Kitchen Renovation Budgets: Where the Money Actually Goes

A kitchen renovation budget is rarely a single number. It is a stack of line items, some of them chosen on purpose, such as cabinets and appliances, and others that tend to show up only after demolition. Published breakdowns agree on the broad shape of that stack even when their dollar figures differ, and reading several of them side by side shows where the largest shares usually sit. This article draws on a trade-press report of the 2026 Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, national cost-versus-value figures, a long-running budgeting guide attributed to a kitchen and bath association, and New York contractor rules.

Three published budget breakdowns

No single breakdown is authoritative, and each rests on different assumptions, so it helps to see how they compare. The first, from HGTV’s average kitchen remodel cost guide (page updated July 28, 2025), uses an average project total of $29,700. In that table, cabinets average $8,400, labor and installation $5,400, appliances $4,500, and countertops and backsplashes $3,300. Flooring is listed at $2,100, lighting and painting with drywall at $1,500 each, doors and windows at $1,200, and plumbing and design at $900 each.

The ordering is the useful part. Cabinets come first, then labor, then appliances, with surfaces trailing. The article’s own prose gives somewhat different shares, saying cabinets account for about 25 percent of a budget and labor and appliances about 20 percent each, which is a reminder that even one source can shift depending on the project.

A second breakdown appears in a Money column, “How to budget for a kitchen remodel,” which quotes a person identified as president of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. The page shows no publication date, and its illustration appears to date from around 2014, so the percentages are best treated as a historical rule of thumb. They put cabinets at 30 percent, appliances at 14 percent, countertops at 10 percent, lighting at 5 percent, plumbing fixtures at 4 percent, paint at 2 to 3 percent and tile at 1 to 2 percent, with about one-third left for demolition and disposal, floors, walls, windows and installation labor. The expert calls the figures “only ballpark,” and gives cabinet examples of about $15,000 on a $50,000 project and $30,000 on $100,000.

Taken together, the two lists agree that cabinetry is the single largest visible category, with installation and appliances competing for second place.

Where scope changes the totals

The third reference point is the national average for project size. The 2025 Cost vs. Value report from Remodeling magazine, posted at JLC Online, lists national average job costs of $28,458 for a minor midrange kitchen remodel, $82,793 for a major midrange remodel and $164,104 for a major upscale remodel. These are national averages and not Long Island figures, and the page shows totals only, without a line-by-line breakdown. The size of the gap between the first two tiers suggests that scope, meaning how much of the room is rebuilt, drives the total more than any single finish choice.

That distinction matters when comparing quotes. Two bids for “a kitchen renovation” can differ by tens of thousands of dollars purely because one includes moving plumbing, walls or windows and the other does not.

The HGTV guide also illustrates how wide the range inside a single category can be. It cites HomeAdvisor ranges of $100 to $1,200 per linear foot for cabinets, $480 to $12,000 for countertops, $200 to $10,000 or more for appliances, and $500 to $32,000 for flooring. It quotes a 2023 Remodeling magazine average of $77,939 for a midrange major remodel and $154,483 for an upscale one, and a 2023 HomeAdvisor typical range of $14,611 to $41,432 with a median of $26,790. Those older numbers differ from the 2025 report above, which is a good argument for treating any published average as a starting point and nothing more.

What homeowners are choosing in 2026

Trade coverage of the 2026 Houzz Kitchen Trends Study in Kitchen & Bath Business, published January 13, 2026, reports a survey of 1,780 U.S. homeowners who were in the middle of, planning or had recently finished a kitchen renovation. The survey was fielded in July 2025. Some of its findings bear directly on where money goes.

• 84 percent of respondents upgraded cabinets; 68 percent replaced all of them and 27 percent replaced some.
• 76 percent added specialty built-in features such as pantry cabinets (47 percent) or beverage stations (24 percent).
• 94 percent of those upgrading cabinets included specialty storage, with pull-out waste and recycling bins (64 percent) leading the list.
• 87 percent hired professionals; among projects of $50,000 or more, 98 percent hired at least one, and 60 percent of that group hired a general contractor.

The same coverage reports that outdated style was the top motivation at 41 percent, ahead of deterioration or dysfunction at 38 percent. A separate FloorDaily summary of the study adds that 72 percent chose tile backsplashes and 28 percent slab, with engineered quartz the most common slab material at 39 percent. None of those coverage pieces gives median spending, so the study cannot be used to set a dollar target on its own.

