I agree. Also speaking from experience.

$15K might get you new counters and newly painted cabinets. Wise advice to live with it for a year. Save that money for other expenses that will crop up, and they will, because that's what it's like being a homeowner. :)

$15,000 sounds doable but it depends on what extent you are renovating that kitchen. If you're simply tearing out the old & replacing with new with a few minor cabinet positions changing, $15K may cover it.

However, the kitchen ceiling is lowered to accommodate ducting & possibly plumbing & electrical. If you plan on tearing that out to give more height to the kitchen, that can add up quickly. I'd think more like $30K if that is the plan. It all depends on what has to be moved & how easily it can be moved.

If you buy it, live there for a while. Though it's tempting to want to do things before/right as you move in, you may find your "original" plan has some things that have to be worked out.

I agree that you should live with it for while. In the meantime, for the kitchen I would get a nice runner that combines the tan/gold, grey and black. In your photo, the undertones aren't playing nicely. It could look better in person. A rug will help the eye tie everything together.

Agree with living with it before doing changes if you buy it, but 15k probably isn't enough for what you're wanting to do.

The kitchen is meh but the layout is functional. The rest of the house shown looks great and should make up for it. I too would take a wait-and-see approach, planning for a full redo in the future.

You can't replace the cabinets properly with 15k. You CAN paint the walls. And if the insides of the cabinets are gross, I would understand painting that. It doesn't have to look as good inside there. Sometimes it just feels better to seal things. :P

This kitchen would not turn me against the house.

Money spends fast with a new house, especially in a kitchen. We did a 'light' facelift in ours, DIY'ing a lot of it, and still spent over $20k.

I've known some folks who replaced their cabinets with perfectly functional and good looking Ikea cabinets within your budget amount. They didn't do expensive counters (I'm thinking granite). Can counters be reused? Or you could look into having the cabinets painted, if that would make them more acceptable. If you're replacing appliances, that's going to eat up a good chunk of your $$, but maybe you can replace as needed instead of all at once?

I would hate living with cabinets if they were gross; if just old that wouldn't bother me. But unless you foresee your budget increasing a great deal in the future, I'd probably go ahead and replace what you want as soon as you can do it and enjoy it right away, esp if you have no plans to change the footprint.

It looks like a house with lots of livable space.

If you live in the house for awhile, you can determine if the layout of the sink, stove, dishwasher, refrigerator and pantry work for you. It will save a lot of money if you can use the current layout re plumbing, and/or electric an/or gas supplies, etc. Taking out the walls to incorporate the other room and moving utilities will be VERY costly, more like $50,000.

As others have posted, do nothing until you have lived in the house for awhile.

First, since it is your first home, you should really get a sense of how much it is going to cost each month plus you need to be putting aside money to pay for normal maintenance plus emergency maintenance.

Secondly, as you live in the house (any house) you will get more of a sense of how it functions. In the meantime, you can start researching kitchen options and collecting pictures for both aesthetics and functionality.

In terms of the interior, I have moved into many places with older kitchens and while not necessarily on trend, they were fine after washing them thoroughly and then covering the surface of shelves with Contact paper. It was generally a ritual with my mother since she was meticulous about measuring and cutting and I was better at clambering around the counters :-).

What needs to be done to that space far exceeds $15k. I think if you to the minimum it would be a waste of money because you won't be happy with it until the needed overhaul is done. That means changing the ceiling lines , probably some wall removal and layout changes etc. You will be throwing the $15K down the drain and in a a few short years spending much more. If you purchase this home I would plan on living with it as is until you can afford the amount it will take to properly redo that space. That will likely be closer to $50-75K. If you feel you can live with the home and save towards making it what you want then its a win win. I would note that the home has a lot of "interesting" ceiling lines that are going to come into play with any remodeling /renovating you choose to do with it and that equals $$$$$ should they need to be modified. Something to consider.

For the time being I’d paint the kitchen and put new hardware on the cabinets including putting hardware on the drawers. This is assuming that the cabinet paint is in good shape and the insides aren’t disgusting and can’t be cleaned.

If you buy it, I would definitely look in that dropped ceiling to see if it can be taken out! Is it a one or two story hone? Demo is a messy DIY job but free...most things can be moved for a price. Sometimes people luck out and find nothing, my SIL found nothing but drop ceiling framing.

Remodel costs depend on your area. So you may not be looking at a $50,000 remodel job. There are ways to keep costs down. What’s important is to not throw significant money into a temoorary “fix.” That is money that could go toward your dream kitchen. Spend time on this site learning what other people have done.

These might be a good start:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/barker-doors-vs-semihandmade-vs-scherrs-in-ikea-kitchen-results-dsvw-vd~5182903?n=74[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/barker-doors-vs-semihandmade-vs-scherrs-in-ikea-kitchen-results-dsvw-vd~5182903?n=74)

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/real-photos-cost-ikea-cabinets-scherrs-solid-shaker-doors-dsvw-vd~5563689?n=39[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/real-photos-cost-ikea-cabinets-scherrs-solid-shaker-doors-dsvw-vd~5563689?n=39)

Thank you everyone for the advice and suggestions! I really appreciate all of your first-hand experience since we will be new homeowners. Rantontoo: the house is a one story. Thanks for the links. Very useful info there!

Since your dreaming about the house at this point, dream black cabinets in the kitchen. I think black would be stunning as you look into the kitchen from the other rooms. Black would work with the appliances and the counter.

Such great possibilities for furniture and black accents in adjoining rooms.

OK, it is one story but there is obviously ductwork up there in the soffits in the kitchen. A trip to the attic is in order to investigate. Because that ceiling in the kitchen is awful and would be The First Thing that I would absolutely have to change. (Is the ductwork in the way of installing a proper vent hood over the range?)

Next would be the yugly putty colored cabinet paint. Bye bye to the counters and sink, too. I could live with the cabinets in another color.

I could not live with that color on the cupboards for long. Why didn't they paint them white?? If you are not going to invest in new, go for a fun color at least!!

You can always clean and paint the inside of the cabinets with gloss white paint. My current kitchen cabinets are over 40 years old and are solid wood inside and out. I doubt that I will ever replace them for the cheaply constructed stuff out their now. They were already painted when we moved in, but still had the dark stained wood inside. It was like looking in a black hole and felt dirty. I painted the inside and it made the world of difference.

I would wash them with TSP before painting, as they might have a greasy film which would prevent the paint from stickingwell.

Good point on washing with the TSP before painting. I love the stuff. It is illegal to sell real TSP in the stores in my state. I have to get mine from Amazon.

I would pass on this house. No one would ever build a ceiling like this one if they weren't "hiding" something - duct work/plumbing/electrical. Electrical is easy to fix - it can be "tucked in", but plumbing and duct work may or may not even be possible to "fix", regardless of your budget. And that's this kitchen's biggest problem. All the new cabinets/countertops on earth will not make up for that ceiling.