If he didn't need to buy new appliances, I could easily see that middle of the road $20,000 price tag go down a lot. When we redesigned our kitchen, we knew that to stay within our budget we had to 1) keep the appliances and 2) not move any plumbing. We were fortunate that they were already in good locations, though.

this is what i would do:
(1) keep the original metal cabinet with sink - it's very retro-modern. (if anything, i would splurge to have it professionally re-painted.)
(2) get new, re-configured upper cabinets that go to the ceiling along the entire wall to provide a ton of storage. (remove the awkward one over the fridge that isn't accessible.)
(3) put a long, narrow stainless work table on the opposite wall for counter space. because it's freestanding, it will not visually take up a lot of space.
(4) use those ikea metal shelves above for storage, display wine or hang art.
(5) new floors can be done inexpensively with peal and stick vinyl tiles or you can splurge with wood to match the rest of the space - it won't be too expensive because it's a small space.
(6) not *every* kitchen needs to have expensive, high-end stainless appliances. use what you have.
(7) lastly, paint.

Interesting comparison but it appears to be apples to oranges. For example, the total cost of the budget option is unclear & [possibly] misleading. Flooring & backslplash are not included in ' total cost' but are included in 'what you get'. Are you saying the installation is included but the materials are not? And IF so, appears both the flooring & backsplash MUST be purchased from IKEA. Please clarify.

They used to do this every month in UK Elle Decoration under the previous editor. It was brilliant! The mock-ups were really revealing!

Gosh I miss UK Elle Deco as it was circa 2002.

I laughed when I saw in the article that the original price of installation for the IKEA kitchen was more than the cost of materials. I'm no kitchen design expert, but that HAS to be a bad sign.

@LitNerd: why? Installation has to be made individually (expensive), while the already fabricated elements could be made in factories in huge numbers (cheap), then there's the cost of somebody coming to your house, US-salaries vs. salaries in develloping countries ect.

People are always replacing cabinetry when often it could be painted, trimmed out, sanded, or even just have the hardware changed and be useful for another zillion years. Drives me crazy!

you lost me at spending $2,000 to rehab a rental. no way.

This article annoys me because there is no after picture. That and the advice about appliances tacked on to the end.

I'm with @jenawithonen... no way I would spend more than $100 to rehab a rental.

I'm just getting new countertops, new sink, faucet, and backsplash and a couple of minor things for a tiny kitchen and had a guy quote me $4000... half of that was the work and not materials. Does that seem high?

@moke076 Nope. Tile work is quite expensive- the labor is easily over $10/sf and more if it's a tricky installation. Another way to think of it- say his labor rate was $25/hour, that would be two people for a full week.

I found the entire article confusing, including the NYT piece. The original kitchen can be rehabbed as far as I can see. Take down the awkward cabinet over the fridge, put up open shelves over the stove, put a narrow set of floor to ceiling shelves on the opposite wall with a pull-out counter that you can use when you try to cook. . Put in a new, good quality floor. Give everything a fresh coat of white paint. Except the ceiling. That could be a sunny yellow or blue, something bright.

If you read the article, he was doing the research to make a proposal to his landlords. They would be the ones to pay for the renovation. He decided it would be interesting to get quotes to see what could be done at various price levels.

I'm in the process now of renovating a kitchen almost identical to this in size and configuration (though, if anything, slightly narrower) because - I kid you not - my cat destroyed half of it by turning on the faucet while I was out at work one day and flooding one whole side of the cabinets. The plus side of that whole disaster is that my insurance is essentially paying for me to update my awful, 1970s kitchen now. I have about $4,000. For that I will be able to replace all of the cabinets with solid wood, shaker style from a discount place in town (including installation and delivery at $50 per cabinet), add four new cabinets to the side of the kitchen with a stove, put in a (discount) granite counter-top (partly because the space is so small). And replace the horrible flourescent light fixture with a cool, Rejuvenation one appropriate to the 1924 house I live in. I am thrilled. So I think it's quite possible to get a really nice kitchen for much less than $20,000 - but I also wouldn't spend that kind of money on a rental. I own my house.

Thought the article was really amusing...particularly the high-end salesperson.....I did a high-end renovation many years ago and the space is filled with people who throw around phrases like:

"Miele is known for water"
"Sub-zero is known for refrigeration"

I'm with those who think you shouldn't spend much on a rental.

1.) Keep the narrow counter. I'm sure it's useful. But keep it open as extra space rather than cluttering it up as countertop storage.

2.) Mount a couple of sturdy boards horizontally above the stove and above the narrow counter into which you can put hooks to hang your pots and other large implements. They'll be highly accessible and you'll save lots of precious drawer space.

3.) Use the tops of those cabinets as storage, or if so inclined, by cubby holes with doors so you can hide things behind and keep the dust out. Paint them to match the room -- either white or something striking, depending on other aesthetics you implement.

4.) If it looks boring (and all white can be drab) then add color by painting the walls and adding colorful hand towels and a rug or two to cover the ugly floor. At least the linens are portable.

Since doing construction in NYC is a pain and everyone needs to be paid off, a $20k budget will run way over that. It seems like a way better idea is to save for a down payment on a closet somewhere else.

Piece of cake: The only thing I would spend money on would be the floor and buy a stainless fridge to match stove. I despise upper cabinets in a kitchen, especially a small one.
1) take down wall cabinets - move large one over sink onto opposite wall but install low under the counter that is already there. Re-place counter top over it with stainless.
2)Take down the other awkward cabinet over fridge.
3) put long shelves up over sink, 3-4 high
4) install a square pot rack over stove
5) paint the walls a great color and install a cool hanging light fixture/chandelier