How to upgrade fairly new kitchen?

[Rex]

I have a fairly new tract house that I'd upgrade the kitchen on and I need tips on the best things to do so it looks less generic cookie-cutter and helps resale down the road.

Check out the current pics.

I'd like to upgrade the counters. They are tile, but not a high grade of tile. Don't know if it's worth tearing out the tile counters and replacing them with granite slab or granite tiles. Maybe just replacing the plain tile backsplashes with something more interesting? I definitely want to replace the existing sink and faucet with better quality replacements and replace the vinyl floor with either hardwood or tile to match the rest of the house. Can the current sink be removed without major damage to the counters? there anything that can be done with the cabinets to give a more upscale look other than tearing them out and replacing them? Restaining or painting or adding door handles? I'm replacing the dishwasher because I don't like the performance. Stainless steel seems to be the current fad, but then I'd need to get a new range, microwave hood and refrigerator to match and the current appliances are still pretty new.

[boubou]

[wkearney99]

Who did that tile job? All those tiny slivers of tile near the edges of the sink, stove and counter end? That looks like crap. I'd rip it out just for that. But realistically how soon are you selling, how much time/money do you want to spend now and what difference do you hope it'll make at resale time?

You might be able to enlarge that sink opening a bit and/or use a top-mounted sink instead of undercounter. But otherwise you'd have to remove tiles. Tough to make things match up exactly though, tiles and grout change colors enough over time to be noticeable, perhaps less-so on white tile though. You could certainly put a new counter those existing cabinets. But I've never seen one of those 'refinishing jobs' that didn't look worse than what was there before. A different counter color (darker) would probably clash with the white appliances.

But from the complaints you've made it sounds like nothing in there is what you want. They may all be relatively new and in nice shape you just don't like the look of them. So it more or less sounds like you want to rip the whole thing out. If you rip out the counter you've got to rip out that backsplash, and vice-versa. If you're changing the floor it's sometimes better to pull the cabinets. Which since you hate the sink won't be an issue for the plumbing that'll have to get disconnected to do the work. And if you pull down that backsplash you'll probably want to drop the wall cabinets to ease refinishing the wall. Basically, gut the kitchen.

So ask yourself, how much will it really help? It's not an ugly kitchen now, just not your taste. Depending on how the other houses in your market are selling it may or may not make financial sense to change it. But if you're going to be there for 5 years and you do truly hate the look then you've got work to do.

-Bill Kearney

[Banty]

Yep.

Concerning resale, the question is how far down the road you'll plan to sell. What you have *now* is the look that pleases a wide range of tastes. The 'ordinariness' of it (yes, it looks like a bazillion other kitchens) can be fixed up a lot by your own decor and accessories. Except for that problem with the tile installation (which doesn't jump out at me quite as much), it's a nice, basic look. Frankly I think it's a pretty nice tract house kitchen.

If you change out for hardwood floors and granite countertops, you might find that 5 or 10 years down the road what you pick, partly thinking what the market likes right now, will be considered dated. Especially the hardwood floors. So you might as well just go by your tastes unless you'll sell fairly soon. In which case if it were me I really wouldn't do much. So, if sell soon, don't change, if not sell soon, go for your heart's desires.

But just taking the changes you propose, though, why not get some estimates for

1. granite countertops (prices aren't as bad as they used to be; will probaby endure style-wise)
2. Some kind of interesting small-tile mosaic backsplash
3. New sink (then countertop will be cut around exactly what you want)
4. Tile floor
5. Replace dishwasher, SS interior, white exterior

Add these up and decide.

Regarding #4 - I have a prejudice, IMNSHO wood kitchen floors are impractical, it's a style thing now, I don't like the wood wood wood look of wood cabinetry dominating + a wood floor, and tile will stand up and endure in fashion. And frankly I think what's there now looks nice, stands up to kitchen use, and is at least as easy on the feet as hardwood. Consider keeping.

Regarding #5 - I agree that SS appliances will become outdated and isn't as practical as nice, clean, white appliances.

