With the New Year upon us all and the National Kitchen and Bath Association’s major annual tradeshow just about to start where we will share inspiring pictures for you of the products you may want to consider for you own kitchen remodels starting next week, we thought we’d take a deep dive this week into the question of:How much does it cost to remodel a kitchen?
With Houzz’s early 2014 House and Home survey [the largest of its kind ever conducted ] showing that over 22% of the 192, 536 registered users polled said they were going to remodel a kitchen soon, we thought it was time to take a fresh look at the question at the start of the New Year. So, today we’ll explore
How much does it REALLY cost to remodel a kitchen - in 2015 ?
One of the reasons we wanted to take a look at this oft asked question again - and in this way- is because the Houzz survey indicated an average amount homeowners planned to invest in their kitchen remodels and it was quite low according to some of the country’s top professional kitchen designers and remodelers that we surveyed for you. We wondered why they thought the figure was so low and decided to ask them, as they are the ones working in the field every day with readers like you who can afford a professional designer, but still aren’t sure what a kitchen remodeling project should really cost in today’s market.
In addition, the fine print in the HOUZZ survey number was missed by many. The fine print said:
“Mean [average] kitchen spend is among those who hired a pro and DIY {did it themselves] to complete all or part of their project. It also
includes both major and minor renovation projects.”So, Houzz’s average price for a kitchen remodel, included DIY projects and minor renovation projects and that skewed the number very low - in the range of 25,000.00.
We don’t think *DIY kitchen remodeling* and *minor kitchen renovations* are what many of you have in mind when you think “kitchen remodeling.” We think you have in mind a whole kitchen remodel, with professional assistance, so you get the kitchen of your dreams, and that’s what today’s post will address.
Before we start,we’d also like to add that kitchen remodeling shows on HGTV and other channels often leave out many important factors when showing you what the average cost of a kitchen remodel might be - factors like HVAC [air flow] considerations and the correct placement of vents and ducts so mold doesn’t grow in your home causing health issues for your family, interior cabinet pull-outs for storage and organization that make most modern kitchens functional, the labor for construction, plumbing, carpentry, electrical, and the design fees professionals charge to help you design and manage the process of getting the kitchen you’ve always dreamed of having.
We hope today’s post will help you, dear readers, understand the facts of what a kitchen remodel REALLY costs, for a 200 square foot kitchen, in different investment ranges, so you can make somewhat informed financial decisions to get the kitchen of YOUR dreams.
Let’s start with what you will need to consider…according to these top national kichen and bath designers and remodeling professionals who kindly responded to our initial questions:
Kitchen designer and author, Kelly Morrisseau, CMKBD, CID - lead kitchen designer at MSK Design Build in Walnut Creek, CA, Rose Dostal, AIA, of RMD Designs, LLC in Hudson, Ohio, Susan Serra, CKD, CAPS - founder of Susan Serra Associates in Long Island, New York, Kitchen designer and author, Robin Siegerman, CKD in Toronto, Canada, interior designer Carla Aston, in Houston, Texas, Susie Feia, principal of Feia Construction in Waukesha, Wisconsin , Rhonda Knoche, CMKBD, CAPS, owner -Rhonda Knoche Designs, Portland, Oregon, kitchen designer Cheryl Kees Clenendon, principal, In Detail Interiors - Pensacola, FL - and a special thanks to national HVAC expert, Chris Laumer-Giddens, principal of LG Squared in Atlanta, GA.
KITCHEN CABINETRY
The type of kitchen cabinetry you choose will be the biggest determinant of the overall investment in materials [ not labor and not professional design and project management fees, which are discussed later in the post ] that you will need to make in remodeling your kitchen.Factors that impact your kitchen cabinetry cost will include: the type of wood species chosen, whether the cabinetry style you choose is standard *off the shelf* box cabinetry like you might find at IKEA, semi-custom luxury cabinetry where you have many choices in door styles and finishes and where the construction quality is similar to fine furniture, like you might find from #BlogTourVegas sponsor Wood-Mode, whose beautiful cabinetry is shown in the opening picture, or from #BlogTourVegas sponsor, Poggenpohl, who offers luxury cabinetry with a more modern look.
