Anyone who’s undertaken any kind of home renovation knows that it can get expensive, fast. When you consider contractor costs, materials, and all the little details like hardware and light fixtures, it adds up—which is why, if you’re working with a limited budget, it’s wise to approach your reno strategically. And in a kitchen, one way you can do just that is by turning to BOXI for high-quality, preassembled cabinets at a fraction of the price of custom. 

Although BOXI cabinets are well-suited for more budget-conscious renovators, they don’t look like it. “These cabinets have a high-impact style,” says interior designer Tracy Cimba. “They don’t look like any ordinary box cabinets you’d get at Home Depot.” 

The cost of a BOXI kitchen will vary depending on a number of factors, like the size of your kitchen and the numer and style of your cabinets and drawers—but the average order value is about $10,000. To request a quote, customers provide BOXI with a rendering or drawing of their kitchen with measurements. The final pricing may vary in the ballpark range of $1,000 compared to the quote, depending on if cabinets are added or removed and what interior fittings are selected, says interior designer Lauren Thompson, who’s also on BOXI’s business development and partnerships team.

Here are a few ways you can plan your BOXI kitchen renovation with pricing in mind.

Plan Your Layout Strategically

Understanding the ways that you plan to use your kitchen is critical in a renovation, even if you don’t have to adhere to a strict budget. Why? It will determine the flow and organization of your space—and that will also have an impact on the materials you need. Take this family’s kitchen by Cimba, which had a cabinetry cost of $24k. “We had to think about how they lived,” she says. “We wanted to have dish storage in a spot that was close to the dishwasher, and we also wanted lower drawers where the kids could get their own cups for water and snacks.” 

When you have a good understanding of the way you’ll use your space, you can land on your non-negotiables—which will help you to make any necessary money-saving decisions in the revision process. “Not everyone has a restrictive budget, but I’m always upfront with the cabinet costs because that’s the main expense of a kitchen renovation,” Cimba says. “Then, we take the budget from there and can scale back on hardware or other elements.” 

Don’t Be Afraid To Rethink Things

If you’re working with an interior designer through BOXI’s partnership with Inspired Kitchen Design, you’ll get a pro’s help to maximize your budget. “If you’re given a quote for $15k to $16k and you can only afford $13k to $14k, that’s no problem,” Thompson says. With an itemized quote, you can work with a designer to think about where you can cut corners—that might mean opting for an open cabinet instead of drawers or having two stacked cabinets instead of one large pantry. There are ways you can reduce your costs without sacrificing your storage space—it might just be a matter of thinking a little creatively. 

This $12k BOXI kitchen by Cimba, for example, opts for a long shelf above its striking marble backsplash instead of having upper cabinets—not only does this design decision open up the space, it also cuts down on cabinetry costs. 

Pick Your Splurges Wisely

If you aren’t constrained by your budget, you can go all-out with ample cabinetry, like this $31,350 kitchen that uses BOXI Salt Slab cabinets throughout the cooking space and the adjoining mudroom to create an organized space perfect for a busy family, and this $16,200 BOXI kitchen where a floor-to-ceiling BOXI Rye Slab pantry provides tons of storage space to compensate for eliminated upper cabinets. 

If you’re working in a smaller space, BOXI cabinets can also help you save for bigger splurges. After being quoted $20k by another company, photographer Sebastian Kim landed on $9k BOXI cabinets in Peppercorn Edge for his Brooklyn apartment. With those savings, he had more budget leftover to pick elevated details, like his fridge and countertop. “BOXI can really high-low it,” Thompson says. “If you spend $10k on cabinets and $20k on everything else, it can still end up looking like a $100k kitchen.”