Will my kitchen remodel make our house hard to sell? (countertops, houses)

[ladylonghorn2]

I brought this up in another thread but thought it warranted it's own topic... I have the typical kitchen you see everywhere in the 300k price range. The cabinets are dated cheap oak, but the previous owners tossed in some new granite and stainless and call the kitchen "updated".

It's really not my style. I prefer the clean, bright, white look of a vintage cottage type kitchen. So I'm planning to:

- replace the dark granite with something lighter, perhaps soapstone
- replace clay tile backsplash with white subway tiles
- replace oak cabinets with vintage looking white ones with brushed nickel hardware
- replace all of the dark rubbed bronze light fixtures with vintage milk glass inspired ones like you see at Schoolhouse Electric Co. - Classic period light fixtures and vintage glass shades.
- perhaps install beadboard on the ceiling


here are some inspirational photos of what I'm going for (note: I won't do the turquoise backsplash, instead that will be white subway tile)





Do you think that the central Texas tastes will not agree with my remodel? I don't want to make it hard to sell down the road by having the only kitchen in that price range with subway tiles and white cabinets.

It seems to be a very popular look as I see it all the time in magazines. But I looked at almost 30 homes when buying and didn't see a single one in this style.

thoughts?

[gpurcell]

That's what I'm planning for my house...but I live in a 1917 bungalow so buyers kinda expect that sort of kitchen.

[Taterhead]

I wouldn't do it, we just bought a house here 3 weeks ago and the first thing I'm doing is replacing the white tile backsplash. I hate white tile or anything vintage looking. If your home was of that period then I'd say go for it, but not if it's a newer today home. My white tile isn't subway tile (don't like that style either) but it is still white non the less. For resale you need to keep it generic. Fixing the tile is easy to do, but if I had to redo the whole kitchen, I'd pass on your home as a buyer.

Debbie

[QuietRiot]

You can't please everyone all the time.... You can't try to second guess who will be looking at homes in 5-6 years when you are wanting to sell !!! People will buy the house for the house as a whole... just be sure the style of kitchen you choose flows nicely from the other areas of your home --- for example - don't have an ultra modern kitchen while leaving the house casual country, it will "feel" out of place and that is what people do not want to buy!!!!

Do the kitchen make over and enjoy it and love it! You could pay off that house and retire in it, enjoying the kitchen for your grandchildren and great grand children...

[Taterhead]

Originally Posted by QuietRiot

Do the kitchen make over and enjoy it and love it! You could pay off that house and retire in it, enjoying the kitchen for your grandchildren and great grand children...

Sorry but i don't agree, she might not want to pay off the house and live there forever. If she does this redo, that is costly to her and if she has trouble selling it because of the redo, that's not a good thing. Kitchens and baths redo's for a buyer are the most costly, so most will pass on her home if they don't like the kitchen. Especially the kitchen (heart of the home).

Debbie

[CATXTransplant]

Yes, that will hurt you when you plan to sell. It's very taste specific, and the majority of people in Texas want dark wood. I have always wanted a kitchen with white cabinets and black honed granite but I won't do it here in TX. I just sold a house with a gorgeous kitchen - I saw the house when the current owners bought and know that they ripped out newer dark cabinets and replaced with white with a turquoise glass subway tile backsplash. It's a gorgeous kitchen, but it sat on the market for almost a year. My buyers bought it after a $50,000 price reduction. I told my buyers it could be an issue with resale, but they just have to remember that they got it at a great reduction and keep that in mind when they price it to sell later. You don't have that option since you will be the one putting it in.

[QuietRiot]

My point is to do the make over for yourself -- don't try to make over your house now for what someone you don't even know would want later... and if you aren't going to live in a house more than 4-5 years, why spend $60,000 making over a kitchen you aren't planning to stay in?? ... just sell the house as it is and let the new owner do it in their own taste and style....

[loves2read]

agree that if your kitchen is functional, fairly updated, and AGREES with the houses in your neighborhood that are selling now--then it would be foolish to redo a kitchen trying to appeal to the people who MAY want to buy it---

we have house in DFW area that we moved out of couple of months ago and need to refurbish to get market ready---we are spending money on the house but that is mainly because we delayed doing it while we were living in it because we would talk about remodeling and NOT moving just as much as we looked for another house to buy...
we have items that HAVE to be done just as general maintenance not upgrades...

we are redoing the master bath becuause there is a crack in the current tub probably with more cultured marble vs granite countertops and new tile shower because the cultured marble is less expensive, can be done fairly stylishly, and is in keeping with houses that are on the market/sold in our neighborhood now...
but we are leaving the Formica countertops in the kitchen (taking down the wallpaper and texturing walls--even though I think wall paper is making a comeback in some design trends) and will just wait to see how many people complain about the countertops when the house is on the market...
some of the houses in our neighborhood on the market and recent sells have the original wallpaper still up and formica in the kitchens and cultured marble in the baths--it just depends--some of them have redone the kitchens but not the other parts of the house--and some of them with remodeling picked choices that are really individual choices (like something very modern looking with colors that are not basic like beigey tones but very personal like silver and maroon)...
some people don't have a clue what soapstone counters are--and while I happen to prefer soapstone to granite think I am in minority -- especially in certain price ranges...
people w/o interest in design details will just default to granite as the "top" choice....

just doing the walls in kitchen and putting new knobs in will save us quite a bit of money
we are also keeping most of the wood in its stain vs repainting/replacing cabinets...

we are doing new carpet/repainting in and out/changing out the dining room and entry hall light fixtures/recarpeting/changing carpet to tile in the bathrooms (my husband did not want to redo that when we changed kitchen vinyl to tile years ago--he is weird with liking carpet in bathrooms)...

[ladylonghorn2]

I feel like I need to enjoy the place while we're there. And yes we would definitely stay there longer than 4-6 years. And surely I can't be the only person who wants this style of kitchen. I mean, it's a look I see featured in a lot of magazines, and to me, seems more upscale. I don't see oak cabinets, generic granite and beige stone backsplashes in magazines that much.

[ladylonghorn2]

Originally Posted by CATXTransplant

Yes, that will hurt you when you plan to sell. It's very taste specific, and the majority of people in Texas want dark wood

don't you think that dark wood and granite look is going to seem dated very quickly? and that the more timeless look of the white cabinets and lighter counters won't?