FINANCIALLY SAVVY KITCHENS

How much does a new kitchen cost?

1.     MATERIALS

Perhaps the most obvious way to have control over the cost of your new kitchen is in the choice of your materials. Worktops can be one of the most costly parts of a new kitchen if you are looking for a high quality stone surface that is resistant to wear and tear. Equally, worktops can be one of the biggest opportunities to make a saving and pocket some extra cash for your accessories! If you are not too fussed about the material of your worktop, you can opt for laminate worktops, which are not quite as hardwearing but can look effective, particularly in areas that are not used so often, such as a utility room. Somewhere in the middle, Solid Surface worktops are a more attractive option than laminate, without the hefty price tag of stone. Another option is to have stone worktops in your preparation and cooking areas, with oak tops on sideboards and breakfast bars, to add a bit of warmth and texture to the surfaces in your kitchen.

If you feel strongly about your worktops however, there are other ways to make a saving – if you are looking to replace a kitchen and utility room at the same time, you could go for a more high quality option for your doors and carcasses in just the kitchen and something cheaper for the utility, where you are less likely to spend as much time admiring your new cabinets! Your choice of splashback or tiles can make a difference in the cost of your kitchen too, so it’s worth looking into a variety of options – tiles, glass splashback, antique mirror, stone to match the worktops… There is a huge variety in price for a multitude of options, and you will be forking out more for a material matching your worktop or an antique mirror splashback than if you choose a simple tiled splashback.

At the end of the day, it is all down to your preferences – deciding which materials and elements of your kitchen have more value is a very personal choice. Simply consider which materials are more important to the aesthetic or function of your new kitchen and how they will change the way it looks or feels. Where you may choose to spend more can be completely different to the next person – there are so many elements to a kitchen that there are plenty of options on how much you want to spend and where. 

2.    NEW OR REUSE?

It can be tempting to buy all new appliances for your shiny new kitchen, but it can be more economical and sustainable to keep your old ones. If they develop a fault, you can then upgrade to new ones, or even buy a refurbished model. Not only will that reduce the costs on your new kitchen, but it saves perfectly good appliances from going to waste.

Furniture can also be reused, and your kitchen designer will be able to incorporate it into the new design – old pieces can be a vintage design feature unique to your space, or they can repainted, refreshed or upcycled, and given a new lease of life! Antiques and charity shops have plenty of original pieces of furniture that can also be transformed into a beautiful feature of your new kitchen, and this will not only make your new kitchen eco-friendly and sustainable, but perfectly unique!

3.     PRIORITISE

Before you start your new kitchen design, it is important to have an idea what you are looking for (see our previous blog post IN 8 STEPS: HOW TO CREATE YOUR DREAM KITCHEN). When it comes to deciding how much you want to spend, you may need to prioritise the items on your wish list – you should spend more money on the most important elements of your kitchen, and save on the areas that matter less to you.

We have already discussed where materials such as worktops can vary in cost depending on how important your new worktop is to you, but there are plenty of other areas to consider in kitchen design. For example, drawers and internal pull out storage systems come with a higher cost than a cupboard, and open shelves will cost even less, so it is worth considering the amount of drawers and pull outs you actually need depending on your particular storage requirements.

If you would be happy to wait for your old appliances to break before replacing them with new ones, you may also consider leaving some of the extra purchases until a later date. For example, once your old kitchen has been removed, you will need to replace the cupboards, worktops, sink and tap, but you might not necessarily need your new wine fridge straightaway. Extra furniture such as sideboards and shelving or decorative accessories can also wait until later. This option allows you to prioritise the important elements of your kitchen, without actually missing out on anything. 

4.     ALTERNATIVES

When you have sorted your priorities and figured out which parts of your kitchen are worth splashing out on, you may decide to cut back on the less important items. However, this may not be completely necessary – don’t forget to look into alternatives! For example, perhaps you liked the idea of a boiling water tap to remove the kettle from your lovely new worktop, but then realised that you don’t really need it, so it is not worth spending so much on a tap. Although you might not want to splash out on the price tag of a true boiling tap, you may consider a near boiling tap – this way, you can still get rid of your kettle, but without the full cost of true boiling.

There are lots of ways you can find alternatives and compromises that mean you can have your dream kitchen at a fraction of the price. If you find the perfect tile for your splashback, but are put off by the cost, why not mix and match with a more affordable tile to make it a special feature? If you decide to spend less on the door fronts in your kitchen, you could spend a little more on the smaller features such as handles, to give your kitchen high quality finishing touches. 

5.     CLEVER DESIGN

The design and layout of your new kitchen will have a huge impact on the overall cost. It is important to find a kitchen designer, who can devise the most economical design for your kitchen by considering the cost of more, smaller cabinets versus fewer, bigger cabinets, as well as offering advice on where it is worth spending more. A good kitchen installer is also key, and this will ensure that your new kitchen will be good quality to stand the test of time and save adding waste to the environment from replacing a quickly deteriorating kitchen.

For the longevity of your kitchen, it is important to ignore current trends and choose something you like! If your kitchen goes ‘out of fashion’, it is likely to be replaced in a shorter amount of time. Whilst this will cost more money, it is also not sustainable for the environment! Most importantly, your kitchen should be a reflection of your home, lifestyle and tastes, so you will love it for many years to come... Honestly designed with your life in mind.

~Nikita & Katie, February 2022