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A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen

June 30, 2016

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Last week, we shared all the before and afters of the Pittsburgh kitchen we did with Frigidaire Professional right here. We also shared a fun, behind-the-scenes video (okay, I cried) of the 6-day renovation process right here. Since we shared those, we’ve gotten a lot of inquiries about how much did it all cost?! So, today, let’s talk about that.

A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen | Chris Loves Julia

Frigidaire Professional was the headline sponsor for this renovation, but we had a few of our other favorite brands, like Rejuvenation, Wayfair and Semihandmade, pitch in some product too. And then there were a lot of materials, tools and decor that we purchased for the kitchen ourselves. But for the sake of an accurate budget breakdown, for those that want to recreate the look, I’m putting the true costs of everything in this post.

Some would call this a save and splurge kitchen, but even the splurges were budget conscious. We were very intentional in stretching every dollar as far as we could, while still keeping things looking high end. Here’s how it breaks down:

A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen | Chris Loves Julia

12″ x 24″ Luxury Vinyl Tile in Belmont $5.39/sq ft x 85 = $459
2″ x 4″ Porcelain Subway Tile in White $3.38/sq ft x 97 = $328
Unsanded Grout in Silverado $65
Frigidaire Professional Dishwasher $699
Ikea Sektion cabinet boxes and interior fittings and drawers $1517
Semihandmade Super Matte Gray drawer fronts, doors, filler pieces, side panels and toe kicks $2764
Bridge Faucet in Vintage Brass $217
DOMSJÖ single bowl apron front sink $185
Espresso bamboo blinds $35/ea x 2 = $70
Vintage rug $280
Art $56
Chandelier $109

Subtotal: $6749

A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen | Chris Loves Julia

Frigidaire Professional Counter-Depth Refrigerator $2298
Cabinet Knobs $9 x 20 = $180
Crown Molding $65
Paint for back door (Dutch Boy Anchoring Neutral) $12
Microwave $109

Subtotal: $2664

A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen | Chris Loves Julia

Frigidaire Professional Gas Range $1779
Solid white oak countertops (they’re now sealed, updated photo coming!) $1396
Brackets $8 x 8 = $64
Solid Poplar Shelving $11 x 4 = $44
Over the range vent $269
DIY vent cover $74
Sconces $275 x 3 = $825

Subtotal: $4451


A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen | Chris Loves Julia

TOTAL = $13864

Not bad, right?! I will note that total doesn’t include the expenses we ran into while the walls were down, like the electrician we had to call in to update the knob and tube wiring or the drywall we hung after all that was up to par.

A Budget Breakdown of the Pittsburgh Kitchen | Chris Loves Julia

Besides the electrical, we were able to save money on doing all the other work ourselves and the smaller 9×9 footprint helped, too. Less than $14K for all new appliances, cabinets, flooring, backsplash, lighting, hardware, countertops, sink, faucet–basically everything you’d need to actually make your kitchen look like this–is a number we’re feeling pretty good about. I’ve linked all the other dishware and decor we used in the sources below.

 

Ps. Want to see how much our own kitchen remodel was? Check out this post.

SOURCES

Copper Pitcher / Green bowls / Light Gray bowls / Two-toned Cheese board / White Essential Dinner plates / White Essential Salad Plates Acacia Wood Bowl / Large White Serving Bowl / Nesting Prep bowls / Glasses / Camille Wine Glasses / Mugs / Marble fruit bowl /Round Acacia Serving Board / Rectangular Acacia Serving Board / Olive Wood Cheese Board / Utensil Holder /Olive Wood Utensils / Tea towel / Magnetic Knife Bar / Wusthof Classic Ikon Knives Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel Cookware / Blue Anolon Cast Iron Braiser

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What do you think?

  1. dan says:

    Great Job !
    do you know where you can get marble looking vinyl plank flooring? I do not see from the wayfair address you have that is marble like.. Is using vinyl plank flooring much better then stick on Vinyl tiles? Or really you should use ceramic tiling.. which costs more.. Thanks in advance Dan

  2. Heather says:

    I’m curious how the Semihandmade Supermatte doors have held up! We are planning our kitchen renovation, and I want to order these doors, but I wasn’t sure how easy they would be to keep clean with kids. Do they show grease/dirt easily? Have they scuffed up? Thanks in advance for your feedback!

  3. Christine says:

    Hi Chris, Julia, This post was super inspirational as I was planning the renovation of my parents’ kitchen. I’m in the midst of the installation right now, and I was wondering- how did you attach the Semihandmade toe kicks to the IKEA SEKTION legs? I had a brief note from Semihandmade suggesting that we buy IKEA toekicks and attach them to the Semihandmade ones, but it seems like that wouldn’t align properly with the extra thickness. Any advice you could give on this would be appreciated! Thanks!

  4. Nina says:

    This looks AMAZING! I’m actually looking to renovate my 10×10 kitchen in Pittsburgh. Could you recommend any local contractors? We’re too inexperienced to try doing it ourselves!

  5. Libby says:

    Have you posted the video of the family reveal? Did I totally miss it?!?!

    • Julia says:

      You didn’t miss it! Frigidaire is pushing it through their channels, so it has to be approved by a few more people. ;) We’ll publish it as soon as we can!

  6. Lacey says:

    How do the semihandmade fronts work? This is a really interesting idea but I can’t visualize how it works. Do you just replace all the ikea doors with semihandmade? Or is it an overlay you put into an ikea door?

