Renovating My Kitchen
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 It's no secret I live in an old house. It was built in 1917 and renovated in 1936; there has been little done to it structurally since that time except "internal" updates (wiring, plumbing, AC, etc). What once was a tiny square 10' x 10' kitchen with a butlers pantry has been combined into a "sprawling" 190 sq. foot L-shaped kitchen. It has character…
Moving into the house, my husband and I knew the kitchen needed to be renovated. But limited time and other house priorities have kept us from paying attention to the much neglected and oft-used room. We inherited old appliances that work but not so well (no energy efficiency here!). There is little storage space and no pantry. Plus the room has four windows, three doors, a staircase, an exposed radiator and two posts. It is also the main entry we use to get into our home about 10 times per day. Just call it the workhorse of the house.
But wait, there's more! It is also currently not set up in the classic kitchen work triangle layout. This makes for difficult navigating while cooking and entertaining.
At my most recent Deco Book Club (we used to read books, now we just give decor advice), I hosted the group. Our attention shifted to my kitchen and we discussed some renovation ideas. Also to give a little background, my husband and I have floated the idea of putting our house on the market in the next year so I've been hesitant to spend a lot of money for major renovations.
It seems the consensus among my decor club was to think about not renovating and not putting time/money/effort into making the kitchen my own only to have a new owner not share my same aesthetic. Instead they suggested I look into having an architect and designer create renovation plans for the kitchen and sell it with the house. Hey, that sounded promising so off I went to investigate.
I pinged a trusted architect friend of mine, Bob Borson, to ask him to ball park the cost of an architect creating such a plan. He gave me some numbers and suggestions then offered to draw it up for me since it would probably only take him about 15 minutes to do so. Score! I had my measurements and a rough sketch handy in my notebook so I sent those to him and he asked a couple questions and came back with this shell of my room. He's still waiting on me to come back to him on ideas about placement of counters, appliances, etc. (*UPDATE: he drew my current layout for me once he saw today's post- double SCORE!).
At the same time, I contacted my local realtor, Janet McKeown of Coldwell Banker, and asked her opinion of my idea. She sent me a great link to an article about the cost vs. value of renovating in Realtor Magazine. Basically the article said a minor kitchen remodel costing $21,695 would only recoup about 72.8% of its cost (based on 2011 national averages). The quote that stood out the most was this: "Too often, home owners overimprove their kitchen. That’s not cost-effective unless they’ll stay in the house a long time."
Well that makes sense! Janet also added some great advice that made me rethink what the article said too. Here is what she said:
Some buyers will not look at homes that need work. Others don't mind making some improvements but they expect this to be reflected in the price. I have to say that most buyers I come across don't want to do too much work. If both partners are working they don't have the time or inclination.
Here are my thoughts about the architectural plans:
- Most buyers will just expect the plans to come with the house. They will not want to purchase them so you would have to roll that into the list price.
- I think they are helpful in demonstrating the house potential.
- There is almost an implicit acceptance on the sellers part that the kitchen is a shortcoming and buyers will expect that to be reflected in the price either by a lower list price or by the sellers offering a "credit" to the buyer to go towards the cost of replacing the kitchen.
For example Janet last week saw a local listing which included a credit of almost 5% off the list price toward a new kitchen.
And some more food for thought…
So what do I do? What would you do? Have you ever sold a home with or without remodeling a kitchen? Any advice you can give me?
I promise to write a follow-up post letting you know what I decide!
Decor | tagged Elise, architectural plans, kitchen, renovation
Reader Comments (7)
I've been in 'that kitchen' before but never seen it so clean :-0
From a different stage in life ... redoing my 80 y/o Mom's kitchen. Keep it simple & safe (no fancy appliances!) yet functional while also thinking about selling the house some day.
Best kitchens are busy kitchens with lots of family and friends. I have issues with gourmet kitchens where the only app frequently used is the microwave :-(
Hi Mae - this post hit home (ha!) with me as we are in the beginning stages of planning a complete kitchen reno. Unlike your house, ours is a "classic" 1980's (read: boring and lacking character) kitchen. It's time to update everything and right now it all feels a little daunting!
How long do you expect to stay in the house? That's a really important consideration.
Your instincts are right about this by the way. Most people will expect a discount on a home that needs a new kitchen, included plans or not. You'll lose more potential buyers that way than if you remodel that kitchen to your tastes. Make the kitchen that works for you and your family, not some eventual stranger whose taste and lifestyle you can't know or possibly anticipate.
Don't worry about the "work triangle" thing by the way. It's a rather outdated, one-size-fits-all approach to design that doesn't work in every room, L-shaped ones particularly. It'll be more helpful if you think in terms of work zones, e.g. a cooking zone, a prep zone, a cleaning zone, etc.
@Paul-- as always, thank you so much for your advice. I think you are right and I will have to meet this thing head on and hope for the best outcome in the end. Glad to know the triangle is outdated; creating zones sounds so much more reasonable.
@Poppa C-- That kitchen is always sparkling!?! I don't know what you are talking about ;) I agree, my kitchen must be functional to even be considered to survive in this house.
@Cherish- I know what you mean! I think it has been since the early 90's when mine was last redone. Daunting is so true and it's what has kept me from addressing it until this point. (Elise)
Here's what I think, much of which is different from your thoughts!
I think kitchen plans will not be any sort of driving force as a deciding factor to buy or not buy the home. There are so many factors in the purchase of a home...that's a detail that will be (literally) tossed in a folder most likely never to be seen again as so many other issues rear their heads in the buying process. I think it's a non issue.
I agree 100% with your realtor.
I don't think there will be any expectations that plans should come with the house and don't think it is helpful or necessary to include plans for the home's potential. They'll want to dream up their own design solutions and just may be sort of "possessive" about that in a positive way! I'm not sure about a credit situation, but yes, I agree that the condition of the kitchen will be reflected in the price of the home.
Are those images of your kitchen now? The white cabinets don't look worn, but if they are, that's another issue and may change my recommendation. I'd probably get a new stainless steel refrigerator and range and possibly the dishwasher too. Stainless steel is sexy and can be affordable. I think the kitchen's appearance in a resale situation does not need to be showroom-like as long as it looks relatively updated in terms of appliances, clean, and clutter free. I'd probably put a cabinet similar to the open maple cabinet to the left of the range for counter space. Looks like there is room there. I'd actually strongly recommend that. It won't take much!
Keep it as clutter free as possible and IMO that's all you need to do! Bottom line, if you may put it up on the market in a year, keep the upgrades simple and ones that make sense and have some sex appeal ;) Hope that's helpful!
@cherish: just wanted to say thanks for stopping by! i can't even being to imagine all that goes into a kitchen renovation. we're lucky ours is not *so* old so it will do for now, especially once we replaced the original-to-the-house dishwasher and fridge! i would love to hear more about you're planning. care to share?!
@paul, @susan: as always, thanks for your words of wisdom!
Kitchen layouts are a veritable hybrid of design, blending esthetics, and functionality. The layout of your kitchen, where you place your appliances, your countertops, and your storage, will determine how cook-friendly your kitchen is.