Kitchen dilemma. Will I won’t I ?

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.

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

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 😁)

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.

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 😁

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.

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

It’s lovely.

Ooh, that's rather nice, Shinamae

I like the floor.
And the blind.

Stick with what you’ve got.

Hmmmm…

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

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.

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.

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.

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/'

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'?

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!

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.

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

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.

Ever not every!

If it’s going to take up so much of your savings, then I wouldn’t have a new kitchen. There are cost effective ways to spruce up a kitchen, some suggested above.
The most fabulous cook, I’ve every known had a new Formica kitchen in the 1970s and cooked in it every day until 2012.

Oh yes, we had new handles as well.

Then I wished I'd kept the old ones 😁

Well, DH keeps suggesting a new kitchen and he's even older than me! We did think of it but then came Covid and now I'm looking for the least disruptive option.