How to decide how much to invest in your house?

[CCL123]

if you’re not sure if it’s a stepping stone house or a long term house how do you decide how much you want to spend on a kitchen?

Mine is Ikea (old Faktum ones) but as it was a kitchen extension I could dictate the size as I like symmetry. Only the cupboard carcasses and doors are Ikea everything else from laminate worktops, sink, tap, appliances etc were sourced from elsewhere.

Even at 10 years old it looks brand new because we have looked after it. I have resealed between the worktop and the matching upstand so it looks pristine white again.

In your case with blanking off areas I would definitely consider the custom made one to best fit the space. We have larder base units with a drawer top but internal drawers behind the door front. All our base units are this and when you go to sell in the future you can show the interiors of the units as one of the photos. My sink cupboard is a 600mm with a 1 1/2 bowl sink and it is the smallest I would ever go however I have crammed in a Quooker and a waste disposal unit inside mine. It is tight inside with no room for anything else. The dishwasher is next to it under the draining board.

I think this inertia you are feeling is normal, do you what you want, don't let what others might or might not like put you off. Kitchen doors can be re-vinyled or painted at a later date either by you or the new owner.

I'm in the same situation. I bought in 2022 thinking this was a 5 year home (but happy to stay longer term) but despite living in a nice area 3 of our neighbours have failed to sell since we moved in which concerns me.

During the autumn we were looking on Rightmove to assess whether we'd be better off just selling now without doing anymore work (we've rewired and new windows and doors), even if we make a bit of a loss, and move to a nearby town which is cheaper but the next step up house there is still too pricey for us right now.

I've spent a lot of time umming and ahhing about what to do. On one hand I love my little house, and I would love to chuck £5k at the garden so it would be fabulous, but it is small which may be an issue when the dcs are adults so moving is a possibility. We've tried DIY kitchen planner but we can't get a design that is as good as the more expensive magnet one we had done. Given that it's likely that we'll be here longer term I think we'll go for the pricier option but we'll be having laminate worktops, possibly vinyl floors (these things could be changed in the future) to save costs.

The mainstream kitchen brands are very designer dependent. We had a mediocre Howdens designer for our first kitchen, but the Wickes one was amazing so we went with that one. Small, awkwardly shaped kitchen with doors in strange places! So it could be worth trying a different branch if one isn't too far away.

Most recent kitchen is Howdens. Again, designer wasn't up to much but we had more idea what we wanted and what was feasible. It came in at £6k for units, taps and worktop for a large kitchen.

If it's just the doors you could probably get them to supply two sets and swap them over. A couple of spare doors is useful to have, especially useful to be able to replace any door where there is high water contact such as below the sink and on the dishwasher.

In my kitchen 3 of the doors have gone, the rest are still perfect. Annoying because exact replacements are hard to find and I don't like the new replacement types on offer.

This is such a similar situation. We’ve rewired and reroofed. I like the idea of putting in cheaper flooring and worktop for now

Thanks. I hadn’t considered going to different branches. I was just fed up with the designs.

The bigger cost is the units required and needing particular sizes of the doors

Thing is op, it doesn’t sound like you will be moving any time soon. It is maybe your lack of wanting to accept that that’s the issue. If you accept you aren’t moving any time soon and can’t afford to, and the gap to the next house up will only get bigger, then get th4 kitchen you want now.

otherwise you will be in a house you don’t like with a kitchen you regret.

@CCL123 key factors for us when we were deciding if any of our homes are a short/medium/longterm home:

1. Could we raise a family easily there with enough space to not be underfoot each other.
2. is the location amenable to commuting to work long term or not
3. Situation with schools around - good or not
4. Mortgage repayments on current home vs future home, mortgage term/fixed rate and then ability to afford said future home in that timeline. e.g. realistically to get what you want would it be a case of another 5 years waiting or could you do it in 3?
5. Are any of the changes going to add real value to the property, which would mean doing it now is a plus point? If the kitchen was to be transformed by your new plans then that'd be an easy yes for me, otherwise I am one of those annoying people who look at historic listings and won't be particularly impressed if its just a color change. From your posts it sounds like it needs to be fairly custom to make the best use of the existing space and I imagine future buyers will appreciate that if it is easily understood from floor plans and photos.

So I'd say if looking at any of the above factors rules a move out for another 5 years at least I'd probably go for the new kitchen. You'll get to enjoy it and it is quite possible in the current economic climate the 5 years can turn into 7 or 8.

My problem is that too many things need doing so not only is it a question of value, cost but also one of priorities and what will best improve quality of living.

Have been where you are now, twice. Both times we got lucky and the market went up dramatically as the area improved but we were seriously nervous about the £££.
House 1 - Tiny 2 bed terrace. Bought at the absolute outside of what we could afford with no room to extend. Stayed for 6 years and only moved when DC2 was on the way. Did some structural stuff [new roof, boiler, bits and pieces of wiring] but mostly decorative incl new bathroom and kitchen.
House 2 - our forever house. Lots of equity and a big redundancy payoff so invested £££ into what was a big fixer upper project. Total replumb, new boiler, re wiring, loft conversion, replaster etc. Put in the best of everything we could afford and tons of insulation for the future to keep running costs down.
Moved within 5 yrs. <facepalm> Usual reasons, schools, ageing parents, etc etc

You will spend [unless you both live the life of Sex and the City and never eat at home] a substantial amount of time in your kitchen, together and with friends and family.

You say "I don't want to spend that much and then move shortly after"? What circumstances might make you move? Especially if you have now set the ceiling for the street and are unlikely at present to recoup your investment costs in the necessary but boring stuff like roofs and rewiring?

