Hubba Hubba, that is one attractive kitchen!

Personally, I think that catch-phrase "open floor plan" is so over-used. When I was househunting I had one thing in mind and ended up purchasing another that I didn't even know I wanted! Someone is going to come and fall in love with your kitchen. Best wishes.

our realtor pointed out that the galley being enclosed and the fact that it is a galley (versus L-shaped, an island, etc.) could be a major pitfall in our price range.

Is this the right realtor for you? I don't know why that comment would be helpful...Not like you can change it. Is this someone you know and trust, who is honestly trying to give you their unvarnished opinion? Or is it that he/she may be using it as a reason to talk you into a lower price for quicker sale...means less work for them and quicker money into their pocket. I don't know this person, so can't say that for sure, of course, but we had that experience before.

I do suppose that since it doesn't match every magazine and luxury home TV show out there, that there may be a slightly smaller number of buyers who can appreciate it...But I bet even some of those who think they want the showcase, open kitchen will change their minds when they see yours. Your kitchen deserves the right owner who will love it and enjoy cooking in it. :-)

That is one gorgeous kitchen, I can't imgagine it hurting your resale value. Do you mind me asking what the dimensions are of your kitchen? I'm renovating a galley kitchen with a similar layout, although, mine looks smaller.

Ummm...heck no! I guess it depends on your market, but I've just been househunting in a nice northeast town. Anything under $1M had small, original kitchens or kitchens that had been badly redone in the 70s. And even well over $1M was fairly hit or miss. I think most buyers would be happily surprised to walk into your kitchen. Your kitchen is sophisticated, chic, and sparely elegant. I have to ask...what kind of cabinets do you have? I absolutely love them.

Hire a new agent, because you're kitchen is gorgeous!

Seriously though, when a real estate agent looks at your home to sell, they are looking at it with an overly critical and nit-picky eye. But there will be that one buyer that comes into your home, sees that kitchen, and says, "Wow, this is perfect!"

I love galley kitchens and remodelled my disassociated "U" (well, not really a U since each leg floated away unconnected to any other - perhaps just a "three stem kitchen") into a galley.

And yours is magnificent.

I think hsw_sc has the right idea. Hire a new agent. I was speaking to a realtor or two at an open house and came away with the impression that real estate agents have each just learnt to sell one kind of house - they know how to dress it and speak the speak for that one class. Then when they need to sell another, they try hard to make this new house fit the verbiage for the kind of home that they know how to sell.

Your person has figured out the verbiage on how to sell a U-shaped or island-based kitchen and is flummoxed on how to sell this utterly gorgeous space. Flip the realtor; not the house.

That said, are you sure you want to sell it? That is a gorgeous kitchen; I imagine the house that it comes with is also.

Flip the realtor; not the house. LOL!

That is one gorgeous kitchen!

Just because open floor plans with islands seem to be all the rage, there are still many people who want a more closed in kitchen. And yours is GORGEOUS!! That kitchen will SELL your house for the right person. It is fantastic. Get a new real estate agent.

I think your realtor needs glasses,that is one gorgeous kitchen! What a lovely bright eating area also.

Your realtor sounds like a moron. Consider that the days of vast prosperity and conspicuous consumption may be a thing of the past for the foreseeable future. An "efficient" kitchen that exudes quality, as yours does, would be a big selling point as far as I'm concerned.

I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard to type. I LOVE YOUR KITCHEN. It is beautiful and I would buy it in a heartbeat. LOVE IT!

As everyone else has said, your kitchen is gorgeous and your real estate agent has tunnel vision. It's also well laid out. Lots of usable counter space, fridge, sink & range form excellent work triangle, nice wide aisle will allow plenty of traffic, plenty of natural light, lovely breakfast area nearby. Any serious cook should be able to see its merits. ccoombs1 is right, not everyone wants an open kitchen - I went with one, but I never would have touched it if I started out with yours.

Gorgeous kitchen... would drive me toward purchasing the house not away from it. I love the functionality of a galley kitchen. That kitchen is magazine worthy and your realtor is nuts.

gibby3000 you took the words outta my mouth "You're realtor is a moron."

