Appliances are usually the second largest line in a kitchen renovation after the cabinetry, and the package you choose moves the total more than most people expect. We plan them as three tiers, builder, mid, and high-end, which are the same three options in our Vancouver Kitchen Cost Calculator. A small kitchen with standard finishes and a builder package plans at about $18,000 to $28,000. A medium kitchen with premium finishes and a mid package plans at $30,000 to $50,000, where most projects land. A large kitchen with top-tier finishes and a high-end package runs past $100,000. Those are planning ranges, not quotes, and the appliance tier is one of the three things that sets them.
The tiers are about what the appliances do and how they are built in, not about brands, and we do not name brands here.
Builder is a freestanding range, a standard-depth fridge, a standard dishwasher, and an over-the-range microwave or a basic hood. Solid, everyday, and the right choice for a rental suite, a laneway house, or a kitchen you plan to sell with.
Mid is a counter-depth fridge that sits flush with the cabinets, a slide-in range or a separate cooktop and wall oven, a quieter dishwasher, and a proper hood, either a chimney or an insert. This is the tier most family kitchens use, and it is the default in the calculator.
High-end is a panel-ready or fully integrated fridge and dishwasher behind custom fronts, an induction cooktop with a wall oven or a pro-style range, a hood insert hidden in the cabinetry, and often a second oven, a warming drawer, or a beverage fridge. The appliances disappear into the cabinets, and the cabinets are built around them.
Moving from builder to mid is a modest step. Moving from mid to high-end is several times that step. The reason is that high-end pieces are different machines, not better versions of the same machine. A fully integrated fridge is built to hide inside a cabinet, an induction cooktop carries different electronics, and a pro-style range is heavier and built to run longer. Each of those costs more on its own, and a high-end package has all of them at once.
We do not print appliance prices here because they change with the model, the retailer, and the month. What stays true is the shape of the spread. Builder to mid is a small move. Mid to high-end is a large one, and it can push a medium kitchen past the top of the $30,000 to $50,000 range on its own.
A 36-inch range needs a 36-inch hood and a 36-inch gap in the base run. A wall oven needs a tall housing with a cavity built to its cut sheet. A column fridge and a column freezer need two tall housings with the right air clearance. A panel-ready dishwasher needs a custom front from our shop. So the appliance tier does not only add its own price, it changes what the cabinetry has to be. This is why we ask for model numbers at the design step, before anything is drawn, and why the appliance choice is one of the first decisions in the project rather than one of the last.
Spend on what you touch every day. A dishwasher runs daily, and a quiet one changes how an open-plan kitchen feels in the evening. A hood is used every time you cook, and a good insert on the right duct run is the difference between a kitchen that smells of dinner the next morning and one that does not. Induction is worth it for people who cook a lot and want a cool, easy-to-wipe surface. The fridge is the piece where the step from mid to high-end is mostly about looks: a counter-depth stainless fridge and a fully integrated one keep food equally cold. If the budget is tight, that is the place to hold.
Pick the size and the finish tier first, since those set most of the band. Then switch the appliance package between builder, mid, and high-end and watch the range move. The result is a planning range for the project as configured. Taxes and installation vary, and we confirm the real number in person. Read it as a way to see which of your three choices is doing the most work, not as a quote.
Our standard lead time is about 4 weeks from a confirmed design to cabinets ready for installation. Appliances, especially integrated and pro-style ones, can take longer to arrive than that. Choose them at the design step, confirm the installation drawings, and place the order so the appliances and the cabinets land in the same window. A kitchen waiting on a fridge is a kitchen with a hole in it.
Use the Vancouver Kitchen Cost Calculator to see what your appliance tier does to the band. For the rest of the budget, read where your kitchen budget actually goes and our full guide to how much a custom kitchen costs in Vancouver. Then book a free consultation and bring the appliance list, even a rough one. We will build the kitchen around it.