Hi Jayne! The total budget includes pretty much everything, though there are always extra costs. We found out we couldn't reuse the six-panel pine door that has to be removed between the kitchen and dining room for our basement door because it swings the wrong way. We ended up going and buying a new door for that and will reuse the dining room door upstairs as we've been slowly replacing the bedroom doors and still have a couple to do.

So our budget includes all the labor beyond the basic kitchen stuff (installing flooring, cabinets, plumbing, wiring, etc.) like installing the two new doors, installing headers and opening up to the dining room and opening up a pass-through to the family room. The new flooring will run from our front door, through the hallway into the kitchen, through the back hallway to the back door and on through the laundry room. Flooring was a big deal because it was going to cover so much more area than just the kitchen. We also had to figure out how to put down something that will blend with the original wood floors we have in rooms on either side of the front door (living room and dining room), and it had to stand up to people coming in and out both doors (snow, water, dirt) and be practical in the kitchen as well. Since I just had foot and leg surgery a few months ago and my foot still bothers me some, and part of the flooring will be over a crawl space that tends to make the floors cold in those areas, I wasn't a fan of hard, cold ceramic tile. Too hard for my foot issues, especially if I spend a lot of time standing in the kitchen. Hardwood was out because although I love the look in a kitchen, I know how often we spill and drop things. We're also going to have our first refrigerator with an ice/water dispenser. Hate to think what a leak would do to a hardwood floor...and it would have to blend nicely at the front door with the original hardwood in the rooms next to it. These are the things I think of as I lay in bed at night!!! :)

My sister has luxury vinyl tile and LOVES it. Although I didn't want to compromise on materials, vinyl tile made the most sense to us. We ended up choosing Tarkett Permastone Luxury Vinyl tile in "Bombay Clouded Ebony". Our cabinets are Schuler "Allentown" http://www.schulercabinetry.com/TheLook/DoorGallery/DoorDetail?Door=ef9d9b13-38d7-42f8-8727-70de3c69aa44 for the main cabinets in painted maple "White Chocolate". The island will be Schuler "New Haven" http://www.schulercabinetry.com/TheLook/DoorGallery/DoorDetail?Door=e235a0ed-744f-49a8-ab2c-d52ae6ebc46b in cherry wood stained "Chestnut". The quartz countertops ran around $5,000 for two different colors, Allen & Roth "Tacana" on the perimeter white cabinets and Allen & Roth "Angel Ash" with an ogee edge on the island. Man, that ogee detail is expensive, but I think it'll make the island stand out.

Our budget does include our appliances, which I think we got a great deal on. We are re-using our existing dishwasher because it isn't that old and works great. So we only had to buy the fridge, stove, and microwave. We chose a GE Profile dual-fuel free-standing range with five-burner gas top with grill/griddle and large convection oven and warming drawer, a GE Profile convection microwave which will go over our stove and vent outside, and a 30.7 cu. ft. LG refrigerator. We're going from barely 20 cu. ft. to 30. Some people have warned us that the refrigerator will take over our kitchen with its size, but I don't think so....and the idea of not having to stack things in our refrigerator four high and shutting the door fast sounds good to me!

Our electrical entrance is something that we'd been thinking about doing and decided that while they were here updating the kitchen, it made sense to upgrade the electrical panel at the same time. We started out with a $40,000 budget, and we're hoping to get it all in under that...aiming for closer to $35,000 if possible. We already have pendant lights we ordered from Pottery Barn. They're really pretty and very unique, but I'm not sure of the chicken wire look http://www.potterybarn.com/products/harlow-outdoor-pendant/?pkey=cpendants&cm_src=pendants||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_--_- . I saw them in a kitchen picture and loved them though. We're going for a farmhouse sink, classic, traditional look, and I think these would be a unique addition. We also have lights coming that are almost identical to the Pottery Barn Hundi lanterns. Not sure which we'll choose. We also bought a bridge-style faucet in brushed nickel for the farmhouse sink and a smaller prep faucet for the sink in the island.

Here are some of the Houzz photos that I love and that really brought ideas together for our kitchen! These are the ones in my binder.



Here is the photo of the Pottery barn (chicken wire) lights that inspired me to order them. I love the look, but I'm not sure I want the fact that they're made out of chicken wire to be the focus. I worry too much. :)
http://s1084.photobucket.com/user/boffeys/media/Boffey%20kitchen/127.jpg.html

It's so nice to come on here and talk kitchens with people who get as excited about it as I do! I love home improvement, beautiful gardens, browsing paint colors, etc. My husband is equally excited about this kitchen renovation, but he doesn't get quite as excited about the details as I do!

Sue