One of your pictures scares me: that "kitchen" labeled one, showing a big chunk chopped out of what looks like a load-bearing wall.

If that wood was holding up the roof or an upper story, yuo need to fix the problem pretty soon or things will start sagging.

Kathi, what's your budget and do you know what color cabinets you want?

It was a wall that was in front of the door in the kitchen that the previous owners put up and wee took down when I moved in.

I'm really not sure what my budget is all I know is that I need to budget everyting.

I was either thinking about veneer wood, white, or black cabinets. Not sure.

Thanks

Kathi

Do you like a modern look? Are you near an IKEA?

Yeah, you can't beat ikea for a great modern looking kitchen on a budget, if that's an option for you.

Yes I like the modern look. I don't know where the closest IKEA is around here.

If you live in the US, you can use the link below to find the closest IKEA store...

I've been looking at your pictures, but I'm still not totally clear on the layout. If you call the wall with the sink and the window the north wall, there are no doors on that wall, right? Can you give us measurements from the northwest corner to the edge of the window opening, the width of the window, and then from the window to the northeast corner? Continue around the room like that, telling us where the doors are on the east, south, and west walls, so we can match up the photos with the sketch in your first picture on photobucket.

Take a look at the "readme" thread for the forum if you haven't already. Are you hoping to use the island as your only seating, or do you want to allow space for a table and chairs? For 4, or for 6?

Here is a link that might be useful: find a store near you

Asking for help with a budget kitchen without telling us the budget is like asking how high is the sky! Average kitchen remodels in the US are around 30K, so anything under that could qualify as "budget", or if you are in an area of million dollar homes, a 50K remodel could be considered budget. I'm going to assume that you mean closer to the first number than the last!

What are your must haves, regardless of budget? Granite countertops? Pro range? Specialty sink? WHat item(s) do you want to see everytime you walk in your kitchen?

THe first budget stretcher is DIY labor. Whatever you can do, you won't have to pay to have done. Can you do the demo? Tiling? Painting? Cabinet install? What skills can you bring to the table?

If you plan for a 20K kitchen, then about half that number is usually allocated for cabinets, which viewing the pics, you will need to replace as your layout isn't functional as is. So, 10K for cabinets as you can't easily replace those down the road. New appliances? Check scratch and dent stores to make your budget stretch further with that. Say 4K if you want to be in the modest range. Countertops? Granite at 4K or laminate for now for 1K? Flooring? Cork at 5K or sheet vinyl at 1K? Lighting? Wall paint? Pulls? You're already over budget! So, make a list of priorities and hit Ebay and Craig's List and discount stores.

But, get the layout right, and get the cabinets right FIRST. Just about everything else can be redone later when the budget is more expansive.

To clarify...
You have a kitchen that's, overall, 15'3" x 16'0".

Needs... This kitchen must be both kitchen space and table space for at least 3 (since you have no other table space, I recommend seating for at least 6)
The sink and range must stay where they are
Improvement of functionality

Wants... Island

Please note that you are limiting the location of the major appliances/fixtures in two of the three primary work zones...this will limit what can be done to fix the functionality of your kitchen. Can you show us the current layout and point out what you don't like about it? If we cannot fix everything, maybe we can zero in on what bothers you the most and try to fix what we can within the stated limitations.

Is the reason you cannot move the sink and range budget? Something else?

Primary zones: Prep Zone - workspace very close to a water source & near the range (usually b/w the range & cleanup sink if there is only one sink in the kitchen). Ideally, it should have at least 36" of clear counterspace
Cooking Zone - range is center and should have both landing space and workspace (they can be shared IF you have adequate space on both sides of the range). Ideally, 24" on each side of the range. One side can overlap with the Prep Zone...as long as there is at least 36" in the Prep Zone and at least 18" on the other side of the range. (When overlapping, NKBA does say to take the largest needed space and add 12"...)
Cleanup Zone - sink & DW and should have workspace around it that does not overlap with the Prep Zone. Ideally, at least 24" on both sides that does not overlap. If a one-sink kitchen, be sure the DW is not in the Prep Zone...put it on the other side of the sink.

Basic workflow in a kitchen:

Refrigerator/Pantry --> Prep Zone & sink --> Range --> Table or sink --> Cleanup & sink & DW

Questions Where is the window?
What are the widths of each wall/window/doorway and distances b/w each wall/window/doorway?
What are the rooms around the kitchen? Can you post a floor plan of the first floor?
Where does the family enter from the outside? Is it through the kitchen?

I apologize, but other than overall dimensions, it's not clear to me what the floor plan/general space of your kitchen is. Can you draw up your kitchen on graph paper with all the dimensions labeled, doors & windows marked, and the rooms around it labeled? (Download graph paper from the internet for free, Google "graph paper")

BTW...many people here have IKEA cabinets and really like them. IKEA can be a real budget-saver and may let you move some things you thought you couldn't afford to move (like the sink and/or range). I suggest you check out the IKEA kitchens on the Finished Kitchens Blog (FKB) to see them installed in a real home.

