Single Guy's Kitchen Renovation: Day 8 (Finale)

If I were in an episode of one of those HGTV or TLC design show, today would have been the day where you would see my contractor Ron and I scrambling in a high-speed montage to try to finish my kitchen renovation project. Well, it wasn't exactly a mad scramble, but the goal was to finish today because I go back to work on Monday.

So pretty much my kitchen is done, with a few minor cosmetic things left to do. I've gotten through all the major milestones so my kitchen is 98 percent complete. I know, you want to see the whole thing, right? But I still have to clean up and "stage" the kitchen before the reveal. So you'll have to check back later next week when I give you a pictorial tour of the change. (Wait till you see the before and after.)

One of the custom-made projects was this floating shelf that Ron made over my bar. I spent all day staining it, so I can actually say I did some work in my new kitchen (along with a lot of cleaning and painting).

I thought some of you who might be thinking of a kitchen renovation yourself may want to know where my money went. So I thought I'd give you an itemized list of my expenses and what percentage it took up of my overall budget. Just so you know, it cost me a total of about $8,500 to renovate my tiny studio kitchen. I'm sure your budget will be more because you probably live in a normal size space (unless you're reading this in Manhattan, then you're probably just going to pay more for living in Manhattan).

Single Guy's Kitchen Renovation Budget

• Labor (contractor and granite installers): 38%
• Appliances (dishwasher, range, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator): 29%
• Floor tiles and backsplash: 14%
• Cabinets: 8%
• Granite counter tops: 5%
• Sink and faucet: 3%
• Cabinet handles: 0.5%
• Lighting (hallway light, ceiling fan): 1.5%
• Miscellaneous (paint, outlet plates, etc.): 1%
  

Share this post