Or, it could be completely custom made cabinetry with detailing that coordinates with special details in your kitchen and adjacent rooms, like you see below on the uber luxury completely customized kitchens by Cheryl Kees Clenendon and Susan Serra.
In addition, other factors impacting cost of cabinetry will be what type of door type you choose [flat panel, inset, etc ] and what type of finish you choose for your cabinetry, for instance, a simple laminate finish, a semi-custom painted finish, or a completely custom finish.
Experienced kitchen designers will be able to show you cabinetry from several different manufacturers and be able to explain in detail why one cabinetry choice is more or less expensive than another.
For the beautiful cabinetry shown in magazines like Architectural Digest, World Of Interiors, House Beautiful, Veranda, Elle Decor, Traditional Home, BHG’s Kitchen and Bath Ideas, you will almost always see kitchen cabinetry that falls in the luxury or uber luxury price range - with exquisite detailing and finishes, as this is what a professional kitchen designer specializes in: helping you have the kitchen of your dreams - a kitchen completely personalized to harmonize with the rest of your home, one that reflect your tastes, how you cook, how you entertain and how your family likes to move about in the kitchen and relax while eating, like the one below by Rebecca Reynolds, CKD, as featured on the cover of Kitchen and Bath Ideas. Noice the ceiling details, the lighting details, the mix of different woods, the dropped soffits, etc. This type of kitchen is why you hire a professional kitchen designer to work with you.
A note: many interior designers will call a professional kitchen designer in to work together with them to create a beautiful kitchen for you. Kitchen design is a very specialized field and if your interior designer requests your permission to add a professional kitchen designer into your budget for just this phase of planning your home, consider agreeing - to get the best results, especially when you are considering a luxury or uber luxury level kitchen remodeling project.
APPLIANCES
Your next big budget item re: materials will be your kitchen appliances: your cooktop/range, your dishwasher, your refrigerator, microwave, range hood, warming ovens, wine coolers, etc. There are many different price ranges for each and every appliance you can choose, and an experienced kitchen designer can quickly give you an overview of what brands are right for your needs and give you a general price range so you will know what to expect. At the uber luxury end for ranges, for instance, are brands like Le Cornue [shown at the end of this post] and Electrolux Grand Cuisine, shown below.
COUNTERTOPSOf the big 3, countertops will usually be the 3rd largest component of your overall materials budget.
What are factors that influence the price of your countertops? First, your material selection. Do you want a granite, a beautiful white Calacatta marble [the rarer marble, often confused with white Carerra marble- a less expensive option ], soapstone, recycled glass? Do you want a completely customizable high definition printed laminate from #BlogTourVegas sponsor and Texas HQ’d WILSONART?
Do you want custom colored concrete, or stainless steel? Your material choice will be your first decision to impact your countertop pricing.Next will be the thickeness and type of edge detailing you prefer. Edge detailing greatly impacts countertop pricing, especially with granite and marble. Slab marble, as shown below, is very popular in today’s luxury and uber luxury kitchens.
Next, will be seaming.
What type of special cutting might be involved to resolve seaming issues so you don’t have unsighly seams ruining the flow of your countertop and trapping harmful bacteria? The picture below shows you the value in working with a professional kitchen designer that has excellent sub-contractors who are able to resolve seaming issues ahead of time, before a slab ever reaches your home.
Many of you probably don’t realize show much care, time and work goes into resolving just the seaming issues on granite or stone countertops - a small aspect of what goes into giving you the overall kitchen of your dreams, but professional kitchen and interior designers do.
Professional kitchen and bath designers are worth every penny of the approx. 20% or so they typically charge in design fees of your overall project investment. Imagine if you got this wrong? There goes your entire countertop and you would need to do it all over again and spend again - not to mention your lost time and the aggravation and how this would put all the other trades behind in their ability to finish their work, and the project overrun costs associated with that.
So, what DOES it REALLY cost to get the kitchen of your dreams?
