Too bad we can't see the rest. Looks nice. I like the contrast with the brick.

Click on the green link above. It works for me.

Well duh! That would've helped me. Lol. I love the cement tile.....would have liked more of it. And those sconces are amazing.

Their budget actually included appliances.
Link to resources of the first kitchen and more info on renovation

Yes it's cheaper if you all DIY - most people's 10-15K remodel would not look like that or would cost a lot more!

My brand new kitchen (in a new house) is fully custom, and we spent about $8K- all DIY, of course! That includes appliances. Still, it shows you don't have to spend $50-100K to freshen up a kitchen.

Of course you can improve any space by cleaning it (free), emptying it of unnecessary clutter (also free), and painting the walls (pretty cheap). The cost of your reno has a lot to do with the state of the kitchen you started with, and your desired outcome. I do sometimes envy those content with the kitchens they've got...

Not to be too cynical, but those counters are not going to look like that in five years, even though they've been (sob) waterloxed. A 10 - 15 K reno might have additional costs sooner down the road than a 13 - 18 K kitchen would have had with corian or Quartz counters.

Of course, my kitchen is small (seems to be a commonality in these lower cost renos) but I think that I would have easily come in at less than $15k if I had used Ikea cabinets (instead of made by cabinetmaker, saving about $1750), and a less expensive granite (saving about $500). However, I have no tile on the walls and I added a window. I paid $9000 for contractor labor + some materials, so DIY would have saved a big chunk.

I could only have open shelving if I was willing to commit to washing every dish before I used it. You really have to consider the dust factor of your location. To me what makes this room great is the sense of space from the skylight. I don't understand or like the picture lamps. If the countertops look meh in five years they can be sanded. I think the kitchen will look great for many years.

I agree, when I build the cabinets for my kitchen, I'm going to have seals on the doors. Even glassware that is rarely used gets dirty inside closed cabinets.

even though they've been (sob) waterloxed.

Why (sob)? Do you think they should have used poly or something, or do you just object to cured finishes on wood counters? Just curious.

My kitchen reno (with HD base cabinets, no uppers) new appliances, new cabs, new island, new counter tops, floors, putting up a wall where there was a door, installing a wall of windows on another wall, and taking down another door to open up the pantry area and stairs, PLUS, new range hood that needed proper venting, painting the kitchen, and new electrical work everywhere came out to over 40k.

And I still don't have backsplash and it doesn't include new lighting.

This is in NY.

So 10-15k to me sounds like a huge bargain. If we could have done it ourselves, I would have in heartbeat.

How do you put seals on cabinet doors?

The numbers don't seem right to me. They bought brand new cabinets (unfinished) for only $1500 for the entire kitchen. Here unfinished for 3 base cabinets for me is $1500 - box only, particle board.

Here unfinished for 3 base cabinets for me is $1500 - box only, particle board.

Really? Around here you would be very hard put to spend more than $200 on an unfinished base cabinet. What kind of cabinets are these that are so spendy?

Plain old base cabinets and two of them are 19"H and 23"H. I'm pretty sure I got the location discount. They refused to quote until I provided my home address. We get to enjoy markups of up to 800% because vendors believe that people in my city will pay any price.

My preferred company was much less expensive but they're about 10 weeks out in production and my Conestoga doors will be here in 4 weeks.

They refused to quote until I provided my home address.

I think most folks who purchase unfinished cabs just do big box store, which would certainly explain the difference in price. Not everyone, by any means, but even some of the RTA unfinished cabs or places like Scherr are considerably less than you are talking.

Writers, I just think every surface has its grace. Butcher block in my kitchen would be oiled with mineral oil and used as....butcher block. It's the only counter material you can actually chop on, the only one. If someone wants to put a finish on it that is fine. I wouldn't chop on soapstone or granite. I wouldn't waterlox butcher block but that's just my preference.

Technically, true butcher block is vertical grain; very thick top with the actual boards running vertically. Now days, people call just about any wood strip counter top 'butcher block'. As for finish- I used Waterlox on my peninsula, as it's not a prep surface. My prep corner is treated with food-safe wax, although I don't know if I'll ever be able to bring myself to cut on it!

Thank you, eam44.

This is a $10-15k kitchen in process. Hired out all labor. Only newly purchased appliance is the older-style (metal tub) dishwasher. This kitchen will get a backsplash before my own kitchen *sigh*

DIY definitely lowers the cost. We did ours a few years ago for about $8000 (only appliance was a new range and hood) and that included removing a load bearing wall and engineered beam and spray foam insulation in the exterior kitchen walls.

