Is it worth it ?

Ey up my faithful blogworms, ....

Refurbishment of existing kitchens !

The word "refurbishment" to some people means taking the whole thing out and starting again !!

Wrong ! .... It means working with what you have and bringing existing furniture up to date, rather than chucking away a basically sound kitchen.

This week I'm focusing on what to look for to see if what you have can be brought back to life with a mix of new components.

Here's a list of Top Tips as to what to look for:

1) Am I happy with the existing layout ? If you are then that's good ! If you're not ... what would you change round ? Bear in mind, at this point, that the more units you want to change round or replace, it starts to maybe make it more viable to change the whole kitchen. There is quite definitely a cost tipping point point where it refurbing becomes uneconomical.

2) Look at the condition of your cabinets. Generally the sink base is the one that suffers but if that's the only one, then replacing a single cabinet is ok. More than that, refer to point 1) above

3) Take a careful look at your worktops. If the front edge has blown and the joints don't look good, this would be the time to change them.

4) Does your sink look tatty or drive you mad ? If changing the worktops then this is the best time to change the sink. Changing your sink when you're keeping the worktops means finding one as near as dammit the same size which really cuts down your choices. Apply the same thinking to your hob !

5) Saggy hinges, knackered drawer boxes, old handles that look dated. If any of these apply then now is the time to do something about those as well. These are all easy to re-new.

6) Old appliances: not working right, rusting, broken knobs, leaking, again consider these when looking to refurb, this is a good time to do it.

A typical viable refurb usually takes the form of a new set of doors, new top, new sink and the odd new appliance. This is very cost effective against the price of a new kitchen and can make a massive difference to an old tired kitchen.

The massive advantage of 'refurbing' your existing kitchen lies in: 

re-using most, if not all, of your existing cabinets

not having the change your tiling (unless you want to),

 leaving the electrics alone (which can be expensive to bring up to date),

 not having to buy new flooring when the footprint of your kitchen changes,

 not having to redecorate (unless you want to), 

much less disruption to your life while the work is being carried out, 

costs significantly less than a whole new kitchen (depending on your product choices)  

it takes less time, so less cost !

IS IT WORTH IT ?, using my top tips, you decide. If you want a second opinion, we'll happily come out and take a look. The lists above are exactly the same as how I would look at it when deciding if a lower cost refurb is the answer to a new kitchen.

Don't automatically think that you are going to have bin your old kitchen ! You'd be amazed at what can often be achieved.

Your kitchen at heart ..... Jules.