More homeowners blew their renovation budgets in 2025 than hit their targets, and that gap is only widening. According to the Houzz 2026 U.S. & Home Study, which surveyed more than 20,000 U.S. homeowners, 37% of renovation projects exceeded their initial budgets, slightly outpacing the 35% that came in on target.
The top culprit was not contractor error or bad luck. It was information failure. Homeowners went in underprepared, and the numbers paid the price. Materials and services costing more than anticipated drove overruns in 52% of those cases, while 35% of over-budget homeowners upgraded to higher-end finishes mid-project, and 31% expanded their project scope once walls were already open.
For North Atlanta homeowners specifically, the financial stakes are measurably higher than the national picture suggests. Roswell, Alpharetta, Milton, and Sandy Springs consistently run 15-25% above national cost benchmarks, driven by labor shortages across fast-growing Gwinnett, Forsyth, and North Fulton counties, stringent local permitting requirements, and aging 1980s-1990s housing stock that routinely harbors galvanized plumbing, outdated electrical, and non-standard framing.
That inflation compounds over time. Remodeling costs are rising 3-4% annually, meaning a kitchen renovation budgeted at $60,000 in 2024 will likely run between $63,600 and $65,000 by the time it breaks ground in 2026, before a single unexpected structural issue is factored in.
The single most misunderstood line item in any kitchen renovation is cabinetry, which consumes 29% of the total project budget nationally. That means a $50,000 kitchen renovation allocates roughly $14,500 to cabinets alone, before countertops or appliances enter the conversation.
Simone Feldman, a Certified Kitchen & Bath Designer with over 40 years of North Atlanta experience, warns that this reality has sharp local implications: "In Roswell's 1980s-1990s housing stock, original cabinet boxes are frequently too compromised to support stone countertops or to accept modern interior accessories. Retrofitting these features into old boxes is more expensive than ordering them built into new cabinetry."
This guide exists because the cost of ignorance in renovation planning is not abstract. It is measurable, predictable, and avoidable. Whether a homeowner is weighing a $17,000 kitchen refresh or a $250,000 custom transformation, the difference between a project that finishes strong and one that stalls in the third week of demolition is almost always the quality of financial planning at the start.