Aibu to want to replace this kitchen now

[Cantinao]

Hi, DH and I have just moved into our new house- it’s somewhere we plan to stay until the kids have flown the nest, lovely house but a bit dated.

The kitchen is solid and functional but I don’t like it. It must be 20 years old. To replace it would mean that we would have to borrow more which dh is dead set against doing. He thinks that we just live with it for a few years.

i’ve attached a couple of pics. Not showing the whole room in case someone identifies me!!

could you live with this?

It would be unreasonable to take out a loan because the kitchen is ugly. Especially considering borrowing rates are quite high still

Yes

You get a much more open, modern effect without wall units. Just a suggestion.I think you can have far too many cupboards. We had a large full height cupboard put in the utility room and it;s where we keep all the kitchen stuff we don't use daily. It made a huge difference to how many cupbiards we needed in the kitchen which now looks much bigger and more open.

Your kitchen is fine - nicer than mine. I'd be reluctant to borrow more money to replace something that's basically okay.
There are companies that will do overlays for the worktops and professionally spray paint the cabinets for a lot less than a new kitchen. Worth thinking about as a compromise.

Alfresco Frenchic paint is your friend. Very hard wearing. Change handles and voila! New kitchen….

If it is functional, I could live with it for decades.

Cabinetry is not meant to be changed for aesthetics. It’s bad for your budget and the environment. Wait until it needs to be replaced.

if it is driving you crazy, paint it.

No I would really struggle with that , sorry !! I WOULD borrow to have a new one .

🤣🤣🤣

You could have taken that photo in my kitchen. I have those doors, handles and worktop.

Don't change it. I love it. 😁

This, would you take on a evening job to pay for new kitchen?

Me too

Definitely paint it and change the handles. I've done it a number of times, and painted the backsplash too.

I lasted 5 years with a kitchen I hated until I was in a better financial position to change it. Do what others have said, change handles and work tops, maybe paint it then think about what you really want and save for it.

I'd happily live with it. I also (no offence) prefer your handles to the newer ones a PP posted. Paint the walls the right colour and you'll half transform the kitchen already - something that brings out the best of the units. Or have the units painted, as people have suggested.

Also, something 20 years old may well be better quality than what you could buy today in the same price range.

I agree with pp's that you should paint it. We got a painter to do ours because neither of us felt confident enough to do it ourselves. He painted over the orangey pine we'd had for over 20 years and it's now cream. We recently changed the worktops as we were having work done anyway. It's like a different room.

As long as it isn't falling apart, I would not take on more debt for a kitchen. I would live with it until I had saved up enough for a new one.

Sorry, didn't mean to quote the OP. I can't remove it when editing.

We went from pic 1 to pic 2 with Rust-Oleum kitchen paint...dead easy and SO satisfying

I'd get some mdf strips cut to make shaker doors, frenchic paint, new handles. Either new worktop or vinyl wrap it. It'll look like a new kitchen
If you have Facebook search for the frenchic fan forum group. There's some amazing before and afters in there

I once asked on MN how often people changed their kitchens. Apparently ta every 10 years. So as long as you can pay off the debt within 10 years and save up enough to pay for the next kitchen go for it. Personally I'd wait I till I could afford it, but it would take me a couple of years to decide what I really wanted anyway.

It’s not ugly, it’s fine!

I don’t like it, but in my view a functional but ugly kitchen is something you live with until you can afford to replace it. It’s amazing how quickly 2 or 3 years goes by!

Thousands of homes must still have kitchens like this. I'd definitely wait as you won't know how the kitchen space works for you yet.

No offence taken

My old ones were the same shape as the OP but had this pattern which was a nightmare to clean
I couldn't go mega expensive as I have 15 cupboards and 10 drawers

Oh for the OP, I was quoted around £1200 to spray with a 10 year guarantee if that helps

You can also get cupboard doors professionally re-wrapped/sprayed which would look better than painting it yourself. There is a place near me that specialises in doing this and replacing worktops (I agree the black is very 2011)

I wouldn't get into more debt to replace that, sorry. Paint, new handles etc. We had similar and only changed it a couple of years ago after living with it for many years.

I'd live a kitchen as modern as the OPs! We've lived with ours for 19 years since we moved in, but I think it's actually 80s. My issue is that the layout doesn't work. Not so fussed about the doors.