Can you post more pictures of the house? In particular the rooms attached to the kitchen? Also, how would you describe you and your DH's style in general?
I'd also keep the cabinets, but if you don't like that style then obviously that wouldn't be the right move for you.

Those cabinets are totally fab! I think restoration rather than remodel should be the plan. You could retrofit some roll out trays in the cabinets. Yes, that's not as user friendly as drawers, but it would be worth the tiny bit of extra work of opening the door to roll out the tray just to manage to keep things so original. Some new marmoleum for the floor, and maybe a simple quartz, or a mod laminate would be the perfect touch.

If you re-used the cabs you'd have more $$ to put into the appliance and countertop budget. The cabs have a lovely warm color; maybe some work to spruce their finish would make you feel more positively about them. Changing the door hardware, maybe even getting hidden hinges would make them seem much more contemporary without losing the charm of their mellow honey-ness. I'm so-so about the scalloped valances, which could be removed and still leave the cabs.

While I like IKEA cabs (and expect to use them in my own reno), I will probably not use their doors with their bland versions of generic shakerishness - no offense intended, it's just how they read to my eyes. Instead I am thinking of having custom-made plain slab fronts similar to what you're going to tearing out! (minus the scrolled valances)

One of the most useful things about posting pictures of your house on the KF is that you get to "see" it though the eyes of people who are looking at it in a different way.

The appliances, the counter, the door hardware, sink and faucet are what I'd change, (well, maybe the floor covering, too).

Sometimes you can have a skilled woodworker turn doors into drawer fronts. Sliders are a PITA to install retroactively, but it can be done.

Your cab boxes are likely to have been made of plywood, which is a luxury option (usually with a hefty upcharge)
from today's typical particle board (including IKEA) carcasses. And FWIW, they're undoubtedly fully outgassed and there completely "green" as far as giving off chemical vapors by now.

HTH

L.

Thanks for all of your kind words about the charm. We were woo'd by it too! My plan was just to spruce it up, but then as i started looking into the appliances, i kind of felt stuck.

No matter how high end an oven, 24" is not going to do it. A 30" cooktop or slide in would be ok, but i actually cook, so function matters. I could just take out the cabs on the wall with the appliances .....I also need a dishwasher, which is the opposite wall.

I don't have photobucket set up at the moment, so I can do a few pictures of the attached areas.

Our style for this house will be clean lines (no scalloped edges ever), rustic with a little modern edge. I like plain shaker and see it in this house.

This is the only eating area. These are pictures from the real estate listing, THIS IS NOT MY FURNITURE.

We are a family of four, one soon off to college, the other is 13 and special needs (no mobility issues) so will be around for a while. We have three dogs and the property sits on five acres with lots of fruit trees. We hope to grow more food once we move in full time.

This is the wall on the other side of the living room/dining room. I would like to take down this wall.as the porch has the same ceiling.however, this is not In the budget at the moment.

If you merely take out the cabinet below the cooktop, you can put a range in place. Then use the space that the wall oven occupies for a microwave. Retrofitting a DW may not be as easy, but it's certainly doable.

This isn't a shaker cabinet home.

At all.

It's a MCM slab door home.

Exactly like you have already.

And what you have is a huge bonus! It's original. And things are only original once.. Once.

Once you start down the road of tearing things out to "modernize" the space, you've lost that value of originality. No amount of "retro inspired" cabinetry will ever be "has original refurbished cabinets". With a home style as distinctive as what you have, you will hurt the home's value without doing something that is very very close to the existing kitchen. So, you might as well keep as much of the existing kitchen as you can.

The eating area is ripe for a banquette. And that wall you want to take down, I wouldn't. I would put some windows or doors in it, to be able to bring the outdoors in. But there's no way to bring the home up to modern code standards and leave the ceiling exposed as it is without basically building a stress skin insulated roof on top of the existing roof. That ain't cheap. It is doable at some point when you have a robust budget. That's not right now. But putting in a header to put in a window that might turn into a door later is doable right now. And it will add some light to your rooms.

