Middle-aged married mom looking ahead while enjoying today Like DisneySteve and LuckyRobin, I also have an upcoming renovation. It’s our kitchen & laundry areas which are adjacent. We’ve been in this house for over 20 years and I’ve waited so long for this day!
Our current start date for the physical work is June 20th. On that day there will be a dumpster in the driveway and the demolition of the current kitchen will be underway. But I wouldn’t call that our ‘start’ date. I have spent the past several months designing the kitchen, then my contractor came over and walked through the project with me in early April. He had a couple of great ideas that generated some minor changes to the design. Then he worked a quote and following that I drew the final plan and submitted the application to the township for the building permit. The permit was approved about a week or so ago so we signed the contract and set the start day for the work. Because the cabinets I’m using have a long lead time, we actually ordered them before I even had the quote. I had to pay half upfront to order them too. That’s how trusting my relationship is with my contractor. This is our 5th project with him (and the largest one). He wrote the quote knowing that he would be awarded the project and I was okay with that.
Since this is a financial site, I’ll plan to share my costs as the project proceeds because I know that’s of interest here. So far, this is what I’ve spent:
$24,000.00 cabinets (2 of 2 payments included)
$12,233.00 initial labor payment
$309.50 building permit (admin & inspection charges)
$570.28 new laundry door (will be picked up by contractor)
So, $37,112.78 and work hasn’t even begun!
I should mention too that there are two far corners of the kitchen that are already done. I was able to have those done as smaller separate projects and it allowed us to live with the cabinet style, backsplash, and countertop for a couple of years before putting it throughout the kitchen. I used the same contractor for those projects.
Following are before & after photos of the 2023 kitchen corner #1 project. It was taking an empty wall section and turning it into a beverage station for our water filter and coffee machines. I still love it.
June 5th, 2025 at 05:08 pm 1749143302
June 6th, 2025 at 12:18 am 1749169114
June 6th, 2025 at 12:25 am 1749169542
June 6th, 2025 at 11:07 am 1749208037
June 6th, 2025 at 02:54 pm 1749221693
The cabinet company we used had three lines of cabinets and ours are the middle one - not the premium. It does also include cabinets for the laundry room, but they are mostly for the kitchen.
We are changing the layout (T with an island to a U) but I also had issues with our cabinets. They are cheap builder-special quality and don't go up to the ceiling.
PS, the backsplash is glass tile instead of ceramic. The charcoal color is on the back of the glass so it has a shiny look to it.
DS, I'm keeping up with your kitchen posts! Since you're ahead of me, it's good to see what's in store.
June 6th, 2025 at 06:47 pm 1749235678
We are changing the layout too. We eliminated an “L” shaped peninsula and opened up the center of the room. Moving the fridge, oven and cooktop, and microwave.
June 8th, 2025 at 08:03 pm 1749413029