Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So, we are buying a house (our first) and will be closing in exactly two weeks. Yay!!
It was built in the 80s and the kitchen is definitely showing its age. I especially hate the oak country-style cabinets and forest green tile island. YUCK.
The home itself is done in the SW style. We don't want to depart from that too much, but we do want to bring it up to date. What would you guys do to achieve that? Our budget is around $15K and we can get wholesale prices on almost everything.
We have our own ideas, but I'd like to hear what you have to say.
Fridge looks older than anything else which usually means that somebody already remodeled before...
Not a big fan of sliders in the kitchen, could be a budget buster to swap that out, but that would give you a lot flexibility to increase cabinet and counter space.
Not a whole lot of room around the island, and that angle sink is cutting into the circulation room.
Can you expand the footprint in the area toward where the camera holder was standing??
Fridge looks older than anything else which usually means that somebody already remodeled before...
I agree. I think the island was probably an addition, though I'm not sure what else may have been done. The current owners have lived there 20+ years and they're elderly.
Not a big fan of sliders in the kitchen, could be a budget buster to swap that out, but that would give you a lot flexibility to increase cabinet and counter space.
That would be a great option, but you're right...it'd be a budget buster. And the doors themselves are brand new, high-end, double-pane ones. Also, we kinda like the doors there. They lead out onto a covered patio that spans the entire length of the backyard. Then, there are french doors that lead into the living room, which makes for great flow for parties and get-togethers.
Not a whole lot of room around the island, and that angle sink is cutting into the circulation room.
How much work and expense do you think it'd be to change that up?
Can you expand the footprint in the area toward where the camera holder was standing??
I don't know. If so, we'd have to relocate the pantry, which is directly behind the photographer. Being that it's there in the first place makes me think it's probably along a load-bearing wall, but admittedly I know NOTHING about that stuff.
Here is a general blueprint of the home. Not to scale, but it gives you an idea.
Hmm, did not really think that the dining area would "around the corner" from the kitchen. That would be tempting to try and open them up / spread one functional area into the other. Even if the pantry is on a bearing wall (which it might not be) installing an appropriate beam / columns to carry any roof load would be something that is probably cheaper than eliminating the slider.... While some folks love pantries I tend to prefer cabinets configured to hold your pantry items -- unless you really are living hours from provisions a pantry tends to result in unnecessary "stockpiling"...
If your flooring is in good shape and you can use most of your budget just the visible stuff like cabinetry and counter I think $15k could go a long way to giving you a MUCH more functional and up-to-date kitchen...
In a ranch like yours I think I would get the sink looking out to yard, maybe about where the cooktop currenty is. I might switch the fridge to where the stacked oven / built in microwave is. The cooktop I would try to place somewhere along the wall where the master is on the other side. I realize that would mean moving some plumbing and the vent for the cooktop but I think you'd have a lot more usable counters pace for both the sink area and the hot food area. As it stands now both seem very cramped...
If you can expand the overall kitchen space and incorporate some of the space / function of the dining room that would allow for a much larger island and make for a modern kind of space for entertaining. The days of Mom slaving away over a hot cramped range to produce a 13 course meal that she carts into the Formal Dining Room are long passed for most families but if there is room for family and friends to be part of the cooking / prep and then have a lovely table to sit around to not just eat but really celebrate / relax that is money well spent. It is still easy enough "dress up" the table for cocktail parties and such without having to be such a hog for dead space 359 days a years... (in too many houses other than Thanksgiving, Christmass, Easter, Fathers Day, an aniverseasry and a the big family birthdays that doing room is just collecting dust)
Congrats on your new home! I would not do any major reno projects until you have lived in the home for a bit. You will be surprised that the ideas you have now may change after you move in.
If it were my home there are a few things I would do right away, money permitting. I would lose the island. Its too big and intrusive. I can't tell if the tile was done around the island though. This could be a bigger project if it messes with the flooring. You can always add a much smaller island that will fit the space better.
I would also paint as I don't like white kitchens. If the appliances work then keep them for a bit.
I tend to agree that there are some projects that are better done after living in a place for a while, especially things like an addition that increases the footprint of a space.