For every person who wants an open floor plan there will be people who fall in love with your kitchen. I I know I would in a heartbeat.

But if your realtor thinks your asking price is too high and you're not sure, have one open house and see. You can always lower your price. But plenty of people will love the kitchen.

I agree with everyone else here, your realtor is nuts!!! Your kitchen is lovely and would sell it for me. Even if the rest of the house needed to be gutted and renovated, if that kitchen was in the mix, there would be no question.

Uhm, I would give up my open concept kitchen for your kitchen any day! We just bought a new home to be built in early 2010, with an open concept main floor. The house we are currently renting has a galley kitchen and I didn't want a galley kitchen in my new house...but YOUR galley kitchen is to-die-for! It is beyond beautiful! If the rest of your house is anywhere near as nice as the kitchen, you'll sell before you can get the For Sale sign up! :-)

The most expensive room to renovate in a home is the kitchen. I personally think it is also the room the most difficult to make have universal appeal. Yours seems to from the responses of the people here, and these people are TKO(totally kitchen obsessed). I don't think anyone here would just blow smoke up your skirt, but I believe your realtor is.
Your kitchen is timeless. It is neat, clean, bright, well organized with high quality materials and very functional. Isn't that what most people want in a kitchen? Isn't that why most of use go through all of the expense and inconvenience of remodeling.......?
You have had some professional kitchen designers comment on this thread.
I realize your realtor may be a professional, but she has no taste.

I prefer open kitchens, but even for me, what is essential is an eat-in space, which yours has.

I was trying to see the view out the breakfast room window and when I went to enlarge the photo, I saw the other photos of the house. The home is beautiful, serene and elegant. It is also cool, white and somewhat formal for family living. A lot of the folks who like open kitchens prefer to be able to keep an eye on kiddos who are playing, watching TV or doing homework. They may see the whole house as too formal or not kid-friendly anyway. Anyone with older kids (who will want them quietly separated) or who doesn't have kids is likely to love your kitchen.

My biggest issue with it as a buyer would not be that it isn't open. It would be that it has a range (that I love the looks of, even thata it is Wolf, but not the low, single oven). I prefer double wall ovens, so I'd be looking to see if there was room to add a second oven or a micro-convection somewhere.

You did a fantastic job renovating that kitchen. It's absolutely beautiful. I agree that your realtor is nuts to call that kitchen a "major pitfall."

I agree with all the others especially chefkev. If I had a kitchen like that when I moved in, I would have never renovated and opened up my kitchen. Like Rhome410 said that eat in area provides a space for people to hang around while you cook. The truth is those of us who are TKO are few in number. Most people looking for a new kitchen care if the kitchen is nice and hardly look at details like the work triangle, the high quality appliances, etc. And like others said find a new Realtor.

Your kitchen is an ispiration.
I love the movement of the granite,
combined with the warmth of the wood floors,
the pot filler and the fresh white cabinets.
The details of the hardware and undercab
lighting are just a few more features I
like. Beautiful.

After you FIRE your realtor, the next one will
be thrilled to have the commission.
This house will sell and probably because
of the beautiful kitchen.

I can't wait to see the next one you buy/renovate.
~boxerpups

I agree with others here that your kitchen is lovely and functional and would think your realtor could turn it in to an asset instead of a liability........isn't that a realtor's job? I appreciate that he/she is giving you honest feedback based on what the other homes in your neighborhood have, but......having something different may be very appealing to many buyers who would prefer a home that has some unique characteristics vs. looking like all the others with only paint colors distinguishing it.

Maybe the emphasis for your home's marketing could be "gourmet cook's kitchen" instead of "open floor plan with kitchen designed for entertaining". Good luck with your sale, you have a beautiful home w/a stunning kitchen!

I would want to buy your house for the kitchen alone!

It is stunning. Anyone would agree with that. It is timeless and very beautiful with high end qualities most people never find when looking.

Amy

Your kitchen is stunning. While 'open' is all the rage right now, there are definitely tons of people who prefer closed in spaces or really won't notice once they see how nice the kitchen is.

