That sounds like a lot of cabinets for a good sized kitchen. You're probably not over spending. Incredible as it seems, $25K is considered a modest amount for new cabinetry. Could you reduce the price by not ordering lower drawers vs cabinets, not ordering any specialty cabs like a super susan, a pantry, etc.? Probably, but it may not be worth it in terms of function.

I'm presuming that Lowe's, like Home Depot, runs special pricing events periodically along with "sales" from the manufacturer. These can be big savings if you catch them. Summer is a likely time for some good savings incentives. On one kitchen we got a "free" sink cab plus finished ends in several places. The sink cabinet wasn't even on the sale, but our sales guy called them up to ask about something else and negotiated that too. "Free" sink cabs are a common offering. Ask your sales rep if there are special pricing events coming up from the store and/or the manufacturer. It may be worth it to delay your order a bit.

Including installation we spent 55, budgeted 30... This included mudroom lockers and washer/dryer cabs as well as an island and custom appliance panels. Stacked cabinets to 9' ceiling glass in a few of the stacked cabs. Local custom shop, with national brands starmark priced a little less and omega a little more albeit with slightly different layouts compared to what we ended up with in the end.

82 linear feet and we were about $35,000. I think your price is good.

suzanne_sl, yes you're right about the sale events. The 25K price is with the 20% discount. We did not order a single insert for the kitchen. I just figured we would pick those from IKEA because they are so versatile. When we redid our kitchen a few years ago using IKEA i remember paying 6.5K for the cabinets and the kitchen was half the current size we are building right now. They were super affordable maybe due to the fact that they are constructed using MDF. It's incredible how much new cabinets cost!

We also have 9' ceilings and think a soffit or an empty space above cabinets, so our upper cabinets will be stacked with glass in a few areas.

Generally speaking, you are getting a good price on the semi-custom lines from HD if you don't need too many customizations - the customizations are where the price/value is not in your favor.

From my reading on here, I would say the best price/value are in either a) RTA cabinets like IKEA, Barker, etc. or b) if you are lucky enough to live near Amish/Mennonite cabinetmakers, especially if you need/want a lot of customization. We were in the latter camp - the semi-custom upcharges for specialty wood (Walnut), inset, lots of base drawers, deeper/taller uppers and a couple of deep pantry cabinets put those lines substantially higher (we paid about $19k installed vs. over $30k installed).

I think it was around 18 K (after considerable GC's discount) for totally custom cabinetry..many drawers(everything that could be made a drawer was made a drawer..other lower cabs have full susans or whatever they're called), spices thing-y(love!!), a pantry, but few uppers(the kitchen has two big windows) and only one upper with glass insert(I wanted more,but I have the ability to put things back exactly where they stand, and other family members don't..so okay, needing closed storage and all..gave up my dream of more glass). Moldings, installation-included of course

I don't remember linear feet or frankly how one counts them.. so I tried to walk along the kitchen lol..I'd say 23, 24 linear feet of cabinetry?For lowers and pantry. And say 9 or 10 more for uppers? It's a modest sized u shaped kitchen, no island

so if I'm counting it correctly and, say,round it up-35 linear feet?..

correct me if you know better how one measures it..I already forgot. The kitchen was ready last April or so, long before the house was ready to move in..and since then I lost my marbles several times..:) and some of them haven't find again yet:)

the ceilings are 8' standard ceilings

(we kinda wanted to spend less..another custom quote was 13 K I think..same quote same everything

but our GC really wanted his guy..we had cost plus type of contract so we could choose actually, to some degree..but he was very passionate about doing cabinetry with his cabinet maker

turned to be a very good choice btw, it's not like I'm sorry for a minute

some other stuff in the house-yes..but the cabinetry is truly great

except it's painted and I find it being more high maintenance than stained

maybe in several months I will care less though. Everything very new brings some amount of stress with it, as I've noticed)

One other money saving trick is to order any cabinets with glass "glass ready." This allows you to source the glass locally and put the panes in yourself, which is easy.

cpartist, i love your dual windows, i am sure they will bring a lot of light. Not sure if you noticed but on the elevation the right window has some filler, maybe put in place to accommodate for base cabinets?