We bought stock cabinets and redid our kitchen for 11k. I wish I had before/after pics because it's sooo much improved. The cabinet company included installation, and that price included countertops. We did not factor in new appliances as we bought those separately. We went with a high-grade laminate (totally acceptable in current area and what we'd resale for) and I love it. I don't regret a thing except that we didn't do it sooner.

Here is our $12K Ikea kitchen (a little overexposed) that DH and I installed in 2004-2005 in the house we sold last year. The $12K covered the sliding door, cabinets, island/cart, counters, bookcase, sink, faucet, paint, lighting, stove, and dishwasher. Not counting the refrigerator because the old one lasted till 2009. The kitchen when we moved in had cabinets only on the sink wall, so it was easy to install new cabinets on the naked walls first. DH replaced the pink(!) tiles in the original backsplash with black ones and added the diamond border. We really liked the cabinets, and it was great to have such an enormous amount of storage in a roughly 10'x11' kitchen. The wide-angle lens used for the listing photos makes it look bigger.

Before:

It was a total gut. Did the work ourselves. Spent $5k(includes appliances, granite, everything you see here) . Maybe labor on top of that would be $10K?

I absolutely love these kitchens! And BTW, the liquid glop (I've forgotten what it's called) that IKEA sells for their butcher block works fine for me. No smell, dries fast.

Let's analyze WHY this kitchen remodeled for a low price:

- I think I count six cabinets -- two of them standard door cabinets, two sets of drawers, two upper cabinets. No expensive corner cabinet. Those wall shelves cost much less than cabinetry. Are they good quality cabinets? Can't tell -- but ALL cabinets look great when they're new.

- The hood probably cost more than any other item here, but it's only one item.

- As someone else said, IKEA's butcher block is really, really cheap. Yeah, it'll need replacing in five years or so (assuming real cooks live here), but for the cost of IKEA's stuff you can replace it 10 times over before you can pay for mid-range granite.

- The cabinet hardware looks very inexpensive.

- The tile above the stove is absolutely lovely and was probably expensive, but it is used only in one small area.

- The lights look like something you could buy at Home Depot for about $30 each.

- That's some type of laminate or engineered flooring.

- The stove isn't super cheap, but it's also not a luxury brand. I think it (and the tile above it) are the items that keep this kitchen from looking cheap.

- Oh, wait ... it took me a minute to realize we're missing a sink. So we're not seeing an island or another cabinet run. So more than six cabinets for sure.

Yeah, I totally believe this could be done for 10-15K.

resources: Cabinets, GS Cabinets | Countertops, Hardwood Industries | Sink, NB Drainboards | Faucet, Wayfair | Potfiller, Signature Hardware | Tile, Overstock | Floors, Red Oak, Hardwood Industries | Shelves, Red Oak, Hardwood Industries | Shelf brackets, Etsy | Campaign Hardware, Etsy | Cabinet knobs, Home Depot | Range, Blue Star (bought at warehouse sale) | Mudroom bench, vintage, Craigslist | Swing arm lights, Rejuvenation

Paint: lower cabinets, Onyx, Benjamin Moore | everything else, Simply White, Benjamin Moore

$4200 Appliances

$1500 Cabinets

$920 Countertops

$460 Hardware

$450 Skylights

$790 Sink

$275 Faucet + Pot filler

$950 Lighting

$150 Electrical

$100 Plumbing

$700 Flooring materials + refinish

$255 Shelves

$220 Backsplash

$400 Framing & Building Materials

$250 Paint

$200 Incidentals

$11,820 Total

What a great looking kitchen! I think that limited remodeling budgets can actually help getting better end results, as limited funds force people to focus on the most important aspects of a space and so avoid excessive, overly trendy and distracting elements.

And of course they were able to reuse existing cabinets or bought them from Craigslist or Habitat, as $1500 will get you nowhere otherwise.

Mrs Pete - Why would you suggest that Ikea's butcher block needs throwing out after 5 years? On what do you base such statements? Just like Pippabean above, we've lived with Ikea's butcher block for many, many years. We use inexpensive mineral every couple of months, and it has held up beautifully. Plus they can be refinished to a brand new look by sanding them. Just stick to the solid version, not the mdf core with "butcher block" veneer.

Pippabean - LOL! That stone DOES look like raw meat or maybe a huge slice of prosciutto...ha, prepping on that would put me off too...