If you’re a Fixer like us, it’s pretty much a given that you’re going to be renovating kitchens. If you’re just starting out, you’ll soon find that you NEED to know how to save money on each and every kitchen renovation.
So far we’ve lived in 3 different homes WHILE we fixed them, from top to bottom. And we’ve done FIVE full kitchen renovations (the first house was a duplex and third reno was our church’s parsonage).
How to Save Money on a Kitchen Renovation
Certain things are pretty standard with most projects, so we’ll focus on some of the most important ways you can save money on a kitchen renovation here.
#1 Buy RTA Cabinets Online
RTA stands for Ready To Assemble. The cabinets come in individual flat-pack boxes with all the parts needed and instructions on how to assemble each one (sans glue, you’ll want a good wood glue).
If you’re a Fixer with even a little experience, this job is a piece of cake. Hubby can put a large cabinet together by himself in 5 minutes or less.
We have used Lily Ann Cabinets for our second (Fixer #2) and fourth (Fixer #3) renovations. Our third reno, our new pastor, his wife and littles were moving in soon, so we went with a company that had a shorter lead time. We regretted it because the quality wasn’t even comparable.
According to Home Depot’s kitchen calculator, a kitchen equivalent to the size and quality of Fixer #3’s would be a 60-70K project.
Buying the cabinets online for Fixer #2 (kitchen AND bathroom), we spent about 6k.
The cabinets for Fixer #3, (with a much larger and more ‘gourmet’ kitchen), were a little over 8K.
When you’re looking at RTA cabinets, look for:
- soft close doors and drawers
- box construction – solid plywood (even if they’re painted)
- drawer construction – solid wood dovetail design
We have never regretted buying RTA cabinets. When we build someday, I’m sure we’ll go with them too. They are a great way to save money on a kitchen renovation.
#2 Bundle Appliances and Buy Online
In Fixer #3 we looked around at local appliance stores and searched online for reviews. We knew we liked the Frigidaire Professional and Gallery line of appliances.
However, $$$$.
The Professional fridge went on a huge sale and we almost bit, but decided we wanted everything to match as much as possible.
(The handles on each appliance are markedly different from the Gallery to Professional).
The other matching appliances would take the budget to numbers we didn’t like (read: have).
So we settled on the Gallery. We got quotes from local appliance stores and Lowes, Home Depot, etc.
We did internet searches on each piece:
- built in microwave
- double ovens
- 25+cu. ft. french door, bottom freezer fridge
- dishwasher
We found the best deal at an internet company.
Note: Sometimes you can get a price match from a local company. We love to support local, but ours did not offer that, so we went with the best deal.
How to save money on a kitchen reno when you want higher-end appliances
We still needed a range and vent hood.
I wanted a 36″ gas rangetop (instead of the standard 30″) and a wall mount range hood (instead of an under cabinet range hood, or over-the-stove microwave).
I also did NOT want a drop in range with countertop around it.
There were several brand options in that category:
- Thor
- Bertazonni
- Wolf
- Viking
- Thermadoor
- BlueStar
- Zline
The first thing I noticed was MOST of them are INSANELY expensive. Like I’m talking 3-4 THOUSAND dollars expensive.
Thor and Zline were the most affordable, and honestly, most to my liking cosmetically.
Ultimately, after seeing numerous raving reviews, blog posts and Instagram pictures of different ranges and ovens, we bit the bullet and went with Zline.
We are extremely, extremely happy we did.
Why we love our 36inch Zline Rangetop:
- It’s gorgeous, high-end and professional looking
- It has 6 burners, all but two are different sized for different purposes
- Fitting a pot and skillet next to each other is so easy
- The burner knobs are big, chunky and easy to see if they are on and what setting, even from afar
- It’s easy to clean – the three grates and burners are easy to remove and wash, and the cooktop has less indentations to get gunk stuck in
The rangetop makes cooking with SIX separate pots/pans/skillets amazingly easy. We had a 30″ five burner stove in the last house and could easily use only TWO burners at a time.
We also found the best deal online.
If you’re looking online be sure to take into account:
- Shipping costs
- Email sign-up deals (some offer 5, 10 or even 20% off coupons for handing over your email address, which you will to order anyway)
- Taxes
- Time-frame of delivery (if you have to wait extra long that can end up costing you in other ways)
The vent hood we didn’t need to be extra special.