Here is my kitchen design, I am trying to cut down on costs. One thing that i noticed i can eliminate was the valance above the kitchen sink which costs nearly $1,400.00. Do you think this will serve any purpose other than the aesthetic aspect? Well, it does connect the left and right wall cabinets and also makes the crown molding above the cabinets continuous.

I believe in sticking to basics and customizing with after market or home built things so I get by for a lot less expenditure on things like cabinetry.

Around 6000.00 so far, I think without pulling the receipt. I did buy them during a good sale at Lowes. That is Kraftmaid Solid Hickory doors with standard cabinet construction except for matched wood ends where they show. 8 base cabinets ( all drawers except 2)) a sink base, tall narrow pantry, and double wall oven cabinet. Only extras we ordered were a filler strip for next to the dishwasher, an end panel for an island application and lots of extra shelving. No bells and whistles. Almost ordered the skinny pantry as a pullout and decided against it. I found some nice heavy weight clear bins the fit the shelves like they were made for them. Just clear the frame. Much better than a pullout wasting space IMO. So add about 75.00 for those. Also bought after market wood shelve dividers, 2 sets at a bit under 200.00. One of the base door cabs will have an existing Rev-a-shelf re-installed. I prefer wire over wood or drawers for pots and pans. No dirt or moisture issues. Another cab will have a mixer lift. Lift bought online for 120.00, I think. We install everything ourselves and natural hickory is about the easier wood to match so DH will trim it out himself.

The next stage will be building a pantry wall out of Ikea boxes and custom doors/end panels. Probably will will end up costing as much as the rest of the cabs but I like the function of Ikea better for what I envision.

cpartist, i love your dual windows, i am sure they will bring a lot of light. Not sure if you noticed but on the elevation the right window has some filler, maybe put in place to accommodate for base cabinets?

Thank you. It's not filler, though I'd probably think that too if I saw my drawing. My ceilings are 10' high. The tops of all doors and windows end 8' from the floor and what I've done is run a frieze band (hatband) around the whole room at the 8' mark. This is being done in every room.

Here's an example of what I mean. This is actually showing the scale upstairs where the ceilings are 9' high and the tops of the windows and doors are 6'8" from the floor but the idea is the same.

So my long winded explanation is that up to the hatband/frieze band will be tile and above that, the wall will be painted the same color as the ceiling.

Do you think this will serve any purpose other than the aesthetic aspect? Well, it does connect the left and right wall cabinets and also makes the crown molding above the cabinets continuous.

I actually think it detracts from what you have going on. Your kitchen will look beautiful.

One small thing? I'd move your prep sink over a bit more so it's not on the edge. Leave enough space so you can put stuff down on both sides.

What is the base cabinet to the left of the cooktop? Also what is the base cabinet to the left of the fridge/freezer?

Do you have enough storage for pots/pans, etc?

I agree on skipping the valance.

I'd consider not doing stacked cabinets above the fridge/oven, which I'd guess would save a little $. I like stacked cabinets, but I think when both the cabinets are so small it can seem cluttered with so many little doors. You'd still get the look on the range/sink wall.

I think $25K seems reasonable, but it doesn't hurt to get other quotes.

Remove the window valence and I'd also extend the hood cover up to the ceiling rather than putting cabinets above it since it has the pyramid shape. Is this a remodel? I think the quote you have is reasonable for the design. I realize you might like the look of the 1 foot high cabinets at the top instead of a soffit but if you really do need to save money you could go back to a soffit. Those high cabinets are not very practical (hard to reach) and there's other places in the kitchen I'd want to spend money if I was maxing out my budget.

This does concern me though. Are those two side by side refrigerators next to each other? Are you sure the doors will open properly if two units are set next to each other like that? Usually when refrigerators doors open they overlap the cabinets to the sides. You might need 4-6" separation between the refrigerators for the doors to open properly. Go to an appliance store and ask them to push two side by side refrigerators next to each other like that and see what happens.

