It sounds very low. But then I don't know your location, size of the kitchen/bath, and the amount of work to be done. It might be almost cosmetic, it might be a gut, it might be anything in between, so..

Some details will be helpful.

Which materials you are looking for? Cabinetry? Flooring? Tiles? Slabs? Fixtures? Lighting? What is your plan? What is to be done?

I am in southern Illinois. The kitchen is 350 sq ft and the bath 110 sq ft. The kitchen is getting a complete redo: rearranging floor plan a little by taking out a pantry and moving fridge across the room to where pantry once was--also adding a peninsula between kitchen and main living area, cabinetry, faucet, countertop, backsplash, flooring, vent hood going in where there wasn't one before. For the bathroom, not as significant: Taking out a linen closet that separates tub and shower. Replacing tub with stand alone tub, increasing size of shower. Building curved wall behind tub and tiling curved wall and wall above it. All new tile surround for shower. Flooring, paint walls, new shower and sink fixtures, lighting. We aren't looking to go high end, but get the best quality within our budget.

This was SO extremely helpful!! It gives me such a great place to start! THANK YOU! May I ask where you got your cabinet hardware?

You can also save by looking at second hand/vintage (not time and hassle though..just money)). Say, I had to install 3 vanities. The master bath one was part of the quote and was custom made. Two others, I found on Craigslist-200 each, one with the faucet already. 90% of lighting fixtures are from Etsy/E Bay/Craigslist. Some of these were a pain to fit though..several vintage European ones. The wires were fine..it was mostly small details like cross bars and canopies etc. So if you go that route-check all the details with the vendor. Or buy just locally. I had to fit all the house with lighting though, and that was my only way to save and get the lighting I love. Out remodel was a complete gut. You probably don't need that many lights at once.

We found sinks for the master bath on a huge sale..appliances mostly too. Again, more legwork to save the money.

We used internet big time for plumbing parts-but it took so much time and was such a PITA, that if you ask me right now-I'd rather pay more..:)

Every time you order something, whether in store or online, make sure you know what is the production(in case there must be production first) and delivery time. Seemingly simple differences in metal finishes can lead to weeks of additional waiting. I wouldn't call our remodel high end-but the house has a certain character and I needed tiles etc that were simply less available.. hours and hours of research and legwork and then waiting for them being made, delivery, etc, The moment you go with what is more widely available-the more time, hassle, and -in some cases-money you'll save.

You can get decent hardware for the doors for example in Home Depot/Lowes. Check them online..they don't have everything they sell on the floor.

I got cabinet hardware from Anthropologie, and it was quite decently priced too. But then I didn't need that much-the kitchen is on the smaller side.

I won our kitchen hood on e Bay for $100)) It's a good model ...we hunted it patiently, and I got lucky.

As you see we took our time with finding the right materials(some, I would save my time and nerves, but some, I'm happy I took my time..it made the house work for us), which drove our GC crazy..he drove us even more crazy by not sending people for weeks at a time-it's a construction boom right now, especially here where we're at.

The more prepared you'll be with your materials, the faster your job will run..but still expect delays, materials get discontinued, workers at the port strike so your flooring comes late..all the blah blah that can happen while remodeling.

And the more you'll know what you want, from design point of view-the easier it will be to get your materials.

It should be easier in your case...you have a house around you already, something to mentally lean on..we had lots of two by fours..:) and I was lets say a designer..)) and I never was before. It's a full time job..

HandyMac is extremely helpful in his comment, explaining how much difference things can make, things that you didn't imagine being that important, simply because you never encountered them before.

I'm going to cut myself short before I continue about how some people can do curved walls and some-not exactly lol..Good luck to you!

It's very overwhelming, but eventually, everything will fall into a place.

Ah. Ask a lot of questions. Ask the GC, the counter guy, the cabinet guy.. For example nobody asked me "how you gonna finish that backsplash?"..I'm a newbie, I never remodeled before. I didn't find the Houzz yet back then..no idea it has to be finished somehow?! Running back to the store, ordering more tile, waiting for a month until it comes.

Ask absolutely everything..lots of mistakes happen because of the lack of communication-they suppose you know, you suppose they know.

Naomi, here is the hardware URL:http://www.amerockforless.com/