I suggest you post this in the Kitchens forum. You should get way more responses.

Goodness, I thought that I did! Thanks!

You have a completely unrealistic budget. Even Cheepchinesecrapola like Cliq will be more than that. A high quality American RTA like Scherrs or Conestoga will be double your budget for something worth buying for a kitchen the size that you describe. The average kitchen remodel in the US is 63K with about 40% if that going to cabinets. That isn't for a ''large kitchen with butler's pantry'' either. That is an upscale redo, which averages 125K, again with cabinets approximately 40% of the costs. Houzz level projects are 250K, with the custom cabinet budget to go with that.

Sophie - I've noticed that you often leave similar snarky, negative, and condescending comments on posts without adding any real value to the original poster. I am not sure why that is. Perhaps it adds substance to your day. Your profile marks you as a pro but I have yet to see you offer any actual expertise in your comments.

I am not sure what market you are in, but the median price of homes in my area is just over 160,000. I can buy a very nice home for 250,000. I certainly wouldn't deign to spend that on a remodel.

I have 2 prices that are right in line with my budget I am just not quite happy with the shade of white. And if you had taken the time to read the rest of my post, you would see that completely custom all wood cabinets in my area were quoted for 25,000. So that completely negates the pretentious average costs you listed above.

If you aren't willing to contribute something of substance perhaps you should move on.

Sophia Benfield:

May I suggest you reread Sophie Wheeler's first sentence, which is in no way snarky, negative, or condescending? Unfortunately I have to join her occasionally in telling posters the news they don't want to hear. If Sophie Wheeler says your budget is unrealistic, then by damn, your budget is unrealistic whether you like it or not.

May I helpfully suggest you abandon your aversion to particleboard? It is very flat, strong, dimensionally stable, and less expensive than alternatives. And "less expensive" is what you're shooting for.

Joseph - I appreciate you coming to Sophie's defense :-)

I don't mind people being truthful. I welcome it even. I know that I am completely out of my element in this realm! And I look with an open mind for the knowledge that experts have to offer.

I have posted a handful of times on Houzz and Sophie has posted on several of those with similar comments. The problem that I have is that she doesn't seem to help solve people's issues (that I've seen anyway!), she just criticizes. For example - I posted seeking opinions on my kitchen layout and size of my island. Her comment was - its way too big and dysfunctional, you need to get an architect with a clue, and cabinets alone will cost you 60k. No solutions or questions. Ok great - what would you recommend? *Crickets*.

Now, I do completely realize that my husband and I most likely bit off way more than we can chew. But at this point - we are 1/3 of the way through and have to make it work. I already stated that I found 2 cabinet vendors with decent quality that work within my budget. I just didn't care for their shade of white and they didn't offer all the options that I wanted. My comment/question was for people to show me what they had and loved that was budget minded and to discuss must haves for cabinets and maybe some options that I could forgo. She didn't do either of those things.

You know what would be a great idea for you? You need to check out Ikea. Throw out your pre-conceived notions that they aren't really nice cabinets. They ARE really nice! They hold up better than many, many more costly competitors. Ikea uses really, really fantastic hardware. And, if you don't like their colors, just get the cabinet boxes from Ikea, and for doors and panels, just get any color you like from Scherr's (and there are a few others) after-market custom door and panel alternatives, that are exactly made to spec for Ikea cabinets. Ikea cabinets are customizable in a surprising number of ways. Try searching in Garden Web for all the thrilled Ikea cabinet people. You may be surprised. Oh, and one more thing: their 3-D planner is easy enough to use, even for me. It will get you on the right track.

A Professional gets paid to design, to give someone direction as a benefit of their experience. 10,000+ kitchen remodels vs just one. That's a pretty steep learning curve for a one timer, and most realize they need help with that. Should you want to receive actual individualized design other than broad directions, you will need to pay someone a retainer for that knowledge and expertise. A message board is for simple tweaks like pillow suggestions, or larger big picture indications that you are headed in the wrong direction, like using cheepchinesecrapola horrible plywood quality crapinets rather than good USA made furniture board. It is not for receiving pro bono design work. That would be the equivalent of donating someone money. And that is why there are ''crickets''.

You very obviously do not know what you don't know here. Your biggest lack is the knowledge base needed to make your project work, second only to the budget that such an ambitious undertaking requires. You really should put a stop to the whole thing until you find a designer who can help you. That requires investing money into knowledge rather than products. And, you need a much bigger budget. That requires time for saving.

Here's a bit of totally free design advice from someone with over 40 years of experience: Projects that are rushed into with poor planning and overly ambitious DIY input often turn into years of remodeling as a lifestyle. And/or divorce or familial estrangement. Don't make that mistake.

Sophie - the level of your ego simply amazes me.

There are tons of homeowners out there that manage to tackle home renovations on their own......without "divorce or familial estrangement'..(eye roll).

