Kitchen dilemma. Will I won’t I ?

Doodledog our savings are for any future care need. This might be longer term care in a care home or even private medical procedures if required.

Doodledog Anyway. None of this helps the OP, does it?

Boilers? Roof repairs? What sorts of things do people see as the sort of possible future emergencies that we should prepare for with savings, even if they stop us from doing things we can enjoy now?

Car repairs/ replacement auto, replacement white goods when ours fail, helping our children with their children's needs, medical/ dental care if the wait is quite long, solicitor fees (wills POA), whole house painting.

My house was a new build in 1988. The kitchen was made up of wooden doors and drawers. It looks OK now perhaps a bit tired to some people bur I rarely cook in it now. I keep thinking I need to do it, but then ask myself why. It is only because it is the first impression of my home, as everyone uses the back door.I have decided to leave it for now. Hopefully forever.
If I was you in your circumstances it would not get done.

Norah

Doodledog

Also, I'm another who loves your cupboards, Norah!

Thank you.

You believe you have carved bits which are difficult to keep clean -- move in with us, help oil cabinets/cupboards here!

Have you considered having your carved bits filled with paint accepting wood putty, sanded, painted? GD had that accomplished, you'd never know they weren't always solid (not carved wood) and white.

Which oil do you use, Norah?

I used to wash and oil mine regularly but haven't done it for some time. I'm sure it will all look better if I make the effort!

NotSpaghetti

I confess I was surprised Callistemon21 but the couple who collected were pretty excited!

A couple of people I know always say "Don't change your kitchen, we like it!" surprisingly, and a neighbour says her new units are nowhere the quality of the old one which was the same as ours.

My kitchen is the original which was put in 40 years ago. It is WOOD. Has no wall cupboards which I wouldn’t be able to use any way at my age. I have a larder.
When the lady next door died another neighbour spent 18 months renovating the whole bungalow and added a new conservatory.
New owner ripped absolutely everything out ad demolished the conservatory.
When I die my son says he will sell my bungalow a it is.
Any way these new kitchens don’t make a better cook.

I have a larder
I'd love a larder! A proper walk-in one with shelves.

Any way these new kitchens don’t make a better cook
They don't and I am less interested in cooking now than I used to be.

Bijou

My kitchen is the original which was put in 40 years ago. It is WOOD. Has no wall cupboards which I wouldn’t be able to use any way at my age. I have a larder.
When the lady next door died another neighbour spent 18 months renovating the whole bungalow and added a new conservatory.
New owner ripped absolutely everything out ad demolished the conservatory.
When I die my son says he will sell my bungalow a it is.
Any way these new kitchens don’t make a better cook.

We have a large walk-in larder. My grandparents reversed some of the space out with a wall, added a wall nook outside in the kitchen, for "new fangled" big fridge and little fridge (farmers cook a lot for others). This works well for us and we still have a walk-in larder! I love having that space.

Many years ago when I had a large garden my larder shelves were stacked with all sorts of preserves and home made wine and being on the north side of the house was always cool. The kitchen was large without built in cupboards. A lovely big table Deep sinks.

My dream kitchen would be a bit like that - more specifically, it would be Nigel Slater's one on his TV programme. A herb garden directly outside, a vegetable patch a bit further down, massive fridge and freezer, a huge wooden table and worktops that never get scratched, every expensive gadget you could possibly need and a permanently spotless state of the art oven and hob.

I'd ban the camera crew though .

I'd probably keep Nigel handy to do the cooking 😁

Oh yes, that goes without saying. He can tend to the garden too.

I’ve still got a 2 drawer stainless steel dish washer ( fisher and paykel) and I love it. You can’t get them here anymore. We have had it nearly 20 years now , hope it keeps going .

Get a nice handyman to paint the kitchen doors and possibly replace the worktop if it is damaged. There are lots of cheap ways to update.
My daughter paid for a new kitchen in my house when she moved in with me with her two children. She extended it by taking a chunk out of the big living room to create a kitchen diner. I always wanted a bigger kitchen but I would never have spent money on it. So for me it was win, win and I have company.

Doodledog
Wonderful. Except that in that studio/kitchen the bit you don't see is full of camera crew etc
When my DS was a trainee film producer he used our sitting room as a film set. The crew came and transformed it but just the part visible in the film.

Grammaretto

Doodledog
Wonderful. Except that in that studio/kitchen the bit you don't see is full of camera crew etc
When my DS was a trainee film producer he used our sitting room as a film set. The crew came and transformed it but just the part visible in the film.

When houses are featured on TV in programmes like Escape to the Country does the production company send in a crew to clean, perhaps paint and present the house beautifully before filming?
Or do the owners have to do this?

Well we got paid one time for the use of the house and they were very professional. It's because the house is old and they needed authenticity for a period docudrama. It was a film company but was shown on BBC as part of the Timewatch series.
I don't remember much cleaning.
We cleared a space!
I do remember the catering crew who set up a camp kitchen and fed us, the small army of crew, makeup, sets and costume dept, plus actors 3 great meals a day for a week. All good fun
I digress!!

I did say that I would ban the crew if it were my kitchen, but if they were going to provide 3 great meals a day I might reconsider

Don’t do it. Some new buyer will come along and tear out everything you’ve replaced and do it their way.

Save your hard earned money for something more important that might pop up in your life.

I don't think the OP is planning to sell. She is asking whether to spend a chunk of her savings to improve her home while she's living in it, or whether to keep them for something unspecified in the future. I doubt this thread has helped her much though .

When i worked for Age Concern (as was) I was always visiting much older peoeple (then) who had sums of money stashed a way for a rainy day. Yet whatever happened to them or their house they would never spend it, because it might be needed for a rainy day.

All my protesstations that it was already pouring with rain and their roof was leaking with a damp patch on the ceiling in the room we were sitting in was to no avail, and most of them died, often living in cold damp houses, which they could have made comfortable, but with their rainy day fund still intact.

If the OP’er is NOT going to sell, then I agree with you M0nica that the horded cash by some seniors can be put to good use so they have WARMTH and COMFORT and a pleasant home where family/friends can come and visit.

I did a 75% upgrade on my condo four years ago - just to enjoy it myself since this is my last home. Still things I want to do here.
I’m not moving anymore!
USA Gundy

Initially I would have the walls painted and generally add more colour eg gadgets, mugs, tea towels etc to distract from 'tired looking'. Then see how I felt.

The trouble is that we can't say what we would do with the OP's kitchen as we haven't seen it.

The thread is not about my kitchen, but as we don't know many details about the OP's situation I am happy to outline my own situation in case it helps. A simple coat of paint will not solve my problems. My kitchen is perfectly functional, but there are issues with it that I would like to correct. I can afford to do so, but it would mean dipping into my savings, and I would like to keep those in case something more important than a kitchen becomes necessary down the line. At present we live on our pensions (both occupational ones and my husband's State Pension - I don't get mine yet), and this would be the first time we'd dipped into savings since my occupational pension kicked in - they were depleted before that as I chose to leave work early and lived on savings for a year or two.

However, I realise that I can't have my cake and eat it. Is it better to hoard my savings and live with an annoying kitchen knowing that there are no pockets in a shroud, or is it more sensible to spend some of them (I would still have a cushion against disaster) and be happier with something I use every day?

That is my dilemma, and I think it is also what the OP is wanting to work through, but many replies have concentrated on what people have done/would do with their own kitchens, which is not what she was asking.

I recently viewed a house that still had the original 1930's shiny cupboards with chrome handles. It showed no wear and looked bang up to date for any retro lovers like me. In fact, I think that kitchen is worth quite a bit. So, wait long enough and it can be back in fashion.