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA Kitchens in the FKB

A budget kitchen remodel is very doable, especially if you're able to do the labor yourself. I really recommend looking into IKEA cabinets. Even if you have to drive a good distance to get to one, it'll be worth it. Our kitchen remodel was about $8k (if I remember correctly), not including the flooring (because we did the whole first floor in the same flooring and I didn't price it out separately). No labor costs, because we did all of the work ourselves or with family help. We used: IKEA cabinets (under $3k for everything including cabinet pulls - you don't need $10k for cabinets!), formica counters, stainless steel appliances that are not anything fancy, lighting from IKEA, and not too many fancy things. We did splurge on an instant-hot tap, but other than that, we did a pretty basic kitchen. It is our first home and couldn't afford to do anything fancy. That said, we're really happy with it. Oh, and the backsplash is tumbled marble that we got for free from a family member who bought it and then didn't use it.

Here's what an $8k kitchen can look like (not great photos, but you get the idea! Most were taken before we were totally finished):

I LOVE my IKEA cabs- granted I have no door yet...but the FUNCTION of these things are to die for! I am ordering doors from Scherr's, which I will paint. Because I am ordering unfinished, they are even cheaper than a comparable door style at IKEA.

Me too, me too! Love love these IKEA cabs. I am also doing custom door/drawer fronts, and I can tell you that I have 70 door and drawer fronts (also unfinished), including 5 tall pantry doors, and my cost of all those doors is less than $2000, delivered to my home!

I also have IKEA butcher block on my peninsula and as the bench top to my banquette/bench seat. IKEA BB is very, very affordable.

I must admit that every time I walk into my kitchen and fully pull out one of those smoooooooooth drawers, I feel pretty darned smart! ;^)

Another IKEA voter here. We just finished a complete reno and came in under 14K. . . including cabinets, Kitchen Aid range and fridge, Bosch DW and 60 square feet of Zodiaq quartz.

As mentioned earlier, the solution is tons of DIY. We did all demo, hauled to the dump, built two walls, ran wiring, hung and finished drywall, built cabinets and installed them, installed the backsplash and range hood and painted. The only labor we paid for was the plumber and whatever was lumped in with the cost of the quartz countertop.

The second solution is IKEA cabinets. We have 27' of cabinets with virtually all deep drawers with full extension glides. The cost including hardware and end panels was about $2,600. And our are mid-grade in the IKEA range (Nexus yellow-brown).

The quartz was our splurge. Had we skipped it and gone with formica we would have probably been right around 10K.

Ah, yes. Cupboard doors ripped off their hinges. I had several of those before the remodel. :-)

Not sure what the time line on the roll out is in the US but HD is picking up a new line of RTA cabinets from Canada called Eurostyle which is very similar to Ikea (frameless, adjustable feet, hanging rail for uppers, full extension, soft close drawers, 3\4 inch melamine impregnated particleboard construction). Differences would be less assembly (drawers are sold assembled) and more cabinet choices but fewer accessories. No painted finishes and I think all the wood style doors are in Birch. Totally targeted at pursuing the Ikea buyer. No Ikea in your area then check your HD for this product. I don't work for these folks but my Mom used their stock line in her kitchen and has been very happy (they also do a more semi-custom line for HD's in Canada). I'm planning on using the Eurostyle in my kitchen reno when I have the money saved.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eurostyle from Fabritec

Hmm, based on what HD has considered acceptable in the past (their current line of fake ikea for example, or MillsPride), I'd not wait ten minutes to see what they come up with, especially these days when they're in pretty desperate financial shape.

Another vote for IKEA! We just started using our not-quite-finished kitchen 3 days ago, but my husband is absolutely IN LOVE with the functionality (lotsa soft-close drawers).

You can save a ton on the labor. I was able to assemble and install almost all of them solo. DH helped me muscle around the bigger corner cabs. The installation was amazingly painless!

We've had IKEA for over 5 years in our kitchen, and I love it. We needed about 25 cabinets (including 3 tall pantry cabinets) and I wanted lots of drawers. We used the adel white on the majority. On the island we used liljestad (which is solid oak) and I repainted them matte black (milk paint).

To get the same number of cabinets with the number of drawers and same quality hardware (full extension slides) would have cost many times over what we paid at Ikea. I think we paid about $8k at ikea for everything and it would have been at least $40k anywhere else.

We have white cabinet boxes with the adel white and birch cabinet boxes with the liljestad. I have to stay I prefer the birch boxes now that I've been using them for so many years. The white has held up fine, but I think the birch looks brand new and is a teensy bit easier to keep clean.

We installed all the cabinets ourselves by the way. Our kitchen was 90% DIY. The ikea cabs were time-consuming because we had so many, but with a little planning, they were one of the easiest parts of the kitchen. The first tall pantry gave us a little trouble because our walls and floors are not very close to plumb and square. The kitchen remodel made my DH give up most of his desire to DIY stuff around the house, but he's still happy to do the IKEA cabs. He put some up in our laundry room last year. And he said he'd be happy to use them in a bathroom, even if we need to change the depth.

We did our island with a combo of base and wall cabs from Ikea then put a 7' x 4' marble countertop on it. No problem. In fact, Ikea has a bigger selection of cabinet sizes than they did in 2004 when we bought ours that make islands even easier.

I've read great things about vinyl flooring and cork on these boards. I'd do a search either here or in the flooring forum for those.

We have a trash compactor next to our sink. The dishwasher is on the other side of the sink. It's worked great for us.

We have a tall narrow pantry cab next to our refrigerator. I ended up using it for kids crafts supplies but originally planned to use it for a broom closet.

As far as layout, if you decide to keep all your current electrical and plumbing locations and go with Ikea, it'd probably help to check out the different sizes of cabs and see what fits where.