I don't think it's a question of cutting. It's more like 'this is what I can afford and now I will find wonderful things that will make me happy and fit in my budget." It's like everything else. When you shop for a car, it's not hard to shop within your budget. When you buy clothes is it Barneys or TJMaxx? I don't regret for a moment that it's not Barneys. I think it's the same with a kitchen. There were lots of nice extras, especially inside the cabinets that I would like, but it's just fine not having them. The same with high end appliances.
You will find a kitchen that suits your budget and makes you happy.

Cabinets is a great way to save money, step down a brand and you can still be happy and as mentioned above, take away some of the extras. I just cut my bill by $1700 (which is over 10% of my small $15,000 budget) by shopping around. I saved over $1000 on my Cambria alone by going to two different sources and quoting the exact same layout. I found people really willing to drop their prices if I shared my other quotes with them.

Get some items on your own. I told my KD I would provide the Silgranit sink. I could beat his price on Amazon.com.

Figure out what's most important to you and start there. I want solid cabinets, so I know I will need to spend a decent amount there. Not outrageous, but I know they won't be cheap. I'm more flexible with the rest. As much as I LOVE the beautiful granites posted here, it's the material for me as we are a bit lazy and clumsy, so sealing will be an issue and chipping of the counter and breaking glasses will be a concern. Might do quartz, might do seamless solid surface.

Also look at what you can easily change out later. Do you need to replace appliances? If they work, keep them and just make sure you remodel with an eye toward what you will replace with. Do you need an extra outlet? Reserve a drawer for the MW? Leave room for a built in oven? Etc. Our range and fridge quit ahead of our remodel, so they don't come out of that budget :-)

I have an initial very very rough estimate i'm working with. That was from before I dove in seriously to the forum here. I might have some choices to make, but I need better estimates first. Now I have my eye on a silgranite sink, some neat cabinet solutions, and a built in Advantium. I have a love/hate relationship with this place sometimes, lol!

I agree sixtyohno. My budget priorities went something like this:
compromises went in this order with most important to me listed first:
1. layout and structural considerations
2. good cabinetry first with all the extras I wanted on them and in them
3. appliances in the Kitchen Aid price bracket double wall oven, glass cooktop, dishwasher, garbage disposal, compactor, already had my refrigerator and I got a cheap microwave since we hardly use it
4. countertops (replaced several years later from Corian to granite)
5. faucet and sinks
6. lighting
7. knobs/pulls for cabinets
8. backsplash two years later
Flooring is same hardwood as the rest of the house

I also think it depends on what your budget is to begin with. I actually built my kitchen based on my favorite things from Pinterest and just shopping like I was going to build my kitchen. (I have existing cabinets and wasn't replacing any appliances except for cook top and hood. Counters are my grand expense.) Based on those things, I made my budget. I have my budget broken down as follows:
Sink
Cook top
Hood
Lighting
Stools
Counter
Backsplash
I got Sink, Cook top and hood for a savings of $150 by shopping Memorial day weekend. I want a counter that I adore. It is my #1 priority, so I got a $500 cook top instead of a $1K+ one. Because my BTU output isn't huge with that cook top, I was able to save on a hood as well. I did get a Blanco Sink, but I've owned stainless and porceline and figured I'd give granite composite a try.
As for what to cut if you need to-in my case, I really can't cut anywhere other than my priority. It isn't like I can cut $1000 from my cook top when I'm only spending $500 on it. I guess keeping old stuff COULD be an option, but I cannot really keep an undermount sink and my cook top is 25 years old and is gas and only 2 burners work properly.
Now if I had a $500 faucet and $1K sink, $2000 cook top and $1000 hood, I'd be able to cut to make room.

Also-you may have seen my thread about "settling". Here's my background to it. I had a vision of dark cabinets and dark granite counters. I went to the granite yards and priced out dark granites. THAT is what i based my budget off of. My Achilles Heel was that my cabinets were not restained and I didn't see the space they would be in COMPLETE until after I had made my budget. I have fabulous dark cabinets-and the space now will not allow for the dark granite I had envisioned-and priced. So now I'm faced with trying to find something I like in my set budget and I do not like the lighter granites that are in the price point of the other darker granites I had chosen. Had I waited until my kitchen was SET, I would have known to price lighter surfaces I liked instead. So, my best advice to you is to choose the element that you want to make your heart sing-it may be backsplash that is $75/sq foot, or a high end gas range because you are a gourmet. Price out that element first and then decide what elements you can get cheaper. For me, lighting, while so important in a kitchen, is easy to find GOOD quality on a budget. In fact, the pendants I like most I saw at Home depot for like $49 each. I love to cook, but with a family of 4, I'm not going to be cooking Hollandaise sauce anytime soon, so a 4 burner gas cooktop is FINE. Stools from Overstock.com for me are fine.

