That design isn't great. You need to work with a certified kitchen designer, do NOT trust a contractor with this. A few notes to keep in mind

-You don't want the sink and stove back to back. it means two people can't comfortably work there at the same time

-You have enough room to move the sink off the island so I'd do that

-Your island is pretty large, so know that certain countertop stones may require a seam. You'll have to limit your search to larger slabs if you want to avoid that

-Corner pantries aren't great. They don't provide as much room as it seems and they often cut the flow fo the kitchen

-That kitchen table looks laughably small next to the island. You might have to reduce the island size if you want a table in there.

-Fridges work best when they're on the outer portion of the kitchen so that people can grab items from them without having to actually enter the room

Having finished a recent addition in a moderate cost of living area, $300 sounds pretty low if that includes all new cabinets, appliances and such. We spent about double that per sq foot we added when all was said and done. I don't have an exact $ breakdown but about half was construction and about half was the stuff we put in it. The initial estimates were substantially lower than the end cost, largely, but not entirely, related to a terribly inadequate cabinet/counters allowance and going for higher end appliances such as an integrated fridge when we saw how much we were spending on everything else.

Given the money you will be spending, first make sure doing this makes sense and that you really want to do it and then second follow the above advice and make sure your plan is exactly how you want it, I don't feel bad (well not very bad at least) about the money we spent because we really got exactly what we wanted for it.

Thanks for all the input. Def planning on having a legit kitchen designer do renderings. My homemade drawing is to show contractors a rough idea of what I want. Will for sure move the sink. Another kitchen designer said as much when giving me an estimate, makes total sense.

Way low. Way way low. Not even builder grade materials is that low when you’re doing an addition. The first 3’ of a Kitchen addition costs the first 50K. After that, the expensive bits of attaching new to old is cheap. You might as well add on 30’ as add 10’. It won’t even double the price.

You’re looking at a 200K project, easy.

And stone does not come in 12’ lengths. Your “designer” is designing outside material’s physical limitations. There’s a lot other wrong too.

Hire a Pro. Have a realistic budget. Or move.

Are you having everything done by professionals?

Or are you doing some of it yourself ?

In my area an addition plus finishes for baths and kitchens is well over 600 per sq ft. I think even in the lower col areas you are looking at more than 350 per sq ft for well done kitchen or bath additions. Good luck!

Camille, how old is your home? Remember that everything you have is grandfathered, until you touch anything like electrical or plumbing. Then they have to bring everything up to code. And that is stuff behind the walls. So you will spend that whether you go builder grade or fancy. Be sure to budget enough so you don’t have to cheap out on the things you see and use every day.

I doubt you'll be starting this project in 4 months. When I remodeled my kitchen, my custom cabinet maker was scheduling work 4 months out - and that was after the design was finalized. The kind of professionals you want are probably already booked for fall. The ones who are sitting around waiting for this project are not the ones you want working on your house. And you are nowhere near ready to sign a contract to get on anyone's schedule.

Camille:

I think you should go backwards. Tell potential contractors your budget and have them show you jobs they've done that in that range. This saves everyone a boatload of time and aggravation. If your budget doesn't match your tastes, you both need that information as quickly as possible.

Yes, I agree with the others, you need to seriously increase your budget and set realistic expectations.

Square Foot is completely the wrong way to price anything, even as a rough guide. There are too many variables to assign it a sq ft value.

Hi, I will not approach it from $$$ per square foot.

1. Cost of the addition & everything that comes with it: plumbing, electrical, flooring, windows, walls ceiling, vents, additional air conditioning/heating if needed, permits

2. Cost of Kitchen components: cabinets, drawers, lights, quality of the finishes, appliances, countertops

Do your research on cost of various components so you know the fair market cost. You don’t want your GC to give you crappy cabinet or basic flooring.

Have you asked a realtor if your neighborhood will support the
cost of the addition you're contemplating?

Do you have a separate dining room? If so, where is it in relation to the kitchen? Have you considered knocking out the wall between kitchen and DR, using the DR table on a daily basis, and expanding the kitchen into the breakfast nook? Using the space you already have would give you a larger kitchen for a lot less money.

