I have a small (1400 sq ft) home in Homestead Fl (just north of the Florida Keys). The home is only 13 years old in a newly built community. It's more of a starter home so the kitchen is small and does not have much storage. I would like to change the cabinets and counter top without really changing the layout. My goals are to modernize the kitchen and also add more functional storage. I really want to do this myself. I've done quite of bit of building but not to this level. I don't think I would have a problem putting in cabinets but not sure about how to make them look professionally installed. Can anyone suggest what my best options are? To try doing it myself or hire a contractor? Just checking Ikea show rooms gives me an idea of how expensive cabinets and counter top are. There have to be better (cheaper) places to find kitchen cabinets and counter top. I feel the big box stores have huge mark ups. So am I living in a fantasy world?

 

The walls cabinets are pretty straight forward, main thing is to make sure they are level. Double check the wall first to make sure it's flat/straight. Many concrete slabs have minor ups/downs so you need to find the high point and shim the rest of the base cabinets to match.

Pay attention to the cabinet's construction. You want cabinets with a solid wood face! I couldn't afford quality cabinets so I build my own .... for roughly the same cost as the cheap store bought ones.

 

To save money, you might want to look at RTA cabinets, Ready To Assemble. I don't use them personally but some of them are pretty nice.
The sides are often 3/4" melamine and 1/2" is good enough IMO, so they are stronger than needed.
Also the doors are raised panel with euro hidden hinges. Some of them have nice drawer boxes and slides.

To get you started on measuring, cabinets are almost always in 3" increments. For example a 30; 33; or 36" sink base.
So a typical upper and matching base will be 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 etc.. Purchased cabinets generally range from 6 to 48 wide.