Only 5 years use out of a kitchen

[BrilliantBetty]

I have been gifted £4K.

I want to use this money to re do our very old kitchen. An Ikea kitchen or something similar. I have worked out I could get all the units, flooring and work done for the £4K.
It is a small room, current kitchen is old. It was was here before the previous occupants moved it, but fairly new at that point. I'd guess it is 12 -15 years old. I think it is Wicks, so nothing fancy.

However if I buy a new kitchen it would only get 5 years use. We intend to do a large double storey extension in 5-6 years time which includes a more luxurious kitchen / diner.

So AIBU and wasteful to get a new, cheap-ish kitchen, just to use for the next 5-6 years?

(BTW I do appreciate that this is a silly dilemma)

I wouldn't. I'd put that 4k towards the extension.

(Our kitchen is 25 years old though, so what would I know.)

I gave my kitchen a face lift and spent 4k. I did regret it 5 years later when we replaced it with a proper kitchen because a) it still looked shit and b) that 4k would have paid for my worktops.

You can sell the kitchen after 5 years.
In my first house, i intended to buy a particular Magnet kitchen but saw (in our local paper - yes.that long ago... Facebook marketplace would be the equivalent now, I think)the very kitchen up for sale from a private seller locally.
I went to see it in situ, then got my builder to go and take it out and reassemble as much of it as he could in my kitchen. It lasted me 15 years until I moved and I loved it.
So you could probably recoup up to 50% of the cost of the units.

Hmmm, 365 x 5years /4000

I'd be finding out how much it'll cost per day until you tear it out and then see if you're OK with that.
For me, time goes so quickly that I'd save the money or spend it on something else.

I think that's very wasteful. All that stuff right into a landfill.

I wouldn’t personally. Could the £4K go towards the extension project and bring the timeframe forward a bit?

I still consider my 10 year old kitchen new so I wouldn't do it. I'd put the money towards the extension.

I would keep hold of the money; it’s a lot to use if you’re going to be redoing the kitchen soon

It would pure stupidity OP. Sorry but just put the money into savings for the extension.

How about changing the doors? Update your handles, paint it out and put the remainder into the building fund.

Thoughts?

No - save the money for something you really want for the extension.

Yes it might be enough to change the doors and work surface (it's nasty plastic). But the lino flooring is ripped in places.

It's a horrible kitchen. Previous occupants were indoor smokers and it's done some damage. I'm worried it will look completely revolting and be falling apart in another couple of years & then it would be far too late to re do and I'd still have to live with it for the remainder

If you get 5 years out of it for 4k that seems reasonable tbh.

Would you pay £1000/year for a new kitchen? Doesn't seem like money well spent. Replace the lino for a couple hundred quid and a lick of paint. I'd use the money to bring forward the extension project

We put in a kitchen that we could reuse the carcasses and doors of in the new kitchen when the extension is done

We planned to do the extension in 4 years time. However, that time has been and gone and it’s likely to be another 2-3 years at least so I’m glad we didn’t put up with what was there before

I would do it. I think a lot of us live in the future far to much. Five years is actually a big percentage of a lifetime and I wouldn't want to suffer with a crap kitchen for that long.

Oh in that case jfdi. And enjoy it!

In a similar situation I saved most of the money but I did have new lino which really made the room nicer for the next five years.

Saving the money was so worth it in the end, it was really useful when we extended.

Environmentally, it is terribly bad and wasteful, so I wouldn't on that basis, let alone the financial aspect.

You can transform the kitchen by painting the doors, and getting new knobs, plus some nice accessories. This needn't cost much.

I’d do it. And the kitchen wouldn’t go to landfill after 5 years as you can sell it.
5 years is a long time to live with a torn, tatty, smoke stained kitchen.

I wouldn't personally. Could you put some money towards re-decorating? If you have wooden cabinets you can easily paint them yourself if you're able. I think you'd regret it when you're doing your renovation. You could even put it in a savings account and 'forget' about it so you can buy some new appliances or goodies for the renovation (e.g. kitchenaid mixer or furniture maybe)

We put old kitchen units in garage when we had a new kitchen, I couldn't wait years for a decent kitchen

I was going to say no until I seen your update, after seeing that yes I would!

@Onedropbeat

Yes I can definitely see how these large projects get put on hold! The large extension is quite dependent on a few things, so there is a chance it could be longer than 6 years. Though hopefully not.

It definitely couldn't be brought forward at any rate.

How come the extension is 5-6 years off? It seems a waste to me to refurb a room that won't be there in 5-6 years time. I would be looking for ways in bringing your extension date nearer to the present day. I know for sure that planning permission doesn't take 5 years!

For kitchen comparison, I live in a new-build area (new in 1990) where there are around 16 houses that are the same as mine. Some of them are mirror image obviously. I know from my neighbours that we all had the same fitted kitchen to begin with in 1990. That's including the mirrored houses. Again with neighbours and looking at up-to-date estate photos, a few of our kitchens have been replaced but most of them are still the original, including mine.

So if I had 4k, then yes I would replace my kitchen as it's 3 decades old. For you though, I would put your 4k into redecorating some of your rooms that won't be altered by the extension work. So by doing that, the 4k won't go down the drain. That's only if the extension date can't be brought forwards. If the date can be brought forwards, then I would put the 4k towards that.