It would be a very sad thing if you changed cabs. Green Designs suggestions are thoughtful. There are a lot of nice ranges available and the 24" cab can hold your preference of a variety of multi-function ovens. MW, Conv, Steam and the combos.

Your home is fabulous! It would be great to keep some of the charm, but I'm not a designer. But i have always loved these two posts about husbands and homes:

Here is a link that might be useful: White Kitchens and Husbands

Second link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Husbands

This kitchen reminds me of the kitchen I grew up in - 1960 ranch in SF Bay Area. I still dream of it b/c it was such a functional layout. I am in the camp of the others who love the cabinets, but realize that style is very personal. If you end up considering a way to keep the cabinets, I just want to give you words of encouragement that you really can personalize and modernize while keeping original elements. I am in the final stages of a kitchen remodel that had all sorts of appliance retrofit problems and where I kept original cabinets that I really didn't love (but they were such good quality, I could not justify getting replacing them). With time and effort I am really pleased with how it is all shaping up - new countertops and flooring made a huge difference. You might be able to take apart some of the cabinets to accommodate a larger appliances and reassemble/reuse them to create a more functional space - we have done that (certainly not DIY for us, but we have a carpenter who is helping). Good luck - your house is wonderful!

Could you just modify the range area to put in a 30" standard range and utilize the oven area for a built in microwave? I am just trying to think of minimal intervention combined with improved function.

I agree with GreenDesigns and Pal in that I would not rip out the cabinetry and find a way to make the space work with a range. They look fabulous and in great condition. The character and charm are amazing and you will probably lose that with an IKEA remodel.

Love the ceilings, too.

Thanks so much for all of the responses-

Soooooo, what I'm hearing is the answer to my original question is...

Yes it's worth it to paint the cabinets as is. But the bigger answer is, so that I can find a way to live with the 52 year old cabinets..right? Then I guess I shouldn't skimp on the paint job.

Again, that's where we started, but after looking at appliances, I got discouraged. I hear your enthusiasm, and appreciate it but will need help walking me through the realities of the space.

A couple of things about us, I grew up in Eichler country in the 60s, don't love MCM, so have no desire to go all the way there. We have quite a bit of american antiques that will go to the house, which will clash with a MCM vibe. I am really a function over form girl and I like to cook. I don't love to do it every day. But when I make a big meal or bake, I really use the space and appliances.

We will be building another building on the site to have storage for non everyday items. There is no pantry or garage attached to the house.

The big questions then are how do I:

Remove the cabinet where the cooktop is to slide in a range without distorying the whole run
Substantially increase the storage in the same footprint as we will be cutting our space in half
Add a dishwasher
Remove the scallops
Remove the exposed hinges

Btw, when the roof was replaced they added skin insulation, there is a window - I will attach a photo...however, as I said...the budget doesn't allow.

Kailua:
I just finished work on a house where there was wood ceilings and I chose wood cabinets. I painted all of the walls white and used a white counter. Your ceiling looks taller than the house I worked on, so yours would possibly feel even more open. Take a look at this for an idea....

Here is a link that might be useful: An example of keeping the wood cabinets

I am no designer. And while I appreciate that people here love the original cabinets in your home, I think you need to do what is right for your situation and your home. If you are function over form girl and need a more efficient use of space in the kitchen, then I think you need to follow your instincts. Frameless cabinets with more drawers will increase your kitchen storage. I am a function over form girl too and I could not see keeping original cabinets if I had keep digging in 24" bottom cabinets (no drawers) or install pull-outs which further reduce the capacity or if it forced me to give up other things I really wanted for the way I intend to use my kitchen. Especially if this is a house you intend to be in for a long time.

As for painting the cabinets just to see how it would look...I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that. It does seem like a lot of work and I'm not sure if the result would look nice enough to convince your husband.

Take a look at a redo with MCM bones, but that was taken into a more modern direction. You could do the same with whitewashing the ceiling and beams. That is one of the elements that is such a strong MCM element, and whitewashing it would take it modern cottage. Then keep the cabinets as is. I would never paint those cabinets and lose the great warm glow and patina that they have!