Also, I'm not a believer in racking up debt for home improvements, so you may have to work "backwards" if you have a set amount of money to work with off had as opposed to the freedom to price things out,get a rough budget and then go from there. My issue in the other thread is I did not have a set amount to work with.
And for stone shopping, best advice I can give is get an HONEST salesperson to help you. I'm kind of ticked at the guy who helped me where I saw the quartzite. I didn't have a fab/intaller yet, so I went in blind. I asked him how much it was and he said "In this price range". Well, the stinking price range on it was a span of $55!!!! I asked him "Can you give me an idea???" "No." So I fell in love, THEN had to get quotes and it was out of my range. I felt like a heel having to take them off hold because they were out of my range. The guy should have at least said "What is your budget?" and he didn't. I was afraid to tell him mine for fear he'd rake me over the coals if I chose a less expensive stone, so a catch 22.

I think in terms of 4 blockers....lay out 4 blocks, 2 x 2. Across the top, write Low cost and then high cost. Down one side, write low importance and high importance. Put your items in the boxes and cut back first on the ones that are high cost and low importance. Keep the stuff that is low cost and high importance. Compromise as necessary on the rest.

Another approach is to consider what is easy to change and what is hard to change. If it's easy to change then postpone it til later...like swapping out a faucet or cabinet hardware or light fixtures. If it's hard to change in the future, then stick with what you want.

Another approach is to shop, shop, shop ...try used stores like re-store....try ebay. For example, the plumbing store wanted to charge me over $500 for the hammered copper prep sink I wanted. I found it on ebay, brand new, for $125.

Best approach, try all techniques.

Remember you can let the process take time, to save money that way.

Delay backsplash, under-cabinet lighting (though not necessarily wiring decisions and work). Even go with plywood counters for a while.

Since most (all?) compromise is an offshoot of finances, it helps to be flexible and not to fall totally in love with something. We started out really wanting soapstone counters. Research started leading me to believe soapstone would be too expensive and I was looking into other stones, wood, even laminate (again, you have to be flexible), until this Saturday I went to Seattle and looked at some soapstone slabs for prices that were not much more than the expensive laminate installed price. Sure, I have to fabricate it myself, but so what. I can now afford soapstone again.

I think the key to compromising without giving up too much is to know when you have to pay full retail and when you can help yourself reach your goals by being patient and teaching yourself some skills to reach those goals.

I used to sell diamonds. You see people get all hung up on getting a "perfect" diamond, when the only truly perfect diamonds are man-made hah. Every real diamond is made of carbon, and at *some* higher magnification you will be able to those flecks. I often advised people to buy based on cut and color with good basic clarity, things that made the stone pretty, as opposed to a miniscule speck of inevitable carbon that they needed a strong magnification to even see. Unless you're buying investment grade diamonds, what are you worrying about?

Same with cabinets, and I've taken four down to the studs in prior remodelings. You can save a ton of money by not using plywood construction, especially on uppers where there's no pull-out drawers/weight issues. Take a look at lower priced cabinets to make good informed decisions. Make sure you have nice solid wood doors, though, and remember things like if you're using glass, on those cabs you'll want wood veneer on the interior. You'll want real wood skins on the ends, too.

But other than a few things like that, if your budget is tight, don't overpay for what you can't see and will never matter!

To me, flexibility was the key, plus shopping really, really hard for the best prices. I got all of my appliances as floor models or warehouse sales and saved big $$. I did get a different cooktop and dishwasher than I'd been thinking, but ended up with Miele so I can't complain. I compromised on cabinets in several ways (not going full custom, installing soffits instead of going to the ceiling, having a less expensive finish) to make the budget work. I also made sure our countertops stayed on the lower range for granite, and didn't shop the stone yards that stocked the highest priced slabs. I knew I'd fall in love with something really expensive if I did. The same with the light fixtures. I found something I liked that was reasonably priced, and stopped looking at anything else.

Some of the choices, like the cast iron sink I'd have made anyway but did save money there. I do have two splurges - my kitchen faucet and the accent tile for my backsplash. But I waited to buy the faucet until I spotted a good deal and there isn't a lot of the accent tile, but it will have a big impact, at least that's what I'm hoping. The kitchen isn't done yet, so I'll have to see if the splurges were worth it.

