How Much Does a Kitchen Remodel Cost in Seattle?

In the Greater Seattle area, a cabinet refresh with new countertops typically starts around $18,000. A full gut renovation — new layout, custom cabinetry, plumbing and electrical moved — usually lands between $45,000 and $90,000. Most of our projects fall in the $35,000–$60,000 range: existing footprint, new cabinets, quartz counters, tile backsplash and updated lighting.

Those numbers are wider than most articles admit, because kitchens are the room where scope creeps the most. The rest of this post is about what actually moves your number inside that range.

Keeping your sink, dishwasher and range in their current locations keeps costs down significantly — no new gas lines, no relocated drains under the slab. Moving a sink across the room, or adding an island with its own electrical and plumbing, adds permit fees, inspection time and often a few thousand dollars before a single cabinet goes in.

Stock cabinets keep a kitchen affordable but limit sizing to standard increments. Semi-custom gives you more finish and storage options at a moderate premium. Fully custom cabinetry — built to your exact dimensions — is the single biggest line item in most kitchen budgets, often 30–40% of the total project cost.

Quartz is the most common choice in this market for good reason: consistent pattern, no sealing, and it holds up to the water and heat a kitchen sees daily. Natural stone (granite, quartzite) costs more and needs periodic sealing. Butcher block is the most affordable but needs the most maintenance.

Homes built before the 1990s around Seattle often have outdated wiring or plumbing that an inspector will flag once walls are opened. We always tell clients honestly when we find this — it's not a way to pad the invoice, it's genuinely required to pass inspection and to keep the kitchen safe.

A phone estimate for a kitchen is always a guess. The only way to get a number you can actually plan around is a walkthrough where we measure, look at your panel and plumbing, and talk through what you actually want to change.