Generally, I find it commonplace that approximately 10% of your properties value is a maximum figure to not over capitalize, however above and beyond that doesnt factor in personal choices, like upgrading to a specific stone or appliance to suit your needs or wants. These things I would weigh up depending on how long you plan to live with the kitchen, and if it will be a long term ownership or short term with potential to sell with profit. You can easily send off a benchtop plan to any benchtop fabricator or even a st e mason and ask them to quote, just include walls, and indicate exposed edges of the bench so they include a polish cost, and any cut outs indicating your ski or hotplate etc. Where possible, note your stone colour choice for accurate costing, and then ask your cabinet maker to quote Benchtops separately, this way you have disclosed the biggest cost and decide to get it where it works for you.

part of the builders price includes insurance for the workers and the materials and we aarrnged for our builder to employ our electrician and plumber and then we paid the wages direct without the builders' percentage...your labour costs may be cheaper but will your workers be properly insured and what about the costs for the concrete and all the materials for the tiler that the builder may be able to source much more cheaply than you or your family and, for the size of the house that you've asked about in your other posts, you'll need a team of concretors to manage a slab that big...why not ask the builder what discount he'll give for you to supply the slab...the tiler isn't such an issue as it's decoration after the builder has finished most of the work but will your tiler do all the wall prep and arrange waterproofing and the plumber to work around your tiler? the only way to find out for sure is to ask the builder

Dr Retro, you are a designer after my own heart! My triple fronted brick veneer house was built in 1965, extended in 1970 and I try and stick to furnishings and influences from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s! I am its third owner, but have discovered its history via my elderly neighbours. I also have lots of antique vases, crystal and fine bone china, as was popular in the 1960s and 70s in my lounge room. Cannisters in the kitchen are all straight from the 1960s purchased by my mother, then handed on to me. Meanwhile my sun room is an explosion of plants , cane, colour and knotted pine feature wall. Whilst I have double glazed and slightly tinted the lounge room windows for privacy, I try and maintain the period integrity and hope to heritage list my property. So many glorious homes of this era are being knocked down for building town houses and macmansions, especially those on huge blocks, like mine. It is an easy house to live in and I am grateful for my separate kitchen, with easy access to the open plan dining room and lounge, as it keeps my dog out of food preparation areas. I love the cosiness of my kitchen in a home of otherwise vast spaces too! The separate living areas and kitchen have at times, made it easy for 3 generations of the family to happily coexist here, which in a totally open plan home would have been difficult!

It can also depend on the tiles and the pattern you want. As well as things like mitres. The only way is get another couple of quotes and compare but with the unavailability of trades you’re lucky to get one trade to quote. I would add tiling is not an area to go with the cheapest quote. Poor quality tiling will degrade the appearance of the whole bathroom.