Knock through back room/kitchen (photos)

[Haribogirl]

Hi
Currently undecided wether to knock through or leave as it is.

We need a new kitchen
But we're not planning staying more than another 2/3 years as we want to downsize from detached currently worth£267 to a bungalow(both early 60)

So if we knock through we have to
Take original parquet flooring up
Get rid off gas fire/surround (to make outside flat wall)
Re jig the kitchen(not sure if we'd end up with less units, as there behind wall to be knocked down)

Would you have brand new kitchen put in? Or
New door/draws, new splash backs, work tops and paint

Would we get more money for making it open kitchen, and using front room as lounge(currently dining room, sofa and tv)

Younger house buyers would they prefer separate lounge and open kitchen
So more desirable? Or
Smaller kitchen, and 2 rooms(1 for dining)

We don't want to put thousands in and it be the wrong decision and we could use that for retirement.

Also do we need a architect to plan it out, to get the most out of the space
Or a builder?

Sorry for all the questions, I just can't seem to move forward with a decision

If you only plan on staying for another couple of years, don't do it. You'll spend a lot of money and go through a lot of upheaval and you won't get your money back.

What you could do instead is get designs drawn up for a new kitchen diner in the space and leave copies for any viewers when your house is on the market - make sure the EA has them too. That way you show the potential for those without vision to be able to see what it could be like.

Your reason for not doing the work yourselves is that you decided to downsize to a bungalow instead - don't talk about what a pain taking up the parquet would be, etc.

Thanks wow

My other thought was lot of money and my choice isn't somebody else's choice is it
I know that from previous house, we had newest kitchen and new buyer ripped it out next day😂

Maybe just update doors etc/paint/blinds/worktop/splasback ??

So who do you get to draw plans for new kitchen diner. Kitchen company?
Architect?

Any ideas

If you're not staying and want to add value and make your house more attractive, I'd leave the kitchen as it is, change your patio doors for French doors and maybe even get a conservatory.

I can only see a tiny bit but your parquet flooring looks lovely. I think it would be a real shame to take that out for a kitchen that you are not even sure about. A lot of buyers love that kind of thing. We certainly fell in love with our house because of the beautiful floors downstairs.

I'm 24 this year, and if my husband and I were buying your house, I'd prefer two separate rooms. I'm not really sure exactly why, I just personally think it's nice to have separate rooms (say if we had guests over for a meal, they could sit and relax in the dining room, without the hustle and bustle from the kitchen).
And I think makes the house seem warmer somehow. (Open plan reminds me of flats or apartments more).
I'd say as a pp said, perhaps add an extension at the back, and a bit of standard decorating- paint and so on.

I would prefer knock through kitchen diner with separate lounge. My kids are older now, but when they were tiny not being able to eat in the kitchen would be a dealbreaker. Ask your local agent for advice as they will know the local market. You wouldn't necessarily have to lose the parquet either, My friend has a knock through with tiles on the kitchen area and original parquet in the dining area. When we extend we're hoping to get reclaimed parquet to extend our parquet floor into the extension.

If you are going to redo the kitchen anyway then yes I'd knock through as it will make your house so much more saleable. But I wouldn't bother doing it otherwise iyswim.

We knocked through to make a kitchen diner. Even with the cheapest kitchen it still cost getting on for £9k (we did need to have an extra wall put in somewhere else). It was family doing the work so only minimum labour was charged. Plus each job leads to ten more jobs.

I would personally leave it be, but in our area houses are selling like hot cakes irrespective of what state they're in. If it's more competitive where you are could you replace the kitchen doors etc? To be honest I wouldn't even do that as I reckon your buyer will come in and whip the wall straight down.

I'd leave it if you're thinking of moving soon. Plus the parquet is gorgeous.

We knocked through our kitchen and dining room when we moved in, leaving the living room intact. But I still wouldn't like to spend that kind of money before moving. People will know that's an option when they view the house.

I wouldn't bother, you can't predict what buyers would want.

Ages making plans, getting builders round to quote, waiting weeks for quotes, waiting months for a decent builder to be free, mess, what colour this?, kitchen out of bounds, more mess, what flooring?, unexpected issue leading to unexpected cost, what taps?, mess, decisions et etc

Will all that be worth it? Only if you are staying there long term. For a year or so, I would say look forward to retirement and save your pennies.

Thank you all so much for your input😀 Mean a lot

Having read though your replies/advice now have a better idea

I think I will just tidy it up, ie re paint, new flooring,blinds
Just brighten up and just let new buyers decide what they want

We are in a desirable area where houses go quite quick, there are only about 10 detached houses(ours being one) where we live
So if they really want it, let them do what they want with it????

Declutter (not that I can see much from the photos), paint if necessary and professionally clean carpets. That's what we did. We had dithered for months about whether to knock through the kitchen but had a dilemma about what to do with the loo. In the end we sold the house in under a week and the buyer knocked the wall and loo out the day we moved out! Good luck.

Excellent plan, Haribogirl

Just brighten up and just let new buyers decide what they want

Good plan.

The other thing is Haribo, if you did do all that work and survived the upheaval, how keen would you be to repeat the experience in your bungalow?
Stick with your plan and save your creative juices (and money) for your next home where at least you will reap the rewards of enduring the mess!
(Can you tell I loathe having workmen in?!)

Also is there room for an extn? I suspect if there is, buyers will be looking to extend kitchen into a larger eat in kitchen and keep 1 reception room.

Definitely don't do the work if selling as the hassle is stressful and lots buyers with families want options.