To ask how old is too old when it comes to kitchens?

[Porcupineintherough]

Warning: first world problem alert.

Please help me settle an argument with dh. We are the owners of a 1980s (maybe early 90s) kitchen. It is dated and getting a little tatty around the edges but still perfectly functional (years of life left in it according to dh).

I feel that we should save for a replacement and get it refitted in a year or two. He feels we should save but wait til bits start dropping off before replacing.

Does anyone else have a 30 year+ kitchen by choice? Will it ever give up the ghost? Admittedly I dont like it but replacement for replacements sake isnt generally my thing either.

Our 16 year old howden's kitchen is very much falling apart. Drawers are fine and all but one of the doors has stayed nice but the carcases are in a state - one has completely crumbled where the hinges attach and we've had to butcher it to replace the dishwasher and washing machine.

@Blossomtoes well quite!

We are aiming for 10 years out of ours and then replace/have it resprayed.

My kitchen is about 30 years old, maybe a bit more. It still looks OK and I haven't got the money to replace it anyway so it's staying as it is. I did re-do the silicone sealant bits last year so it looks a bit better than it did.
The only things I don't like much are the tiles which are very beige and boring (but I can live with them). Maybe if I have some spare cash at some point I will replace those with something I like better.

Ours is 30+ years old, and a mite tatty here and there, but basically Ok and it is fit for purpose, I.e. cooking - and I virtually always cook from scratch.

We could afford to replace it but TBH, until the oven or my much used combi microwave actually pack up, I just CBA with all the faff and hassle.

I honestly don’t give a shiny shit what anyone else thinks. If friends/guests don’t like it, that’s up to them - they’re not obliged to come. But nobody’s ever said anything or looked down their nose - I wouldn’t invite the sort of people who care about how up to date your kitchen is!

Ours is 21 years old and starting to look its age. It's really solid and could be renovated pretty easily except that the layout is rubbish and there isn't enough space for pots and pans and food, so we're changing it soon for something that makes better use of a good space.

My in laws kitchen must be about 35 years old and still going strong. They've replaced work tops and some of the drawers needed fixing, and it's obviously not a modern style, but it does its job and they don't plan on replacing it.

I am amazed that people have kitchens that last so long. I had one installed late 90s and when I replaced it in 2015 it was in dreadful condition.
I have now moved and the 20 year old kitchen here is still fairly good but the sink and tap need replacing, the backs have come away from the floor units and the inside of the sink unit is collapsing. There are other issues as well. I love the range cooker here which is why I am holding out on replacing it.

There's no right or wrong. Some people replace cars every few years, some wait until they're write offs. Most people change clothes with fashion rather than wait until they're threadbare.

I personally would replace a 30 yr old kitchen. Not just for asthetics but also for function. I like draws, pantry cupboards etc.

BUT newer kitchens are unlikely to be as sturdy as the older ones. So I can see why some would keep it.

Also depends on how much disposable money you have and your spending/saving priorities.

I hope you can come to an agreement!

Ours is mid 80s Magnet, we replaced part of the worktop to create a breakfast bar, and created a utility room out of part of another room and were able to add the same units about 24 years ago. I think the biggest 2 problems are a) it's Kings Oak - a very dark oak, in a dark room, so adds to the gloom along with murky grey tiles which don't suit and b) the layout is poor. We hope one day to re-jig the layout of the rooms slightly to make use of some unused space and add some deep pan drawers and a larder corner, so we might re-use the carcasses as there's NOTHING wrong with them and change the doors for something lighter - but for now it stays, the whole lot is still functioning fine, the only problem is one handle has fallen apart but you can open the drawer without, and the bit of worktop nearest the sink has lost it's surface 'shine' so quickly looks grimy - but I covered that with a glass protector. So the fact it's not fallen to bits means that we wait to do the kitchen re-shuffle.

May be ours (1990) was just strong in the first place. Only a bit oif the chipboard the fridge freezer rests on which you cannot see got a bit rotten due to a leak at one point. There is genuinely not a single thing wrong with it. You can clean the outside and inside of the doors. Sometimes a hinge goes on the cupboard doors but those can be replaced.

Just realised I didn't answer your question OP. I would save away, and wait. I reckon once this Ukrainian invasion is done and dusted, and fuel prices peaked, and inflation has ravaged the land, demand for new everything will drop like a stone, and, just as it did by 2010/2011 post 2008 recession, prices for builders/kitchens/DIY stuff will plummet to more reasonable affordable levels, and builder/kitchen fitter availability will increase again.

By which time you cupboard doors might be falling off.

We've been considering the same about our kitchen . We had our kitchen put in in 1995 not long after we married . Most of our house is from that era apart from a few surface improvements like repainting . We came into inheritance a couple of years back and have now replaced a lot of things which were looking very tired plus had a new roof and double glazing (things which desperately needing doing but always seemed to cost more than we wanted to spend in one go).

We have, however, decided to leave the kitchen as it is for the time being . Will probably replace the flooring but there's nothing exactly wrong with the rest of it, and with all the prices going up at the moment we want to make sure we keep some money back.

