new kitchen to sell a house. What colour scheme?

[whitetulips]

Our house is 14 years old, and has been on market for 4 months. We still have the original wooden kitchen, and it looks really tired. Other houses in the village have sold, we have re done the bathrooms, and still ours is stuck on the market, at a low price relative to other similar properties.
We are thinking of getting the cheapest B&Q kitchen in the sale, just to make it look better. What colour should we go for? I think White cupboards with black worktop, but any ideas will be gratefully received.
Thanks in advance

tbh I'm not keen on monochrome kitchens especially if they're done on the cheap.

Is the wood dark or light.. if the units/carcasses are in good nick you could paint them.

It may be you just need to redecorate (paint walls/declutter

White or cream units. I agree with words though - it would make sense to recycle the units you have with paint/ new handles if they're in good nick.

If the kitchen layout's ok, just change the doors, worktop and handles, paint the walls etc. No need to change the carcasses.

Your house is fairly new so I'd get something plain and neutral, maybe a light wood with a granite effect worktop.

I agree with the others, keep as much as you can and revamp what you have.

Either paint the doors in light, neutral F&B colour and add smart new chrome handles and update worktop or change the doors for MDF replacements (or simply new doors from B&Q take away range) and put new handles on (and new worktop too if needed).

The wood is good quality pine, but the last owner splashed gloss on the carcasses, so I am not convinced that changing the doors only would work unfortunately.
I have already decluttered and washed the walls.
Anyone ever painted the doors? Will it look like what it is, a desperate effort to sell?
If I could get away with just painting doors and replacing tiles and worktops I would.

You should be fine to paint the doors.

You need to sand back the surface to prepare it, prime and then paint using ideally eggshell, IMO gloss is a bit too shiny.
It might be worth getting a decorator in to do it for you. I did this in our old house and it only took him 1-2 days and it transformed the kitchen.

Where is the gloss paint on the carcasses? Could you try and remove this with white spirit or a paint scraper?

FOund this old thread which might help
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/1012/110756

This isnt to my taste but a good example of revamping
www.mirror.co.uk/advice/archive/homes/2008/11/15/the-no-stress-kitchen-makeover-115875-20897444/

Thanks a lot, they are both very useful links

if they are pine you could possibley save yourself alot of time and have them dipped (in acid) which strips the paint off to bare wood

Another idea, I have some research to do, and probably only about 4 weeks until the viewings start again (fingers crossed!)

Might be worth borrowing one of Anne Maurice's book from your local library, she has good, practical advice on this kind of thing and gives ideas on easy/quick updates.

what kind of style is it? we changed the door handles and it just gave instant new modern look, it was pine kitchen with old fashioned country style metal handles, dh also changed all the utility doors to b&q cheap white gloss doors, and it now looks shiney and new.
i would not spend too much, but small ideas might help.

Ask your estage agent for some honest advice. My last house had 1970's kitchen. Agent said just de-clutter, put down some cheap vinyl flooring to cover the manky cork tiles, paint walls, so it looks very clean and serviceable. He said if you only update the kitchen/bathroom, it can make the rest of the house look tired. And buyers often want to put in their own style of kitchen anyway.

House sold to the first viewer, and a month after moving in they had extended and installed a completely new kitchen.