Banty

[Sacramento Dave]

upscale

It looks like a generic kitchen nothing wrong with that. One thing I see it needs, there is no color people are afraid to put colors on the walls not just the kitchen the whole house. The white tone wall syndrome was started buy realtors " White goes with everything" Start putting some color on the walls you will be amazed and it a fairly cheap upgrade. Now looking at the counter tops they are the plain white tiles. There is nothing like the look of Granite the colors of mother nature can't be beat. and the stuff is pretty indestructible. I would guess you get away with two slabs if you did the backsplash. You would defiantly want a undermount sink. The floor I would Tile the floor you have wood cabinets you might be over killing the wood look. You also can lay tile right on the vinyl. I see allot of wood floors in kitchens I firm believer wood floor in a are asking for trouble. Now the appliances are about as boring as it gets, but there new so live with them now but design for the future. You might try going to open houses, model homes and get some ideas I know it's not easy. What ever you put in you will get back ( we all hope that) plus your there every day so make as nice as possible enjoy it. It's a nice looking kitchen so with some upgrades it going to be a real focal point, and most people congregate in the kitchen. Kitchen is the number one thing when selling a house.

[Don]

This room appears small and cluttered. Lose the tile on the counters and backspash, install a white solid surface (SS) on the counter and a 4" SS backsplash, maybe a tile mural behind the range. Paint the walls white. Lay some mirrors on the top of the wall cabines and add some tubelights (mood light and ambience). Put some uncomplicated silk plants on top of the wall cabinets. No crown molding, it will increase the cluttered look. Yank the cabinet doors and install glass inserted ones, add brass knobs on all doors and drawers. Install a ceiling fan/light combo. Using lighter colors and less lines the room will more spacious and airy. The cabinets themselves are dark and therefore make the room seem small but cabinets are expensive to replace. Point: make the entire room seem less cluttered and in a small room less is more.

[EXT]

The tiling in the room looks very institutional especially where it is tiled around the tiny window without any window casing. Why is the backsplash tile so thick that they had to use those heavy edge tiles? The grout lines are so heavy and pronounced. The layout is not bad, and not worth changing but getting rid of the bad tile job would go a long way to improving the room.

While I see a lot of that type of tile countertops on TV in old and new houses, in this area they are not considered to be "in", in fact would devaluate a house. Either solid granite, a sythetic such as Corian, or at the cheapest, colourcore laminate would look better (in order of preference).

upscale

[Banty]

Ew.

Huh?

Aiieeeee! What - it's to look like a Christmas display at Bergdorf's?

:-O

Hopefully *you'll* be the buyer if he sells soon. Otherwise, unless this is what the O.P. likes for himself, I'd have to say - no. Not a wide-appeal setup. In fact, a run-screaming setup.

SS all over? Then brass knobs!? Mirrors? Even up there? Glass showing all my stuff. There's a hood in there. I don't need a fan in there too blowing stuff other directions. (And what is this with fans being *in* *every* *single*

*room* - a few well-placed in certain rooms yes - otherwise, I go outside for breezes!) You have the place with white, SS, and mirrors, it's cold enough without the fan.

But then, you're entitled to your opinion ;)

Banty

[Goedjn]

Generic/tract houses are designed and set up the way they are because that's the best trade-off between cost and appeal that the builder could come up with. You're unlikely to do better than that unless you plan on investing an awful lot of time and effort.

Stick to painting things until you've got a better idea of what works for you.

[Rex]

So what would be a rough guess of what to expect for quotes in materials and labor to tear out the tile counters and backsplashes and replace them with a common variety of granite slab counters plus glass or stone tile backsplash?

I've seen undermount 9 inch deep sinks I would use with the new counters available in stock at Home Depot for around $300 or so. I plan to spend $500-$700 on a replacement dishwasher.

[Sacramento Dave]

I did our kitchen. It's about 3 times the size of yours. We used 4 slabs ( had enough for a 4' desk 4' wet bar) the granite we used was about $25 sq. ft. That was one of the more expensive ones. There were some slabs about $7 sq.ft. so the price varies. Our friends have a kitchen little bigger than yours there total cost installed was about $4000. They did find a close out on some granite. I spent about $15000 on the granite installed. I did the tear out and put the new 1/2" plywood tops down they wanted $1200 for that. The best thing is do some drawings and get some real quotes. the biggest problem is finding what you like. I also tiled the floor Kitchen, Dinette , family room, Bathroom, laundry,. About 800 to 900 sq ft tile 18X18 $3 sq ft. that's another big price range. I also did about 600 sq ft of wood flooring I found some really nice stuff for $3.50 sq ft. Now hear is some real good advice, Stay away from the big box stores, Most people that contract a job threw them or special order something get a big lesson in life. I have found the small shops prices are good they have to be to compete. But above all their services is worth it. One thing you can count on the big box stores for, is a deferent answer each time you go in.

