How much does an IKEA kitchen reno cost? (Tips + Tricks)

Detailed cost breakdown

And here’s a more detailed breakdown.

• Stove and dishwasher: $ 3,159.48
• Cabinets and microwave: $ 7,211.58
• Quartz countertops: $ 963.57
• Kitchen consultation: $ 145.77
• Hardware: $ 300.63
• Additional lighting: $ 323.23
• Faucet: $ 405.75
• Butcher block: $ 292.67
• Backsplash tiles: $ 101.90
• Backsplash install: $ 680.00
• Gas stove install: $ 550.88
• Drawer dividers and organizers: $ 357.99

And because this number does not include some key considerations, here’s a few quick notes:

• Installation work, other than what is noted above: $0
• Takeout and prepared food during the project: ~$600

We are really lucky that one half of us is handy (ahem, it is not me) and that one of our parents is a genius at building things and home renos. We were able to save a huge amount by not outsourcing tearing down the kitchen and installing new cabinets ourselves. That’s not something that is an option for everyone, so it’s important to keep that in mind.

Also, your grocery bill will be nuts when you don’t have a kitchen. We spent a lot on prepared meals from Costco, packaged foods, and takeout. I ate a lot of pickled eggs and packaged salads that month, especially since I was still working from home during the process.

Stove and dishwasher: $3,159.48

When we first started looking at appliances, I have to admit I was more interested in how they looked than any technical details or how they worked. Luckily, before we actually made the purchases, my husband convinced me that now would be a great time to get an annual digital membership to Consumer Reports for $35. He was right, because it was way cheaper than replacing a stove that we hated in two years.

The stove I was originally looking at got an abysmal 46 score because it lacked basic functions that a regular person (aka not a professional chef) would need and want. Luckily, we found a great model that fit our price, cooking type, and look that also happened to have a much better review, and more features we needed.

While we had the membership, we also looked up dishwashers and saw that Bosch absolutely sweeps the top ratings in Consumer Reports, so we got a mid-range dishwasher from them as well.

Cabinets, lighting, trim, and microwave: $7,211.58

Weird combo, but I have a very good reason these were lumped together. We specifically waited to kick off our kitchen project until the somewhat-regular IKEA kitchen sale came around again.

**How does the IKEA kitchen sale work? **

When you buy a kitchen during the sale, you get 10%, 15%, or 20% of your entire purchase back in IKEA gift cards. The percentage you get back depends on how many appliances you buy with your kitchen, so 1 appliance bumps you to 15%, while two or more appliances bumps you to 20%.

For us, buying a microwave at IKEA in the same purchase as our cabinets meant we added about $500 to our purchase price and got an extra $370 back in gift cards. Effectively, an appliance we needed to buy cost us about $130 thanks to the sale.

Quartz countertop: $963.57

If the dollar value for this looks extremely low, you’re right, and I’d like to thank the IKEA kitchen sale. See, when you buy a kitchen during the sale, you get a percentage of the kitchen back in gift cards—so that $7,211.58 we spent on the cabinets and microwave was full price, and we got $1081.73 back in gift cards.

Buying a custom countertop, which any of the stone counters are, is a separate transaction. That means you can pay for the kitchen, get your gift cards, and apply them to your countertop purchase—so this total is after the gift cards were taken off the price. It would have cost us just under $2,000 at full price, which is still a great deal for a stone countertop, but applying those savings directly to the counter we needed to buy anyways was a fantastic way to save on the project as a whole.

On top of that, the $963.57 we spent on the counter after the gift cards was another kitchen purchase, so we got another $96.35 back in gift cards from that transaction too.

Kitchen consultation: $145.77

If you’re going to spend extra money on any IKEA service, make it an in-home consultation.

We skipped that step, but paid for dedicated time with an employee to go over our kitchen plans, which we started on our own using their online app. We wanted to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything. What we should have done is pay for someone experienced with IKEA cabinetry to come to our house and take measurements, because we ended up with a workable but very tight fit with our chosen cabinet layout.

We would have saved ourselves a lot of stress and, quite frankly, tears, if we had just been advised to buy one 15” cabinet in the place of an 18” cabinet by someone who was familiar with both the cabinet system and our house.

It’s fine, and it all fit, but it was a “just barely” kind of fit, not a “yes, this was the right choice” kind of fit.