The whole home has such a strong MCM vibe that it's going to be really difficult to take it into another direction without paying homage to it's bones. You'd have to pretty much remake most of the elements that give it it's charm to change it's character to some other style. And that would be a shame. It is what it is. And it's a GREAT house. That just needs a few tweaks.

You need to find a talented cabinet maker/finish carpenter. Making over the cabinets isn't that big of a deal, and a good cabinet guy could even make you some additional units that would match that you could do a banquette and more storage with.

And post the layout. From the pics, I don't think it's nearly as bad as you think it is.

Here is a link that might be useful: MCM redo.

Was it location+price that had you choose a house with such a strong MCM identity even though you say you don't like it as an architectural style all that much?

I am not even reading anywhere that you should paint the cabinets...and I don't think I would. A cabinet maker would probably be able to convert the lower cavities to drawers and make doors to match or even utilize some of the door faces for this.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 12:53

Firsthouse, thanks - I have been looking at your post as inspiration. It is very true to the MCM vibe. Beautiful job! I think you had a bigger footprint to work with. I think the ceiling heights are probably the same. This house is 1500 square foot. We will be moving from a house with 3100 ft. We can do it, but will really need to be judicious about every inch.

Greendesigns - I appreciate your enthusiasm for the look. The house has such a warm feel, we really do love it. I could never in a million years talk DH into painting, whitewashing or anything else, the ceiling. That is not an option either of us will consider. The patina you refer to in the cabinets is evident on the ceiling and was one of the reasons we bought the house. We have considered (for the storage) but decided against installing a banquette. We will need something that can be enlarged for events. We will have a table in the dining area that will seat 4-10 as needed. We don't entertain often, but need the flexibility a table will offer.

I'm worried that we will spend as much retrofitting the cabinets as we would by going ikea and will leave me frustrated.

We actually like the kitchen layout (except the washer and dryer in the kitchen - see picture), so I don't think it's bad at all, and didn't plan on doing much to it. It's very functional, except the lack of dishwasher and lower cabinets.

The only things I actually hate are deep lower cabinets with fixed shelves (so height will be seriously compromised with the addition of roll outs) and the scallops. Everything else is pretty ok.

I do need to say that close up, it's obvious that the cabinets are 50 years old. The drawers open like 50 year old drawers. The patina up close looks like....well, I think the word patina is very generous.

I will think about Scherr's slab fronts.....

You will probably spend as much retrofitting as on a completely new IKEA kitchen, but I think it would be worth the effort.

Is it a possibility to move the washer and dryer to a different location?

Palimpsest - we were cross posting, that's why I didn't address your question.

We love the feel of the home for its warmth, the exposed brick fireplace that goes to the ceiling, the beat up 50 year oak floors and the incredible glow of the Douglas fir ceiling. Inside the house, I don't feel MCM at all.

I get it that is the layout and structural style, but I just can't see that modern look in this house.

We love the location, way in the country, 20 minutes from the grocery store and target. We love how the house brings in the outdoors and has lovely views. I love that I can go outside and see for miles. It's also affordable as our financial picture will be changing. We need my husband to retire while still having kids supported at home. This house is commutable for my job.

Here is one of the Houzz photos I have been looking at as inspiration. We won't have an island, so that's just a distraction. I liked the mixed cabinets and how it works with the wood ceiling element, and shaker doors.

Edited to delete duplicate

This post was edited by kailuamom on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 13:46

I am grinning at this thread. I think the responses to a kitchen like this completely depend on where and when you post. I've seen kitchens just like this posted on Gardenweb (can't remember if in Kitchens or elsewhere), and the responders fell all over each other telling the OP how awful the cabinets were and how hopelessly dated the valance over the window was and how the OP really needed to rip it all out, and fast.

