How much will my new kitchen cost?
Money and Budgeting for Your New Kitchen
Today your kitchen is the most expensive room in the house. Not only is it filled with cabinetry and built-in storage, appliances, seating, utensils and cookware; it is also a point where all the hidden mechanical systems of the house converge including electricity, water, waste disposal, heating and air conditioning, lighting, telephone wiring, cable TV and future wiring for computer networks, audio-visual systems and other information systems on the near horizon.
It is expensive relative to other rooms because it has many more built-in furnishings and storage and more square feet of surfaces requiring decoration including counters, backsplashes, ceilings, soffits, flooring, cabinet doors and drawer fronts, etc. These surfaces are subject to more wear and tear than those found in other rooms. They are attacked by heat, cleaning chemicals, overzealous scrubbing, traffic and the constant wear and tear associated with a room that is often the hub of the house’s social activity.
It is also a room filled with cooking tools or as the French call it, the batterie de cuisine. Besides the significant expense of major appliances, there are the literally hundreds of other items found in every kitchen including pots and pans, utensils, dishes, linens, small appliances, cleaning supplies, food items like spices and condiments and furniture. Starting from scratch, even a small kitchen can become alarmingly expensive. Fortunately we tend to accumulate these items over time, often starting out with hand-me downs, wedding gifts and second-hand shop finds.
The materials used in kitchens also contribute to the price. Something as fundamental as a countertop can range in cost from $3 per square foot for laminate to 20 to 100 dollars per square foot for exotic stone or ceramic surfaces. When you consider that an average small kitchen has about 30 square feet of counter space, that granite counter top you’ve been craving suddenly becomes a major budget item. Add in exotic hardwoods for cabinetry, tile floors, wall coverings and other costly choices and you’ve got an expensive project.
We’ve posted a series of articles in our Money and Budgets category to help you understand your options and what you get at the basic, mid and high end of kitchen design.