All good suggestions Lisa. My dining room is around the corner and we have already knocked out the wall between the family and dining room. The island would be facing the family room. Pricing in my neighborhood and county are rising, my realtor thought it as a good idea, up to a certain price point, which was above what we plan on spending. We told our realtor the quote we received and said it was wise to proceed. Truth is we have a family of 5, we need more room in the kitchen, we love our neighborhood, and I haven't seen anything I like housing wise thats affordable. Kicker is, we are less than a decade away from paying off our house, so it seems silly to move especially when housing is so expensive in our current area.

"...my realtor thought it as a good idea, up to a certain price point..."

Given your realtor's qualification, I would make sure that the quotes you're receiving are as detailed as possible so that the cost doesn't rise dramatically once you start making material and finish selections. A remodeler's basic kitchen - what he or she is basing their quote on - could be very basic and not what you want.

Does the quote cover partial or full overlay cabinets? How are they constructed and finished (1/2" or 3/4" box construction, etc)? Is the quote for painted cabinets or a basic wood species and stain finish? Painted cabinets nearly always cost more than stained. How about counter material? Are they quoting you bottom line granite counters and you have your heart set on quartzite? I think you'll likely need 3 slabs of stone (your island is too large to be done with 1 slab) so you could see a big price jump if you pick a stone that is more expensive than the quote covers. Ditto for backsplash material.

Ask for as many details as you can to determine what the quote covers so that you can compare apples to apples and have a better idea of the final cost before moving forward.

The top bid we received for our kitchen remodel came in $35K more than the low bid. They were also worlds apart in quality and scope of work. The low bid contractor's price increased a lot when we asked him to quote for materials similar to the high bid contractor's "basic" kitchen. (we chose the contractor whose bid fell between the 2.)

I think it would be a good idea to come up with a kitchen plan for your family of 5, using your existing space, as a back-up plan in case the addition costs increase above your realtor's "certain price point." I'm guessing that your existing kitchen is about 10 x 15 and your nook is about 8 x 15. Combined, that gives you roughly the same amount of space as the potential addition.

So how much ARE you planning on spending? And what was the number your realtor gave you?

Camille-

From a non-pro who has just about finished a major kitchen remodel that we are very happy with...

There appear to be two ways to go about thinking about kitchen remodeling...one is to hire a kitchen designer or architect to drop up detailed plans. From what I read, these plans can then possibly shopped for competitive estimates and you will have paid for the plans.

However, when we started talking to the contractors that came recommended we found that most of them used their own cabinet dealer, etc that it made it impossible to compare apples to apples. We had personal referrals for contractors but not for architects or kitchen designers. We started down the road with one firm, but became concerned that they were not responsive and when there mistakes in their proposal (wrong measurements leading to the wrong amount of cabinetry, different windows than required by the homeowners association, etc) we decided to go with a different firm. It did take 6 months to get the first estimate.

The second estimate was not an apples to apples comparison, but they were pretty close. We have been thrilled with our contractor...he has done a great job on budget. We worked with him and his KD (or cabinet salespeople as people here like to refer to them) to design a very complicated layout. By working with one contractor, we were able to make sure that all our choices fit our budget and that we were not splurging on areas that we did not want to splurge on.

There are two majors costs to your addition: your space and your finishes. Your rendering does not show a beam; make sure that when you are comparing estimates they have the same plan for how much beam you will see. You will most likely also need structural engineering drawings. We were not able to recess our beam because of the weight of the house above it. But the longer your span the more expensive if it going to be (it will also depend on the construction of the house).

The finishes that you choose will also make a big difference; level 4 granite or cambria quartz is going to be a lot more expensive than a budget granite. The types of cabinet construction has also been mentioned. It was definitely worth it, but our actual cabinets were almost twice as expensive as the first quote (from the same cabinet showroom!). We decided that we wanted much higher quality cabinets (all stacked, some glass, more drawers) than had been included in the quote from the first contractor. But I also decided that I was not going to pay for the wood hood that I originally wanted and that is shown in your diagram.

We decided to work with one contractor to develop the perfect kitchen for us rather than separate it in two stages. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to spend based on what the street will support and we did not want to have a kitchen designed for us that was way over the budget. Both of us at different workplaces have been involved in new buildings where the architects started with a building that was substantially over the allotted budget, and we did not want that to happen with out kitchen.

So in our way of doing it; we made the budget work by prioritizing the finishes that were important to us (we prioritized doors, windows and steal beams and splurged on stacked cabinetry and level 4 granite) instead of seeing who would estimate their labor the lowest. It worked well for us because we had a highly recommended contractor. It worked well for us but it is dependent on knowing a trustworthy contractor.

