Kitchens that finish on schedule are the ones that were fully planned before anybody swung a hammer. Cabinets ordered, appliances confirmed, tile in hand, and every trade told which week is theirs. Kitchens that run long are almost always kitchens where somebody started demolition to show progress and then waited on decisions.
Week one is demolition and rough-in. The old kitchen comes out, and plumbing and electrical move to their new positions while the walls are open. If the project needs permits, this is also inspection week, and nothing gets closed up until that sign-off happens.
Weeks two and three are surfaces and cabinets. Drywall repair, prime and paint the walls while the room is empty and easy to work in, then flooring, then cabinet installation. Painting before the cabinets go in is not universal practice, but it saves a lot of cutting-in around finished millwork later.
The single most schedule-critical moment arrives the day the cabinets are set: countertop templating. Stone fabricators typically need one to two weeks between template and installation, and nothing downstream — backsplash, plumbing trim, appliance hookup — can happen until the tops are in. A day lost getting the cabinets level is a day added to the end of the project, not the middle.
Weeks four and five are countertops, backsplash, appliances, and finish work. Then the punch list, which is not a sign something went wrong. It is a planned day for the small things — a drawer that needs adjusting, a caulk line to redo, a switch plate to swap — that separate a room that is finished from one that is almost finished.