If you know you are not going to be "adding on" and already have some clear ideas about your style / tastes / budget you can probably do a kitchen make-over without too much fear of "screwing things up". Of course the limit on somethings is your POCKETBOOK, as even if you got a bargain priced home the costs of living in it AND renovation can really wipe out savings fast...
I agree too with the idea of living there for a while first. Its tempting to want to change out that kitchen right away. However, there are problems lurking that you are not yet aware of--things that you will only decide need to be addressed after you've used the space. That could impact both your design choices and your budget.
I tend to agree that there are some projects that are better done after living in a place for a while, especially things like an addition that increases the footprint of a space.
If you know you are not going to be "adding on" and already have some clear ideas about your style / tastes / budget you can probably do a kitchen make-over without too much fear of "screwing things up". Of course the limit on somethings is your POCKETBOOK, as even if you got a bargain priced home the costs of living in it AND renovation can really wipe out savings fast...
True but even a kitchen reno where you don't change the footprint too much can be a bit misguided if you jump in and don't give yourself time to figure out how you use the space the most.
When my husband and I bought our first home together, it was an estate sale way below our budget so we had a good chunk of funds to work with. THe house had a 70's kitchen. Orange counters, dark brown floor, dark cabinets...ugh...it was horrible. lol. We ripped it out 2 days after close. We didnt even cook in it. We weren't changing much as the kitchen wasn't very large. There was one wall that was a bit awkward and we decided to put in a breakfast bar. That was the all the rage. "Oh you have to have breakfast bar!" So we did that and it did turn out really nice. I even got some fancy stools. Everyone thought it looked great. Well here's the thing. I rarely eat breakfast and I hate sitting on stools. We never used it. It was the junk mail counter. A year after renovating the kitchen I wished would have had put in base cabinets instead of the open bar thingy. I realized storage was more important. Not a huge deal because the kitchen was really nice but it was one of those things where if I had actually worked in the kitchen first I would have realized storage was a better idea.
Funny though, when we sold the house 5 yrs later the couple that bought it loved the breakfast bar. They said it would be so great for their kids when they have snacks etc. Huh huh. Ya till your little tike falls off the stool cracking their head off the floor. I bet it ended up being their junk mail counter too.
I think with a little paint on the walls, new countertops and getting rid of those ugly bar stools will go a long way in sprucing up that space. It looks like all of the other appliances are fairly new and black. Changing out the fridge would help too.
I think for $15K at wholesale prices you can do a lot with that room. Get rid of the soffit, put in new cabinets--I would put standard cabinets in and then smaller ones on top with glass fronts that go to the ceiling. I would get rid of the pantry and expand the kitchen out toward the dining area. I don't like seeing the kitchen when you walk into the house so I would extend that wall to the left of the front door to close in the kitchen....assuming that looks ok in real life. You can then add cabinets along that wall, expand your island for seating in the kitchen. That makes your dining area part of the kitchen too. I would get rid of the sliders too. If you have to have a door, put in a french door or regular sized glass door but I would get rid of that entry altogether, put in a couple windows and add cabinets along that wall too.
Can you post photos from the front door and from the sink toward the pantry?
I just bought a house last year with a small (10 x 11) outdated kitchen. It, too, has a slider that was relatively new (Andersen), opens up to a nice deck, and makes the kitchen look a lot more spacious than the window it replaced. It cost me a bit over $20K to update the kitchen, using the same footprint, including keeping the slider. (I did replace the plastic vertical blinds with two cellular shades.) I heard as a rule of thumb, you shouldn't spend more than 10% of the value of the house on the kitchen reno. I did consider removing the soffit, or widening the kitchen doorway, or installing a built-in peninsula, but all of those items would have jacked up the construction costs too much for my budget.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So we did that and it did turn out really nice. I even got some fancy stools. Everyone thought it looked great. Well here's the thing. I rarely eat breakfast and I hate sitting on stools. We never used it. It was the junk mail counter. A year after renovating the kitchen I wished would have had put in base cabinets instead of the open bar thingy. I realized storage was more important. Not a huge deal because the kitchen was really nice but it was one of those things where if I had actually worked in the kitchen first I would have realized storage was a better idea. 
