My kitchen is over 20 years old and has never been touched except for the removal of the goose wallpaper and application of a fresh coat of paint right after we moved in 3 years ago. I am trying to decide on what I need to do to improve the appearance and functionality of the kitchen. I do not have enough storage space for everything that should be in a kitchen right now and have to go into my dining room to retrieve a pot or pan when I want to cook something. We only plan on staying in this house for 7 more years and I am not sure if the expense is worth it for a complete remodel or if I just suffer through it the way it is and ensures the next house has a larger kitchen space. I have broken down my choices below and outlined how I came about with my decision. What do you think, or have any better ideas?
Five-step decision-making approach
1. Define the decision clearly
a. I need to decide what to do to my outdated kitchen, completely remodel or facelift.
2. Consider all the possible choices
a. Leave the kitchen the way it is and not worry about it.
b. Facelift, replacing countertops, sink, floor and adding a kitchen island.
c. Completed remodel, discarding everything in kitchen and start over.
3. Gather all relevant information and evaluate the Pros and Cons of each possible choice
Choice | Pros | Cons |
Leave the Kitchen the way it is | · Will cost nothing to do nothing · Is functional the way it is · We know where everything is | · Inconvenient layout · Shows age of house and kitchen · Not happy with current appearance |
Facelift | · Improves appearance · Will cost less · Will take less time · Increase functionality of kitchen | · Still same old kitchen with new shine · Layout is not improved · |
Gut and restart | · Improved functionality of kitchen · Clean and new · Everything fits in kitchen | · Much higher costs · Longer time to complete · Will not regain expense in resale |
4. Select the choice that seems to best meet the needs of the situation
a. I will choose to give the kitchen a face lift and replace the worst areas that need replacing, add a kitchen island for pots and pan storage. I feel this choice will give me the biggest bang for the buck spent, and would be easily recouped in resale.
5. Implement a plan of action and then Monitor the results, making necessary adjustments
a. I will start to buy the needed materials and begin the project this January once I have completed this program. My wife has already started picking out color samples and flooring choices. I will start looking into my countertop choices soon as well. I really like granite.
A unhappy kitchen makes for a unhappy cook. LOL. When we bought our house there were some things I wanted to change due to the owners lack of taste. She was a kitchen designer and the cabinets and design were awesome but the chili pepper tile backsplash and fake blue granite laminate counter tops left a lot to be desired.
ReplyDeleteI did not want to take the back-splash off and rip up the counter tops because it would take a long time and I need my kitchen for my business. So we went with granite transformations. They did the backslash and counter tops in one day. It was awesome. You should check them out. I absolutely am super proud of my kitchen now.
http://www.granitetransformations.com/
Good luck on your kitchen refacing!
I think you have thought out the Pros and Cons quite well and have made a financially sound decision.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the facelift since you plan to stay in this home for 7 more years. If you had planned on staying longer I'm sure you would have considered gutting the kitchen and starting completely over.
There are a multitude of products available that make a facelift the best financial decision: immediately and resale value.
I enjoy watching HGTV's "Bang For Your Buck" (http://www.hgtv.com/bang-for-your-buck/show/index.html)
and the show offers great ideas for products, compares similar rooms, and offers comps for resale values.
Good luck with your kitchen facelift! I hope to see pictures on your blog!
I agree with your decision to just face lift. You are right, you probably won't get back what you put into it, so why go through all that money to have it completely redone, when you can just facelift it for a lesser cause and just that alone will improve the look of your kitchen drastically. In fact you mentioned that was your main concern was how it looked; so a facelift I feel is your best option and I agree with you on why you chose that option.
ReplyDeleteI agree you can watch so many shows on HGTV that give, inexpensive ways and tips for your house and it makes it look so good. Plus there are alot of books and websites out there ie: google search home tips etc that can help aide in this decision as well. I hope I helped some and good luck with the renovations!
Ron,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good case for the remodel. One question I would have to pose is how do you know that you will only be living there 7 years. The reason I ask is on our old home I delayed a lot of remodeling because we didn’t like the home and didn’t expect to live there that long. The sad fact is, we lived there 22 years. Just something to consider. How bad do you dislike the kitchen? Will a face lift bring it up to a standard that please you if it doesn’t sell in 7 years?
Only you can answer those questions, but it sounds like you thinking align with this article that I found. http://kitchen-remodeling-pictures.com/kitchen-remodel-improvement/kitchen-remodeling-roi.htm Be sure you take before and after pictures. It’ll make you proud later.
I think you've chosen the best possible solution IF you are only going to be there 7 more years....I think Leonard brings up a good question...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, though, if you are going to try to sell it anytime in the future, you need to do something now...but not the whole ball of wax that you won't likely recoup. Do take pictures...sounds like your wife is a step or two ahead of you in this plan:)
Shelley,
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, there are too many people that now abuse the terminology and get away with it because those who do not know the difference let them get away with it. I have a son and my wife who suffer from Bi-polar disease and I get upset whenever someone misuses those terms to their advantage or to gain sympathy from someone. It is real and it really messes up everyone’s lives that are involved with the individual that has it. The Post-Partum depression is what set off my wife and my son’s is a side effect of the meds my wife was on while she was pregnant with him. With care, understanding and concentrated effort we manage it all and get on with our lives. I can see where Ms. Barnett acted the way she did and did not know the difference. She may never know what fully happened, that time in her life will be just a blur.
Ron
Analisa,
Thank you for the wonderful link to the granite transformations! I like that idea a lot. My wife has been comparing paint samples with those on-line. I think this is the same company my Mom used when she re-did her kitchen. I also like the idea of not having to rip out the old countertops or back splashes. As far as the fake blue granite laminate counter tops, I think that is what I put in my last house’s kitchen, 10 years ago….
Ron
Lucy,
I LOVE the HGTV home improvement shows, and that is where I get most of my ideas everywhere around the house. They have also been very helpful with tips for research for products when I am thinking of doing upgrades at home, like I just replaced some windows in my home. The HGTV website allowed me to tap into their consumer reports style breakdown of all the styles of windows out there and select the correct ones for my region of the country and which were the best in my price range. I am not sure the kitchen will be done before we finish class, but I will probably post them on there anyways or my Facebook page.
Ron
James,
Thank you for the tip on the Google search as well. I had not tried that, as I stated to Lucy, I love the HGTV website and their search items. They are very specific and right to the point. They also specialize in that type of work so they have exactly what I am looking for.
Ron
Lisa and Leonard,
I have bad knees, and we bought a tri-level house with nothing but stairs. It has taken my 3 years of living here to figure out I don’t like stairs, well actually only one year, and 2 to convince my wife of this! My youngest son graduates from high school in less than 7 years and then we plan on moving to a Ranch style house. That is where the 7 years come from, sooner if I find the right house in our school district. I would really like someplace out in the country where my dogs can run and I can have both the shop I want and the garden of my dreams. I have already gutted and completely remodeled one kitchen in my lifetime and learned that I do not want to do that again! Add about 20% to your project bill for all of the take-out you eat while you have no place to cook! And yes, my wife is always a step ahead of me, and running…..LOL
Ron
Thanks so much for this awesome post! I have having a similar debate with myself... I really want to get new counter tops in edmonton. I just don't really know how to go about doing this for an affordable price!
ReplyDelete