The hood appears too low for a high BTU rangetop.

OTOH -

I have a prep sink located in the corner of my island, and I love the location. It is accessible from two sides of the island. This works best if you can mount the faucet at the inside corner (which I was not able to do, sadly).

In my past life, I sold kitchens for Lowes and sold Schuler. For what you describe, $25k sounds reasonable. They are very high quality cabinets with an excellent warranty. Make sure you get a good installer and you've gotten recommendations.

The first Schuler kitchen I sold was to a woman in our city who was renting her house in Johannesburg, South Africa to the Korean Ambassador. The cabinets were shipped from the port of New York to Johannesburg without a dent or scratch. She said they went in beautifully and she was quite happy with the $27k she'd spent with me.

watchmelol, those are great suggestions. I am afraid it will consume a lot of my time to make sure everything fits. On a project that is already 6 months delayed, i dont believe my family can afford to wait to do this all by ourselves.

cpartist, thank you! Based on the feedback i am getting here, i decided to remove the valance.

One small thing? I'd move your prep sink over a bit more so it's not on the edge. Leave enough space so you can put stuff down on both sides.

The sink is centered to the 54" x 54" double casement window and the center of the window is 5'7" from the wall, so we are sort of stuck with that we have. We do have the island too, so that helps.

What is the base cabinet to the left of the cooktop? Also what is the base cabinet to the left of the fridge/freezer?

To the left of the rangetop we have a base cabinet with e double roll out tray. To the left of the fridge/freezer have a simple base cabinet with a draw up top.

Do you have enough storage for pots/pans, etc?

Yes, we a pantry right next to the kitchen, on the fridge/freezer side of the wall. It is 5' X 7' in size, hopefully that will be enough to stow away bigger items that will be out of sight.

Stan Z, my architect had originally drawn a soffit to account for the 1' deficit in cabinets. The difference in price between having stacked cabinets and having soffits was not that much(probably $2k) so we decided to go with it. When you're trying to save money $2k sounds like a lot, but my family liked the stacked cabinet look with glass on the top cabinet, so we just ran with it. The refrigerator/freezer combo is from Electrolox Icon(https://www.lowes.com/pd/Electrolux-Refrigerator-Trim-Kit/3535332?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA_ONLY--Appliances--SosAccessories-_-3535332:Electrolux&CAWELAID=&kpid=3535332&CAGPSPN=pla&k_clickID=55ab8032-9c96-4fdb-a3b9-7113ae56f920&gclid=CKC3qvH549QCFUtNfgodWgoBnQ). I saw it in one of the local stores here and it was the best bang for the the fridge buck we found on the market.

Carolina Kitchen & Bath, very reassuring to hear. Thank you for sharing. I read somewhere that that Schuler are the gold line of Medallion cabinets, not sure how accurate that is.

After giving it more thought, I also have decided to remove the cabinet hood and replace it with a Broan 42" hood with an exterior blower(1200 CFM) attached. The inset hood inside the cabinet was not very practical and was less deep and had less capture area. Especially because we are using a Capital Culinarian which has high BTU output. My kitchen designer is going to make these changes to the design and will get back to me end of day today. Lowe's is having a great 20% off sale going on right now with a 10% gift card, will probably take advantage of it this July4th weekend.

Check with the store manager, they may only let you use one promotion. Is Lowe's installing?

Remember, big box store consider installation services to be a profit center. They use subcontractors, who need to make a profit, and when you add the store's profit the price can be high. If you think you can find a good installer locally, I'd deal with them instead of Lowe's.

Also, if you're going to buy this weekend, call and make an appointment with the designer you've been working with. It will give them time to make sure everything is ready to go.

To the left of the rangetop we have a base cabinet with e double roll out tray. To the left of the fridge/freezer have a simple base cabinet with a draw up top.

Change them to drawers. You won't regret it.

^ agree with cpartist above - change them to drawers.