Really want to redo my 1990s kitchen, but....

[Anonymous]

*12 months

[Anonymous]

And then there's this

Kitchen renovation reveals 400-year-old friezes in York flat
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/19/kitchen-renovation-reveals-400-year-old-friezes-in-york-flat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just don’t do it. Fix what’s broken.

It's not really an option. We have hideous linoleum floors, the laminate on the counter tops is peeling, the cabinets were so filthy when we bought the house, it makes us look like slobs.

Well, this is obviously not true. Replacing the countertops and floors is not very disruptive and comparatively inexpensive. Dirty cabinets can be cleaned.

NP. I disagree with this advice. New cabinets are life changing. Countertops are whatever (new ones will still function like countertops!), but cabinets are just completely different. We did 100% drawers and we can fit 2x as much. Everything is very neat now. Our 90s cabinets were completely falling apart inside and the drawers were awful. If you're going to do anything in your kitchen, get the cabinets. Don't put nice new counters on nasty cabinets.

OP, you just have to bite the bullet and do it. Luckily if you do it in warmer weather you can cook on the grill more nights. We completely did our kitchen ourselves (hung the cabinets, did the backsplash, laid the wood floors) and even that was only 4 months. My friends who had contractors do it spent like 6 weeks at most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And then there's this

Kitchen renovation reveals 400-year-old friezes in York flat
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/19/kitchen-renovation-reveals-400-year-old-friezes-in-york-flat

totally LOVE the headshot pillow in his living room. I want to hang out with this guy. In reference to another thread, this is the kind of thing that needs a gofundme!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do it and enjoy your new kitchen... I would not recommend a piecemeal renovation- if you love your home and its location, do the renovation that you want. I have two boys and make dinner for my family every night (and work full-time). I gutted my kitchen last year and while it sucked for a bit, I love my new kitchen.

Aww, that's what I wanted to hear. Me too, I spend so much time in the kitchen, making dinners and lunches. I would love a clean peaceful space to have my morning coffee on the weekends.

Then do it! Price out what it costs to move. 6% just in realtor costs! Put that money in your own house and love it yourself.

[Anonymous]

Our kitchen was in terrible shape. We put in a new floor, painted the walls, replaced the laminate counters with granite, replaced the sink and replaced the hardware on the cabinets. It looks 1000X better.

The countertop/sink replacement only took a day with the granite company and the floor replacement only took a day with the flooring company. We hired painters for the walls who were in and out within 5 hours.Then we replaced the hardware ourselves. I highly recommend this piecemeal method. A lot cheaper, quicker and kitchen looks updated!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just don’t do it. Fix what’s broken.

It's not really an option. We have hideous linoleum floors, the laminate on the counter tops is peeling, the cabinets were so filthy when we bought the house, it makes us look like slobs.

Well, this is obviously not true. Replacing the countertops and floors is not very disruptive and comparatively inexpensive. Dirty cabinets can be cleaned.

NP. I disagree with this advice. New cabinets are life changing. Countertops are whatever (new ones will still function like countertops!), but cabinets are just completely different. We did 100% drawers and we can fit 2x as much. Everything is very neat now. Our 90s cabinets were completely falling apart inside and the drawers were awful. If you're going to do anything in your kitchen, get the cabinets. Don't put nice new counters on nasty cabinets.

OP, you just have to bite the bullet and do it. Luckily if you do it in warmer weather you can cook on the grill more nights. We completely did our kitchen ourselves (hung the cabinets, did the backsplash, laid the wood floors) and even that was only 4 months. My friends who had contractors do it spent like 6 weeks at most.

Certainly if your cabinets are falling apart it makes sense to replace them. OP just said hers are dirty. If the cabinets themselves are solid, cleaning and/or refacing can be a better option than ripping out perfectly fine cabinets.

[Anonymous]

I would do a big design build firm for this. Yeah there's a markup, but your scope is pretty narrow and you don't want to deal with the logistics.

[Anonymous]

I've actually heard Ikea cabinets are quite nice and good quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP if you’re going to be on a tight budget and that’s going to make you miserable, just don’t do it. Replace the counters and the flooring, scrub the cabinets with simple green, and put the money you have in a CD because interest rates are high right now. Then keep saving and revisit it in 5-10 years.

This is the way.

Hire a professional to scrub the cabinets, then have them painted. Put tile down over the linoleum. Get new countertops. Call it a day. You will feel a lot better about your kitchen after doing this.

When we moved into our house that's exactly what we did. I didn't like the black granite with blue specks but it was granite and I wasn't going to throw it away, so we picked a backsplash and floor tiles to play off the blue. We painted the cabinets white. It was like a whole new kitchen even though, again, I wouldn't have picked that countertop or those appliances myself.

And then . . . catastrophe. A pipe burst and the whole kitchen was destroyed. We got a new kitchen out of it, but really the old kitchen was an A-/B+ without the months of hassle of a total rebuild. Yes, I got to pick counters and appliances that were more me, but it wasn't worth the time or cost (we did have to pay $$$ because we wanted what we wanted and the insurance would only cover so much).

[Anonymous]

Go Big Box Store or one of those one stop shop kitchen and bath stores that have essentially do pull and replace remodels. You likely won’t be able to move plumbing and such, but this could be a good middle ground and I bet they can help you come up with something decent.

[Anonymous]

I used Beautiful Home Services in MD. We are in Va though.

It was a pain for about 2 months but it wasn’t that bad. I turned a 1980s kitchen in a 1960s house into something I love. And we had a plunking problem where art of the laundry room flooded.

Do it during the summer when kids schedules aren’t that hectic and you can eat outside more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are currently taking the middle ground approach—new cabinets, countertops, and island from Lowe’s. Keeping flooring and appliances (except replacing gas stovetop with induction). So far it’s been fairly painless and affordable, though we’re not done yet. If there’s any chance you can keep the existing layout, I think you’ll avoid a lot of the headaches you’re worried about.

NP this is what we want to do, replace cabinets/countertops + induction stove and that's it. Are you doing the installation of cabinets yourself, or are you doing this all through a contractor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do it and enjoy your new kitchen... I would not recommend a piecemeal renovation- if you love your home and its location, do the renovation that you want. I have two boys and make dinner for my family every night (and work full-time). I gutted my kitchen last year and while it sucked for a bit, I love my new kitchen.

Aww, that's what I wanted to hear. Me too, I spend so much time in the kitchen, making dinners and lunches. I would love a clean peaceful space to have my morning coffee on the weekends.

Then do it! Price out what it costs to move. 6% just in realtor costs! Put that money in your own house and love it yourself.

+1 This!!!

[Anonymous]

Agree with other PPs. If you love your house, location, and are staying I would bite the bullet and do it. If you start getting quotes now then maybe you can get on someone’s schedule for may or June. Then you have summer months to cook on grill, eat outside, more salads😀 It won’t be so bad.

You are going to spend years in this space. Go for the absolute best YOU can afford.