How to Budget for a Kitchen Remodel in 2023

When I still thought we would renovate our kitchen in 2022 (lol), I shared this kitchen design plan in July. Unfortunately we had to make some concessions due to budget and things have changed quite a bit since then. I’m still thrilled with our new design, but I wanted to share what changed and what you can expect when renovating a kitchen in 2023. For context, our kitchen is 100 square feet and we live in the Chicago suburbs. Prices may be drastically different in other parts of the country – just something to keep in mind! These are also just product costs. I am not including the labor, much of which we are doing ourselves. Now let’s talk about how to budget for a kitchen remodel in 2023.

Cabinets

The cabinets are the only feature that hasn’t changed, but that’s only because we had not picked them prior to this. I knew the general look I wanted and shopped around quite a bit. We reached out to icabinetry, Lowes, a local cabinet distributor, a custom cabinet maker, IKEA, and Cabinet Joint. Ultimately we decided to go with Cabinet Joint based on their quality and cost. Our kitchen with a 7 foot island and buffet in the dining room will cost around $11,000 for all wood RTA cabinets. This cost was similar to the quote we received from icabinetry and Lowes. The local cabinet distributor quote was more than twice this and we never even heard back from the custom cabinet maker. IKEA cabinets would have cost less, but the price would have gone up if we added custom doors from a company like SemiHandmade.

Countertops

My kitchen countertop dreams got destroyed immediately when the fabricators started quoting us. I had my heart set on either porcelain or a greenish quartzite, and as it turns out, neither option was remotely close to being within our budget. The porcelain quote was $14,000 and the Tiffany quartzite was so laughably outrageous I can’t even remember the total cost. We scoured the granite section because it is a less expensive option, but so much granite is brown or grey. Since we plan to have stained wood cabinets, it would be an overwhelming amount of brown. And you all know I hate grey for my house. We are currently pricing out Taj Mahal quartzite because I dislike quartz and Taj Mahal is more common than the rare Tiffany and other green quartzites. We are hoping to keep the countertop price below $8,000.

Flooring

If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember that I briefly talked about the idea of marmoleum flooring. Colin and I loved the idea of a checkered marmoleum. It is one of the greenest flooring options, warm underfoot, extremely durable, and appropriate for the age of the house. Marmoleum is growing in popularity overseas, but it is not very common in the US right now. Despite this, I reached out to a few different local suppliers. One supplier didn’t even know what I was talking about. The other supplier only carried product for commercial spaces. We potentially could have used that, but they did not have the colors options I wanted. Most importantly, neither gave me a lot of confidence in their ability to install it. Our marmoleum idea was becoming more of a hassle than it was worth, so we scrapped it. This may sound boring, but we are going to carry the same wood floor in the rest of our house through the kitchen. The estimated cost for wood floor is about $600.

Appliances

You know those gorgeous colorful ranges you see all over Instagram and Pinterest? Have you ever looked the the price? Well, they start at $5,000 and only skyrocket in price from there. I really love to cook and bake, but I firmly believe my food would not taste better coming out of a $10,000 range. At some point we need to recognize that we are buying things for purely aesthetic reasons, and these ranges are a perfect example. Although I would love colorful appliances, they were not in the budget. Instead, we decided to go white. It still fits the hint of vintage we are trying to achieve while remaining affordable. We were even able to purchase a floor model fridge at a big discount! The total cost for our appliances including an induction range, inset hood, refrigerator, and panel ready dishwasher was about $4,500.

Accessories

Finally, the fun part! I wish I could say it was the less expensive part too, but things really add up. I had to reign myself in with the lighting options. Prices vary drastically and per usual, I love the expensive options. The lighting has not been finalized yet, but I’m hoping to keep the cost under $1500 for the 4 pendant style lights and 5 can lights needed for the space. The amount of time I have spent looking for counter stools is hideous. The problem is that I can’t find anything I like. My current idea is to find basic wood stools on Facebook Marketplace and paint them a fun color like red. I don’t feel right about spending a ton of money on something I don’t love, so the painted stools are a good option for now.

We are currently debating between two faucets. One is $400 and the other is $800. Of course the $800 faucet is exceptionally higher quality, but we will have to see how everything else goes before making the decision. The cabinet hardware is not picked out yet, but I’m estimating the total cost to be around $200 for 20 knobs. We’ll see how close I am 😉 It’s still too early to pick things like a rug, valence, and other knick knacks, but that will all be under $100. I’ll likely shop our home for things like plants, vases, and other decorative items.

Total Budget for a Kitchen Remodel in 2023

1. Cabinets $11,000
2. Countertops $8,000
3. Flooring $600
4. Appliances $4,500
5. Accessories $2,500
6. Building Supplies $1,000
   • Total Cost $27,600

If you’re looking at the estimated cost of our kitchen and thinking it sounds insane, that’s fair. Especially considering labor isn’t included. But it’s also the reality when you budget for a kitchen remodel in 2023. While we didn’t choose the cheapest materials, we certainly did not splurge. And I would much rather have higher quality materials that will potentially last for decades, rather than stuff that will fall apart within a couple years. I knew that we would renovate the kitchen when I bought this house in 2019. It was still a buyers market and I was able to get a really great deal on the house, fully knowing that it needed a lot of work. We feel so fortunate to have saved up enough money over the last 3 years to move forward with the remodel. It’s going to be life changing and we can’t wait! I’ll be sharing more updates soon, so be sure to check back often.