Does one *really* need a kitchen?

Although the kitchen reno is a few months down the road, I though I'd meet with a kitchen designer, just to start planning, and to get a realistic idea of the costs.

Here's the problem - the kitchen itself is quite small - 9' x 11'. And there are three doorways and one window in that, so there isn't a lot of space. To make it more functional, I decided to do cabinets in the dinette area as well - more storage, and the counter top can act like a buffet. I wanted that to look more like a built-in, so I decided to go with wood, instead of white cabinets. And of course, the only ones I like in a dark wood finish are the really expensive ones. Okay, it's only 5', so I can afford to go with those, right? And, I want the uppers to be for display, so I want glass fronts. Nice, right?

Right.

I pick out the glass pattern I like. When I tell the kitchen planner, all he said was "Oh".

$1000

For EACH door.

Plus the cost of the cabinet itself.

So I'm going with plain glass.

The estimate for the kitchen, dinette and bathroom cabinets is ~$9,000 - $13,000. I know that's not too bad. But it is huge chunk of the budget, and doesn't include things like counter tops. Or appliances. Or door handles. Or or or...

$13,000 buys a lot of take-out.

Do I really need a kitchen?


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