I will echo what was said above though, about very few people being TKO and noticing all the details about the kitchen. Our house was on the market for two months (we just took it off for other reasons this weekend) and we had a lot of showings...everyone liked the kitchen, but they didn't notice my Franke sink, my Wolf range, or the efficient layout - they saw granite. Every agent that walked through oohd and aahd and pointed out the granite. GRANITE??!!!! Are you kidding? If I had known that was the selling point, I coulda saved a LOT of money, lol!

We also had a few people who mentioned that they didn't like the openness and the range in the peninsula, so I'm sure you'll have a good balance and the right person will fall in love with your house. Good luck!!

Speaking as a Realtor, who was raised in California, I can honestly agree with rhome, and ask, is this the right realtor for you? Because after reading your post and looking at the pictures of your beautiful kitchen it's obvious that your home is a very POPULAR 50's Ranch that's been tastefully updated AND just happens to be in a fabulous location. I'd be afraid that there are lots of good marketing opportunities that your realtor may be over looking. There are so many good Realtors out there find someone that can get excited about your home & the opportunity to sell it, because IMHO optimism is really key.

Hi there,

I just have to agree with everyone else. Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful. Good job.

And I have to say, that considering I live in a similar location, neighborhood very, very near the city, location is key. People looking into houses that are near the city, I think, understand that an open, huge kitchen is going to be tough to find! At least, that's the case here where I live.

Even if it's not the case where you live and there are many houses on teh market with open, spacious kitchens, that doesn't mean they have the style and pizzazz yours does. I mean, really, your kitchen is FABULOUS!

I agree with the rest that you should look into getting another realtor.

As another poster said, would you mind sharing the dimensions of your kitchen? Your kitchen layout is pretty much identical to our layout. We are drywalling at the moment, and I would love to get a feel for what the space is going to look like (we will have white cabs, too!)

Like everyone else has said - great kitchen, nice high-end appliances, and plenty of room to work in. Your realtor's the problem, not the kitchen!

No pictures of the end wall of the kitchen, but it looks plenty wide. The whole house looks like a magazine shoot (and if that's you in the black dress, you look like a model!). Not kid-friendly, and a lot of people wouldn't be able to get past the white decor if they had kids anyway. How many beds/baths?

I would fire your realtor and find someone who will market your GORGEOUS home to the upscale clients who will appreciate it - either DINKS or retired - and be able to pay what it's worth. Do the furnishings convey?

Tip - just make sure you keep the powder room door closed during showings - not nice to see "the throne" from LR.

If I didn't know any better I would think this kitchen was in a magazine or something. WOW - not everyone likes open concept and honestly that kitchen should not hurt the sale but actually make it the selling point. DO NOT listen to your realtor - it's unbelievable and you should not believe anything less. WOW WOW WOW

WOW, thank you guys SOOO much!!! What a confidence booster, you guys are amazing! AJSmama - that is me, but I'm definitely NOT a model! ;)

We actually ended up going with another realtor (actually a team of 2) that are fabulous and love the floor plan/house/kitchen.

Our kitchen dimensions are 15' x 24'.

I will keep you all udpated. We have had several more showings...unforutnately, still no offers. Basically, the feedback that we are receiving from everyone is that they love it, love the clean lines, etc., but still no offers! It's just so strange and frustrating!

CORRECTION - I'm sorry, the dimensions are 10'4" x 24" (not 15' x 24', although that would be GREAT!)....

OK, now for some cold water, I'm sorry to say. Some people absolutely hate galley kitchens. I am married to one of them. When we were housing hunting, my wife would not even go and look at anything that had galley kitchen in the listing.

While yours is drop dead gorgeous and appears to be wider than the average galley, it is still a galley. It does not appear to be someplace that would beckon a group of guests to gather and socialize, which is a big deal nowadays. A larger, more modern layout usually has an island and/or an eating bar to conveniently separate the guests from those working in the kitchen, while still allowing conversation to flow. A lot of people want that.

I don't know if your Realtor is "right for you" or not, but I am pretty sure that, all else being equal, your house will appeal to a smaller than average group of potential buyers. In that sense, yes, it will hinder the sale.