The graphic below shows you the latest data from REMODELING magazine, just out for 2015. Keep in mind that these are national AVERAGES, and many factors will impact the overall price, including the region of the country you will live in, and the availability of the best sub-contractors at any given time as labor is typically 60% or so of the overall investment you will make in your kitchen and the subs command premium prices, especially in areas of the country where there is high demand for their services.
The best professional kitchen designers, however, will insist that you wait, if at all possible, and invest in working with their team of trusted subs and tradespeople that they’ve worked with over a long period of time. Your professional kitchen designer knows who really delivers on time, who communicates with the other subs well, and who takes care of the inevitable problems on a jobsite with speed and fairness and aplomb.
This is part of the expertise they bring to your project.Word to the wise to save money: bringing in your own tradespeople to save money if you’re working with an experienced professional kitchen and bath designer is not a good idea as there are so many trades involved in a major kitchen remodel. Disrupting the knowledge that these tradespeople have developed about each others work methods over time, through working on a team with your professional kitchen designer, will not be worth it. It disrupts their work flow and communication patterns on your job site and causes headaches and delays, and these cost you more money in the long run than you will have saved.
After looking at this, please realize that this data does not take into account the SIZE of your kitchen. So, if you have a very large kitchen, you’ll need to add to these figures.
If you want UBER luxury and completely custom, your kitchen price - depending on the size of your kitchen - will be anywhere between $250,000 to 600,000 or more. Certain ranges, for instance, are $100,000 or so - like the one we shared above and the range and hood combination from Le Cornue, shown below.
These ranges are being put into many New York City penthouse kitchens, where cooking is a form of entertaining and where personal and professional chefs are often called upon to prepare meals for an important occasion at home.From the survey of professional kitchen designers, remodelers and HVAC experts surveyed in this post, who are currently working in their respective specialties every day, in major metro markets like San Francisco, Houston and the New York City area, their answer regarding the investment needed for a professional kitchen remodel for an approximately 200 sq. foot kitchen was $120,000 - $150,000.
For those working in secondary real estate markets, their number was a little lower, approximately $80,000.00 for a 200 sq. ft. kitchen remodel.
Lastly, here is a list shared by these experts about the other factors that could/will impact your kitchen remodeling investment.
Plumbing Fixtures
Lighting
Cabinetry Hardware
Flooring Choice
Ceiling Treatment
Window and Door Replacement
Wall Removal
Range Hoods
Painting
Architectural Molding
Interior Cabinetry Storage and Organization Built Ins and PulloutsPlumbing
Electrical Wiring
Local Zoning and Code RequirementsWe would love to know what your experience with pricing has been if you’ve recently remodeled a kitchen and, if you’re a professional kitchen and bath designer, we’d love to hear your comments on this post, too.
We hope this post has been helpful in answering your question
“What Does It Cost To Remodel A Kitchen - in 2015?”
and again, a sincere thank you to the professional kitchen designers, remodelers and HVAC experts who took the time to give us detailed feedback for this post - to insure accuracy.
Leslie Hendrix Wood and I look forward to seeing many of them at #KBIS2015 , the National Kitchen and Bath Association tradeshow next week and we can’t wait to bring YOU, dear readers, our thoughts about the best new products and ideas for your luxury kitchens that we see at #KBIS2015 and Leslie also looks forward to bringing you her #BlogTourVegas sponsors exciting new kitchen + bath introductions, here on Hadley Court.
And, stay tuned this Thursday for a VERY special post from HC contributor, Lynda Quintero -Davids. You won’t want to miss it!
~~~
Leslie Carothers
for
Leslie Hendrix Wood
Founder, Editor In Chief
Hadley CourtInterior Designer
Midland, Texas~~~
Gracious Living. Timeless Design. Family Traditions.We invite you to please follow Hadley Court on our other social channels, too, by simply clicking on each of these links.
~~~
Layout of Countertop on Granite: Paramount Granite Blog
Constance says
Thank goodness somebody finally publicly exposed what those tv shows blithely ignore!!!
You carefully, thoroughly, accurately depicted REAL costs for a custom kitchen that is worth dreaming of! It is a pleasure to have somebody show the truth like you have with your post.
