it's cute

i wouldn't pay a cent more for it though lol

i happen not to be a fan of a) pure white b) baby blue. i'd rather pick my own colors

the rug is cute but doesn't come with a house) it's also not a highly valued wool rug

i happen to like most dark wood window frames-to me they're something i'm not used to, thus more rare thus more prized. i don't see this one up close-so maybe there's nothing special about it. but just from the pic-to me personally there's zero value in having it painted white. i'd say it's a negative for me-minus value. but i wouldn't know it was stained before so whatever. thanks for it being wood not acrylic i guess.

to summarize. styling helps. do stuff that you yourself enjoy. don't expect it to bring value-at this level of upgrade, it most likely wouldn't. value is not only monetary though-so go for what makes you happy as long as the house seems happy with it too. when it's not out of place-it will work.

I wouldn't say it would add much value, but in my area it would certainly sell faster than the before would.

(imagine the second pic without the rug

then imagine the first one with another big rug-say the one that incorporates dark brown, different whites and blues..I know several just from scouring the sites and the sales. clean the counters, take the curtain off, put a nice bigger plant, a ceramic pitcher or a crock made by some nice potter for tools. take out everything generic like that clock, towel holder blah blah. leave several accessories like wood boards ceramics etc. that are of honest materials and have personality and quality to them.

you'd like that second kitchen just the same

maybe you'd love it more

We just updated our kitchen (white cabinets/grey granite countertops/greige floor), with the full understanding that whoever buys our house is likely going to rip it all out and start over.

I actually prefer the "before" pic, above. When I see painted cabinets in a color I can't stand --- all I see is dollar-signs for the paint work that would have to be done before I moved in. Unfortunately, I'd lower my offering price because of that.

Yes, but you guys are too savvy :)

no, i wouldn't lower my price too lol

i need to love the house

if i love it and can afford it in the first place i'll make an offer that i think will bring me at least a counter offer. if not acceptance

if i love it and can't afford it...too bad

if i'm not sure-i'd think. if i'm still not sure-i wouldn't make an offer

the color of the kitchen cabinets would be really, really minuscule factor in my decision. i won't say it won't influence it at all. some kitchens are very inviting, some are truly unfortunate. but not in this case. in this case -wouldn't be a factor. i don't include decor-to my-taste-upgrades when thinking of an offer. if it's overall truly atrocious that's another thing.

I'd never put a huge rug in a kitchen. My aunt's kitchen was carpeted. I always hated that.

well here it's less whether to put the rug or not..i'd be scared to put a rug myself lol

(i bought a cheap and nice inside-outside rug, less to dress up the kitchen, more to protect the floors. still didn't take it out..it's brand new and unwrapped yet, in the corner of a closet)

my point is more about the impression the styling of the space has on us. in this case, the huge part of that styling-and the impression that stems from it, as the result-is the rug

I'd like to see the before with the same lighting (turning off the artificial lights overhead, and blowing out the natural white sunlight).

The headline said this update cost $200. If the house was going on the market, and this photo was one of the early clicks in a listing, it would likely be the difference between a lot of first-time home buyers wanting to see more pics and x-ing out the listing and moving on to the next one. The more interest you can generate in your home, the more you’re going to get for it. There is no better bang for your buck than spending $200 to turn a kitchen that screams 1960’s relic into something Pinterest-worthy, especially if you want photo-driven buyers to thumbs-up your listing. Cleaning, and decluttering is important, yes, but the way many (if not most) people shop for homes now is driven by their first impressions, which comes from on-line photos in a listing. Pay for a good photographer, but give them something that photographs well - especially if it only sets you back a couple of hundred bucks. It’ll pay off at closing.

Well said Kris_MA. That $200 was spent wisely. The first kitchen would turn off buyers. The second gets their attention - even if the buyers decide to update further after their purchase.

While it's interesting to discuss this in terms of how the update affects the salability of the house, I think it's important to remember that this was not done to help sell the home. It's a "make this so I can stand to live in it" update. The people who did it don't even own the house, so my guess is that if they thought that just throwing down a rug would have done it, that's what they would have done rather than go to so much trouble for temporary lodgings.

The "after picture" is so much better then the "before". It was dark and old looking to me. She brightened it up with paint colors. I like the new colors. Fresh and happy. The only thing I would change is removing the rug. Room sized rugs don't belong in a kitchen imo. And I would not have the microwave over the stove. Have it at counter level. But other then those 2 things, she did a nice job. It is not something I would pay extra for if she were selling.

