momtofour, have you checked out the kitchen forum on the Gardenweb site? It is the DIS of kitchen remodels and we found it to be very helpful during our remodel.
People will often give you a recommendation on a contractor, installer, etc through PM's and I am sure you will find someone there who is in your general area.
We did a very large, extensive kitchen and although it was high your price seems a little too high without appliances. We also did not do any of the work ourselves.
Best of luck.
People will often give you a recommendation on a contractor, installer, etc through PM's and I am sure you will find someone there who is in your general area.
We did a very large, extensive kitchen and although it was high your price seems a little too high without appliances. We also did not do any of the work ourselves.
Best of luck.
So until I figure that out we are in limbo. 
That's more than my very nice little house cost...

... My brother installs those high end kitchens we're discussing here for a living..... yes, at OP's pricepoint....he examined our ikea solid wood front cabinets when we installed them and told us that the base boxes ,shelves,etc are pretty much the exact same quality...and when he redoes his own home he intends to make use of the higher quality Ikea options.... So I think a lot of people assume that if something is less expensive the quality isn;t as good, but that is definitely not always true... (it is true in some cases, but be your own detectivemit'll save you money!)