But guess what - I DID have a professional do my kitchen design after months of racking my brain trying to figure it out. Because here is what you DON'T understand because you can't see past your arrogant "houzz level projects" to actually ask questions before you criticize. There are constraints that I have to work within. Namely the size of the room - which is something that you criticized without asking a question. The size of the room is 30' x 32' and it has to house the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Period. There is no taking away 10' because it's not "conducive to conversation". I also have to work with the confines of a current galley kitchen that can not be expanded one iota. I doubt you could do better.

Every time that I have requested advice - it has been for very specific tweaks. Is my island too big? Show me your bright white cabinets? I have seen others on here asking for help with an entire layout. Again, I am going to ask. If you aren't willing to give others the benefit of your expertise, then WHY are you here? Why even bother? That's the whole setup of houzz discussions, right?

Let me just show you the difference in your comments versus someone who has the desire to actually help. I ended up posting this in the kitchens forum and a wonderful PRO commented the below which served the purpose of answering my question and educating me in the process.

Have you considered saving (at least most of) your existing cabinet boxes? We are building a new house but recently finished remodeling our existing home's kitchen to get it ready to sell. We had cheap, builder-grade cabinets and they looked the part.

We saved a fortune by keeping the boxes and replacing the doors and drawer fronts. There are several places online to choose from but we used Barker Door and were very pleased with the product. The only part we had to hire out was the granite countertops.

We were in a similar situation with lofty goals and a limited budget (our existing neighborhood home values just wouldn't support spending even $30k-$40k on a kitchen remodel - we'd have never recouped that) so keeping the cabinet boxes was a no-brainer for us.

I wish that we had been able to!! We still would have had to add on for the "new" kitchen but it sure would have helped! This house was built in 1974 and the cabinets were SOLID 30+ years later.

Sophia, the other Sophia, reminds me of a comment when I was doing a K remodel at my last house. "there no usable counter top in that kitchen, way too small!" Hey you have what you have. Oh and they were dead wrong! I also had someone make mention that I was trailer trash for using IKEA, that person was sent a strong warning and a reminder of the awards that IKEA has received and wonderful reviews on GW. So I also would encourage you to look into IKEA.

(note had an aunt that used painted wood cabinets, all the paint flaked off after a few years, around the sink was terrible, had to have the whole thing re-painted at her expense)

I hired Ikea K designers and fired them and got my money back! Hated what they came up with. I even went into the store for help and they fiddled with it. I hated what they came up with too. I worked and worked and, worked some more with their online design program and absolutely loved what I came up with. Said some prayers to my Dad who was an Architect who had passed several years earlier, for guidance. And let me say this, there was not one piece of filler in the whole kitchen. Every single inch was used. I was able to kick my peninsula into the dining area and totally transformed the space. I loved that Kitchen. And to say you have to pay for help! Well I have been away from Garden web for a few years as my projects had been completed. But we moved, now more projects, here I am! The folks in the bathroom section sent me tons of pictures and how too and wonderful advise. I could not have done the bathroom remodels without them. Well maybe I could but they were certainly of the highest quality because of them. My house looked like something out of a high end design magazine. Gorgeous and was able to sell it way over the "comparables in my neighborhood" fast with multiple offers.
So, I don't know why she lurks around here probably just trolling for business. I personally would never hire someone with such an attitude. Just keep digging at it. keep the lines simple uncomplicated, timeless, think function.

I had a cabinet with drawers just for all my stainless right down to the top drawer with dividers for all my SS tools. Another one for all my corning, the top for other type tools. A cabinet for all my baking type stuff, A floor to ceiling pantry with drawers, held so much. I had a drawer for can stuff, boxes, glass, etc.

Now with that said there are ways to cut costs and defer them to a later time. Just put in the boxes and leave doors for later. Put on wood tops and save the solid surface purchase for later. Anyway, keep up the good work...keep posting your questions. There are some really terrific people on this site and there are some who add nothing, and just ruin the spirit of the site.

Sophia Benfield I had similar experience in this forum, very negative and even condescending comments from "pros", not helpful at all. Don't even bother with negative comments.

I myself am in the middle of remodeling my kitchen (actually still planning, starting next month). What I found really helpful is to seek out local cabinet makers. Some of them are surprisingly cheap and good. Also Ikea cabinets are good choice for budget remodeling. One of my friends did tons of cabinets and all came out about 9000, I am talking about really lots of cabinets. She got it when they were doing sales event, that helps too. And no one even noticed they are from Ikea except "pros" lol.

Perhaps you can mix and match with Ikea and some custom cabinets (if price is right). It may take time, but keep searching, researching and ask people about local resources.

I'd like to see a scientific study compariing the people who complain about rudeness and those who were told what they did not want to hear. I'll bet they are positively correlated.

It looks really nice. I bet you love having it feel so open and having that big island!

Oh yes I sure do!! I love the traffic flow of this kitchen! It defies everything the experts say about a work triangle but I LOVE it. I have a very close knit family and you can often find 2 or 3 of us in the kitchen at the same time. I love that my kids can be doing the dishes or getting something to drink from the fridge in the pantry and not be right under my feet when I am cooking. My daughter and I can cook together without constantly bumping into each other. Its awesome!