When I sold my house I "updated" the kitchen by refreshing it. The cabinets were actually from the 60's or maybe the 50's. You know the ones where the back of the cabinet is actually the wall?

We painted the cabinets, changed the knobs, put down inexpensive vinyl tile in a neutral "wood" pattern, put in an inexpensive "black stone" look laminate countertops, and a white tile backsplash. Painted the walls a soft, neutral green.

We sold our place during the height of the recession. Making the changes helped people see past the old and ugly and realize they could live in the space until they decided to renovate the kitchen.

Technically it didn't add to what we sold the place for based on the other few sales in our neighborhood during that period. However, if we hadn't updated, we definitely would have had to lower our selling price to account for the kitchen looking completely dated and very tired. When we sold it just looked dated but not tired. LOL.

My point being, redoing or refreshing a kitchen (or bath) won't get you more than the neighborhood price warrants but will help when you sell. So if you live in a neighborhood of $250,000 houses, it won't make your house worth $260,000 but it might help you to sell your house at the $250,000 price vs $240,000 because people think they have to rip out the kitchen immediately.

it's a pity you cannot enter the picture on the web page, like in a fairy tale or something..i'd show you lol

and why would people feel they have to rip out the kitchen immediately? so rich so slim, to paraphrase the saying? if just a different color can influence them into buying-it means it's a totally normal functional kitchen. which they could paint themselves if so inclined. for the same 200 dollars or whatever the legend is.

now something like this where it's really hard to actually work, -here was the link- (i'll take the link down in a while, not my listing and all), and very hard to actually remodel so it will become a better plan-yes, now this one is a problematic kitchen, colors aside, the discrepancy between the finished materials aside

i'm even inclined to go to the "Kitchens" ask what'd they do..out of pure scientific interest, and knowing the level of their magic. but i won't, i'm too lazy, and i'll need to take the link down anyway

(cpartist that's not to suggest your updates weren't amazingly and cleverly done. i don't know your then-kitchen, but i know-to some degree-you lol. you're cpartist. not everyone is. i find that many people would do a huge favor to future buyers by not attempting for-resale upgrades)

(cpartist that's not to suggest your updates weren't amazingly and cleverly done. i don't know your then-kitchen, but i know-to some degree-you lol. you're cpartist. not everyone is. i find that many people would do a huge favor to future buyers by not attempting for-resale upgrades)

The problem is you and I are happy doing updates ourselves and like me, you probably prefer to do your own. I know I'd rather walk into a total gut job, get it for a good price and do exactly what I want to do, vs someone else's idea of a good kitchen. However that's me. Too many people can't see past what is in front of them. My DH is one of those. If it doesn't look right to him, he can't figure out how to make it right.

I didn't change the layout of the kitchen at all and I didn't over improve by putting granite on top of very old cabinets. However the old paint job was chipping and it looked dirty after 16 years of use. The floors were the original yellow linoleum from the 50's. The counters were beige laminate from the 70's.

There are times it pays to freshen up and this was one of those times. Same reason I repainted all the rooms in the house and refreshened the bathrooms. A couple of thousand probably saved me tens of thousands in someone wanting to lower the price.

And yes I agree about the huge favor because in so many cases people with no sense of design will do something because they think its the thing to do. Then they wind up with something worse looking.

I think the newly painted "after" kitchen will definitely help sell the home, even if it's not the buyer's taste. There are still loads of buyers (probably younger) who want that immediate "wow" factor, even if the space isn't truly great. The new colors make this kitchen "pop" and stand out compared to the old kitchen or other competition. I think the rug looks fabulous too - it ties in all the colors and helps brighten the space. Even if I didn't want a rug in the kitchen, in this space it ties it all together. I think it's a great idea.

I painted my kitchen cabinets over 5 years ago with no idea of "reselling" in mind... Now 5 years later I may move someday soon if the right house pops up. I'm also wondering what people will think.

not directly related, but I've never understood the concept that 'it may make it sell faster, but it won't add value'. Those are two sides of the same coin - it's attracts more buyers, increasing its value. This is different from 'you won't get back what you put into it, but it will sell more easily', which is often the case.

My honest opinion: the second picture makes the house look like 1950. It really would make me determined to rip the whole thing out.

The first picture, while not great, if definitely preferable to #2.

I like the update, but if the house already seemed overpriced I wouldn't want it either way. I guess my feeling is that if the kitchen would have to be re-done anyway, what does it matter how it looks? That kitchen doesn't appear to have major functionality issues, so as long as the paint job is decent quality I think it makes the space lively and fresh. That said, a different wall color and appliance color might have freshened the dark cabs too.