    • Julia says:

      It’s INSTEAD of Ikea doors. So you use the Ikea boxes and Semihandmade sells doors, toe kicks, side panels and filler pieces, etc, that are compatible.

  7. Abby says:

    Is that a particular paint color on the cabinets or they just came like that? I’m looking for a similar gray for my kitchen! Grays are so hard!

  8. LC says:

    this kitchen is lovely, thank you for posting details! the 4281 price listed under the sink isnt itemized in the post unless i missed it? would you mind letting me know what that price is for? thank you!

  9. Beautiful kitchen! I’m curious as to how you hung the art on the subway tile. We titled up to the ceiling in our kitchen and I’ve been afraid damaging it by putting up art.

    https://roofrightovermyhead.wordpress.com

  10. Um, gorgeous and inspiring. And I love that you did it on a budget. The cabinet color is dreamy.

  11. SLG says:

    Any chance you can share where the beautiful black-and-white planter / crock on the counter came from (the one that looks like it’s holding rosemary)? Every time you post these photos, I admire the kitchen, and then I notice that beautiful planter again.

    This kitchen looks fantastic by the way!

  12. Sherri says:

    Love this post! And totally ditto on the semihandmade fronts! We just signed a deal on a lake house and I’m already dreaming of the kitchen and bathroom renos I want to do. We did an IKEA reno in our laundry room recently and I love it – but I do really wish the IKEA Grimslov fronts came in a more true-white color.

  13. Mara Smith says:

    I love the color of the cabinet fronts and would like to paint my oak kitchen to match that color. What color do you think those are closest to in Sherwin Williams?

    • Julia says:

      Hi Mara, unfortunately I’m no longer on site to color match this for you. We did this kitchen across the country. Maybe you could hold some swatches up to pictures?

  14. Robin says:

    Thank you for posting this today! We are building a house and had recently purchased the Frigidaire professional series for our appliances. I was looking at your price breakdown and realized the range went on sale since we purchased. Lowe’s did a price match and we saved almost $700 so thank you!

  15. Ryan says:

    That is such a great price for a kitchen rehaul! Are you still planning to share the reveal video? I can’t wait to see their reactions!

  16. Vanessa (@myfashioninspa) says:

    It turned out great!! You guys are very talented. I was curious to know how hard it is to match the Ikea cabinet boxes to the Semihandmade fronts? At first I was thinking you color matched any exposure of the Ikea cabinet to the Semihandmade fronts but from what I see now it looks like you can buy the kick boards and filler pieces.
    BTW I don’t get the “kill page” message anymore. Thank you so much for the fix.

    • Julia says:

      Whew! That’s so good to hear. And, yes, exactly. It’s actually the same method as using ikea cabinet fronts. Ikea boxes are always covered completely.

  17. Anna says:

    DIY venthood cover tutorial?? Pretty please? ^.^

    • Julia says:

      It was so easy! My uncle actually built it for us. It’s just a simple 3-sided box with a brace inside to hold the hood in and one to attach it the to ceiling.

  18. Kelly says:

    Lovely kitchen…I would really like to know where you got that rug? It is beautiful. Thank you.

  19. Shelby says:

    Wow – I think that’s a great total for that kitchen. I mean those appliances alone are amazing and eat up most of the budget. (but TOTALLY worth it) We are dealing with “okay” appliances and would love to upgrade to the Frigidaire appliances one day. I mean that gas stove alone is gorgeous, and I’m still envious of your double gas stove.

  20. Jeanna says:

    I think that’s a reasonable amount for that amazing kitchen. Can’t wait for the video of the reveal for the homeowners!

  21. Ling Wang says:

    Thanks for that breakdown! I would also love to see a follow-up post on how your aunt & uncle’s family organizes their counter-depth fridge. I’m in the market for a new fridge & never really considered counter-depth (also have been looking for something closer to 25cf) but am curious to see how a family organizes a fridge like that as you guys make that fridge look so good ;)

  22. Carrie W says:

    Wow, I continue to be impressed by your projects. Thanks for sharing! Some great ideas here!

  23. Johanna says:

    Not at all related to this post but, Julia could you include some of your favourite every day outfits in one of your casual friday posts? And also were to get them of course! I love your simple casual jeans, t-shirt, sneakers look. Somehow you make them look so classy!

  24. Sara says:

    Please do a follow-up post down the road on how the Semihandmade SuperMatte doors are holding up. I am leaning toward doing the DIY shaker and paying to have them sprayed, but now they have these new SuperMatte doors and I am wondering which you end up preferring in the long run. Obviously the SuperMatte doors would save a lot of trouble during construction, skipping the painting step, but I wonder how they would hold up in my kitchen with four boys. I went in a Semihandmade showroom last time I was in LA and grabbed a sample of the white and clay, but I am just undecided.

  25. Stacy says:

    I think that’s a pretty great total. We are in the middle of a big kitchen remodel now, and the little things start to add up. When you start a project like this, do you have a soft budget that you change once you know how much will be sponsored? I am finding that while I like to have a general plan, I do not like to have every detail nailed down to the penny because I change my mind as I do along. Does this happen to you too or is your plan, “the plan?”

    • Julia says:

      This was a really unique situation since we only had 6 days, every detail HAD to be nailed down and in place before we got there. Even still there were surprise expenses that we had to cover (like an electrician, plumber, demo debris). As far as how much the budget changes when sponsored or not, we generally have a number we can spend and sponsors just help stretch that further.

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