Kitchen renovation costs in Australia — what Reddit says

Reddit's renovation communities are refreshingly blunt about kitchen money — here's what real threads report, with commentary from a licensed Sydney builder (Licence 481876C). This is a companion to our full lessons-from-Reddit roundup; every thread linked below is real and public.

The real numbers Redditors report

• ~$23,000 for a small kitchen using IKEA cabinets and door fronts — a figure that also covered an adjoining small laundry (r/AusRenovation thread).
• "What are people paying for a kitchen reno these days?" — the r/AusPropertyChat thread that collects rip-out-and-replace numbers for a standard kitchen with a stone benchtop.
• Multi-room budget threads show the top end: one Melbourne owner's quote for a bathroom, ensuite, floors and kitchen cabinetry came to ~$100,000 before fittings (thread).
• Appliance and cost threads like "How much did you pay for kitchen renovation and home appliances?" fill in everything between.

Where the money actually goes

The pattern across threads matches what we see on site: cabinetry is the biggest single line (roughly a third of a mid-range budget), then benchtops, appliances and trades. Layout changes that move plumbing, gas or electrical add the most cost — keeping the existing layout is the single biggest saver. And since engineered stone was banned nationally in July 2024, benchtop material choice moves the price more than it used to; our kitchen renovation cost guide covers what replaced it and itemises real 2026 Sydney numbers.

Our honest bands for Sydney

Most professionally delivered mid-range kitchens land between $25,000 and $45,000, with custom joinery and premium appliances pushing past $60,000. Sydney sits at the upper end of national ranges. Before you lock anything in, our kitchen planning checklist walks through the decisions to make before demolition — sequence mistakes cost more than material upgrades.

Reddit's $23k IKEA kitchen and a $60k custom kitchen are both fair prices — for different products. The expensive mistake is paying custom money for flat-pack scope, and the only defence is a quote itemised to the dollar.

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Reddit roundup Costs Kitchens