sail-away,
I think you make excellent points. I went through similar phases as you did - I saw so many gorgeous kitchens that I started eyeing my late 80s oak cabinets in a new, much more critical light. However, my cabs, as yours, are very functional and in fact were considered quite high end at the time they were installed by the previous owner. I don't like my tile counter, but it doesn't make sense for me to replace it with a gorgeous granite while keeping the dated cabinets. I ended up stripping the wallpaper and painting the room, a simple change which did wonders for the overall feel of the kitchen.

I'll probably stay in my house another 4 years or so, at which point I'll downsize. I won't be afraid of looking for a house with a disaster of a kitchen given the confidence I've gained from reading this site. I understand that my dated kitchen will be a negative when I sell, but I can either spend 100K now to replace it or price the house at $50-100K less than comparable houses with upgraded kitchens (I live in California, in case these numbers sound insane...they are). And who knows, maybe oak will be "in" again?

A final benefit to NOT remodeling is knowing that I'm not contributing perfectly good cabinets and appliances to the waste stream that threatens to overwhelm us all.

Ann

That's great Sail-away!

Glad I could help in some small way.

You could also take that energy and enthusiasm that you were going to expend on a new kitchen, and use it to declutter/reorganize your kitchen space. My girlfriend and I have been spending Mondays for the past four years alternating working together on each other's homes. In my old kitchen (which was probably MUCH older and way less functional than yours), I would get so much pleasure out of opening a cupboard that had everything all organized and sorted and neatly arranged in nice containers. It also helps to have an outside voice telling you that NO, you don't NEED 35 plastic glasses...:>)

P.S. You may be more organized that me, and not NEED to rearrange anything! LOL!

Good for you! We all have to find contentment with where we are and who we are. It's way too easy to get caught up in the 'I'll be happy when I have the perfect kitchen [or house, car, job, family, marriage...]'.

It's human nature to want to move onward and upwards, but if we think spiritual fulfillment comes as standard equipment with our new range, we are going to be dissappointed.

There is no heaven
this side of Heaven;
no paradise,
save Paradise.

IÂve had a similar experience, in that all the reading IÂm doing (to prepare for my 10 year out kitchen re-do) is helping me do very simple things to make my kitchen better. For example, I have used tips IÂve learned here to re-organize to make my tiny kitchen more efficient. Maybe itÂs just that things are in "new" spots now, but IÂm so much happier! I also find it mostly satisfying to dream and plan, but it drives my husband nuts. Every new thing I think of or read about, he has to remind me "we canÂt afford it". Aha! But I can afford to dream!

Sail-away - it's easy to be "green with envy" on this board. And thats not bad. You just have to find a happy medium for you and your kitchen. You have to analyze the wants and needs hard and long!

DH and I could have taken our tiny galley kitchen, opened it up, moved walls and done major construction. But I told him I didn't need that. I just wanted a "pretty" functional kitchen. And that's what I have. I've walked in it and have literally said out loud, I Love My Kitchen! It had good higher end cabinets in a color that I probably wouldn't have picked, but I can't envision them any other color... so why rip out something just to replace it with something so similar. I already have people asking if we changed them out because with different countertops and hardware they look like new cabinets (It's a wonder what a deep cleaning and Old English can do for cabinets!!) Not that they are perfect. They show their age around the handles and toe kicks. Our biggest investment was the appliances, but that included a new washer/dryer. Our appliances were slowly dying one by one and would have needed replacing in the very near future.

We have a 3 family unit, with one cook (me!). Someday I'd love a small U shaped kitchen, but now my little galley works for me! I'm a terrible housekeeper and my small kitchen allows me to spend time doing something much more fun than cleaning!

I'd love to see your before & after of your "mini" remodel as I called mine!

Christy

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of my before & after kitchen remodel

I've had similar experiences, even though we're building a new house, so have to do a new kitchen. Different things on here have tempted me or made me feel a bit sorry for myself in not being able to have them. After awhile, though, I realize more of what I REALLY want and would use, and since I also don't want to be in needless debt (the necessary stuff is bad enough), it is such a relief when contentment with less comes about. For me it was really wonderful to realize I didn't really want or need granite countertops, combi-steam oven, etc.

Ann, maybe you and I will be back here in a few years, in the midst of a major kitchen remodel or building a house, wondering why we ever wanted to leave our current kitchens behind! LOL We have been talking about making some changes to our current kitchen for a while, both in terms of what we would like to have and what would be best for resale. I'm more inclined to do what will make me happy, rather than strictly going by what we think will make the biggest contribution to resale. I'm not going to do anything so crazy or unusual that it will harm our resale, I'm just going to make sure that what we choose to do pleases us. If this were only for resale, it would be smarter to wait until just before putting it on the market and then upgrade according to what is selling at that time. Instead, we need to go with timeless updates that will add at least some value and give us pleasure. Another rule is that we do one thing at a time, as we can afford it--no debt.