Lesson learned: Pay for the in-home consultation, it will be the best money you spend on the entire kitchen.

Hardware: $300.63

Choosing cabinet hardware was one of the most stressful parts of the process, because there are so many options and I honestly considered paying someone hundreds of dollars to choose them for me—but at the end of the day, we’re really happy with the choice we made.

We got matte black Amerock hardware in two styles, and while the company we bought them from turned out to be evil, you can get the same brand of hardware from most home renovation stores, including Home Depot and Lowes (both of which work with Rakuten (affiliate link) so you can earn extra cashback!).

Choosing cabinet hardware was one of the most stressful parts of the process, because there are so many options and I honestly considered paying someone hundreds of dollars to choose them for me—but at the end of the day, we’re really happy with the choice we made.

We got matte black Amerock hardware in two styles, and while the company we bought them from turned out to be evil, you can get the same brand of hardware from most home renovation stores, including Home Depot and Lowes (both of which work with Rakuten (affiliate link) so you can earn extra cashback!).

Additional lighting: $323.23

While we bought lighting originally with the cabinets, the IKEA lighting system didn’t quite work the way we wanted it to when all was said and done, so we upgraded to Phillips Hue strip lights (affiliate link) under the cabinet and in a few other places.

Faucet: $405.75

We got this matte black faucet from Lowes, and although we bought it in person and couldn’t take advantage of Rakuten, if we were doing it again I’d probably opt for the convenience of ordering online plus the extra cashback.

Nothing—nothing—trumps convenience when you’re in the middle of a home reno.

Butcher block: $292.67

While we went with stone counters around the outside of the kitchen, we always planned to do a butcher block counter on the island. Partially for design reasons, and partially because butcher block is an excellent combo of attractive and affordable.

Trying to get a quote on a butcher block slab from the major reno stores in our area was a challenge, because their online systems weren’t really set up to deliver an easy quote, and they kept trying to get us to book an appointment to come in. Eventually we caved, and went to Home Depot, which was the easier booking option.

After chatting with a really helpful employee, they advised us that we were best off getting a prefab counter slab, and cutting it down to our specifications. They were 100% right, and we couldn’t be happier with our heckin’ cheap island counter.

Backsplash tiles: $101.90

There is a reason subway tile is popular: it is almost alarmingly affordable compared to mosaic tiles. That was a big perk, especially since the decision fatigue at this point in our kitchen reno was real.

We have installed and loved subway tile in a previous kitchen project, and it’s classic enough that I know I won’t regret the choice in two years. That, plus the fact that it is truly 1/6th the price of many more “designed” tiles made it deeply the right choice for us.

Backsplash install: $680.00

Speaking of fatigue! Installing a backsplash yourself is a big job. While our subway tiles were very affordable, we were at the point of the project where we didn’t feel up to installing them ourselves, especially since leveling and perfecting the job is A Task. Plus, our existing backsplash was a pain to get off the wall, and it drew first blood when I tried.

We worked with a contractor who is also a family friend to do the work, and what would have taken us weeks took him and his apprentice about a day. When I think about all of the ways I have spent ~$700 in the past, this is up there among the best value I can think of.

Gas stove install: $550.88

One thing to think about if you’re planning to move from an electric range to a gas range is that you may need to get a gas line installed to your stove. It’s not a trivial expense, and cost us about 1/5th of the cost of our stove. We had the work done by the same company that does our furnace and A/C work, as a starting point if you (like me) do not even know where you would find someone to install a gas line.

Drawer dividers and organizers: $357.99

One of the biggest perks of buying an IKEA kitchen is that their entire system is designed to be…. Well, a system. It all works together, so after about 30 minutes of logic-puzzling our way through the organizational accessories in the kitchen section, we now have a more organized kitchen than I ever thought possible.

After living through the madness of a kitchen reno, knowing where each utensil lives, and having clear systems in place, is a dream I didn’t even know I had. Worth every penny.

Would we do an IKEA kitchen again?

Now that we’re a bit removed from the process, I can confidently say that yes, we are thrilled with our kitchen and the price point, and we would do it again… someday.

Not right away, but someday.

A kitchen reno is usually not a cheap undertaking, but we are really happy with the result, and there are some definite perks of an IKEA kitchen beyond the price. The biggest thing we would do differently is pay for the in-home consultation if we did it again—but all things considered, we are both happy to have done the kitchen reno, and deeply happy it’s over.