In my neighborhood, an original kitchen like this would seriously devalue the house. It's not fair and not necessarily right, but that's how it is where I live. The lack of a DW would be a major stumbling block for most buyers, so "value" really is in the eye of the beholder (and buyer). The house price, if it were in my neighborhood, would be set lower than the comps because it would be taken for granted that the kitchen would need replacement. This of course would represent a great opportunity for someone who didn't mind either keeping the vintage kitchen or redoing it him/herself.

Kailuamom, in a lot of ways you are lucky that the seller didn't try to update the kitchen for the sale (which would probably have meant painting everything and putting in granite). This way you can choose for yourself how it should look and what elements you want to keep. I didn't have any moral dilemma about my kitchen because the original cabinets had already been replaced -- by my husband, when he bought the house in the 80's. The cabinets he put in were a good choice at the time and were mostly functional, but the layout was not good for a family and I have to say, I hated digging around in the lower cabinets. I am really, really happy with the Ikea kitchen we put in. Drawers drawers drawers. lol.

My mom also has cabinets a lot like yours (she painted them white years ago). She is currently in the dilemma of whether to do a full kitchen gut or keep living with them, since she is older and is now at the point where cooking in her kitchen causes her pain. (She has very little counter space, so she preps at the kitchen table which is not comfortable for her since she's tall; and in order to get things out of the lower cabinets she has to sit on a low stool. And then get back up.)

So all this wordiness is just to tell you: yes, you have a nice vintage kitchen (depending on the age/opinionatedness of the viewer) -- but it has to work for YOU so don't feel bad if you change things. You can put in something new while paying homage to the original.

And check out retrorenovation.com for more ideas and support for living in and fixing up a midcentury modest house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Retro Renovation

Forgot to answer your original question. ha. I had the opposite situation because my DH likes white cabinets; but I don't think painting yours would really be worth the effort if you're not going to keep them. Maybe if you can photoshop or otherwise edit your photos to color the cabinets white, that'll help him visualize it.

And I do have to say that the Houzz kitchen you posted, while very pretty, looks extremely contemporary (2010's) to me. Espresso cabinets and long straight silver-toned hardware and the potfiller and the backsplash tile and the big stainless standalone hood are all very "now" elements. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I'm not sure it's quite right for your house. (Of course I say that right after posting that you should do what you want...)

Kailuamom: I'm in the love the kitchen and work with it camp :)

Just a quick comment: it's interesting that you say you don't love MCM, yet you bought such an MCM house. It's a fabulous house, btw. IMO, it's good that your budget doesn't allow for taking out that wall, as the exterior cantilever look would be wiped out, depending on how far you went.

Anyway, did anyone ask yet for a floorplan or kitchen measurements and more pics? More pics would be great.

We had much the same quandary you do when we started our long-delayed remodel. The floors and walls in the eating area and the very large adjacent family room are oak. In the family room the ceiling is also oak. I love the warmth of that room and could not imagine painted cabinets in the kitchen if it was opened to the family room.
The original kitchen, with painted cabinets, was in about an 7' x 8' space.
I finally, thanks to GW, was able to visualize what would work for me. Our new kitchen has stained cherry and walnut cabinets to provide contrast with the oak.
I did not want a strongly modern look, but rather something that would fit comfortably in our 70 year old house. I wish it could have been made larger, but it is SO much better than before, as yours also will be.
I don't know if our decisions and experience will be useful to you, but here's a link to my kitchen post. You will see dark wood cabs with wood floors and walls.

Here is a link that might be useful: our all wood kitchen

Thanks North Carolina.

I agree about the disparity in post types. I did a gut Reno in my kitchen in 07, and was on the forum daily at that point. In that process, I figured out who I was (kitchen wise, function over form and budget conscious). I also heard so many folks told to rip it all out.

I would be devastated to spend money, blood sweat and tears on retrofitting a kitchen and still hating it. I want to be in this house a long time. I am willing to take as long as necessary to remodel but I don't want to do the whole thing twice.

I love the encouragement to keep with the bones, it feels great to have it affirmed that its a great house.

That said, I have to live in it with my retiring husband, two kids, three large dogs and at least one cat. What worked in1961, may not be my answer - even with top of the line appliances.

