Should I tart up my kitchen or do a refit and if the former what can I do with it?

[tiredoflondonnottiredoflife]

Our house has a solid wood kitchen that was put in in the 1980s but has had two facelifts since (ha I make it sound like Joan Collins there...)

The carcasses and doors are all in perfectly good condition and we like the layout. It's not the super fashionable in-frame kitchen so will still look a bit dated though whatever we do.

I did get quotes for a new in-frame solid wood one and we were going to go ahead but then realised that maybe at some stage we might move and is it really worth it etc.

At the moment it is painted white (done about 8 years ago), has white Corian worksurfaces (maybe 12 years old) that could do with a re-sand as they are marked/ scratched a bit.
Floor is Amtico oak with too narrow panels but I can live with it. It's only about six years old.

The plan I have for a facelift would be as follows:

• sand and paint cupboards with nice soothing F&B type colour
• replace hideously tatty tiles with nice new Fired Earth type ones (not actually FE)
• replace door handles with smaller, more fashionable ones
• keep floor and worksurfaces as is but maybe get the Corian resanded.
• Change the oven (it's one of those horrid old white ones and will surely die soon as it's 25 years old! Can't be very energy efficient either)
• change tap
• new oven to be fitted

-change yucky too wide spotlights for smaller ones and get pendant shades over kitchen table

• change kitchen door/ boiler room door.

Other downsides of just facelifting not replacing:

• as above it's not in frame
• it has a couple of quite twee features, like curvy little shelves under the upper cupboards. These are actually useful though!

If I'm doing all that is it worth it or should we just get a new kitchen!?

p.s. we'd be getting someone in to sand and paint the cupboards as we are not DIYers!

your post reminded me of a readers kitchen in ideal home magazine the latest october edition. have a look at page 110. they revamped their old kitchen. They painted units in F & B charleston gray with white composite worktop. looks lovely. check it out.

Will do...thanks for that! Sounds very useful to look at that.

I think your plans sound really sensible - it's amazing how good an effect a paint job and some new handles can have. The previous owner of our place had done this, and the ancient cheapo kitchen actually looked very nice.

As you say, some of the slightly twee features also turn out to be very useful - i notice this at my parents' house.

FWIW, we kept our old (white) oven when we replaced the units - it works perfectly well, so we're not fussed about changing it till it needs it.

Am loving the Charleston grey idea ! We have that on bits and bobs around our home -it's a classic colour ! Beautiful with white ! And with black too ? So maybe consider black handles ? Larch and larch have some fab ones - worth a look ! Also black ovens tend to age better than white ones looks wise ... Ajax powder and a bit of elbow grease might be all you need for your corian ?! Save you a few quid ?! Shame you can't post pics up here ! Tip for your midway units - if you paint them in the same colour as the tiles they will blend away (unless you are choosing a bright colour !) but if you go for white subway tiles as an example and you try the midways white too - you might like the look - if not its quite simple to paint them F&B instead !

NB Charleston grey works beautifully with number 22 blue F&B and both tie in beautifully with Neptune paints and products too !! :-)

It's amazing how a splash of paint can transform something.

How much would the DIY job cost vs totally new kitchen?

Our cupboards were cheapy cheapy ones, and the doors were looking dated and chipped, so we just replaced the doors, with yet more cheapy ones, but at least nice new ones at trade discount! My lovely FIL replaced the counter tops for us, and we put new floor in. It looks like a completely new room now. Added a couple of twee shelf things, and some hooks to hang utensils from and my shoebox kitchen looks fresh and I actually have room to cook in it.

The idea was to just freshen it up until we have the funding to get a re-fit, and possibly extend. I have no worries about keeping it as is for several years now. Do not underestimate a good tart up!

Mummaemma, bought Ideal Home today (sadly I couldn't just sneak a look as they have bagged it!) and saw what you mean. Hers is a more modern style though. Loved her square edged Corian-a-like worktops and would love that but can't really justify changing ours. Looks much more modern.

Thanks everyone else for the tips so far.

To answer the question of relative costs, a lot of what I'd do to refresh what's there needs doing anyway to a new kitchen e.g. new oven, new lighting, new back door, so the difference is largely the cost of the units and new worksurfaces. I would want the sort of handmade units that the likes of Kit Stone and Devol do so the difference might well amount to about £18,000 or £20,000!! Put like that a facelift seems attractive! That said I think I will still look and think I wish I had a new kitchen...

While I'm here, rather than starting a new thread, I'm looking at getting shutters for the kitchen window...do they let the same light through as a net curtain or semi-opaque blind would?

White shutters bounce the light about more so you get a lighter effect than wood shutters which absorb - its a different kind of light - difficult to explain - try popping into a show home with them in to see first hand ! Will make a difference if its NSEW facing too !!

Sounds good about the shutters. I'm thinking that, given they are next to the sink, they will be much easier to wipe clean than a blind. I know they will show dust a bit though.

Just a word of warning that painted cupboards in F&B paint are not at all hardwearing - have personal experience of this and there have been numerous threads in a similar vein. Go for the F&B colours or similar, just don't use their paint! Something to do with a change in the formation of the paint I believe.

I'll steer clear of that and look for something else but in similar colours.

Netpune do a range of paints that are great for kitchen cupboards :-)

Thanks I will look at those.
Still pondering about whether we should do it all new or refurb what's there...tricky!

it's quicker to repaint and do the upgrades you mentioned originally - and put aside an amount each month so you can splurge on something you really want in a few years - by then anything you have saved will soften the blow or be useful to upgrade part of the kitchen like adding all Miele appliances instead of average appliances for example ?!