We will do cheapie laminate flooring for now, keep our existing fridge, and do a backsplash later. Technically, the water heater isn't a "kitchen" item, but has to come from the kitchen budget.

No structural, plumbing or electrical done

Cabinets including hardware - $5800
Giallo veneziano granite counter top and full backsplash - $2500
Sink- free with cabinet
Blanco faucet- $375
Fridge - $2000
Dishwasher - $480
Gas range - $650
Undercabinet light -$70
Garbage disposal - $170
Range hood - $480

Labor

Fixing wall due to previous owner's wrong doing - $1400
Hooking dishwasher, faucet, garbage disposal $560
Labor on granite - $2300
Labor on installing cabinets $1100

Still need to add pendant light and labor

No new floors or lights except for new pendant for peninsula

Thanks for all your responses!! I'm learning that there is no such thing as a "typical" percentage breakdown, but I'm getting a much clearer idea of how the numbers seem to balance. I'm not awake enough to really analyze anything, but I do see that the it really is the cabinets/counters and the appliances that make the shape. (Seems obvious, but reality isn't always obvious :) ) Much appreciated!

Ours is still a work in progress, so it's hard to be exact, but the cost percentages are working out something like this:

approx 30% for GC costs (our job required considerable work by the GC and crew, including demo of old cabs, taking out a wall, preserving old wood floor and wall paneling, digging slab trench for island plumbing, installing tongue and groove ceiling, adding new subflooring, installing tile, materials, etc.)

approx 30% for cabinets (including installation and hardware)

approx 20% for appliances (including sinks and faucets here)

approx 12% for countertops (soapstone)

approx 4% on flooring (stone)

approx 4% for everything else (e.g., pendant lighting, paint)

I think that some of the things that influence how the costs for a particular kitchen break down include the extent of "gutting" required, choices in appliances, choices in materials for countertops and flooring, and source for cabinets).

From reading posts here on GW, I have come to the conclusion that the source for cabinets is what determines the fluctuation more than anything else. I have seen quotes for cabinets that range from around $3,000 to nearly $100,000. Granted, the amount of cabinetry can vary dramatically from kitchen to kitchen, but cost estimates for the SAME kitchen can vary wildly, too.

It's all about priorities. Our initial estimate for cabinets from the KD was nearly $40,000. The cabinets we went with from a local cabinet maker are going to be less than $20,000--and they will have many features that the "semi-custom" cabinets from the KD couldn't have. If I had gone with the KD's cabinets, I would have had to settle for a design that wasn't exactly what I wanted. I also would not have been able to afford the appliances and countertops I wanted. I think the quality of the local guy's cabinets is as good as, if not better than, the company the KD was ordering from. Even if they turn out to be not quite as good, they will be a huge improvement from what I had before and I will have everything else just like I want it. For someone else, having a particular type of cabinet from a particular company may be more important than having a particular range.

There is no set formula for how a kitchen remodel budget should be spent. It all depends on your priorities, and the priorities from one family to the next can be so very different.