I don't have a to scale floor plan yet. However, with the above pictures, that's the whole kitchen.

Since I grew up in a neighborhood of eichlers, I have to say that this house does not feel anything like those houses did to me. Not at all. Other than the T&G ceiling, I don't feel the similarity at all. It is a simple rectangle, with lots of warm wood. Maybe because I'm not a designer, I'm not getting the MCM vibe. The MCM homes I grew up with had floor to ceiling windows and atriums. They weren't simple rectangles, more like L or U shapes. I think the POs were trying to capture an updated country look (with the scallops).

Anyway, when in a restored MCM feeling home, they feel formal and not comfortable to me.

The picture I posted, was more to show the overall feeling I like. I like shaker mixed with contemporary. I'm not interested in espresso cabs, just lower stained with uppers white or a mix of some sort (to keep DH happy with some stained and give me the feeling of lightness overhead). I'm trying to find pictures to show him how a mix can work.

Here's a picture of the exterior, sure wasn't screaming MCM to me.

I agree that the predominant answer to this question depends upon the day or week you ask it in this forum, and the "it's dated and dysfunctional: gut it" people aren't in the forum today, although they may be next week.

I think we really need to see a floor plan with measurements to know where this kitchen can go from here. One of the key things I see right off is space to be gained if the washer and dryer can be moved elsewhere. That area could become many things, including an all drawer area or the area for a larger wall oven, or the area for a counterdepth fridge allowing expansion of the cooking area for example. But it's hard to say without a plan.

Re: your comments of not seeing MCM inside the house: houses are never built in a vacuum and American vernacular houses of all periods are designed and built within a context of multiple influences. The current 2000s house style is very "traditional" in detail on the outside, with an almost purely contemporary floorplan, tricked out in "traditional" details again. Currently most people would balk at an exterior that matched the contemporary interior and further balk at the contemporary detail or lack of detail that would make the whole thing completely consistent. People like traditional details.

Where I live colonial-era houses are standing both in the city and suburban areas, so it is not unusual to see houses of the midcentury period that are clearly midcentury but detailed as "colonial" houses. Picture a ranch with 6/6 windows and shutters and 6 panel doors that also has awning windows in the bedroom and a floor to ceiling glass wall in the living room. Often the effect is kind of charming in its own right.

I think the kitchen/interior in this house leans toward soft contemporary/traditional for it's period rather than purely modernist. (Only the ceiling addresses the modernism on the interior). I think an IKEA kitchen would be too slickly modernist for this interior (I personally think the shaker door has entered the contemporary vocabulary via IKEA)--that is why I think you need whatever kitchen goes in this house to be one that is sympathetic to the original. The original bridges a couple of styles that would be very difficult to replace with a new kitchen, but not necessarily that hard to duplicate in new work, salvaging much of the kitchen if done selectively.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 15:29

I agree with the poster who said that this kitchen would devalue the house... at least, it would here. I would not worry about a new kitchen bringing the value down!

To those who are screaming that this space is MCM.... what about it tells you that? The wood ceiling and beams all open? Can't that be a neutral backdrop for a lot of different styles? I think the house looks beautiful, but I personally wouldn't decorate it in MCM. I would also completely change the kitchen since a family member has a similar situation. The drawers are awful, the space is dark, the cabinets are banged up and the lack of drawers make the lowers inefficient. I'm only saying this to back you up...... if you want to replace, replace.

Back to your original question.. painting the cabinets white is a waste of your time, I think. (They won't really look like a professional finish.) How about just draping white, bright sheets over the cabinets? That would give you some idea of how much lighter the space could appear. Meanwhile, find photos of white/light kitchens you like and have DH look through them. He might come around; my DH warmed up to them after thinking about it.

I'm with itsallaboutthefood. I don't think the look of the original cabinets (which I could probably live with) outweigh the lack of storage and problem with appliances. I grew up surrounded by MCM and it has never been my thing or filled me with the slightest bit of nostalgia. I have a friend in San Jose who lives in an Eichler neighborhood. She has kept (and remodeled) her home to be true to that style. I kind of like her home's architecture, but I would do the interiors however I liked.