[wkearney99]

Usually around $10k and upward. Decide what you *really* want not just that you dislike the current setup because it's boring.

In-stock at the Home Depot is not necessarily your best deal. Both in terms of price and quaility of materials. Check some higher-end plumbing suppliers and then shop around online. I saved over $1k buying my Hansgrohe bathroom fixtures online. Retail for one piece was $475, HD had it for $389, online I found it for $250.

[Don]

Thats because you have a very narrow focus and don't know what you're talking about. I've designed hundreds of million+ dollar homes for the past 20+ years. My own home had many of the features I described, it sold for what we listed at (3 times the amount I paid to have it built) exactly 4 days after it went on the market. And you've done what? I am presently designing our new home which will have many of the *proven* design specifics I mentioned. Now go back to your *shabby chic* home and garden shows. LOL

[Banty]

??

"Shabby chic...garden shows"?!

Well, tells me that you think you know way more than you really know.

Which reflects on the rest of what you had to say before that little closing..

But, anyhow, mirror and white-stainless away, with my blessing.

Cheers, Banty

[Rex]

Well, the very least I want is a new better-quality 9' deep undermount sink or flush-with-the-counter tiled-in sink, new faucets and a better backsplash, but a new kitchen sink and new backsplash seems to require damaging the tile counters, which means new counters would be needed. If I need all new counters, then I might as well get granite slab instead of more tile again. In the master bath, I need to replace the top mount oval sinks in the tile dual-vanity with undermount sinks, so I guess that requires ripping out the tile there too because undermount sinks can't use the two existing sink openings. I am already sure I'm getting a new dishwasher and new tile flooring replacing the old tile and carpeting in the entry with all tile instead and using more of that same new tile to replace all the linoleum in the house (kitchen, bathrooms, laundry). Also new carpeting and paint throughout the house. I am budgeting much less than $20K for the entire interior of a 1000 sq ft home.

[Don]

"Rex"> wrote

Wow. You gonna install a diving board too? ;-)

[Don]

"Banty" wrote

Look, I do this stuff for a living. The OP asked for suggestions, and I offered. Then you tried to embarrass yourself by jumping on me, and you succeeded.

You clearly have no ability to visualize, thats your fault.

You didn't see me touting stainless, but don't let that stop you from making stuff up as you go. Onward.

[Banty]

So you sell houses with shallow kitchen sinks along with all those mirrors and gleaming white and stainless steel? (... and brass knobs).

Wow.

Banty

[wkearney99]

See if the manufacturer of the sink that's in there currently makes a deeper one that follows the same opening. And also make sure the under-counter plumbing is setup to accomodate a deeper sink. It may require more plumbing than you might be expecting so check this FIRST. A deeper model sink with a new faucet might be a VERY easy swap.

Changing the backsplash will pretty much mean dealing with changing the counter as well. But a deeper sink might not.

You've answered your own question there. You're right, over/under generally require totally different opening setups. I suppose in a few rare cases it might be possible to pull a topmount sink and have an opening suitable for switching to undermount, provided you could find one that really matched the opening. But that'd be very unlikely if it's a tiled surface. It might be possible to lay new tiles to make it work but matching everything (color/depth/grout) would be rather tricky.

All this for THAT tiny of a house? Seems like it's very unlikely to pay back itself back. Putting expensive kitchens into tiny houses rarely works unless local market conditions are VERY favorable toward it. Like someplace that has cottages and severe restrictions on new construction.

More often than not you'd end up sinking a lot of money into a tiny house that's "one of many" in the neighborhood and thus can't sell for 'enough' to justify the added expense. Or, as happens a LOT here near DC, someone buys a tiny place and just rips it down entirely to build a whole new structure, again wasting the money.

You have to really dislike something a lot to want to waste money destroying an otherwise perfectly usable space. Not to be insulting, but it's just a tiny house with a boring kitchen, ask yourself seriously how much you want to sink into it, dollar-wise. The only time I'd bother dunking a lot of money into that sort of situation would be a long term retirement home. If it's something transitional I'd just live with it's boring nature and save the money towards buying something larger. Paint the walls, lay some new floor tile and hang some curtains. You'll save THOUSANDS.

[Banty]

Ah - you're making fun of the foot-mark vs. inch-mark typo.

OK, one mark for 'Don'

Cheers, Banty