I'm thinking that if you post some photos of your kitchen, folks on here will have some good advice on how to get the most bang for your buck.

Buy new cabinets.

Photos please. And about your mention of Ikea, I would look into them for entire replacements. People on here love their Ikea cabinets, though I believe you have to choose which Ikea line wisely.

Refacing is very expensive and unless you LOVE the layout of your kitchen I would do new .

Refacing typically costs more. IKEA is pretty good quality for the price. They've held up really well in all of the kitchens I've used them in.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I will add some pictures tonight. QQ- how could refacing possibly cost more than new cabinets? New cabinets means I'm paying for new doors, the cabinets, the labor for removal of old cabs and installing new, whereas refacing is simply unscrewing 11 or so doors and installing new ones.

Ha! Nope. That isn’t refacing at all. Doors are the most expensive part of the cabinets. Boxes are cheap. You’re keeping the cheap part that then also needs labor. Labor to reface the boxes, and upgrade the old hardware costs more than demo and a new installation. It all adds up to 75-150% of the cost of new.

Does refacing makes sense if you not only like your layout, but like and want to keep your stone countertops? (I've been told that my marble counters will likely break if they tried to remove them to replace the cabinets.)

(I ask because replacing cabinets where I live is around $50k (on up). Refacing (I'd just buy the doors - I'm handy enough to put them on/deal with hardware) is about $6k. I only need doors, not veneer on edging.)

If you don't reface the boxes, it will look really weird.

If you're handy, you can install the Ikea cabinets yourself. No way they would cost $50k.

Thanks, Anglophilia. (It's $50k+ to replace the cabinets - sure IKEA would be a bit less, but not alot - because I'm not handy enough to demo out the existing marble counters and cabinets, nor install cabinets. And the counters would break, I'm told, so new counters. Labor is insanely expensive, let alone it would take at least a year for anyone to even do the work. Our 2 room basement reno ($40k, with a bath) is on month 15!)

Get handy then. Start small. Go buy a screwdriver.

Never hire a refacer that doesn't have connections for materials.

Refacers have access to state-of-the-art cabinet door styles and finishes these days. No way are you replacing cabinets for the cost of a reface job, but you only do it on quality cabinets and replacing with quality doors and drawers.

I’m in Manhattan and just redid my kitchen - 10 weeks by a friend with all required licenses. I used this company for my quartz counters and highly recommend them - 1 week from measuring to install, with great work and prices. I don’t think they do resurfacing but call to check. Maybe they know someone. They sell cabinets, etc. way our in Sunnyside.

https://www.houzz.com/pro/mskbcorp/milestone-kitchen-and-bath-corp