Thank you, Constance, for your wonderful comment. It was my intention to do just this for our readers and I hope this post will be shared widely so everyone knows what a professional kitchen remodel REALLY does cost.
Thank you!
Leslie Carothers
Great Post! I always try the Remodeling Magazine report as a reference. Now I can use this post too.
Thank you, Ann, for taking the time to log in and leave a comment. I appreciate it/we appreciate it and are so glad you found this post helpful. Please try to share it where consumers might see it, so that they know what the reality is, versus what is being shown on HGTV and other shows like that.
Thanks again!
Leslie C.
Irene Turner says
Bless you! A realistic view of kitchen remodels. Here in Sonoma County there are a lot of kitchen remodels. I feel that HGTV has done a great dis service to both the clients and the designers in painting an unrealistic picture of the process. THIS is realistic. I will be sharing across platforms. Thanks!!!!!
Hi Irene and thank you so much for this comment. Leslie and I could not agree more regarding HGTV. Their programming has distorted the real costs of doing business with well trained design professionals, and this article is an attempt to set the record straight about the REAL costs involved.
Thank you, too, for offering to share it across all your own social media platforms. That’s what it will take for it to reach consumers everywhere, so they know and can be prepared.
Have a wonderful day, Irene, and thank you again!
Leslie C.
Jamie Janson-Wietholter says
Finally a blog post that truly states the average TOTAL cost of a kitchen remodel!! Any homeowner reading this will get so much valuable information for a checklist and real facts. I especially liked the statement “A note: many interior designers will call a professional kitchen designer in to work together with them to create a beautiful kitchen for you. Kitchen design is a very specialized field and if your interior designer requests your permission to add a professional kitchen designer into your budget for just this phase of planning your home, consider agreeing – to get the best results.”
Lovely post that I plan on sharing on my Facebook page.
-Jamie
Thank you very much, Jamie, for taking your time to leave a comment here. It is very appreciated. Leslie Hendrix Wood, the owner of this blog, and I, the writer of this particular post, are so glad you found it helpful and will be sharing it on your own Facebook Page.
Collaborations between interior designers and professional kitchen designers are becoming more and more common as the kitchen becomes more and more specialized and that’s why I included that statement in the post.
I don’t think most homeowners know that interior designers like Leslie Hendrix Wood and top professional kitchen designers like the ones I linked to are often working side by side now on this part of a project to make sure the luxury client gets the very best result for their kitchens.
Again, thank you!
Great information on home improvements in 2015! Such a great share!!
xo. Leslie
Segreto Finishes
Thank you very much, Leslie, for taking the time to comment and I hope this post reaches homeowners everywhere so we can, working together, help dispel the false ideas in the American marketplace promulgated by reality TV programs that don’t show the true costs of kitchen remodels or any type of professional interior design, due to their advertiser’s concerns.
Have a good evening, Leslie, and again thank you!
Leslie C.
Marilyn G Russell says
EXCELLENT post Leslie!! you hit all the major points. Though not surprising, the general public is uneducated respecting the real costs of kitchen and bathroom remodels. I appreciate your hard work that went into this post. I’ll be sharing too
Hi Marilyn and thanks so much for taking the time to comment -Leslie Hendrix Wood and I appreciate it and we could not agree with you more on your point about education which is why we decided on this post to start off this week, before all the fun of the National Kitchen and Bath Association Show starts next week in Las Vegas.
THIS post is a serious post, which addresses something all homeowners really DO need to know about the REAL costs of remodeling a kitchen and we appreciate all the sharing of it that designers can do, to help get the word out.
When you share it, please let us know, so we can come back and say thank you!
Have a great evening, Marilyn!
michelle cortizo says
Thank you for this great post! It is such a helpful and realistic expectation of what kitchen’s cost!
Hi Michelle… good morning and thank you for logging in and taking the time to comment. We appreciate it and are so glad you found it helpful.
See you soon in Las Vegas!
Anne DeCocco says
Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a wonderful resource this is! I’m going to share, share, share. Leslie, you are a designer’s best friend.
