Kitchen dilemma. Will I won’t I ?

a corner turntable
How are you getting on with the corner turntable, Grammaretto?
I wondered if they might mean less storage space although obviously everything would be easier to access.

Even if I had the money, scrapping anything which still has life in it goes against the grain for me
I recently had to part with my 45yr old Rayburn cooker and a lovely electrician turned joiner helped me to create a blended kitchen around my snazzy new cooker. He fitted a few new floor cabinets, the kind with gently closing drawers but kept my wooden wall cupboards. Being a sparky he has fitted under cupboard lights. I've lost my cosy range but gained a spice drawer, a corner turntable, the pan drawers and a new radiator.
I bought knobs to match and my volunteer helpers painted the walls. I am very pleased with it and it was not expensive.

There is a bigger picture, but at the same time, if something isn't working (for you) then it makes sense to do something about it if you can.

We all have different ideas about how much of a 'buffer' we need against older age - I am probably a lot more cautious than I need to be - but at the same time there are no pockets in a shroud, and there is no point in living without something that would make us happy when we don't have to. A kitchen is something we use every day, and if we groan every time we go in it we may as well make it into somewhere that makes us smile instead, if doing so isn't going to mean that we can't afford to buy teabags.

The kitchen in the house we moved into was very dull indeed but of reasonable quality. Like Fleurpepper I’m appalled by the rip it out and have a new one mentality. We had the wooden worktops sanded and re polished, the cupboard fronts had trim added and resprayed, new flooring (the old was ripped), and pull out metal drawers fitted in the base units. I love it and it didn’t (literally) cost the earth. I don’t see the point in changing anything just because I feel like it, there is a bigger picture.

Just spruce it up and save the money for later life care.

We had our laundry done using IKEA. It looks really good, as good as our kitchen which cost 4 times more with a specialist kitchen company. You can get someone at the shop to help design it and they will recommend someone to do the actual work.

I love my "new" kitchen even though it's not as high quality as the 40 year old one it has replaced.

It is a thing of beauty and I appreciate this every day.

"Beautiful" makes me happy - I have a truly beautiful kettle which I also notice and admire every day.
I had a new hearthstone last year in a fireplace which is no longer in use. It is terrazzo and (to me) stunning.
I compromised on it as the terrazzo I really wanted was 😱 dangerously expensive 😄 - but it is still nearly perfect.

If your heart isn't in it you will know that. Don't be bullied by your family - but if it's going to be a delight, I'd say go ahead.

Good post, Laura.

If you think a nice new kitchen would give you lots of pleasure then go for it. Do it for you because you want it not because your family think you should.

I got new cupboard doors £1500 and actually used the original handles. It was reasonable and looks great.
My friend had hers spray painted and it also looked great but had a bit more upheaval.
I definitely wouldn't spend a lot and use up my savings. You may need private healthcare in the future.

If the OP has a style of door she likes and doesn't want/need to change the layout, then a respray can look great. Have you looked into that, Socialmedia?

Sadly, I am in a different position, so doing that is not an option.

Perhaps you could just smarten it up a bit without using half your savings. It seems a waste of money really.
I painted the cupboard doors and drawers in my kitchen and had new door fittings etc and it was hugely improved.

My daughter looked at getting a new kitchen. The quote was £19000 Indtead she painted the doors of her old kitchen a deep blue and put in new white worktops. It looks great at a fraction of the cost.

If they are solid wood I would have them repainted

The rubbish they install these days is not built to last

I always seem to have compromised and said, if I have a new kitchen, I want the whole lot including French doors to the garden, new flooring, table and chairs, lighting - the lot.
A big project and expensive!

Otherwise I'd rather do nothing much except what's necessary.

Doodledog

Knowing us, we will do the same . I think Mr Dog is hoping that I'll get sick of it and forget about it. I'm more bothered than he is - he just doesn't notice things like that - but the hassle puts me off. On the other hand. . . .

Oh, it's DH who keeps on about it.
Not that he cooks much but he is good at clearing up (a bit) and emptying the dishwasher.

Llamas99

New lighting, painting walls, new curtains will give it a lift! My neighbor was wanting new cabinets, etc but was so outraged at prices she settled for a extensive clean of existing wood cabinets and new wallpaper. Looked like a new kitchen.
Save your money!

I'm going to quote this time .

The thing is, if I do that, the issues will remain, and I'd still be spending money. I've been telling myself that it would be better to spend a bit (well, a lot) more and not have the same issues in a different colour.

Sorry - that was to Cal. I do have choices, but I don't have the gift of seeing into the future. I have no idea what emergencies might befall us, but I have become very cautious since we both stopped having our salaries coming in, and would like to maintain the choice of being able to deal with them.

But. . . .

New lighting, painting walls, new curtains will give it a lift! My neighbor was wanting new cabinets, etc but was so outraged at prices she settled for a extensive clean of existing wood cabinets and new wallpaper. Looked like a new kitchen.
Save your money!

Knowing us, we will do the same . I think Mr Dog is hoping that I'll get sick of it and forget about it. I'm more bothered than he is - he just doesn't notice things like that - but the hassle puts me off. On the other hand. . . .

Depends on what you think is important to you. Right now for me I like to think I would blow my money on a cruise. That said I already have a nice kitchen to come home to. We all have different priorities and different attitudes to life. It is nice to be in a position to have choices. I don’t think I would ever want to let the option to have choices go.

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.

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.

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?

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.