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?

People do not change their kitchens every 5 years. You’d have to be bonkers or minted to do that! I expect my toaster to last 10 years a kitchen should do substantially more!

Oh please. If there’s a permanent stain on your unit, work surface or floor that doesn’t scrub out after a lot of elbow grease, bleach, bicarb and Cif, then of course it’s not “unclean” - it’s likely just a permanent mark that’s ingrained into the mdf, wood, linoleum or whatever and will be in no way unhygienic. I find it bizarre that anyone would think otherwise tbh.

Yes, bye the same definition paint of dye is dirty too.

Can you re-use, tart up what your have already? I think our kitchen was probably fairly new when we bought the house 5 years ago. However, they clearly used the cheapest materials to build it. The laminate MDF around the sink peels really easily if it sees just a drop of water, the cream floor tiles are impractical (we have a dog so it never looks clean) and the paint is peeling off the walls. We considered a new kitchen but on balance it felt wasteful and I wasn't sure we would actually get anything that's better quality without forking out £££.

I've settled for repainting the cupboards with Wilko cupboard paint. One layer of primer and 2 coats of the cupboard paint, applied using a gloss roller and it looks so much better. Inexpensive and it seems very durable. I'll take out a section of the cupboards to replace the damaged section by the sink and add in a small dining area. That only leaves replacing the floor (will probably pay someone to fit a decent quality vinyl over the top) and to fix and paint the walls and I basically have a 'new kitchen'.

It sounds totally unhygienic.

OP. my kitchen is 36 years old and a bit fugly (sorry kitchen!). I'm going to do it up with paint and new flooring. All the units are pretty solid apart from one dodgy door. I really don't want to rip it all out and send it to landfill and then spend 10s of thousands replacing it, it seems so wasteful to me. Like you, I worry about being judged, but then if someone judges you on the basis of how flash your kitchen is(n't), then they're not worth knowing.

Anyway, I have found Pintrest really good for ideas on how to improve it, there are some really creative people out there!

Looking at homes in France is an eye opener. Very basic kitchens out of which they produce amazing meals.

Yes, that's very true!

Yes, that's very true!

Spoken like someone who has never been in many typical French kitchens.

It's as far from true as it gets.

Looking at homes in France is an eye opener. Very basic kitchens out of which they produce amazing meals.

I didn’t read this as suggesting that all French kitchens were basic. That would plainly be ludicrous. But having a basic kitchen doesn’t seem to be a barrier to producing good food in other countries than the UK. Conversely, there seem to be plenty of people in the UK who have great kitchens but no cooking skills to apply in them.

@ Bluntness100 depends where in France we're talking about, I suppose! It such a huge country so lots of variation. But I have been in many a rural French kitchen in the South and a few of them were what you'd call basic. One was owned by an ex army chef who made one of the best meals I have ever had.

@ fail there, @Bluntness100!

If you think it’s adequate, it’s adequate.
I think I’d like your wallpaper.

This is charming:

40s style

i.pinimg.com/originals/a0/72/31/a0723132719affd7076d63095d5ddd5e.jpg

I think people have so little idea of personal style that they slavishly copy the bland extension with the bi-fold doors sort of kitchen. Sooooo dull.

I live on a naice estate of a dozen or so houses built about 13 years ago. Every single household (except us) has replaced their kitchen. Some more than once.

Ours is a simple shaker style, wooden door fronts, plain and reasonably sturdy. It is absolutely fine.

People replace their kitchens that often?Our kitchen is 15 years old and don’t plan to ever replace it.

I'm not saying there are no basic kitchens in France, there are as many basic kitchens in France as there are here or any other western country. What I'm saying is the insinuation that the French on average have basic crap kitchens

They don't,

Not by a long shot.

People were not generalising but perhaps you were.

Re French "basic" kitchens - surely it's obvious you don't need a fitted kitchen to produce good food! The main necessities are a working stove, chopping board, pans and utensils.
The obsession in this country with fitted kitchens has very little to do with good cooking!
The OPs kitchen sounds rather dated and sad. But if I had a big space and a clean slate I wouldn't bother spending a lot of money on lots of chipboard units. I'd go unfitted with a decent cooker, big kitchen table and chairs, larder for food, and big dresser for crockery.