Good morning, Anne, and thank you! I/we are so glad you found this post to be a good resource and your shares are very appreciated. The more it is shared, the more consumers everywhere will really know what the advantages are of working with a pro and what they need to consider and budget to have the kitchen of their dreams.
Have a great day ahead!
Leslie
Shannon &Waterman says
What a great article! Thank you for providing such valuable information!
Thank you, Shannon, for stopping in to comment and we’re glad you found it valuable! Thank you for letting us know. We appreciate it!
Leslie C.
Thank you - I am showing this to my husband because he is living in a fantasy world. We are redoing our kitchen and he still cannot get over how much everything costs!
Shelley
We are so glad, Shelley, that this post might help you help your husband understand what’s really involved in a mid range to upscale kitchen remodel. In the post, their is a link,too, to Remodeling Magazine’s report, so please share that with him, so he can see that the figures quotes are very accurate.
Thank you, Shelley, and good luck in educating him. This is exactly why this post was written. To educate real homeowners like yourselves as to the real costs associated with kitchen remodles at the mid to luxury and upper luxury ends of the market.
The resale values added to your home, after it’s completed, are an added plus.
Let us know how it goes!
Leslie C.
Jana Donohoe says
Thank you Leslie for this wonderful post. I think this is a great lesson for both design professionals and home owners. I know I will be referencing back to this post often.
Thank you so much, Jana, it is wonderful to read that you will be using this post as a reference, that’s just what we intended.
We appreciate your comment !
Leslie C.
Lisa Mende Design says
Great post Leslie, I have a rough draft and had started writing a blog post about this very topic but since you covered it so well, I’ll reference yours instead. It will be part of a new project I’m working on so I’ll include your post. I know this took forever for you to write Leslie! Well done!
Good morning and thank you so much for taking your time to write a comment and to share this nice compliment, Lisa. I sincerely appreciate it and the fact you’re willing to reference this article in your own post is just so nice of you.
Good luck with your new project and we I will be looking forward to seeing it when it’s completed!
And, you’re right. It took a long time to compile the data for this post and to write it, but it was worth it if it helps Hadley Court’s readers - and homeowners everywhere - understand what the real costs are of a quality kitchen remodel and the money saving benefits of working with professional kitchen designers.
Have a great day ahead and thanks again.
Leslie C.
Hi Lisa and now, I think I know about your new project: the restoration of the kitchen in the Randall Terry home in High Point, North Carolina as part of the Junior League of High Point’s Designer Showhouse, sponsored by Traditional Home? If so, congratulations on this wonderful new project and thank you for offering to include this post in your own! I appreciate it and so does LHW.
I can’t wait to see the process , Lisa , and you, at #HPMkt this Spring!
Samantha Lloyd says
Hi there
Finally an honest blog. I am currently right in the middle of a kitchen remodel and I do mean remodel, we have taken it back to the studs. It is a fairly small kitchen, but still costing me about $30,000. Also I am a realtor and I am always having to advise clients that a kitchen remodel may be more expensive/time consuming than they realise. I will be sharing this article. Thank you .
Hi Samantha… thank you for that nice comment and it is just great to read what you’ve shared here about what your own small kitchen remodel is costing you. Thanks for doing that.
Re: you being a realtor, it would be wonderful if you could help your realtor group know of this, and share it, too, so that more and more homeowners see it. I think it would be of so much benefit to American consumers everywhere if they saw this so they know what to plan for + why it really does save money to hire a professional designer to guide the process through to completion without wasted time and money.
Again, thank you and share a pic over on our Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/HadleyCourt when you’re done! We’d love to see your newly remodeled kitchen!
Have a good day ahead!
Leslie C.
Hi Samantha and thank you for taking the time to leave such a nice comment and sharing that you will be sharing this with your realtor friends. My brother is also a realtor, and when I asked him -before he knew I’d written this post for HC, how much a good, professional kitchen remodel would cost in Houston, he immediately popped up with the answer: 80K. He’s been a realtor in our area for 23 years, so he knows.
