Kitchen style when selling

[Chestnuts2017]

OH and I are in the process of choosing a kitchen for our "do-er upper" - we really like the off white shaker style but that's our personal preference, we won't (hopefully!) be living in there for very long before it goes up for sale (we are waiting for a house to become available in a particular area that we want to move to) so the house internally has been gutted, new everything, doors, walls, bathroom etc etc so as much as we know not to buy a new kitchen when selling, we don't have any choice as the house currently doesn't even have a kitchen.

SO, when it comes to prospective buyers, what is the best kitchen style/colour to have?

We are going to keep the walls off white, slightly cream (either almond white or natural calico) with a mixture of light brown/cream shade tiles on the kitchen walls.

Is white handle-less gloss still the popular choice at the moment?

We'd like to give people the impression that when they view the house there is literally nothing for them to do so it needs to be a style that will suit 99% of prospective buyers.

Any tips please?

What's the market for the house - tailor what you put in to that. Look at what has sold locally with newer kitchens. I'd go with a cheaper version of what you would choose yourselves unless it is a house that demands something more.

its a 3 bed terraced, not in an expensive part of town but close to one of the popular schools so it's going to be either first time buyers or a family with children that would buy it.

There hasn't been anywhere in this particular area that has sold lately with a new kitchen so it's hard to decide.

It will definitely be youngsters rather than anyone retiring sort of age that would purchase the property

I think you can’t go wrong with off white shaker or gloss to be honest.

We are doing our kitchen up at the moment, but for us, and we having ivory gloss, wood effect worktops, and ivory metro tiles.

In our area, white handleless gloss has gone off the boil - it's all grey or black matt shaker style. I'd go for white shaker style to appeal to a wider market.

I would go with white/off-white shaker with either metro tiles or no tiles. I don't think brown tiles will be very appealing.

I agree with keeping the tiles neutral.

H & I have been discussing this lately as we're replacing our kitchen. It's different for us as we intend on staying for quite a while so are choosing what we like but we're thinking about what will feel as timeless as possible / is least likely to feel dated in 10 years when we come to move.

Anyway, we feel like the handleless thing is v in atm but possibly likely to date more than say, shaker which has been around forever & probably less likely to divide opinion (as long as you go for something industry). I think already gloss is giving way to matt.

But I don't think you can go wrong with something light & bright. We replaced the beech effect doors on the kitchen in our old house for white shaker style (super cheap b&q) & it felt like a new kitchen - definitely helped us sell it more quickly.

Not sure about brown tiles though - I'd probably want to replace those personally. Stick with white / really plain.

Industry?! Unfussy

We've also thought about the period of our house. New build / modern I'd be more tempted to go for handleless, gloss etc. Ours is 30s (& previous was Victorian) so something a bit more traditional feels appropriate.

Don’t do brown anything unless it’s natural wood. I’ve seen so many houses done up for rental/ selling around here with brown tiles/paint and I haven’t seen one yet where I haven’t thought fuck me thats fugly.

Keep it white if you’re not sure.

No tiles is the best idea. Who needs the extra cost? Just a splash back for the hob is all you need. Don’t tile the whole lot. Off white shaker is fine but don’t go near brown anything. Use a paint like Elephants Breath or light reflecting Wevet by F and B which are neutral. Cream is not the best either because it adds yellow tones which are not to everyone’s taste. Put in decent work surfaces and don’t skimp on them.

Everyone has different tastes, so I would chose something you personally like rather than trying to guess at trends. I would focus on maximising the space and making it look attractive, thinking about light sources etc. I would also keep things neutral. If you're marketing to families, I think having space for a tumbledryer and a dishwasher is important, even if you don't put them in.

Basically, I would say 99% of first time buyers just want a kitchen that seems functional/usable, and anything that's been done recently to a decent standard will seem like a bonus. Equally with families, I think most of them won't want to be replacing a kitchen any time soon, so something that's been done recently and will last will appeal.

I do think some families will be put off by the kitchen being mostly white if they think it will show dirt easily, but it will also make the kitchen look lighter/bigger which is a plus.

We've just had this conversation as we're not sure how long we will be able to stay in the house we're building if DH's job changes location. Hoping we'll be there a long time (obviously, we're building a house!!), but if not we wanted to make sure it was saleable.

In the end, we've gone with white matt handleless cabinets (all the kitchen designers we worked with insisted that gloss has jumped the shark, and many said that whilst grey is trendy and white is less at the forefront, white is still a safe choice for the long run as it's never too far away from cycling back into style). Leathered black granite worktops, wood floors, Elephant's Breath walls. Not exactly trendsetting, but it's functional, bright, inoffensive, and I actually quite like it.