Whenever we are working with clients to plan out either a new build or remodel, I always like to discuss the cost of kitchen cabinets first because they can be the most expensive piece of the project. For this reason it is important to figure out the overall budget for the kitchen remodel cost and then identify exactly what you want to do for the cabinets, so that you can figure out how much to allot for other areas of the design (that can also be quite costly depending on what they are). Of course brand new kitchen cabinets are certainly nice, but there are definitely other ways to completely change the look of a space without having to commit to that type of cost. You could keep the same finish and swap out countertops, light fixtures and backsplashes, or you can paint the existing units for an entirely different look.
Let me be the first to tell you that the cost of kitchen cabinets is certainly not cheap -- in fact it can totally break your budget if you are not careful (I speak from personal experience here). When we remodeled our home, I knew that I wanted to gut the space and get rid of the cheap kitchen cabinets that came with the house. I absolutely adore cooking and throwing dinner parties for friends and family so this was the one room that I wanted to splurge in. Well splurge I did! Once the room was empty and I started looking at custom kitchen cabinet ideas to fill the space, I was completely blown away by the price tag. Looking at my beautiful white kitchen now I would definitely do it over again, but I think that I would have planned things out a lot differently at least as far as budgeting goes.
With the average cost of kitchen cabinets being so high, I am constantly on the lookout for either cheaper alternatives or ways to reuse existing units. For this particular remodel, we opted for the former because the client was really interested in a lot of the modern kitchen design 2022 trends and their outdated units simply could not be revamp to go with the look. Luckily IKEA has a lot of awesome and inexpensive options for cabinetry that are surprisingly good quality and, most importantly for this space, go really well with a modern vibe. All of the cabinets you see here were bought at the store for a fraction of the cost of going elsewhere and, even better, I truly think that they were the best kitchen cabinets to achieve the sleek all-white look that we were going for here.
My husband and I have been grappling with the decision of whether or not to invest in the cost of kitchen cabinets or if we should just refinish the existing ones with paint or a darker stain. We have known for awhile that we have to update our kitchen design because we think that it really dates our otherwise beautiful home. The cabinets are in surprisingly good condition and it looks like they were all custom made, so I hate to rip them all out and start fresh. I was thinking that, to avoid the cost of new kitchen cabinets, we could paint these units white and then at some quartz countertops and maybe even put hardwoods down on the floor to coordinate with the rest of the house. I think that we could probably save at least ten to twenty thousand just by avoiding buying all new cabinets but it would still look like a completely renovated space.
My eyeballs almost dropped out of my head when I realized the cost of kitchen cabinets while we were planning out the cost of our remodel project. I had absolutely no idea that something as seemingly simple as neutral white kitchen designs with simple cabinets would be so outlandishly expensive. I won't complain too much because I truly do love the look of our finished kitchen, but wow I wish that we could have accomplished this minimalistic look on a lower budget. For anybody wanting to recreate our design or achieve something similar, I definitely think that you could easily swap kitchen cabinet colors with white paint and it would look nearly the same. I would do everything that I could to avoid the dang cost of new units.
The cost of kitchen cabinets is just so high and, quite frankly, that simple fact is what has deterred us from undertaking a remodel project at our house. The home in these photos is pretty much our dream house and I would copy every single detail if I could. But, with the average cost of kitchen cabinets in the tens of thousands, we simply don't have the funds to pull that off. For that reason, I am looking into other creative ways to accomplish a similar look but by recycling our old oak cabinets, or maybe even trying to find some at Habitat for Humanity restore or some other type of consignment situation. I absolutely love to cook, so a kitchen remodel is high on my list of dreams for this home -- I just want to make sure that we do it the right way and don't get ourselves into a financial pickle in the process.