My intention with this post was to honestly educate people about what a professional kitchen remodel, similar to the type they see in national magazines like House Beautiful, Coastal Living, Traditional Home, etc. really does cost and, more importantly, why it costs what it does.
There are so many ways to do *more with less* but for resale, as you probably well know, there is still not a better investment than a beautifully designed kitchen with current appliances.
Thank you again for leaving a comment and good luck with your own kitchen remodel!
Alan Crawford says
Hi Leslie
As an architect here in the UK with my own London based practice, and also having had the pleasure of being a judge for the past 7 years on the Designer Magazine annual kitchen and bathroom design awards, http://www.designerkbawards.com/judges/, I am involved in the design of many kitchens, both in new build projects for flats and houses and also for refurbishment projects, where commonly we are ripping out the of kitchen and remodelling with new installations.
I found your article very interesting from the US point of view and wondered if a similar study might have some relevance here in the UK.
Interestingly, when we are involved in the judging process for the annual awards, their are two related categories for kitchens that are submitted. These are for designs up to £25,000 (about $38,000, and for those designs over £25,000 - which can sometimes stretch to £150,000 ($227,000).
Normally we find that the lower spend category is the most interesting, with the challenge being to create something innovative, exciting, quality, practical and unique within the more restricted budget, whereas, the more expensive category, whilst sometimes producing submissions that encompass all the previous characteristics, and advance these even further, more often than not, tend to be simply larger spaces that house installations that are simply more expansive.
For designers the challenges are usually more interesting when trying to create an amazing end product with limited resources, often pushing the boundaries of design creativity and use of materials in new and interesting ways.
With kitchens now firmly placed at the hub of any modern living environment, and no longer just an isolated, enclosed space to cook from, its not surprising that more and more clients want to invest large sums of money in achieving the ideal space. However, in the hands of the skilled designer, it is possible to create amazing kitchen designs that can provide all the functionality and individualism that clients desire, whether you choose to buy components from a flat pack supplier such as IKEA, that might cost £7,000 ($10,000) or you shop for a luxury ‘brand’ costing 5 times that amount.
Clients will often have some ideas already as to their budget expenditure, however, it is for the creative designer to take this budget and look at achieving the maximum ‘value for money’, and perhaps bring the costs in at a lower figure than the client had in mind.
That’s what we always try to do!
Hi Alan and thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment here. We appreciate it and totally agree that the well trained designer can take any budget and create something extraordinary.
Providing *value for the investment* is exactly what all well trained designers do, and we hope every consumer who can invest in design services, at a minimum, realizes how much more money they will save by working with a designer who can extract the most from a space - no matter what the budget.
Again, thank you for leaving a comment from your place of business there in the UK -we appreciate it!
Tim Raleigh says
Thanks for posting this.
While I haven’t read the whole article yet, I wanted to thank you for posting the details of a kitchen remodel and why they cost what they do.
Hi Tim and thank you so much for taking your time to comment. You are so welcome and it makes us all here at Hadley Court happy to know this post was useful to you in helping you really understand why mid to upper end and luxury kitchens cost what they do and what really goes into creating one.
We hope you will become a regular reader of HC, have a great week ahead and thank you again!
Lavender Lass says
Great article! I saw a link to it on the Houzz/Gardenweb kitchen forum. I agree, the less expensive kitchens are usually the most creative and interesting.
I hope you will do an article on creative, smaller kitchens. Now that we have the ‘sticker shock’ out of the way, it would be fun to see some less expensive kitchens that are still inspiring! Not too much DIY, but a little bit (that most of us can do) would be a nice way to keep the budget lower
Hi Lavender Lass and thank you very much for sharing with us that you saw a link to it on Houzz’s garden web kitchen forum. We saw that , too, and found the responses to the post , there, to be really interesting and informative.
Re: doing a post on smaller, less expensive kitchens > we think that is a great idea and will oblige in the coming weeks. We have an editorial calendar that we stick pretty close to here on Hadley Court, but please be expecting to see a post on creative, smaller, but still luxurious kitchens, later this month, after Valentine’s Day.
Thank you for inspiring US with this idea and visiting Hadley Court!