IT. IS. TIME.

If this is your first time on the blog, welcome! Back in early 2020, we gutted our kitchen just a few months after moving into our house. You can see all the before and afters here, but this post is gonna be ALL about the money!!

I’ve gotten some (very polite!) messages on social media about whether or not we’d be willing to share how much this whole thing cost. To which I answered an emphatic HELL YES.

I love budgeting. I like to know exactly how much money we’re spending on everything, but I especially wanted to go through and share down-to-the-penny numbers on how much a DIY kitchen renovation costs…. down to the very last finish nail.

 

To start, lets go over some of the tools you’ll need for a project of this scope:

• Table saw
• Mitre saw
• Circular saw
• Jigsaw
• Brad nailer
• Finish nailer
• Random orbital sander
• Planer
• Jointer
• Tile saw
• Drill
• Driver
• Sawzall

I’m not including the cost of these tools in our budget because we already had all of these things before we started. And we needed all of them. If you need to buy these things, don’t forget to add the cost into your renovation budget! For links to ALL the tools we used for this renovation, click here!

Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty:

(Actually, one last thing…. Before you start scrolling through the numbers, I’m SO curious what y’all *think* we spent on this kitchen. So think of a number, and post in the comments after you’ve finished reading!! I’m genuinely curious!)

OUR KITCHEN RENOVATION BUDGET

(17×17 kitchen gutted to studs + joists, with an island & wet bar & breakfast nook)

CABINETS + COUNTERTOPS: $7212.98

• Ikea cabinet boxes, hinges, mounting system: $3,769.98
• Countertops: $3443 (about 50 sf of quartz)

CABINET DOORS: $4173.68

• Semihandmade cabinet door total: $3000.80
• Door + drawer hardware: $283
• Cabinet primer + paint: $356
• Paint sprayer: $481.80
• Paint shelter: $52.08

DIY CABINET TRIM OUT: $914.78

• Lumber to build kitchen island, cabinet trim, side panels: $914.78

APPLIANCES: $2752.34

• Range: $2320
• Range hood + ductwork: $272.34
• Microwave: $160

FLOORING: $1500

• Stuga engineered hardwood in Cortado + Eco Plus underlayment: $1500 (this is an estimate. We bought this flooring for most of our house, so this is now much I’m guessing we spent on the materials just installing in the kitchen)

FURNITURE + RUGS: $844.92

• Bar stools: $295.95
• Breakfast nook table + chairs: $411.97
• Runner rug: $137

LIGHTING: $1225.96

• Sconces: $357
• Breakfast nook lighting: $167.99
• Recessed lights above island: $50.97
• Electrician fee: $650

PLUMBING: $1130.04

• Materials total: $176.79
• Main faucet: $307.25
• Main sink: $472
• Bar faucet: $32
• Bar sink: $142

ARTWORK + SHELVES: $436

• Wall art: $142
• Frames + shelf styling details: $94
• Walnut shelves + brackets: $200 (This is an estimate – we bought a lot of walnut all at once from our local sawmill for other projects, but this is about how much we spent on the walnut floating shelves + shelf brackets in just the kitchen.)

BACKSPLASH: $248.17

• Tile: $192
• Adhesive + grout + caulk: $56.17

CONSTRUCTION COSTS: $1710.01

• Subfloor leveling + repair: $44.62
• Exterior wall repair: $123.14
• Small misc. tools: $165.85 (bits, levels, straight edges, clamps)
• Wall + ceiling paint: $274.86
• Sanding materials: $49.20
• Drywall: $87.98
• Planked ceiling treatment: $491.90
• Caulk + glue: $68.90
• Wood screws + nails: $34.34
• Door/window trim and crown moulding: $369.22

GRAND TOTAL: $22,148.88

A few quick clarifying notes, so you understand some of these numbers more!

• Our quartz countertops were supposed to cost close to 5k. But we had several issues with the company who installed our countertops, so without us even asking, they knocked over $1500 off the price!
• The only new appliances we bought were a microwave, range hood, and range. The dishwasher and fridge were new when we bought the house, and we like them a lot so we kept them!
• We bought our Semihandmade cabinet doors + Ikea cabinets during the kitchen event. That saved us roughly 20%!
• The only labor cost we paid was to have an electrician come in for a few hours to add/move around all the lighting in the kitchen, and to run power under the house to our island. Every single other thing we DIYed!
• We live in TN so sales tax is a hefty 9.75% (that hurt us) and lumber costs were at an all time high during our renovation (that also hurt us).
• I want to be clear that this is a truly comprehensive number that includes every. tiny. thing. in this kitchen. Down to the little rubber caps on the legs of our barstools.

So…. what do you think?! More than you thought? Less than you thought? Tell me below!