Kitchens and bathrooms are the most difficult rooms to remodel, so many things can go wrong.

You need to know what you want the kitchen to look like and the layout before any contractor can give you an accurate price.

You need to start with the new layout of the room. Will the layout be the same?
Then look at cabinets, countertops, floor, lighting, sinks and appliances so you can put together a rough estimate of material costs.
Big box stores like Lowes and HD will come out measure and do a layout for a small fee. They can also price out many of the above materials that I listed.

Choosing a contractor, ask friends , relatives, neighbors, co workers for references.

Getting up to three estimates for contractors is best, but also consider their references and how they interacted with you when choosing one, sometimes the lowest price person is not always the best one.

Great tips from Judy M. It's important to get at least 2 or 3 bids from contractors and have a set of plans for them so you are comparing apples to apples. Be aware if someone asks for a large deposit before work begins.

Most of the contractors I've worked with want 1/3 down at start, 1/3 half way through and final upon completion.

If something a contractor asks for does not feel or sound right to you, trust your instincts.

If you have any other small projects to do it might be wide to try out the contractor for that first and see how it goes before moving onto the big jobs.