In my neck of the woods, this would be considered a very dated kitchen. We all may be lacking a design or historical gene. I don't see what's wrong with IKEA. Do what you like. It sounds like you found a nice affordable house in a great location and plan to stay awhile.

Thanks -

The only way to get the washer and dryer out of the kitchen is if we add a mud room, which I will be getting bids on. Otherwise, that's where it it.

If we need to keep it in the kitchen, I would look into stacking them, creating a cleaning pantry next to it and using some sort of a barn door slide to cover the W&D.

Budget is an issue, so not real confident that we will get a mud room. If we do, I would likely want to put the fridge and pantry in the W&D area. (Right now I have a shower curtain up there and are using it as a supply closet.

I haven't posted for layout advise yet as I don't have the scale layout done. I have it kind of done though, will grab what I have and post it in a minute. It dosen't show the whole house though, and I think that's necessary to address all options.

I really like Scherr's, so perhaps we will go that route so we have more door choices. I want frameless RTA, so I can keep the labor money.

Thanks everyone for the engagement on this thread - it will be a great project!

I just wanted to come back and say what a terrific view you have -- I see why you bought this house!

Also when I said "devalue" I didn't mean that the kitchen was trash and you shouldn't have bought such a worthless thing. lol. All I meant was that around here, vintage kitchens mean you get to pay less for the house. Bonus!

North Carolina - that's what I was thinking when I bought it. Vintage looking can add value, actual vintage....not so much.

Linelle - you said it exactly right. I could have and would have lived with the cabinets. But, the lack of usable storage coupled with the appliance issues, outweighs my ability to "live with" the cabs. So, I need to update the function for my long term needs.

I will spend time practicing with photoshop - much better use of time!

Here is my rough home layout. I'm not showing the cabinets as they are today, just the major stuff I would prefer not to move. That said, I'm open to moving things around if there's significant gain in storage or functionality.

I'm thrilled to get ideas on how to improve function. For instance, I can recess the fridge into the closet space and use a 30"range to free up some vertical space, improving brightness and flow.

Thanks everyone for your help!

I will take your scallop valance over the sink, LOL. I'm sure we had one but someone took it out. Our 60's cabinets are painted white, but the PO's had previously painted them a not-so-nice beige, and I wasn't about to strip paint to get them down to bare wood.

I saw this thread from earlier today, and I'm wondering if a similar look might work for your kitchen based on its size. I'm sure GreenDesigns, Pal, and Northcarolina can weigh in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Split level kitchen remodel

You are welcome to my scallops, if you want to figure out how to remove them :-).

The big questions then are how do I:

Remove the cabinet where the cooktop is to slide in a range without distorying the whole run
Substantially increase the storage in the same footprint as we will be cutting our space in half
Add a dishwasher
Remove the scallops
Remove the exposed hinges

I won't comment on whether you should keep the bones or redo with Ikea, but I can tell you that it's not that hard to do all of the above if you would like to keep the bones.

Here are some shots of my sister's before-and-after kitchen. You'll notice her before kitchen had a closed in room, scallops over the window, exposed hinges, and one less dishwasher than she ended up with. But she liked the basic bones of the kitchen, just not the stark stark white cabs, the tiny island, the older style scalloped window valence, exposed hinges, and fluorescent light box.

She kept the cabs and had them painted a warmer white, removed the hinges, had the island added-to, removed the cabinet to the left of the sink and put another dishwasher there (you can defintely add and replace cabs/appliances without destroying a whole run), took out the scalloped window valence (doing a bumpout and fabulous counter-depth window), and opened up the passthru wall between breakfast room and kitchen.

She incorporated a lot of ideas she learned here on gardenweb (e.g. the microwave drawer, counter-height window, the new counter-height cab with retractable appliance garage doors, silgranit sink, etc.) Here are a few before & after shots to show you that all the above is totally doable if it's what you want.

Thanks so much for posting the pictures. Your sisters kitchen is lovely!