We wanted the high-end look of a wall mount and the kitchen was plenty big that we were able to lose the above cabinet space easily.
I also wasn’t sure about the hoods that have curved glass. I felt it might be a nightmare to scrub from grease splatters.
We found an affordable one on homedepot.com and ordered it. It came to just under $150 and adds a high-end look to the kitchen.
Take-away: You can find high-end appliances without paying high-end prices.
#3 Sell Your Old Cabinets and Appliances
Of the 5 kitchens we’ve renovated so far, we have experience with this for two of them.
The 1st & 2nd, we refinished the cabinets ourselves or used them the way they were.
3rd were DIY cabinets built INTO the wall. Only way to get them out was demo. Bottoms were repurposed to the garage.
4th reno, we sold the cabinets for $350.
These were the 4th:
The cabinets were real wood, but not in good shape. Note also that they were different styles.
These were the fifth kitchen cabinets:
The fifth, we sold for $250.
We made just under $1,000 from that kitchen, once we sold the appliances and cabinets.
You’ll notice the cabinets were not real wood, were damaged, old and cruddy.
Remember, just because you don’t want them doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t.
#4 Shop EARLY and shop around to save money
We found this gorgeous backsplash at Lowe’s and I knew we HAD to put in this kitchen.
Only problem was, it was $15 EACH PIECE.
That would’ve been close to $1,000 just for the backsplash.
Yes, some people can spend that, we could not. We weren’t ready for it yet, so I waited and watched it at Lowe’s. The price never budged.
So Ryan suggested looking online to see if I could find anything similar I could live with. Begrudgingly, I did, and much to my shock and awe, after typing in ‘green and grey backsplash tile’, I FOUND THE EXACT SAME TILE.
It was less than HALF THE PRICE. We spent under $400 for the entire kitchen.
I would share exactly where I found it, except this deal is gone. (I looked for the upstairs bathroom remodel).
The point I’m trying to make is, you can often find similar styles, or even the exact same item, at better prices if you look around and give yourself enough time to take your time.
#5 Work on your local craftsman connections
Whether you’re a fixer or just DIY-ing your own renovation, you need connections.
When we moved for Fixer #3, we left behind all our connections.
Our countertop guy was a good 2 hours away from our new house, but we still went with him for our kitchen. He was able to build the counters from Ryan’s measurements and got them to us by sending them with Ryan’s dad when we came out. He’s amazing and completely worth it.
Often when you work with someone enough times, whether it be an individual or a company, you build a good rapport. That usually means you can save money and add a high end product to your project.
It’s a win-win for everyone involved – they get repeat business and you get a high-quality, reliable service or product every time.
Bonus tip on how you can save money on a kitchen reno:
We already talked about shopping online for appliances, but you can actually find a TON of the home reno supplies you need online too.
Like this: did you know that knobs and pulls at home depot or lowes, are MANY TIMES more expensive than buying a bundle of them online?! Barn door tracks are many times more expensive at HD than they are at Amazon. You NEED to price-shop.
Don’t be afraid to shop online stores for anything and everything, including:
- faucets – sink, bathtub, shower, kitchen
- light fixtures – vanity, exterior, ceiling fan, pendant, chandelier
- outlet covers
- cabinet knobs and pulls
- shelving brackets
- natural, non-toxic poly and stain
- natural, non-toxic paint and primer
- barn doors – finished and unfinished
- barn door hardware
- flooring – hardwood, engineered hardwood, laminate, luxury vinyl, throw rugs
- tools – (like these that we love)
- shiplap or reclaimed wood
- under cabinet lighting
- even furniture – bar stools, dining tables, bedroom sets, coffee tables, couches
Don’t get me wrong, we love shopping and supporting local.
But when you’re knee-deep in a renovation where you need to stretch your dollar as far as it goes, don’t forget to compare prices at online stores too.
Quick Review of How to Save Money on a Kitchen Renovation
- Don’t be afraid to buy RTA cabinets online, you likely don’t need a pro to assemble them.
- Bundle appliances & buy online if that’s where the deals are.
- Sell your old appliances and cabinets for $ towards the renovation.
- Shop before you need the appliance or product so you can shop around before settling.
- Work your local craftsman connections.
And those are our best tips for saving money on a kitchen renovation!
Have you done a major kitchen renovation?? If so, share in the comments ways that you worked your budget to include the things you wanted!
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