Add up cabinets, countertops, appliances, and everything else in the "other materials" bucket, and most kitchens land somewhere in the five figures before a single hour of labor gets billed. Take a fairly typical project: $8,000 in cabinets, $3,000 in countertops, $5,000 in appliances, and $2,000 in flooring, backsplash, and paint, and you are already at $18,000 in materials alone. Add 100 hours of labor at $75 an hour, which is $7,500, and the total climbs to $25,500 for a 150-square-foot kitchen, which works out to $170 a square foot. That per-square-foot number is worth holding onto, because it is the fastest way to sanity-check a contractor bid against your own estimate.
Scope changes that number a lot, and it also changes how much contingency you should be carrying. A cosmetic refresh, new paint, hardware, and a backsplash without touching the layout, is the cheapest route and carries the smallest built-in cushion for surprises. A mid-range remodel with new cabinets, counters, and appliances sits in the middle. A high-end project that moves walls or goes fully custom on cabinetry carries the largest cushion, because tearing into an older kitchen tends to uncover wiring, plumbing, or structural issues that nobody could see before demolition started. On that same $25,500 example, a mid-range contingency adds roughly $3,825 on top, bringing a realistic budget to about $29,300 once you account for the unknowns.
Start by pricing cabinets, because they set the tone for everything else
Cabinets are usually the single biggest line item in a kitchen remodel, and the range between stock, semi-custom, and fully custom is enormous. Stock cabinets keep the number down but limit your layout options; custom cabinets cost more up front but can be built around storage needs that would otherwise require buying separate furniture later. Decide on this category early, since it tends to drive decisions about countertops and layout that follow it.
Price countertops and appliances as a pair
Countertops and appliances together usually make up close to half the materials budget, and they are visible enough that skimping on either one shows. Laminate and butcher block sit at the affordable end, quartz and granite cost more but hold up for decades, and appliance packages range from basic four-piece sets to premium brands that can cost several times as much. Decide what you are willing to spend on looks versus what you are willing to spend on durability before you start shopping either category.
Add up labor honestly, not optimistically
Labor is simply your estimated hours multiplied by your hourly rate, and it is where a lot of budgets go sideways because people guess low on hours. A 100-hour project at $75 an hour is $7,500, but a kitchen with a layout change, custom cabinet installation, or plumbing relocation can easily run two or three times that many hours. Get a real hour estimate from whoever is doing the work rather than assuming a weekend project.
Divide your total by square footage to sanity-check contractor bids
Once you have a total cost, dividing it by your kitchen’s square footage gives you a cost-per-square-foot figure you can compare against other bids or against your own gut sense of a fair price. A 150-square-foot kitchen coming in around $170 a square foot in this example is a useful benchmark; if a contractor bids meaningfully above that, ask what in the scope justifies the difference.
Build in a contingency before you start, not after something breaks
The right contingency depends on scope: a cosmetic refresh needs the smallest cushion, a mid-range remodel needs more, and a high-end project touching layout or structure needs the most, since that is where demolition tends to reveal problems nobody budgeted for. Treat this percentage as part of the plan from day one rather than a number you scramble to find once the drywall is already open.
Decide upfront whether you are remodeling for yourself or for resale
Kitchens recover a meaningful share of their cost at sale, but rarely all of it, and the categories that tend to hold value best are appliances, countertops, and cabinets, roughly in that order. If you plan to stay in the home for years, prioritize what you actually want to live with every day over what a future buyer might appreciate.