@Ariela

Just realised I didn't answer your question OP. I would save away, and wait. I reckon once this Ukrainian invasion is done and dusted, and fuel prices peaked, and inflation has ravaged the land, demand for new everything will drop like a stone, and, just as it did by 2010/2011 post 2008 recession, prices for builders/kitchens/DIY stuff will plummet to more reasonable affordable levels, and builder/kitchen fitter availability will increase again.

By which time you cupboard doors might be falling off.

I think that’s an excellent point. If we move into recession, home improvements of all kinds will be much more affordable for those with money as demand falls off a cliff.

@DontLookBackInAnger1

There's no right or wrong. Some people replace cars every few years, some wait until they're write offs. Most people change clothes with fashion rather than wait until they're threadbare.

I personally would replace a 30 yr old kitchen. Not just for asthetics but also for function. I like draws, pantry cupboards etc.

BUT newer kitchens are unlikely to be as sturdy as the older ones. So I can see why some would keep it.

Also depends on how much disposable money you have and your spending/saving priorities.

I hope you can come to an agreement!

Despite its age, my 30+ year old kitchen has deep pan drawers, plenty of smaller ones, and a pull-out larder unit. Funnily enough such things were available even then.

I think the previous owner put the kitchen in around the late eighties. It is a mid shade wood.
I liked it and it has been remarkably durable ever since.
We have replaced knobs, worktop and tiles. It is still able to be cleaned, hinges, drawers, etc are OK.
I don't see the need to replace it with something more fashionable, even if I had the money. My tiles are intense colours, as are the walls and I still like the colourful farmhouse look, more in keeping with my house (I have a pantry too).
I want to replace the wooden floorboards with something more kitchen-y and the dark green ceramic sink with a larger version. I will recycle the old one into the utility/laundry room I am planning.

I bought some lovely dark green kitchen doors from eBay, which are destined for when the boiler room becomes the utility/laundry room. I think they are circa 2000, as I had the same model installed in a day centre I was creating at work at that time. So we'll have new carcasses built, if I can ever pin down the builder…

Depends on the quality (and what other things you might do with the money!). Our kitchen is about 20 years old. It was in the house already. It is a very high quality handmade wooden kitchen, but not to our taste. We were planning on a completely new kitchen (triggered by the fact that our tiled floor has had it, we want to get rid of the Aga, and also the chimney breast). But having looked at prices of a high quality replacement we are considering a repaint, new worksurfaces, splash tops, handles, trying to remove some of the twiddly bits, and having a small part remade. Still won't be cheap, but hopefully will keep us going another 20 years and beyond.

On the other hand, I see friends with cheaper kitchens that have really had it after 10-20 years. In our case replacing it with a cheap kitchen would make no sense. But replace it with high quality is super expensive!

I haven't RTFT but generally speaking I would just get the cabinet doors resprayed in a new colour. It tends to elevate the whole thing, make it look fresh again, and costs a fraction of a new kitchen.

Ours is 32 years old. Built of solid wood which DH has regularly waxed and polished. No plans at all to change it, it generally gets lots of compliments.

My friend's dad still has a 1950s kitchen, a bit tatty but gloriously full of character. He keeps it scrupulously clean, scrubbing the wooden draining board every morning.

@PickAChew

Our 16 year old howden's kitchen is very much falling apart. Drawers are fine and all but one of the doors has stayed nice but the carcases are in a state - one has completely crumbled where the hinges attach and we've had to butcher it to replace the dishwasher and washing machine.

Goodness - that's a terrible advert for Howdens. I have a kitchen the same age. Most of the appliances have been replaced in that time but the cabinetry is pretty much as it was when first installed. One 'magic corner' mechanism has been replaced and it could do with a bit of a clean inside, granite tops still nice and shiny although some of the joins between surface and upstands could do with tidying up, but otherwise absolutely fine. Local independent manufacturer, about £25K new.

I guess the answer to the question though is 'it depends' - on the level of deterioration and tolerance of imperfections or dated styling.

If you’ve had it 30 years I would hardly call you wasteful! I’d start saving for a new one and donate the old one/advertise it for free to somebody else

To be fair, @oviraptor21, the house had 12 years of not always being well cared for before we bought it. We had to repair a lot of small things that showed a general lack of maintenance, in our first few months.

I'm actually quite cheered by how many on here have older kitchens. Where I live almost everyone I know has ripped out and replaced over the last 10 years - and sometimes what they were replacing was younger and nicer than ours.

If the carcasses are good and the layout is spot on then I'd just buy new doors and a new worktop.

You can get specialist kitchen cupboard paint that can be used to coat both wooden and melamine panels. There are even companies that offer this as a spraying/painting service, and it costs around a 5th of the cost of new units. If your layout is ok and the actual carcasses are sound, that might be a better option to extend the life of the units for another 10 years…

@Findingneeemo

Look at the frenchic forum on Facebook. You can use that paint on IKEA furniture so if your kitchen is wood it will be fine - you clean and sand first.

A friend of mine used frenchic on her shiny kitchen cupboards. Change handles and worktops and it looks amazing. My parents have a solid wood handmade kitchen that's over 30 years old. Fantastic layout and construction. It would be a crime to rip it out but I'd be tempted to give it a facelift. Needs new worktops and maybe a sugarsoap and refinish.