Design Confidently, Live Comfortably
| March/April 2005 A Change of Space A Kitchen at One Third the Cost by Tom Strianese According to our research, the average American kitchen renovation costs around $50,000. Starting with nothing, ours cost just over $15,000. Our biggest expenses were cabinets ($8,000), appliances ($3,200), and plumbing ($1,000). We did a lot of the work ourselves, and we used vintage materials and fixtures, which are usually cheaper than new. Salvage yards carry all kinds of appliances and fixtures, from sinks to pot racks to lights. Here are some of the specific things we did to save money: Bought marble ($2,100) through a supplier in February, which seemed to be the off-season. People tend to do renovation work in the spring and summer and not so much in the winter. We drove to the docks in Delaware and picked out our own piece. Collected antique glass from discarded windows, then installed it in our upper kitchen cabinets, for aesthetics as well as economics. Purchased a vintage sink for $150. If we had bought a new porcelain sink we would have spent closer to $1,000.
Ordered nickel-plated hardware from a catalog, saving us the mark-up a cabinetmaker would have charged and allowing us to do a lot of comparison shopping. We got hinges, bin pulls, and knobs online. Installed tongue-and-groove beadboard as a back-splash instead of marble, which we would have used if we had had a bigger budget. But the beadboard gives an authentic charm and still looks clean and sophisticated. NEXT: You Have to Really Love an Old House |
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PHOTOS EXCEPT WHERE NOTED: KAREN TANAKA |
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