Would you renovate a 10 year old kitchen?

[monarch]

Our kitchen is only 10 years old but feels dated and small and I've never loved it. We'd love to do a renovation, but what we are thinking of is extensive. Moving walls, new cabinets and countertops, removing/moving a bulkhead, replacing an island, and refinishing hardwood floors (would have to be refinished though out entire main floor for consistency).

We are expecting a bit of a windfall next year and were planning on putting it towards the mortgage, since we still have >20 years on our mortgage and we are not able to pay much extra on the principle at our current income level. However, it's tempting to just renovate. We'd always planned to renovate, but not for anther 10ish years, when the kitchen is 'really out of date'.

The kitchen has maple cabinets, granite, etc. so it's totally fine and i Feel really frivolous even thinking of renovations. But I have major kitchen envy sometimes.

Thoughts?

[shopmore]

If you can afford it and have already put some money in savings, go ahead. I'd be happy with a 10 year old kitchen and put the money towards something else.

[heygrey]

i'd have to know more of your financial situation before i would justify spending the windfall on renos, but assuming your financial house is in order (debt, efund, retirement) i'd seriously consider it. i spend a lot of time in my home and i want it to be a comfortable and relaxing place to be and i'm willing to make that a financial priority. if this is your priority you don't have to justify not liking something that's relatively new.

you should be able to sell your current cabinets, hardware, and countertops on craigslist for some cash, too. or you could donate them to Habitat for Humanity or the like and take a tax write off.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't. If you're going to have the house for another 20 years (is this your forever home?), it'll get outdated again during that period of time. I'd save up, put the money you would have spent on it in savings, add to it when you can, and maybe in five years (halfway through your mortgage), make the changes you want. That way, you can save for five years, be in a better financial position for possible mishaps and surprises (always good to have a surprise budget when you're tearing down walls, I think) and you'll have more time to really scope out what you want.

My thinking is that luxuries (which is what I'm reading this reno would be) should always be paid for in cash. If you can't afford it, you don't do it. But that's me...

[dexteroni]

I don't think the age is a big deal. If you're completely up to date on all of your other financial goals - nice big e-fund, have enough retirement, have some non-retirement investments, etc. - then go ahead and have fun. But if you can't afford to pay extra on your mortgage even though you would like to, I'm guessing there's probably a better use for the money than cosmetic renovation.

Whose kitchens are you envying? Are all of your friends redoing their kitchens? Their financial situations might be different than yours, or maybe they're going into debt for it. If you're just trolling HGTV and pinterest for new kitchens....well, stop doing that. lol.

[Deleted]

Yes I would. My cabinets are newish and fine but I hate them. If I had some money to burn and didn''t want to move, I'd replace them.

[CallingAllAngels]

Our house is 10 years old, but our cabinets are falling apart, our appliances are dying, I hate our counters (dark green laminate). The floor is in rough shape too. The original materials were cheap and I think we can redo it with classic materials that are our style that will get us through the next 15-20 years (hopefully). We're planning to renovate in 1-2 years, but not until all debts are paid off, we have a nice healthy efund and we can pay cash for it.

[monarch]

Thanks.

Not sure what you want to know about our financial situation? Off the top of my head:
DH makes $140K + 15-30% annual bonus. gross
I'm a SAHM with 2 kids
Retirement/investments- put in approx $30K/year
Retirement/investment/savings/efund balance is approx $550K
Kids education fund $40K
house value =$700K, mortgage = $385K
Car loan $25K
We are 36&38 years old
Anything else financially?

We plan to live here until retirement (20ish more years) and then to downsize this home, and buy a vacation home as well.

[Balki.Bartokomous]

Since it's only 10 yrs old, I don't think I could justify doing it because it feels dated (I can't imagine how it could already feel like that) but I could justify doing it because it's not functional or because it's part of a bigger project (redoing the floors). IF you have the funds, that is.

Our place is only 8 years old, but I'm hoping to swap out the countertops within the next year because the current tile ones I have now are a PITA.

[monarch]

Oh, and one of the major things we'd be doing beyond cosmetic is changing the layout-- we have a rarely used formal dining room. We'd like to make it a smaller office/den, and expand the kitchen into some of the dining room space to make it a larger kitchen with a larger eat-in area.

[Deleted]

Sure if you can afford it, why not.

[monarch]

Sept 15, 2012 13:34:24 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Sure if you can afford it, why not.

I guess because it would be more financially savvy to pay down the mortgage. And many people would be happy with our kitchen the way it is. It just feels frivolous I guess.

[Deleted]

Sept 15, 2012 13:36:51 GMT -5 monarch said:

Sept 15, 2012 13:34:24 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Sure if you can afford it, why not.

I guess because it would be more financially savvy to pay down the mortgage. And many people would be happy with our kitchen the way it is. It just feels frivolous I guess.

Hmm, just saw that you have the car loan. How big is this windfall? Big enough to pay off the loan and still cover some of the renovation? I might do that if I were you.