All in all, I'm happy with what we did, compromises and all. I wanted a big kitchen built for entertaining and was willing to make the compromises to get that.

Have made tons of compromises along the way - either for the budget or conceding to make DH happy.

I am spending on cabinets, appliances and countertops and saving on sinks, faucets, backsplash, lighting and floor (had to give up on chevron pattern and go with a straight laid hardwood floor because it saved $5K -- chevron would have been stunning but I'd rather have the other things mentioned above).

It's good to know what your top priorities are for the project and make the decisions to achieve your primary goal. Our primary goal was opening the kitchen up and adding more light, so the lion's share of the budget went into structural changes to make that possible. It left a very tight budget for countertops and cabinets, and so when shopping I handed the sales person a sketch of our required cabinets/countertops, and told them upfront our budget, and asked if they could please show me what they carried that would come in at that price point. It worked very well for me/us, most of the people we worked with were happy to work this way.

The other thing I did was to have the wiring put in for the island when the main part of the kitchen was renovated, but waited several months before ordering the cabinets and having it installed. This ended up not only being budget friendly, but also allowed me to get a better feel for size that would work best, as well as ended up with a finished floor underneath it, so that if anyone (us or future owner) would prefer to reconfigure or remove the island down the road they can/could.

I compromised on my counters...I love the look of marble but despite the optimistic voices here, I know myself and I know that I couldn't/wouldn't 1) spend constant vigilance on keeping counters pristine and 2) ignore the marred spots when the vigilance failed :).

So I got granite in the most neutral/calm pattern I could find. They are lovely and given that they replaced a 50+ year old disgusting original tiled counter they are incredibly better than what I had. But, my granite isn't something that is a highlight.

Having said that, the kitchen in its entirety is a joy and I still am thrilled that when people first visit my house they inevitably compliment me on the kitchen!

I don't think of it as compromising as much as being realistic with my budget. Sure, I drool over all the beautiful kitchens, but I simply cannot afford to do anything on that scale.

I am thrilled with my very modest mini-facelift, which consisted of a new faucet, new dishwasher, wall oven and microwave, a thorough cleaning and touch-up of my cabinets, and some paint. And I must say , even though I have the dreaded oak cabinets, switching from white to stainless appliances makes them look 100 times better. Sometimes small changes can make a huge difference.

When we planned our wedding, the wedding planner asked us to pick three adjectives to describe the way we wanted it. She gave us a long list of adjectives and we liked almost all of them, but we had to focus on three. The exercise felt silly at first but was a very useful thing, actually, in keeping us focused later through the small decisions. The Sweeby test (in the newbies thread) is similarly helpful for kitchens. Compromising in the service of your vision can be easier.

I love a bargain and am willing to hunt for it. We planned (and saved) for about three years before starting our remodel. I started shopping for it about a year and a half early. I took some risks with product, but it looks like we're okay. I shopped vintage, re-stores, my neighbor's trash (for a door I ultimately couldn't use), flea markets, Sears Outlet and Ebay.

When it came to the build, we made one main compromise. We had planned to move the laundry into the house from the garage and it was going into the new kitchen. Originally I was going to put it under the counter and add cabinetry. That would have added a six foot span of upper/lower cabinets plus a counter - which would have added costs. So we built a wall to separate the laundry from the pantry, stacked the laundry and I'm making a nice heavy drape to hang in front of the space.

Unlike some of the other posters, I don't buy something that I know I'm going to replace later. I'm of the mind set that it's wasteful of both resources and money. I don't look at things in real life that I can't afford. I take inspiration from magazines etc, then shop for similar things that are in my budget.

"Unlike some of the other posters, I don't buy something that I know I'm going to replace later. I'm of the mind set that it's wasteful of both resources and money. I don't look at things in real life that I can't afford. I take inspiration from magazines etc, then shop for similar things that are in my budget."

I just did a minor facelift, but I feel the same way. Even if the wasted money and resources didn't resonate with me (and it does), there's the fact that living with remodeling sucks and I'd rather have it done sooner than later. My kitchen is a place I enjoy working in, not a shrine to the kitchen gods. I also think it can be helpful to explore some older kitchens for a little perspective on what's really necessary for a beautiful, functional kitchen. Granite and soft close cabinets (while loved and appreciated by many) are recent trends and not mandatory for beauty or function (IMO).