Did your sister have to alter cabinets, or was she able to add/subtract them? One thing that I'm running I to, is my cabinets are site built, really long. So I won't be able to just remove one to add a dishwasher. If you look at the pictures and see two sets of doors on the uppers, those are single cabinets.

I'm sitting in my 12 year old builder grade kitchen, which was really easy to update. Added a backsplash, cabinet hardware, added pull outs and a new faucet. It looks pretty good. If we really wanted to update we could paint the maple cabinets and replace the granite tile counters. We could replace the fridge wall cabinets. Because its rather standard, it's easy.

With the new old kitchen, not a single thing is standard for today, so each element is complicated. I'm just not in love with the existing cabs enough to deal with the complications and work arounds. It seems to me that I will spend a fortune and still be wishing for frameless drawers.

This thread has been great in helping me to really think through why and what I want to do. I realize that it's firming up my desire to replace all components. Maybe not what some are recommending, but that's ok, we won't all always agree.

I will revisit door options with semihandmade and Scherr's.

Thanks to all.

Oh kailuamom, if your cabinets are site built then that is a whole different story. My sister's were individual boxes and she was therefore able to add and subtract them.

I do think if your cabs are site built that you are looking at a do-over. I wouldn't feel bad about doing that though! It's your home and you deserve to have exactly the kitchen that you want. Good luck!

I get where you're coming from, kailuamom. I'm no design expert and my situation is a little different, but I am now near the end of the process of replacing my 1974 original cabinets. They were cute and worked with the style of the home, but they were very dysfunctional - drawer bottoms falling out, dark cavernous bases with black hole blind corners. Built in place by hand, so nothing was standard and it would have been impossible to easily modify. Still, it was very hard to make the final call to tear them out. For me, the water damage we uncovered sealed the deal. We are DIY'ers on a budget, so we went with Ikea. As of today, the plumbing isn't even hooked up yet but we are cooking in there, and the improved functionality is SO great. If we didn't have the water damage, I might have tried modifications to make the old cabinets work better - I love re-use and hate creating unnecessary trash - but I don't know that I'd have been any happier with that outcome.

If you do tear out the current cabinets, I would just suggest spending the time to create a really cohesive plan for everything, including how the kitchen will relate to the rest of the house. Other more design-savvy folks here have posted before about the problem of a "do whatever you like" approach leading to an incoherent mess. Again, I'm no expert, but I've tried to heed that advice in my own process.

To your original question, I wouldn't put in the effort to paint. How about photoshopping to help visualize things instead?

I agree, planning is everything! I learned a lot here on the kitchen forum when I did my last kitchen in '07. I was crushed when I had to move the week before completion after planning and construction of over a year.

We closed on the house in June, I wanted to get a feel before really starting to plan. Now I'm in the serious planning, so I can take advantage of the spring ikea sale.

Built in place cabinets can certainly be modified. But sometimes the dimensions don't work just right. You need to call a couple of local cabinet makers out to have them take a look and give you some in person ideas as to how to retrofit some organizers as well as what type of money you might be talking about to tackle the project.

As a "right now" type of project for the laundry, if I'm reading the diagram right, it looks as though you could "flip" it around and put it in the master bath as a stacked unit where the closet is.

