Every kitchen budget has three enemies: optimistic material allowances, invisible existing conditions, and mid-project changes. In Boca Raton, the second one is bigger than most homeowners expect. Concrete block walls, original cast-iron drains and 1970s electrical panels all show up once the old cabinets come off the wall.
Start with an itemized estimate, not a lump sum. When cabinetry, stone, tile, plumbing, electrical and labor are broken out line by line, you can see exactly where a simpler door style or a quartz instead of quartzite saves real money, and where cutting would show every day for the next decade.
Cabinetry and stone are usually the two largest lines. Custom cabinetry with soft-close hardware and integrated lighting costs more than stock boxes, but it is also the part of the kitchen you touch fifty times a day. Stone pricing swings widely by material and by how much is wasted cutting a waterfall edge or book-matching a backsplash, so ask how the slab count was calculated.
Hold back a contingency of ten to fifteen percent and treat it like insurance. In older Boca homes most of it goes to what is found behind the walls. If it is not needed, it stays in your pocket.
Finally, make every change an estimate before it becomes work. A good contractor prices changes in writing while the job is running, so the decision is yours and the final invoice is never a surprise.