Kitchen dilemma. Will I won’t I ?

We've (well DH mainly) have refitted our own kitchens years ago but couldn't tackle a job like that now.

I'm going to scrub the doors with fine wire wool, oil them (used to do that regularly but have only scrubbed them with WU liquid lately) and buy new worktops I think.

Clean is the most important thing.

Just going to pop a dinner which Charlie Bigham prepared earlier into the oven

Could you put a picture up of your kitchen? I’ve seen people put pictures up on Facebook of kitchens that people want to replace and quite often most people agree that they look lovely as they are. What doesn’t seem to age well are those cupboards that have a film of plastic over them that, with time comes away and looks shabby. My kitchen cupboards are good quality solid pine and I sometimes wonder if I could make it look more modern but then think it might be more cost effective to just replace it. Many people are painting their cupboards in Frenchic paint and they look like new kitchens.

Maybee we had cupboards fitted in the ensuite, quite expensive ones, and now the whole veneer of vinyl has cracked and lifted off two of them.
Never again!

paddyann54

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and ours is replaced every few years ,if its important to you, do it,Look at Ikea for a reasonably priced range and maybe your family could build and fit it .It needn't cost the earth

Sorry, but find this quite 'shocking' - what do you mean by 'every few years?' - the cost is phenomenal, but the environmental issues are even bigger. Sorry- but really made me jump.

What do you mean by 'not cost the earth'?

I had a look

'a very small budget kitchen could cost under £7,000. On the other hand, a large, bespoke kitchen could cost up to £100,000.

Copyright Checkatrade. Using this information in an article or blog? Please add a link back to www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/new-kitchen-cost/'

What do you mean by 'not cost the earth'?

Perhaps paddyann gives her old kitchens away?

We've got parts of neighbours' kitchens in our garage, good for storage units.

However, just throwing good stuff away does cost the earth!
Literally.

DD has just revamped a tired kitchen by replacing the doors and drawer fronts. Alternatively you could just get the ubits repainted, There are professional kitchen painters around, you could also replace the work tops. New blinds/curtains and possible redecorate.

There is an awful lot you can do to cheer-up a tired kitchen that does not require you to go to the expenseof replacing it.

I’m wondering if the OP has had quotes from eg companies like Wren who are very expensive and I’ve heard horrendous stories about them. A local joiner, if recommended by someone who has used them, might be much cheaper and better. I’ve always dreamed of having a kitchen with a big pine table and a sofa.

Here’s mine, very small and over 20 years old, but it suits me..

Hmmmm…

Stick with what you’ve got.

Ooh, that's rather nice, Shinamae

I like the floor.
And the blind.

It’s lovely.

I do like that blind ...
And I would like a new floor ...

We had new doors for our kitchen units about 12 years ago. We went for shiny white ones and they still look good. The cost was about £1,000 (DH did the fitting) but I imagine it would cost rather more now.

Callistemon21

Ooh, that's rather nice, Shinamae

I like the floor.
And the blind.

Thank you, I think the blind was from Dun elm years ago 😁

My kitchen is ancient. The people who built the house did it and it is proper wood not MDF. It was built to use up all available space so even if I spent thousands on it I would not get any more cupboard space. My husband says it’s a waste of money so a couple of years ago he spent months (every evening) painting the doors inside and out several coats then he added new knobs. We couldn’t just buy new doors as they are non standard size.

Shinamae

Callistemon21

Ooh, that's rather nice, Shinamae

I like the floor.
And the blind.

Thank you, I think the blind was from Dun elm years ago 😁

Thanks!

I'm going to Dunelm next week, I expect they don't make that one any more (story of my life 😁)

I have to say first of all, I like your kitchen Shinamae.
I spend a lot of my time in my kitchen and appreciate storage space and the asthetics in there. To the OP, if you are pleased with the general layout and if it works for you, why not look at changing the doors and worktops, painting it or 'wrapping' it. I've seen examples of a local company's work and they really do look fabulous.
Good luck with your choice

Callistemon21

Witzend

Our kitchen is well over 30 years old! 😱
And yes, I suppose it does look somewhat tired now, but it still functions, so quite frankly dh and I don’t care.

Socialmedia70, if it would take so much of your savings, then no, I certainly wouldn’t bother.

We’ll have to replace ours at some point, probably when the built in combi microwave - which I use a lot - dies the death. Nobody makes the same thing in the same size for built-in any more - it’s the same age as the rest of the kitchen.

Oh, thank goodness, someone else with an old kitchen!

Ours is solid wood and I've looked at new kitchens but the quality seems poor even for more expensive ones.
We've replaced tiles, worktops, floor and sink, cooker and hob but the worktops need renewing again.

What I would like, however, is large drawers instead of some base cupboards as they seem so much easier to access.

If you sold your house, new owners would rip out the kitchen however new it was.

You could have new doors and some base cupboards replaced with deep drawers. Along with new worktops

Unfortunately it is replacing the units with drawers that is proving costly.

Unfortunately it is replacing the units with drawers that is proving costly

How many? If it's just one or two cupboards then I hope it wouldn't cost too much.

I recently had estate agents round to value my house ( for probate purposes) . I took the opportunity to ask them what they would suggest to make it more marketable. To my surprise they said ( apart from decluttering) just some redecoration. No point redoing the ten year old kitchen as buyers will always want to rip it out and replace.
So I echo the majority view and suggest you don’t spend your savings getting a new kitchen, despite what your children say - unless they are offering to pay for it?

I know exactly what you mean, OP. I am looking into changing my kitchen. It is solid wood, but has carved bits on every door, which makes it really difficult to keep clean, and it is very dated. There are open shelves too, which are also grease and dust traps.

Part of me thinks I should just get it resprayed to change the look of it. I know that that won't make it easier to clean though, so another part thinks I should get it replaced. The layout could do with tweaking too, which will involve plumbing and wiring as well as the cabinets and tiling etc, so it won't be cheap.

I still haven't got my pension, so any money I spend will be from savings which will be difficult (if not impossible) to replace, and I'm weighing up the fact that inflation will eat my savings and the costs will go up if I don't get it done now, against the fact that everything else is going up in price too, which will include any 'emergencies', whatever they might be. I'm going round in circles, so you have my sympathy.

We got rid of open shelves but were lucky because a neighbour was changing her kitchen fairly soon after we all moved in and we had a couple of her cupboards which matched ours.
Otherwise it could be difficult to match.

We were keen about three or four years ago and I went round in circles too, but I've lost momentum now.