This Kitchen Cost $19,320 — the Full Line-by-Line Breakdown

The kitchen in the photo went from 1987 brown laminate to what you see on the right in eleven days, between tenants, without moving a single wall or pipe. If you guessed the cost on our Facebook page — here's the answer, line by line.

The full breakdown

Cabinetry — $6,800. The single biggest decision on the whole job: the carcasses stayed. The original cabinet boxes were structurally fine, so only the doors and drawer fronts were replaced with white shaker profiles, plus new soft-close hinges and matte black handles. Ripping out and replacing the boxes would have added roughly $7,000 and a week — for something nobody sees.

Benchtop — $3,100. Stone-look engineered surface, templated and installed. Real stone would have been $5,500+; at this price point and rent bracket, tenants and valuers react to the look, not the quarry.

Splashback — $1,150. White subway tile, laid over the old beige tiles using tile-over adhesive — no demolition, no dust, one day.

Appliances — $2,350. Stainless underbench oven, cooktop and rangehood, mid-range brands. The old freestanding stove was the loudest "1987" signal in the room; this swap alone transformed the listing photos.

Lighting and electrical — $980. Fluorescent batten out, warm LED downlights in, two extra power points on the bench.

Plumbing — $640. New mixer tap and sink, same location — the golden rule of budget kitchen renos is never move the water.

Painting and finishing — $1,400. Walls, ceiling, and the reveal trims.

Labour coordination and contingency — $2,900. The unglamorous line every renovator forgets. Trades sequenced across eleven days, plus the inevitable surprise (in this case, a water-damaged kickboard).

Total: $19,320. Less than the stamp duty on most capital-city purchases — which was the hint.

What it bought

The property re-let within a week at $70 more per week — about $3,640 a year, a 19% cash-on-cash return on the reno before touching value. The bank valuation moved roughly $35,000, though we treat reno valuation uplift as a range, not a promise: it varies enormously by suburb, and this is exactly where street-level data earns its keep. A $19,000 kitchen adds real value in a suburb where renovated stock is scarce and rents are compressing upward. The identical kitchen in an oversupplied unit market adds close to nothing.

When a reno pays — and when it doesn't

Three tests before spending a dollar between tenants:

1. The rent gap test. Pull the rents for renovated versus unrenovated comparables on the surrounding streets. If the gap doesn't cover the spend inside six or seven years, the market is telling you tenants there won't pay for polish.

2. The suburb ceiling test. Every suburb has a price and rent ceiling. If the property already sits near it, a new kitchen pushes against a closed door.

3. The "never move the water" test. Cosmetic-over-structural is what made this job $19,320 instead of $45,000. The moment walls, plumbing or wiring move, you're not renovating — you're building.

This one passed all three, and that's the real lesson. The kitchen isn't the strategy; the data that said this suburb, this street, this spend is the strategy. Done in that order, a between-tenants renovation is one of the few ways an investor can manufacture equity and cashflow in the same fortnight — and it's a lever that well-chosen property hands you again and again.