What the figures do suggest is that storage features and cabinet interiors are a common place for budgets to expand beyond a basic box-for-box swap.

Professional help as a budget line

Overall, the Houzz coverage reports that 48 percent of renovating homeowners hired a general contractor and 22 percent a kitchen designer. On projects of $50,000 or more, the mix widens: 53 percent hired building specialists, 43 percent cabinetmakers, 34 percent kitchen designers, 18 percent design-build firms and 13 percent each architects and interior designers. HGTV’s table assigns design a small slice, $900 or 3 percent of its $29,700 average, a figure that may not reflect a larger project with several specialists. Whether each of those roles earns its fee is a project-specific judgment, but the pattern shows that bigger budgets tend to bring more separate contracts to track.

Contingency and unlisted items

Budget tables tend to understate the work that happens before the visible parts go in. HGTV recommends setting aside 20 percent of the budget for surprises such as water damage or electrical work that is not up to code, and advises sticking to the original plan because added extras can inflate costs across a project. The Money column offers different practical advice: asking contractors what each line item includes, for example whether “tile backsplash” covers the tile or only the labor, and writing the answers on the bid. Having the contractor initial any verbal promise that is not on paper before signing is another suggestion from that column.

Items worth asking about when a budget is first drawn include permits and inspections, temporary kitchen setups during the work, disposal of old materials, and any electrical or plumbing upgrades required by the building department. Whether a given job needs a permit in the Town of Brookhaven is covered in a related permit guide, and the town building department is the final word.

Contracts and licensing in New York

New York’s rules shape how money moves during a renovation. The Attorney General’s home improvement fact sheet says the home improvement contract law applies to improvements costing more than $500 bought by homeowners, co-op owners and tenants. The contract must be in writing, in plain English, and delivered before work begins. It must include the contractor’s name, address and phone number, approximate start and completion dates, a specific description of the work and materials (including brands and model numbers), the price, and the required cancellation notice.

Payment terms receive specific attention. The fact sheet sets no maximum deposit, but says progress payments must bear a reasonable relationship to work done or costs incurred, that the full price should never be paid up front, and that final payment should be withheld until work, inspections and certificates of occupancy are finalized. Pre-completion payments must be held in a New York State escrow account, with the customer told where within 10 business days, unless the contractor instead provides a surety bond or contract of indemnity. A customer may cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after signing.

The Attorney General’s guide to hiring a home-improvement contractor adds that at least three written bids are advisable, that verbal changes should be written into the contract, and that proof of insurance should be obtained because uninsured work can leave the homeowner liable for a worker’s injury or property damage.

Both pages state that home improvement contractors must be licensed in Suffolk County. Suffolk County Consumer Affairs maintains a licensing page with a “Search Licensed Contractors” tool for checking a license, and lists a phone number of (631) 853-4600.

A working budget outline

None of the sources provides a Long Island price list, so a local budget is built from quotes. A practical outline, drawing on the structure the sources share, runs in this order:

1. Fix the scope first: layout stays or changes, and which major items (cabinets, appliances, flooring, windows) are replaced.
2. Collect at least three written bids with matching scopes, as the Attorney General recommends.
3. Compare line items using a common template, for example the category list in the HGTV table.
4. Add a contingency, with the 20 percent figure from HGTV as a reference point.
5. Confirm permits, licensing, insurance and the payment schedule before signing.

Financing choices come after the scope is settled. A related article compares home equity lines and cash-out refinancing for renovations on Long Island.

Related reading

For lighting, one of the smaller line items, see the guide on choosing LED bulbs for every room.

This article is general information and is not legal or financial advice, and it makes no prediction about the value of any property.

Rules, rates, fees and procedures change; confirm current details with the official sources linked above and with a licensed attorney or other qualified professional before making decisions.

Sources

• HGTV: What Is the Average Cost to Remodel a Kitchen?
• Money: How to budget for a kitchen remodel
• JLC Online: 2025 Cost vs. Value Report, national
• Kitchen & Bath Business: 2026 Houzz Kitchen Trends Study
• FloorDaily: Houzz 2026 Kitchen Trends Study
• New York Attorney General: Home Improvement Fact Sheet
• New York Attorney General: Hiring a home-improvement contractor
• Suffolk County Consumer Affairs: Licensing