To think a kitchen should last more that 12 years?

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

I live on a small (a dozen houses or so) estate. And i'm a nosy cow, so every time someone puts their house up for sale, I have a look at it on rightmove. Every single house that has been up in the last few years has upgraded their kitchen and often their bathrooms from the original.

Our houses are top end 4 and 5 bed houses. They didn't have cheap fittings put in them, there was a decent choice of finishes. I have raised four kids in my house and, honestly, my kitchen is in really good nick. I have one travertine style bathroom that looks a bit dated, but not badly enough to rip the whole thing out.

Some people just seem to spend money for the sake of it.

When we moved into our present house 20 years ago I didn't like the kitchen, it was that orangey wood and good quality with a dark brown sink which I hated. We said once we were settled we would change it. Fast forward 18 years and we still had the same kitchen, still in really good condition so I got a new sink, new cooker and painted the cupboards. It should do another 18 years I reckon.

It looks really nice by the way.

Current house original 1950's kitchen. Bathroom colour brown and pink possibly 1970's. Everything works/functional, may upgrade as part of ongoing improvements.

SmokeintheR00m - oh I hope you won't change your kitchen. A 1950s kitchen sounds wonderful! How practical is it? Do you have modern appliances? Could you post a pic?

Our houses range from brand new to six years old. There are several who have changed their kitchens already.

I'm in Australia, and when my house was being valued for a mortgage change, the chap said bathrooms and kitchens had 10-year life in style terms.

The house had been fitted out in the early 80s and everything was in fine shape, though dated. We renovated bathroom, ensuite and kitchen over that last 5 years, though modestly and not fashionably.

Having said all this, there's a good reason for simple renovations; our house would be bulldozed after sale because that's what they do here. Nothing we can do can add any value to the house.

I've got an old farm cottage with the kitchen and bathroom in a late 1960s/early 1970s extension. One of the first things I changed was the bathroom - from huge turquoise suite to neat plain white. I got the kitchen done last year - from 1960s pale pink with fake orange pine panelling walls to pale grey German-manufactured units and Swedish blue walls. I also had the freezing open plan changed to separate sitting room and kitchen diner. I expect the kitchen to last my lifetime and I got it from a trade supplier so it wasn't even as expensive as the quality would normally be. The crap old one was about 40 years old so I expect this one to last that long

A solid wood kitchen should last 12 years plus, but if you have a painted one and have kids then it's going to deteriorate a little bit faster due to being bashed with toys and possible drawn on with pens and eating utensils:-)