I was wondering about a pantry... when we remodeled our kitchen we added a pantry cabinet and it feels like such a luxury.

Taking out that bar eliminates any "eat-in" function? Currently we have table in the kitchen but no dining room, seems like going to dining room but no table in kitchen would be unusual.

In the opening above the sink (likely old patio window, the patio is converted to a family room) I'd love open shelves for all my plants!

What's the floor? Could pipes be added or moved, or are you basically stuck keeping dishwashers/sinks/gas where they are?

could you increase the opening to the dining room to make it more convenient for daily meals. not quite eat-in, but better sight lines.

That electrical panel stuff near the entrance to the kitchen is a major bummer. It'll limit the kitchen quite a bit.

ETA: I think it's actually an ironing board.

This home is on a slab foundation according to the listing, so I'm not sure what can move. I like the idea of widening the opening to the dining space.

Personally I dislike too much of an open plan, but this would be a good compromise. The house layout prevents viewing the kitchen from the front door, which is my pet peeve. Our house currently has kitchen on nearly full view!

I didn't realize that was an electrical panel! Can those be moved, maybe to the garage?

Wait!!!! Sorry. Small screen. I think it's a built in ironing board. Phew. Nevermind.

although well cared for and functional it is a dated kitchen. The seller is quite aware of this...factor 30 K minimum into your offer-- then you can do the renovation without feeling constrained. Any buyer would have the task of a remodel...just a question of when...if their desires can be implemented in the home generally..... and if they have the time/inclination. Best is to be straight about this at the onset. You have walked through the home..is there something you can envision. I would go with my gut...if you feel skeptical, never done a remodel, don't WANT to remodel, don't get a feel for what you would do, then skip it. POTENTIAL??..since you ask has to do with many factors. Remodeling isn't like crafts....it's expensive, time consuming, full of problems,delays and compromises.....yes a remodel will give you new/improved: THIS kitchen, when you get to it requires a complete overhaul ....and can be what you wish. Many foreclosed, run down, derelict properties can become someone's beautiful renovation/overhaul...there must be something drawing the person such as location....some quality still inherently present ....potential for a longed for home with space to raise family or start into the market....along with courage, vision.......maybe the help of a relative/friend/partner to kick ass for a life goal never possible otherwise.....So many factors.

If you're on slab and plan to move the range, you might research induction since moving gas might be cost prohibitive.

Im not sure if that's an option, it would put the kitchen at the very back corner of the house. Do you mean moving it down into the family room (converted patio)? I like that idea, would prefer garage connecting to a family room -type space instead.

herbflavor: we did a complete gut, mostly diy, remodel of the kitchen in our current home. However, when we bought the home we didn't realize it needed such work.

I'm struggling with the weird layout in the kitchen, with openings to the weird converted patio and addition that doesn't seem to flow.

This house is a nice size, the lot is relatively large for the area (which we want) and the price is within our budget. It fits for all the things that cannot be changed. But I don't have any sort of "vision" about what the space could be. Without the vision, it's hard to take the plunge.

If you can give us a floor plan for the whole floor we can offer some ideas based on how you want to use the house.

Our last house had no eat in space in the kitchen. We ate in the dining room. I loved it! I'm not a huge fan of redundant spaces and an eat in kitchen plus dining room has always seemed redundant to me.

Re: "converted patio and addition that doesn't flow"..... uh oh....best to post floor plan and get brazenly honest comments flowing.

If you shut off the gas and switch to an induction cooktop, you can rearrange all but the sink.

Also one thing is this is an old house. Make sure there is no knob and tube electrical because to replace all knob and tube can be thousands of dollars.

Did they pull a permit for enclosing the patio? Our lawyer told us to get a copy of the permit because it may always be a question especially when we go to sell. If the city/County feels like it they could tell you to tear it down.

Potentential? Yes but remember renovations will be cash out of your pocket after taking on the new mortgage. Could you live with it as is, if need be, for awhile? The wierd passthroughs would be good if the patio is a playroom and you needed to watch the kids but would preferably be remodeled out of existence. They chose not to remove the wall-why not?

Does the add on patio have a roof with crawl space over it? It could be uninsulated and uncomfortable much of the year.

You need to have a home inspector inspect and tell you how old the systems are. If you need new electric and new HVAC it will likely end up in the $15-$20K range. Are the windows double paned? You need to add in the cost of doing those too. I would be ready to do those things before messing with the kitchen.

To move stuff around in the foundation you generally jackhammer the foundation and then put on a new floor when you are done...

So, yes, it could be great but it will be a lot of work do you have time to supervise?

What space is behind the stove, and behind the fireplace? It seems like it should be the garage, but the door is on the side, so does the garage have a little extension nook? I wonder if it can be incorporated into the kitchen, or made into a mudroom of sorts?

The nook by the dining room door likes a a great place for a pantry.

I really appreciate all these comments -- some things I hadn't even considered with a home from the 40s. Our current place is from the 70s, and we did have to change out all the windows but otherwise it's got insulation etc (and we've added higher rated insulation along the south and west walls because we took down the siding at one point).

The 40s home has all single-pane windows, with jalousie windows in the bathrooms. The original windows from the 40s look so quaint, but the addition windows from the 70s are not.

practigal -- we definitely would have to live with it as-is for a while... my DH has already talked about looking in the attic, etc, before making any type of commitment to buy, but we want to have some ideas of what could be done (within our budget, within the scale of the neighborhood etc).

I'll have to come back later with a floor plan. We have not seen the inside of the home, just visited the neighborhood and looked online at pics. We have some idea of the floor plan, but it wouldn't be to scale and would just be guesses. It may all be moot, the home was pending once, then available w/slight price drop, and now it's pending again. It's the kind of place I could see a flipper trying to score; since we're not experts in buying/selling, and we'd likely be there 20 years or more, it's hard to rush into it. We rushed into the current place, but maybe it wasn't the best decision, so we want to be more careful if we buy something else.

So I'm assuming this is a one story from your comment about the attic. Then this opens up more possibilities. It is easier to see what is loadbearing and not. You can easily move the gas line somewhere else (no worry about it being on a slab), same with water supply lines so no worries about where the fridge can go if you want water to it. The only thing hard to change is the drain for the sink, so the sink would likely need to stay where it is at.

Now as for putting the kitchen in the sunroom addition, that could likely be done fairly easily with a slab too since you wouldn't have to tear much up of the slab if you put the sink drain by an exterior wall. Only the very edge would need to be dealt with then on the slab.

A rough floorplan would be very helpful.

When we bought our last house (built in 1926), we hired a contractor to walk through and give us some idea of what it would cost to do various projects. It was helpful, though I would say it is important to get a feel for a variety of options (for example, his bathroom remodeling numbers were based on like for like replacements, not moving things around). I think it cost us a couple hundred dollars to have him do this.