"I never mentioned what my budget is for this project."

I'd never bid your project until you did.

If you have a budget--and who doesn't--then Joseph Corlett's advice is spot on. Put the architect and kitchen designer on ice for the moment. Start by talking to people who make their living by doing projects like the one you envision: professional remodelers. Ask to see examples of kitchen remodels they've done and the associated prices. This should allow you to bracket the likely price for what you have in mind before you spend money designing and falling in love with a project that may never get built.

When you find a remodeler that's a good fit for your project, ask them to recommend an appropriate architect/designer (don't be afraid if they have one on staff), cabinet maker, counter top fabricator, etc. If they've been in business for more than a couple of years they will have put together a winning team.

Best wishes for your project's success.

Camille-I would think about your last comment very carefully. If you have had a friend that has quoted both the "expensive design and build firm" and the cheaper "custom home builders" and then done the entire project for the quote given by the cheaper custom home builders that may be the case.

A well advertised, successful and established firm may be more expensive, but I think that a lot of the difference is in what you are being quoted, and who unexpected costs will be charged for and how many expenses there are outside of the contract.

So unless you know someone who was able to do their complete project with no surprises for the cheaper quote I would be wary.

There are three expensive parts to your project:
-The cost of the addition; the new roof, siding, foundation, framing, insulation, etc. Windows can also be very expensive depending on the quality you choose (we live in a historic district so we have to buy expensive windows)
-The cost of opening up your current space into this new space. In your drawing you have this completely open with no beam. We saw one addition when we were looking for houses in which the addition was tacked onto the back and the original kitchen window looked into the family room addition (that is not what you want, but would be cheaper). The cost of the steal beam and installation for our approximately 5' framed opening (there is wall on both sides and one the ceiling) was over $5000. Our house is brick construction so that makes it heavy to support an opening. The structural engineering drawing for this beam was an additional $800. You will need more structural engineering for the addition.
-The actual kitchen that you design; cabinets, appliances, countertops, etc. We got quotes from two different people who used the same kitchen showroom and the same line of cabinetry. One of the firms (design and build) did all of their kitchens with the same designer at that showroom...so if you used them you were going to get Merrillat Classic and Merrillat Masterpiece. Our first quote was in the classic; we ended up going with the second firm in the masterpiece and the cabinet allowance was almost doubled.

I have not heard kitchen quoted in square feet prices, because the variables above are so substantial. The other one is how much you are moving plumbing and electrical.

But I would probably double the $300/sq foot estimate and make sure that is still within what the neighborhood will support.

HI Camillie,

Kitchen dreams can be so exciting! Are you working with a designer? Your plans look almost exactly like the program my designer is using. Or is this just a program that you designed yourself. I think you have great taste and the space looks lovely. The houzz gurus will help you figure out a perfect plan. As for the GC and KD maybe get an itemized detailed plan so that you can work with him to trim to stay in budget or add if you can afford it.

Keep in mind most GCs add about 20% on to each part. 20% + cabinets, 20%+ floors, 20% +electrical + plumbing, + appliances + Drywaller, Tiler, Demo, woodworkers, carpenter, structural engineers, cabinets, lighting, ... My GC is adding that to each part of our plan even if he doesn't install the floors or cabinets or do the engineering. This premium is charged because he is overseeing the job and coordinating everything to happen in a timely organized manner. At first I was a little frustrated but I realize this is just his deserved fee and I have accepted this. Your GC has to trust you and you have to trust your GC. Choose someone you feel comfortable with and could see spending lots of time with.

I wish you luck on your kitchen journey. It can be a little shocking at first when you get your first estimate back and realize WOW this is a big bigger than I anticipated. And from there you can at least make plans to go forward, trim your dream or decide to hold off.

~boxer

I’d suggest against design-build other than to get budgetary numbers. Get the design you want complete, then move on to quotes for build. You’ll get better pricing with a firm plan and expectations right at the beginning.

"Get the design you want complete, then move on to quotes for build."

And if the design you want is not within your budget who cares as to how much of your and other's time you wasted?

Any contractor who spends more than 5 minutes on the phone with a potential without a revealed budget deserves to have their time wasted.

If you have a friend that had a kitchen done by a contractor who gave them an estimate and stuck to it, and then gave you an estimate in your budget, then I think you have your contractor and you can start working on your design with the design professionals/kitchen designer/cabinet lines that your contractor recommends.