Should you lower the asking price? Without knowing much more, I would say no. The property looks like it would be a very, very nice place to live. You will have potential buyers pass because of the galley kitchen, but someone who doesn't care, or decides that yours is a galley they can live with, will snap it up. You just have to wait until that person shows up.

Best of luck with it.

Beautiful kitchen! Sounds like you made a good choice switching realtors.

I've been looking at those long pulls at Restoration Hardware, and am glad to see them in a kitchen. They look great! Sounds like you like how they function, too. I have two long drawers on my island that I still need pulls for, and I like how RH has a variety of sizes for the other drawers/doors, too.

Good luck with your showings-it appears the market is picking up in many areas.

Creek Side - Thank you for your honesty! I was the same way when we were looking at homes - would absolutely not consider anything with a galley. However, due to the location of our home and the other things that came with it (4 beds, pool, etc. which are hard to find), we ended up buying it and now absoltuely love it. That being said, I do understand people being turned off by the galley. I guess it will just take time to see if that right buyer comes along.

Mine is a galley too, and I chose to keep my formal dining room instead of using that space to make an open kitchen with an island.
There will be someone who appreciates your space.

I can see the advantages of the open kitchen for those who have young kids who need to be watched constantly. The only way I see it really hurting you is if the majority of the houses in your neighborhood have recently renovated open kitchens with islands.
I comfort myself by knowing that I can welcome unexpected guests and not have the view into a dirty kitchen. We can watch TV while the teens loudly raid the kitchen, leaving it a mess, without getting overly irritated.

AGREED! Hopefully others will appreciate the same! :)

Maximbella

I love your kitchen! It is especially helpful for me to see, since I am hoping to begin a remodel later this year of a similar-size galley kitchen in a home built in 1954. I am planning to use off-white full-overlay recessed panel cabinetry and have been considering the same 36-inch Wolf DF range you have.

Did you use Restoration HardwareÂs Gilmore Pull? If so, and if you donÂt mind, can you tell me how wide the base cabinets are on each side of your range and the size pulls you used on those? (My layout of the range area is very similar to yours.) I noticed the Gilmore pull is available in six sizes 3-, 4-, 6-, 8-, or 10-inch (center-to-center screw holes). Also, did you use the same size pull on all of your cabinets? I havenÂt thought too much yet about what I am going to use in the way of hardware, but I do really like the look of your bin pulls.

I'll give you a couple of perspectives...First, I've been looking at homes for over a year and have yet to see one on the market that rivels yours. It's lovely, really wonderful. I'm looking at homes that are four to five times the average value home in the neighborhoods we're interested in (different states) and even in the most expensive the kitchens aren't up to snuff next to yours (generally they're not even close to up to snuff for any cooking family IMO). So in that you are way ahead of the ball!

That being said, we're a two cook family with kids. We DO NOT like open floor plans, we actually quite detest them. But we do like rooms that are large enough to work in and entertain in, and your kitchen, being a galley, does not meet our defination of a large enough room for both. So, I'd not likely look at your home...but then again, I'd not likely look at any home of your decade because galley kitchens are pretty standard in them. That's not a bad thing at all...if your style home is popular (it is) than folks who like homes of that decade are going to be wowed with a wonderful kitchen as well as the style home of their dreams. It's not me, but it's so many other people LOL

I'm looking for late 1800 or early 1900's homes, nothing past 1915. Part of the reason is that you often had servants in the larger homes and as such, they tend to have very large kitchens. That's sort of our gig :) But buyers like me, looking for what I'm looking for, aren't going to even enter your home if that makes sense?

It's a tough market, and you are entering the game with a very well laid out home, and a fabulous kitchen. It's not a detriment to someone looking for a home built in the era of yorus...but would be to someone like me. But if I was your realtor, I'd just be sure to market it to someone who loved that style home...verses trying to get me to buy it :)

We may lower our standards and buy an 1860's home. The kitchen looks just like yours, minus the VERY VALUABLE open eating space at the end. One thing that kills a galley for most is the lack of an eat in kitchen...you have that :)

Give it time. I may give up on my options and call :OP I'd do it for the kitchen in a heart beat!