[dexteroni]

Sept 15, 2012 13:27:54 GMT -5 monarch said:

Retirement/investment/savings/efund balance is approx $550K

This is three separate categories IMO. How much is in each?

Will the windfall be enough to split between paying down the mortgage and doing the renovation?

[monarch]

Sept 15, 2012 13:40:14 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Hmm, just saw that you have the car loan. How big is this windfall? Big enough to pay off the loan and still cover some of the renovation? I might do that if I were you.

Doubtful... Our best guess is that the windfall will be approx $75K after tax but won't know for sure until next year when it comes through.

Sept 15, 2012 13:41:32 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

This is three separate categories IMO. How much is in each?

We look at them all together because we are not intending to spend any of it prior to retirement. I just looked and approx $485K is in restricted accounts, so the remaining $65K is in unrestricted accounts and could be liquidated if necessary.

[rubytue]

I really hate to see people tear out a good kitchen and replace it after only a few years. Kitchens should really be 30-year items. The tree hugger in me hates the waste. That said, it sounds like you are changing the layout and making it more functional for you long-term. In that case, if you have the money, I don't see a huge issue with it. I'd like to encourage you to find a salvage store or Habitat for Humanity ReStore so you can donate your old kitchen.

[monarch]

Here is what I am looking at. I am sure you'll all tell me to just suck it up!
Current. The dining room is behind the fridge wall, so we'd move that wall further into the dining room to make more kitchen space.


What we'd like photo- the description of the 'before' here is very similar to our current layout.

[Doggy Mommy]

Yes I would. Our kitchen is 10 yrs old. The cabinets are ok (maple) but the countertops are ugly laminate, backsplash is ugly, floors are ugly, and appliances are dying. We've only replaced the sink and microwave but I'm dying to change out the lighting, appliances, counters, backsplash, and flooring.

[lys]

The new kitchen wiill be outdated in another 10 years --- then what?

[monarch]

Sept 15, 2012 15:26:09 GMT -5 lys said:

The new kitchen wiill be outdated in another 10 years --- then what?

Really?!? I hope not! Hopefully we choose better than the prior owners did. I'd say my kitchen is 90's style even though it was built in 2002.

Even if it becomes outdated, it would be to our personal tastes. And, it will be still be bigger, the dining room will still be an office, etc.

[monarch]

Sept 15, 2012 13:14:17 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Whose kitchens are you envying? Are all of your friends redoing their kitchens? Their financial situations might be different than yours, or maybe they're going into debt for it. If you're just trolling HGTV and pinterest for new kitchens....well, stop doing that. lol.

It's totally the pinterest.blog.HGTV thing. The picture I posted above was in our local newspaper today and they basically did exactly what we wanted done to my kitchen, to another kitchen. DH & I were excited looking at it.
Yes, I need to stop looking.

[Deleted]

If you can afford it, will use it a lot, and will be very happy if you do it, I don't see any reason not to do so.

[shopgirl07]

I'd do it. You'd probably recoup at least some of your investment if you sell, a bigger kitchen is always a good thing. It doesn't seem like you have much storage space in your current kitchen. Plus the cabinets are cheap looking and the ones above the range hood and microwave are fairly useless.

[Deleted]

I don't think the kitchen is very dated. It actually goes well with your other furniture.....or maybe the furniture goes well with the kitchen. My issue is that the kitchen is tiny with little storage and insufficient counter area. I would remodel in that case since it sounds like you can afford it. Ditto pp about donating what you can since it looks in good shape.

[ECB]

For the fact that you want to expand it and change the layout, yes, I would do it. Especially if you really USE your kitchen. Why not get as much enjoyment out of it as you can? Why wait 10 years and only get 10 years use out of your "dream" kitchen? Do it now so that you get 20 years out of it.

Yes, the cabinets/style might eventually be out of date, but cripes... EVERYTHING goes "out of date" eventually. To not change it because what you change it to will be "out of date" doesn't make sense to me.

[WOT?*]

Mine is only seven years old and we're doing it so you have my blessing just based on that.

[monarch]

Sept 15, 2012 17:47:59 GMT -5 @missy1 said:

I don't think the kitchen is very dated. It actually goes well with your other furniture.....or maybe the furniture goes well with the kitchen.

You caught me! I was lazy and used the old listing photo from when we bought the house. It's not my furniture.

Thanks for the input everyone. I was surprised by the responses!

[curbsideprophet]

I would probably wait, but I also think it looks like an acceptable kitchen.

[isabel]

This is your house and you have to be comfortable. We've spent a fair amount of money in our rental to make it more comfortable. It has absolutely boosted my mood to come home to a house that I enjoy being in. If that's a financial priority for you (and it sounds like it is), then I would go for the kitchen reno. If you're anything like me, you'll be sooo much happier in that space for years to come.

[pitterwoo]

Please donate your kitchen materials to ReStore or post on CL or Freecycle. There's no need for a nice newer kitchen to go to waste if you no longer can use it.