Raehelen, have you been sneaking into my kitchen and peaking in the cupboards? :) Actually, reorganization is already underway. I did a minor reorganization about six months ago, but decided I need to do a more thorough one, with additional purging of duplicate or unused items. And, yes, you were a big help. If you hadn't chosen to post your pictures, I'd still be looking.

Oruboris, I agree 100% with what you have written; and I'm glad to see that so many others have responded in a similar vein.

Seedsilly, if there are any particular organizational ideas that have been helpful, please share. As Raehelen so perceptively noted, I can always use help in that area. It always amazes me what a difference just reorganizing one or two drawers in my kitchen can make.

Christy, I'm very impressed with what you've done in your kitchen. It looks great, and the granite is beautiful. I noticed you had a sample of it. Did you do a lot of testing on your sample before installing the granite? When I see granite like yours I think that's what I want to do with my countertops, but then I think I'm afraid of choosing the wrong stone (such as buying something that is sold as granite but really isn't granite). I think you made some excellent choices in your kitchen. It looks all brand new, but very functional.

Rhome, I know what you're saying. At first, I thought, "I should do that, too," every time I saw a good idea on this board. I would have ended up with a traditional, country, contemporary, rustic, casual, but elegant kitchen with every device and appliance known to man. But, like you, I stopped and thought about what I really want or really would use. Like you, I don't want to accumulate debt, either.

Again, I'm glad that you all understood what I was trying to say. I have been impressed that, regardless of how modest or extravagant the kitchen design might be, someone is always ready to offer assistance when it's requested.

thank you ALL for these posts! I too am trying to strike a balance between my dream kitchen and not changing too much of what was a very nice kitchen when we moved in 8 years ago. It's all relative...I have gone back and forth about my very nice cherry cabinets (although not as nice as yours, CHristy, or rather less my style). I have finally decided to replace the doors with Scherr's doors (which I think are incredibly reasonable) and paint the boxes. Hopefully the old doors will find a good new home. I know that a lighter, brighter kitchen will positively affect my mood on a daily basis!! But I am not changing my layout or moving applicances (okay, except for the ovens). I am continually trying to balance. It is very easy because of all the comsumerist messages we get bombarded with to begin to believe that a very high level of quality and luxury is "normal" and "needed." Everyone is different and on this forum it seems to me that people are respectful of the whole spectrum, from wanting to replace your cabinet knobs to ripping the whole thing out and starting over. People here seem remarkably sane, with their priorities in the right place! (I guess you can be sane and TKO at the same time...:))

Holly, I think you expressed it perfectly when you said that people on this board are "respectful" of whatever one comes here asking about. Yet, they're not vague and will state their own opinions about what they would do, when appropriate, while continuing to show that respect for the homeowner's opinions and decisions.

I have to make one comment in regards to older oak cabinets...

We just finished, or i should say almost finished a complete renovation to our kitchen/dining room. Basically ripped out the dividing wall and redid everything, including raising the ceiling.

The transformation is wonderful and we love it but the cabinets we removed were most likely also "high-end" at the time of purchase and I will say(only here not in front of DH) that they were definitely of a better quality than what we replaced. It seems they had all the bells and whistles except for the anti-slam drawer feature than our new. Only problem were they were a dark wood and lent to making the kitchen seem small and dark.

Today those cabinets are in my basement, everywhere. We were going to try to use some in a recent rental house we bought but they don't work. I cannot bear to trash them because for the right space they would be great and they are in perfect condition. Anyone know of someone who might be interested in taking them in the northern NJ area for FREE. Please e-mail me if you do. I really want to find them a "home".

kas, I've wondered about that. Our oak cabinets are also very well constructed and solid. Thankfully, they're a medium, not dark color. I hope, if we do end up either building new or renovating a kitchen in the future, I won't be disappointed in my choice of a more sleek, contemporary maple or cherry cabinet. In the meantime, I've learned to appreciate what I've got.

I'm so glad you have somewhere to make use of your old cabinets. Your rental will undoubtedly end up with much higher end cabinets than it would have had otherwise.

kas,
Try freecycle.org, advertising them for free on Craig's List (www.craigslist.org) or contact your local Habitat for Humanity to see if they'll take your cabinets for their Restore store. Good luck!

Ann