It's all about compromise for me, either with dh and what he wants, or with myself and the price I want to pay for something.

It's hard not to want a gorgeous kitchen after seeing some of the ones posted here, and in magazines. I agree that it's better to set a budget and stay in it. We've found the hard way that it's also good to have an amount budgeted for the unexpected, the big uh-oh. We've uncovered more than one of those in this house before, but so far on our current project we haven't encountered any expensive surprises.

I've found that there is nearly always a less expensive substitute for things. I don't know if you watch the Nate Berkus show, but he does a segment where he has two, nearly identical items (the cheaper one being from Lowe's) and has his guest try to guess which one is the expensive one.

I'm used to doing this, both from hanging out with design engineers who have a 'budget' of power and current and a "floorplan" you need a microscope to see, and from my designing landscapes and buying printed matter. We all work starting from "what is this required to do" towards choosing the MOSFET or shade tree or paper that is best for the job.

It's all a compromise ... one way to make it easier is to focus on the purpose, the intended effect and the end result, not the specific details like product names and model numbers.

Focus first on what the item has to do, on its properties, because if you get the functional parameters nailed down you will decrease the field of candidates ... if it has to be easy to care for and stain resistant, there goes white marble. Look at stain resistant light materials.

I agree with everyone who said to prioritize and focus on function, then make compromises in the less important things. It's all trade-offs. But in the end, your new kitchen will be wonderful anyway.

I told my rose story last year, but it seems fitting again in this thread.

I tried to grow a lovely apricot tea rose, but it turned out that there was too much shade and too much clay in the soil. It died off, but sprouts came up from the root, where the tea had been grafted on a hardy shrub rose. The shrub rose tolerated the lack of light and the lousy soil, it didn't get black spot, and it bloomed its little red head off. I learned that you can't always get what you want, but sometimes what you get ends up being even better.

This happened in my kitchen redo, when I couldn't bring myself to spend $7000 so I could have french doors on my oven. But my new Electrolux oven self-cleans, which the expensive one didn't. I never had a self-cleaning oven, so I didn't know how wonderful it was. I am so happy never to have to use Easy Off ever again. (no offense, Easy Off.)

Agree with the above posters and just wanted to add my story. We had lived in our house for 15 years or so prior to remodeling. The vinyl was torn and uncleanable, the few drawers we had couldn't be coaxed into working any longer, and we had a peninsula with cabinets that hung so low you couldn't see the folks on the other side (even sitting). We had turned the desk into a pantry thanks to my husband and dad, and it helped but I didn't really know how to make it work well (this was before I became acquainted with the Kitchen forum!).

One day my closest friend came over and we just decided on the spot to take down the cabinets over the peninsula. I packed away the excess stuff (there was plenty) and put the rest in the pantry, and down they came.

I cannot describe that moment. It was like magic: from closed and difficult to stripped down, light and open. My husband walked in (he had been gone about an hour) and stopped cold. Then he asked, "So are we done remodeling?"

I swear we could have stopped right then and it would have been enough (until I tried to open AND close the drawers). But it also made me realize that a lot of the overhaul we did was somewhat unnecessary in terms of having a functional kitchen, since I can get used to a lot of silly things and manage just fine out camping with almost nothing. Once we fixed a few layout issues the rest was really just about choosing things that pleased us and that we could afford. So I shopped hard, had a few splurges, and ended up with a wonderful kitchen thanks to all the folks here and a cab company/kd who listened to my wishes.

I think the blessing and the curse of this forum is how much information there is, and how much shared experience there is. It is easy to succumb to the cyber pressure/HGTV view of what is needed, but it also helps each of us realize that just picking out any old thing may not actually save money, and may not work as well as the well researched and shopped for item. I didn't need a granite counter, and would have been content with laminate (yeah, so I say, and then we found this yummy stuff...). We needed a new sink, and I loved how the apron front made it easier to reach in, but really, something else would have worked just as well and not significantly changed my vision of the kitchen. Cabinets need to be durable and laid out well, but a quick survey of appropriate threads on this site will show multiple ways to compromise on cost without having cabinets that won't last.

At any rate, what I think all of us hope to avoid is spending (any amount of) money and regretting the amount or the purchase. As someone said above, it is ALL compromise in some way or another. Even if you have absolutely unlimited funds, can start fresh with a piece of bare ground and the world's greatest designer and architect, there will be compromises. But I think what this thread is getting at is where the budget can be most effectively trimmed up front without compromising anything critical, and how to best approach that, and I think there was some great advice on that issue.