Kailuamom, we have similar tastes, so naturally love your new home, especially those wonderful wood/beamed vaulted ceilings, the exposed brick, and your gorgeous views. I also recently downsized to a 1500 sq. ft. home and had planned to retrofit/update the existing kitchen. However, the bids to reface/retrofit came in so high, I was better off doing a complete kitchen remodel and gained much more storage. Your kitchen is small so I'm in the complete remodel camp to gain a more functional kitchen. Also second at least having light upper cabinets since your kitchen is dark. Here's what I learned from my remodel:
1. Recessing appliances makes a kitchen appear larger. Recess a regular size fridge into a closet as you are planning. A cooktop with an under counter wall oven will give more counter space and an uninterrupted flow to the kitchen as compared with a range.
2. At least one lit glass wall cabinet will give added depth to the kitchen since it will carry the eye to the back wall.
3. My WD are behind bifold doors in my breakfast area (which is part of the kitchen). However, I'm considering removing the doors and concealing the WD beneath a counter to carry the eye further into the space. Please refer to GW Decorating forum for my Dec. 11/2012 question "Convert WD area to built-in hutch." There are great photos of how to enclose a WD in a kitchen area. I especially like the home with the cabinet doors which go all the way down to the counter, with the enclosed WD below. Houzz also has great photos of concealed WD ideas. Your stacked WD idea with sliding doors would give you the most storage for cleaning supplies, broom, & vacuum cleaner. However, entirely closing off that area will also make your kitchen appear smaller. That's why I prefer my prior suggestion of upper cabs down to counter top if you are doing a front load WD. The eye will have a greater distance to travel. Even a broom could be stored in a tall upper cabinet.
4. In a small home, keep continuity throughout the structure to visually enlarge the home--same color base and theme throughout. For example, I had a few pieces of dark furniture in each of the other rooms in my home but was going to put all white furniture in a very small bedroom. My interior designer recommended I change to a darker wood bed to give continuity to the flow of what was going on in the rest of the house, and she was right. The eye is uninterrupted from room to room. I look forward to seeing your remodel. You have such geat "bones" to work with in your new home.

Hollysprings - you are reading the diagram perfectly. The wall that is between the laundry and the master contains all the plumbing and electrics, so to move it to be on the backside of the W/D would be a big project. The actual bathroom is tiny, so we can't stick the w/d in unless we move the wall. I do plan on moving some walls on that end of the house to enlarge the master bed/bath, hadn't thought of fitting the w/d there.

Texasgal - thanks for the kind words and thoughts. I will keep playing with laundry solutions, I too have been looking at lots of pictures - there are great solutions, it's a matter of what will work best....

It sounds like we are noa similar path, I am looking forward to seeing pictures as you go!

kailuamom: thought you'd get a kick out of this pic. My mother and sister in our old kitchen circa 1958. Reminded me of yours now. Not sure it would help with DH if you want to promote the painted cabinet look, though. Lol.

And, now that you showed a pic of the whole outside, I guess it doesn't scream MCM exactly.. Just looking at the cantilever area without the rest of the house, I did get that impression. I wasn't trying to be a pill with my comment. It's a neat house and yes, your view is beautiful!

Deedles - I love that picture! They could be standing at my sink, if we had a wall instead of peninsula.

I don't know that it will help DH, but it made me smile!

If you are going to be removing Any walls or doing Any remodeling of the house plan that first. Make accommodations in the current kitchen.

I actually offered on a house with an even more difficult kitchen. I don't want to hijack but I will show a few pictures.

Solid masonry to the left, circa 1810. There is a bit of counter to the right of the sink and the refrigerator, no DW.

No chance of expansion into the 30" yard:

The eat in kitchen actually went Under the floor of the only full bath which was at the height of the stair landing, not a full floor above.

My plan was to get a portable dishwasher and live with it first, and plan what intervention was needed for the entire house but to tread lightly. This house had 2 owners in 200 years. The person who bought it is gutting it :( This small kitchen and bath were added outside the original footprint in the 1960s. The rest of the house was pure 1810.

Wow, Pal, don't you just want to stab the new owners with that giant fork?

(sorry, couldn't resist)

I probably would have hung it with the tines curving toward the wall -- but I don't judge.

I will get bids for a mudroom before doing anything. That said, if it is more expensive than we can do right away, it shouldn't be hard to adjust for it later, since we will just be moving the W/D out.

I really do hope we can afford to do that first. The main kitchen entry isn't covered, there's so much mud that it really does deserve it's own room! I an visualizing a shower pan on the floor with a hand held sprayer so I can wash the dogs with warm water....

I think putting a membrane and drain on the mudroom floor and making it like a giant shower pan is a good idea. I would like to do this in my entry not because of mud but because the stoop is right on the sidewalk and you track in salt and snow.