Thanks guys!! I really do appreciate all of the feedback!

crazykitchen - I will find out the sizes for you.

igloo - sounds so interesting! I would love to see what you end up picking! Let me know if you change your mind and want the galley....it's a phone call away!! :)~

That is one gorgeous kitchen and remember, not all people like open floor plans. Relax, it's fabulous. I'd buy your house with that kitchen, in a minute.

as a Realtor,
I disagree with the comment "a galley kitchen could be a major pitfall"...

Obviously, not everyone will like everything about every house.
Oh, but as the old saying goes in Real Estate...Buyers say they don't want a Bi-Level with electric baseboard heat, and what do they end up buying? A Bi-level with electric baseboard heat.

Having a Galley kitchen as well done (quite beautiful) as yours will be a Major Selling point....period.

now, as for how well or realistically your home is priced is another thing.

geez, these darn Realtors.....there are good ones and then there are better ones.

You deserve a Better Realtor.

hang in there, you've got a great house to Sell.

tory

Thank you so much!! We believe that we are priced appropriately for the sq. footage and other ammenities that our home offers (relative to what else is out there).

Sweetpea - how many open homes per month are standard? Is it okay to hold one open every other weekend? Or does that look too desperate!? ;)

Sweetpea...I guarantee we will not buy a bi-level with baseboard heat :oP But we might settle (lol I'm TOTALLY KIDDING) on a kitchen like this one :) (Gad what torture...to walk into that beautiful space every morning) :oP

Not that it hasn't been said already, but I just had to add that I would buy your house BECAUSE OF the kitchen! (if we were moving)

THANK YOU!!!!

Now if only I could relocate all of you that like the house to Dallas....life would be great! :)~

maxibella,

the short answer on standard numbers of open houses is:
there aren't any set standards.

the longer answer is:
IF you have an aggressive Realtor, open houses should be something they look forward to. The down side is- due to both Buyer and Seller agents, the sitting OH Realtor loses much control of the Open House. Buyers waltz through stating "they" have a Realtor, and whomever is hosting the Open's hands are tied.
The listing Agent must follow up with the Buyer's Agent and well, it's the follow up on not only OH's but showings that grades a Realtor. OH's are great for hungry start up Realtor's so,,,,have as many as you can.
It says Nothing about being desperate; let no Realtor ever state that. OH's benefit Realtors....period. Why? because unfortunately Open's normally won't bring the sale, but they can offer potential Buyers to the sitting Realtor.

which brings me to igloochic :)
I was hoping you'd respond because you are normal. Isn't that great to hear!? On a broad sense it's true that we humans make lists of likes and dislikes and then we compromise. see,,, normal. so, when it comes to buying that largest purchase most of us will ever make,,,,at decision time all kinds of priorities change.

you like me won't buy that Bi-Level, but we might just settle on baseboard heat. ha-ha you get my point.

best to both of you.

Beautiful!!! I am in the process of updating my 1954 ranch home with an 8 x 18 galley kitchen. I have been contemplating the (white/cream) light cabinets or blonde wood. I love the white...could you tell me what is your wall color and the color of your cabinets? Are they white with an almond glaze?
I am so inspired by your kitchen!!!!

The post to which you are responding is 5 years old.

I am not writing a response to this particular post, but I would like to offer insight about this issue as of the Autumn of 2016. Most buyers prefer a contemporary kitchen layout that is essentially a u-shape surrounding an island. However, a kitchen layout is one of many variables, and I think plenty of buyers would be willing to temper their desires for a particular kitchen layout if everything else meets their criteria.

aha..so in 2009 it already started? a magazine-worthy kitchen is not quite good enough? very educational lol. was HGTV around then?..

lucky them whoever bought this house

i did see one kitchen with a very very strange, impeding- movement, triangle-shaped island..now that was an unfortunate kitchen. probably precisely because they so wanted to please some people they don't know, they put this weird piece in what could be a much more functional galley kitchen otherwise. reminded me of a shipwreck..