To think my 40+ year old kitchen is adequate?

[FarrowAndBallsUp]

My 35 year old kitchen is very elderly compared to friends' ones. I worry a bit about what people think when they see it when the norm seems to be (correct me if I'm wrong) to have a new kitchen every 10-15 years.

The doors all hang very slightly squint.
It was originally fitted but as some units have failed over the years they've been replaced, so there are three different patterns of fronts.

The linoleum is ancient, doesn't quite fit (from having been lifted periodically through the years when underfloor pipes have burst), and has some stains that don't scrub out.
The sockets have been added to over the years so are different styles, heights.
The wallpaper was replaced in the 80's and has an attractive teapot pattern.
It's a positive spider metropolis.
Some units were removed to make space for white goods and some of the panels are just plain unpainted chipboard.

But it's serviceable, and the appliances are all fairly new.

The rest of the house is reasonably modern, tidy, clean and reasonably aesthetically pleasing.

AIBU to let it limp along?

If it’s not important to you to replace it, then don’t replace it. If you’re not intending to sell your house soon then I can’t see why you (personally) would? I would, my kitchen is 10 years old and looking tatty but then that’s my own personal thinking for my own home.

You'll miss it if you get a new one. Also, you will notice how crap the modern materials are, when compared to the materials in your old kitchen. I remember in the 90's I was still using a cooker from the early 80s and when I called someone to fit it, he looked at it with pleasure, admiring the solid chrome and old-fashioned reliable finish and workmanship.

I needs a picture to judge 😀

My kitchen is 1950s in a doer upper house. It's old but functional. Fashion's keep changing. I'm debating whether to upgrade the bathroom or kitchen first. I'm in no rush to do any improvements. You can buy second hand, more modern kitchens too

It's entirely up to you, but frankly, I don't understand people who keep a kitchen in this kind of state. How can you prepare food in an environment like this if you don't need to. Doesn't mean you need some super duper new modern kitchen, but one where the cupboards and doors fit and aren't falling apart/rotten/attracting spiders, mice and more seems like a no brainer.

Also, you might be surprised how nice modern kitchens are. My old kitchen on the surface looked okay - old but fine but was literally rotting away underneath. What really blew me away when we redid it wasn't how it looked, but how much more functional it was. Modern design as well as various bits of kit which make using its so much easier. eg, a small one, but we have large drawers that can fit all our crockery, serving dishes and pots. It is so much easier to access things now than when we had to store all this stuff in old fashioned deep cupboards.

It's sounds hideous but it's no one else's business. If you like it then crack on.

Of course it's adequate. I doubt it's very nice from what you've described, but if all you need to know is is it adequate then, yes, it's functional and adequate 🤷‍♀️

sheldon yes I do worry that once I replace it I'll be condemned to replacing it more frequently as modern kitchens will date and fall to bits after 10 years - I think ours is now a timeless classic and can't actually deteriorate?

Well it doesn't sound very nice but if you're nit bothered what does it matter what anyone else thinks?

OP - I think it's perfectly possible to get a new kitchen that is still suitably neutral and that doesn't date as much. or even to get a new kitchen that looks like an old fashioned one, but that works well.

I couldn’t be doing with it but I strongly believe a kitchen should be be immaculate, clinical even.

bling if I could wave a wand I'd change it, but it'll need to be rewired, plastered etc so it'll be fairly disruptive and I'm not sure I could face it.

Photo needed!
I suspect it’s not as bad as your op suggests

I think if it was falling apart then I’d have to redo it otherwise it would always look messy and that would drive me up the wall.
I have a relatively new kitchen (was put in last summer) and it’s very neutral with shaker style doors so it shouldn’t date too much.
I agree with the statement that kitchens should immaculate and you just won’t get that with an old ,dated and mismatched kitchen

Aaah, that's a different issue! My point was that you can have a new one installed but it doesn't have to be all brushed steel, glass and marble if you want a more traditional look! :)

Incidentally, we redid ours a few years ago. Didn't need to be rewired but did require the removal of an archway and insertion of a beam (so minor structural changes). The whole experience was surprisingly painless. The building work and old kitchen removal was done while we were away for 10 days. Then there was a brief gap (which was annoying and had to do with inefficiency of our builder due to complicated issues) then just 5 days to get the new kitchen in and set up. And while it was annoying, there was only one day we couldn't use it and if we hadn't been on holiday, I think we would have had only an extra 2 or 3 days while they put the beam in.

With respect OP, you’ve mentioned being concerned about newer kitchens needing repairing more often but it sounds like your current kitchen is a bit of a cut and shut job at the moment.

Whilst I don’t think you necessarily need a new kitchen (although I couldn’t stick one like yours) there’s no real excuse for not having flooring that fits. It’s a couple of hundred quid to do. Same goes for the wallpaper and spiders!

I'm thinking I'm going to pay off the house in full first. Then I will have spare money to be able to fit new kitchen and bathroom. Of course an old kitchen is ok. I've got new appliances. It's all about cost and priorities

The average kitchen is replaced much more often than 10 to 15 years , at least twice as often. Just had ours done after 20 years but only because it was tiny and only had 3 floor units and 5 wall units and four of us living here but it was in really good condition and we have kept it for the utility room

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

I totally understand the clean/immaculate kitchen thing and you can't achieve that with an old mismatched one. In its defence I don't think it's unhygienic, work surfaces kept scrubbed, sink clean etc but I can see that it would not currently be a room that exudes an air of hygiene!

(Too to post a kitchen sporner pic in case anyone IRL recognises (irrational I know) it.)

Someone I know has just replaced a 35+ year old kitchen. The cost has been about 20k. There are probably cheaper options. However, a new kitchen still takes money, time and effort, especially if you plan to do some of the work yourself. It's similar for old cars. Do you want to drive an old banger that cost little, but runs ok versus a brand new car that costs loads !

dragon we've got a bit trapped in 'what's the point of replacing the kitchen floor if we're going to put in a new kitchen' so apart from chasing the gallopy f*ckers with a hoover and washing the teapot paper (it is vinyl stuff) we've avoided doing anything. But you're right and I do wish we'd replaced the floor and wallpaper years ago!

The average kitchen is replaced much more often than 10 to 15 years

That's what the kitchen suppliers want you to believe, but it just isn't true!! We've had ours for nearly 30 years, and the basic units are absolutely fine. We're considering replacing the worktop, but only because it has a couple of burn marks. It's absolutely fine otherwise. A decent kitchen will last a long time. A crap new modern one won't.

barnowls that feels like a lot of money for something perhaps being done for primarily aesthetic reasons, ouch.

I would replace as and when needed. By the sounds of it, I would need to replace yours ... but if you don’t mind it, that’s fine.
You don’t have to replace every 10-15 years. Our kitchen is wooden cabinets with a long guarantee in a very classic style, I’ll replace them if they break or hang funny or something but other than that I’ll probably just freshen up counter tops and painting when it starts to look old and shabby.

The average kitchen is replaced much more often than 10 to 15 years , at least twice as often

Nonsense. Replacing a kitchen is a big expense.

We just replaced our 32 year old kitchen, it cost about 20 k. I can assure you it won't be getting replaced again any time soon and it's not crap because it's modern.