Hi Everyone,
Would love to hear some opinions on this topic!
Background - I live in a smaller older home (built in 1971), since we moved in 17 or so years ago we have done a number of upgrades and updates - including putting in A/C and a new heat pump, adding on a 3 season room, remodeling 3 bathrooms, putting on a deck, replacing a window with a slider to the deck, re-piping the whole house (to get rid of the copper pipes and pin-hole leaks), new roof, new driveway, paint jobs, changing out the inside doors, new hot water heater, new pipe out to the septic, new gutters, re-finishing hardwood floors, etc. Some of this stuff was cosmetic but some was necessary maintenance.
Since it is an older home it is on a larger lot than most new construction - almost 1 acre, which is what we wanted when we moved here - space - after living in townhomes and apartments. Being it is an older home it is not "open concept" - the kitchen is closed off from the dining room which is closed off from the living room. It doesn't really bother me to have this layout but I am thinking about re-sale.
My husband and I are approaching retirement - he is ready to go at any time - but I'm planning on working another 4-5 years - our daughter is covered by my insurance and she can stay on my plan until she turns 26. We don't necessarily want to stay in our home in retirement or even in the area. For one, Maryland is not a retirement tax friendly state and even if we were to stay in MD - the large lot and the long driveway are a bit of a drag. We do pay someone to cut our lawn and take care of our leaves - we figure that is our "HOA" - but shoveling the driveway yesterday was a chore i could do without. I can handle a normal driveway but ours is long and on a hill and just not fun.
Our kitchen is in need of something. When we moved in we did a cosmetic upgrade - in terms of a cabinet re-facing and new flooring (the new flooring choice we made was a mistake and has not aged well). The re-facing lasted 16-17 years but is now showing its age as well w/ the cabinets starting to look worn. We have a laminate counter top which is not in bad shape but could use replacement and we could use a new sink, since our sink has some scratches and dings. Our stove is new, since our old one broke a few years ago. Our fridge works. The dishwasher we have is old but works. My DH had a little accident with the microwave which resulted in the front of it melting (don't ask!) but it still works. It is an over the range type microwave and we would actually like to swap it out for a traditional exhaust fan/hood and build a microwave shelf somewhere in the kitchen. Our kitchen is not large is i maybe 10X10 which is fine for us - we had a small family and it worked.
So this brings me to my question -
If we do plan to stay for at least 4-5 years for me to finish working (or maybe longer if our daughter boomerangs after college and needs a place to live as she enters the workforce or continues her education) is it worth it to do a complete kitchen remodel or should I just do another re-face and do a cosmetic upgrade. The cosmetic upgrade/re-face would be more than what we did last time as I would also want to re-do the floor, replace the sink and counter top, get rid of the over-the-range microwave and replace w/ exhaust fan, build a microwave shelf. I would also likely need to repair walls and do a new back splash and would like to do something with the lighting in the room by installing recessed lighting. So basically, the only thing I would save here would be the cabinet structures but pretty much everything else would be replaced.
OR
Should I go for a complete gut and re-model - given the extensive work I want on things other than cabinetry?
OR
Should I consider open concept - gut the kitchen - and open it into our dining room?
The open concept isn't a necessity for me, in some ways, I don't want to look at my dirty dishes in the sink while I'm eating dinner - but I know it is a big selling point for home buyers, so that is my reason for considering it.
Is it worth the extra cost to open the rooms up? This would require at a minimum knocking out a wall and then doing something with the flooring in the 2 rooms to merge them.
I also worry about putting too much $$ into a home in a neighborhood that will only support so much in terms of selling price. The homes in my neighborhood are like mine, older, smaller, built in the 1970's, larger lots. It *is* a convenient location for commuters, and given the relatively larger lots you do have more of a sense of privacy than you do in the newer neighborhoods. When we sit outside in the summer it is hard to believe that a major highway is so close to us! But our little neighborhood's home prices will only go so high given the size and age of the homes and the fact that there is a ton of new construction going up - most of the time for higher prices - but those homes are going to have what buyers want - unless they want a big lot!
And, in addition to the kitchen there are other projects I would like to do - our garden shed has seen better days and need to be replaced, and there are always maintenance things that come up....plus there are still some minor cosmetic projects I would like to do in the house so I am not sure if I want to put all my eggs in one basket.
Anyway - opinions??? thoughts?
I have a contractor I like who I am going to get prices from and maybe that will help my decision. I'm also going to reach out to the place that did our re-face 17 years ago to see what they can do for me.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Donna