Personally if you like the house and the area, you'd happily live there for the next 10 years with or without DC, then I'd not only invest in a decent kitchen, I'd consider extending it and doing it properly so you have the full enjoyment of it.
I wouldn't buy a pink kitchen though. Sorry. No-one else is going to look at it and think Yay! They are going to think I will need to spend £10k+ on a new kitchen straight out of the gates.

I've also had a funky vinyl floor. It was super practical, comfy underfoot and easy to clean. You had to be careful with knives though. https://www.colourflooring.co.uk/collections/vinyl-flooring

Have you shared a floorplan anywhere? Hive mind might come up with something you've not seen.

i would describe the house as ‘tolerable’. It’s ok but I don’t love it. It’s our first house and we had nightmare attached neighbours when we first moved and lots of leaks. It’s really affected my mental health and I was counting down til we could move. That’s probably why I don’t want to commit to staying in the house for a long time. That neighbor left and our new neighbors seem ok.

@Janieforever we definitely won’t be moving for another 3 years. In 3 years my training at work will finish and I’ll get a promotion. We hope to be able to move an bit after that but not sure because a detached house is so much more than a semi.

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams DH put his foot down on the pink kitchen 😂

@Equalizer that list has been really helpful.

1. would be ok for one but no more than that.
2. locations is good for jobs and hobbies and family
3. would have to move for secondary
4. the next home would probably require at least double the mortgage and probably be a 5year+ plan. I only want to move to a detached because I’m so afraid of the nightmare neighbour again.
5. I think this is my biggest problem- the kitchen would be more expensive but it would just look like a ‘normal’ kitchen so I don’t think it would add value.

@Seaside3 i can’t find a floor plan on my phone. Its 2.6 on the short end and then 3 on the long end but not straight and the long end steps out multiple times so the units would be different depths

Is it something you can draw? With windows/doors and so on.

Bit of an odd one this. Have you considered moving it to another room entirely? Would the odd layout make little difference in a living room or dining room for example? Just a thought.

@Janieforever we definitely won’t be moving for another 3 years. In 3 years my training at work will finish and I’ll get a promotion. We hope to be able to move an bit after that but not sure because a detached house is so much more than a semi

the reality is the gap will likely be bigger in three years, plus how much of a promotion is it, that it could cover that gap. Plus do you have the money behind you to pay for the move itself, all the costs?

i am urging you to be realistic, look at rhe costs of moving, the cost of rhe new next house up. And the reality of being able to afford that.

if you think it’s feasible, do the kitchen on the cheap. Live with it. But if the reality is you are not going to be moving for at least 5 years, likely longer, then make this house something you love.

ok I’ve found the Rightmove floor plan. The numbers are just approx and added brown to show the actual walls.

the 2.5 long bit is labelled wrong and it’s 2.6. And is where all the drainage is. The problem is the other long yellow one where we have three different wall depths. which means standard wall units won’t match up.

purple is a lower ceiling
green is a cupboard under the stairs with a sloped ceiling
red is a small seating area.

with made to measure units we can get all the wall and base units to line up on the long side with extra deep wall units.

we could go to DIY and get the wall units made shallower. We get 29 deep units on one side. And 34 on the other. But we wouldn’t be able to cover up the sticking out bit with a door.

id love to find a fitter who wants to hack DIY units and make it fit but I’ve spoken to 3 and none are keen and have all been quite negative about the room.

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams cant move it because we only have two rooms. Can’t move the washing machine either.

OK, a couple of ideas/questions.

1. Can you use the understands for either a frisge/freezer, or as a pantry?
2. Can the door from the hall to kitchen be moved into the lounge? Could then move the dining table then be moved to where the old door is?
3. Is it beneficial to have full size, floor to ceiling kitchen on one wall, rather than trying to split them and having really narrow cupboards? You could maybe have shelves and extra (narrow) worktop on the opposite wall?
4. Can the backdoor be moved to where the rear window is so you have more useable wall space?
5. Do you need a dining table in there, or can that move to lounge?

Could you loose the back door altogether? You seem to have patio doors on the lounge?

Have a table in the lounge instead. You can get square ones where to top is hinged and can be opened to double the size for entertaining.

Having an induction hob is nice and flat and can be used as worktop space for plates and dishing up.

If you put the door at the end you lose the annoying corner cupboards.

You could have pull out worktop for use when you need it.

Have a sideboard of sort in the lounge for storage.

Having the door to the kitchen from the lounge would make a lounge diner work better and look right.

If you moved the kitchen door to the lounge you could have a double door full width pantry under the stairs and in front of where kitchen door currently is.

Here's what i would do.

Block the door from hall and .ake access via lounge.

Block door in kitchen (use patio doors) and run two straight sets of units down kitchen. I hate corner cupboards, such a waste of space. Opt for drawer units if possible, much better use of space imo.

Under stairs and across the old door have a big larder cupboard, or an eye level oven, or fridge freezer , what ever suits you most.

Put dining table in lounge.

Find a good joiner to fit kitchen, they will be used to wonky walls etc

I think this comes back to doing up the house for us or to make it sell-able.

Wouldn’t blocking up the doors and making new ones be more expensive than the made to measure kitchen units?

This sounds bonkers! IKEA base units come in sizes from 20cm upwards - we had a double width sink and then a 20 cm cupboard for hanging tea towels!

@shockeditellyou we need a 50cm wide sink unit. They only come in 40, 60, 80cm. If we move the drainage we lose nearly all the savings made by going for IKEA

I think cost up moving the internal door and bricking up external door.

The function and look of a kitchen that will achieve will make it much more saleable.

Otherwise you are going to replace like for like and still hate it or put in expensive made to measure that still won't achieve much more.