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Re: Should I get a loan to finance a kitchen remodel?
Quincy and Dexter, new BFFs
I used to be kris216.
Agreed. My apartment kitchen has about that amount of cabinet space or even less. It could be better and FI and I get in each others way while cooking, but we've lived with it 2 years and probably will live here at least 1 more. You need to just unpack what you use most often and store the rest somewhere else.
Do you have pics of your finished space? I don't think I ever saw the kitchen. Are you loving the house now? I know you guys went through a lot of stress getting it where you wanted it.
Just a bit of stress...
But I do absolutely love the kitchen now. The rest of the house is another story, as we are still dithering about adding a 2nd floor. And a bathroom remodel is in the works.
And now remembering it all I feel I was too snarky to the OP, because we may not have spent so much, but we had buddies doing this as a side job and you do get what you pay for -- It turned out great, but took for-EVER!
Oh wow! I love it. The backsplash is so awesome!
I believe the blogger Smitten Kitchen (very popular, profitable food blogger) works out of a small NYC kitchen too.
OP, if you can't make that kitchen work for a limited time, then you need to get rid of some of your kitchen shiit.
$35K for that amount of space for a basic remodel? I'd be shopping around. Seems excessive to me.
And I have to agree with pps. There is plenty of room for that kitchen to be workable while you save for the renovation.
Save money up for what you want.
Also... live in your house for awhile and make sure what you want is really what you need. You have cabinets, so utilize them and be creative about other storage options (or downsizing, or storing other items elsewhere (like those pans you use once a year for holiday baking!)... PP had good suggestions).
I couldn't agree more. I would wait, or at least do whatever it takes to not take out a loan.
I literally have 4 cabinets (really, just 4) in my entire kitchen and it works fine. I would be ecstatic if I had as many cabinets as the OP does.
Wow, thanks for taking my honest question about looking for advice on a financial issue, and turning it into me being a spoiled whiner. (By the way, don't tell someone they don't know what "miserable" is, if you don't know anything else about their life experiences other than that they are unhappy with their current kitchen arrangement. They may very well have had quite miserable experiences in their past.) I didn't realize this was such a hot issue.
No, there are not zero cabinets, but they are not of a size and configuration that suits our needs. We are also having issues with a couple of the appliances. We have been here for over 3 months now, so yes, I have had time to live with the space. Yes, I know that there are other storage solutions that could be utilized, but since we were planning to redo the space anyway, and the original project fit within our budget, we thought it would be wasteful to spend time and money on temporary fixes.
However, you will be happy to hear that we've decided to postpone the project. We will use some of those "temporary" solutions (e.g. adding shelves and pull-outs, if they fit in these narrow spaces) for the next year or so while we continue saving and shopping for a contractor. I agree that the estimates do seem high, but keep in mind that we would be doubling the amount of cabinetry and counter space, moving a doorway, upgrading the electrical panel and plumbing, installing new flooring and lighting, and buying new appliances.
Thanks again for your advice.
Miserable? Over a kitchen? No. You want a H&G kitchen and you have a working kitchen that just ain't that pretty.
Save for a year or so. Nobody is going to die.
ETA: just saw the posted pic. Wow. Buy some paint, take down the curtain, spend a few bucks on hardware and live with it. Wow.
I'm on team Your Kitchen Is Fine (and cute and definitely not 30k to redo). You can replace appliances with issues with something you'd keep long term if that's the problem. What do you have that doesn't fit in the cabinets?
heyrebkah, LOVE that tile!
I also say save. After looking at your picture, I want to laugh. Your kitchen is 50X better than mine... We have been unable to save enough to get it redone unfortunately, and now we are looking at selling soon (hopefully). So instead of the nice remodel we would have wanted, we are going to end up doing the very basics (which is new countertops, taking down ugly wall paper and painting).
Sure it would be nice if the wall along the side had SOMETHING on it (like counters and cabinets...), sure it would be nice if there was a counter by our fridge or stove, sure it would be nice to have a dishwasher or more than 20 inches counter space by the sink...but you manage to get by. I really think you should just save a little longer, quit whining, and make do for now. It is better than you are acting like it is.
Did you DIY or was that hired out?
I get it. You just moved in and had this vision of what it would look like. I'd be disappointed, too, if that wasn't going to happen for a few years. But that said, I don't think I'd take a loan out for it.
Do you have enough money saved to do the remodel now? You say you don't have enough saved to do it and have comfortable savings. But would it completely deplete your funds? If your jobs are secure and you can save $1k a month I might take the risk of having a lower emergency fund and do the remodel. I'm not saying take it all, but say you have 1 year of income saved then I think I'd be comfortable cutting that down to do a remodel and then pay myself back.
I am on team You Should Do Whatever you Want if you can afford it.
However...as a person that has spent two years in renovation hell....I would wait a bit. This isn't about saving versus not saving..it is about...well, for instance, if we would have renovated our kitchen right away, I would hate it now. My original plan didn't not "go" with the rest of the house and it wasn't functional for what are lives are like now. I think it is a good idea to live in a house for at least six months before making any major changes - you would be very surprised at how much your taste changes after you have lived in the house for a bit.
I don't think you are a spoiled whiner. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and I don't think your kitchen would work for me but there are some things you can do now to make it liveable for awhile until you know what you really want. If you are going to end up spending $25k - $40k it needs to be absolutely perfect, don't you agree?
Trust me, the two years I had to cook in my freaking disgusting @ss kitchen made my nails curl - I hated having guests over - and I could never get it to feel clean. But waiting has been worth it.
Good luck to you!
I financed my 2K countertops. 0 percent interest, paid off in one year.
I paid for everything else in my kitchen in cash. I painted the cabinets, and bought new appliances.
I still don't have a new floor.
I would not finance 20K. Save, do a little at a time.
We did a giant remodel of our house/mostly onto the kitchen. In the middle of the whole thing, with our house torn apart, DH, DS and I lived in the master bedroom of our house for 3 months. I'm sitting here, paying $8,000 a week to a contractor to make the house great. And in the middle of it all, if I can live well in a 30x30 foot room, why am I ruining my finances to get a giant house? However, I do LOVE my new kitchen and granite counters and appliances, but we still have $30,000 to pay off and may need a new car in the next couple of years. Whatever new car we get will be a used beater because I'm not going into big debt again.
If you have a dishwasher, I vote you live with it for now. We lived in our small, dishwasherless kitchen for 3 years before we renovated.
Samantha Skye - Aug 30, 2006 AND Maxwell Griffin - April 14, 2009
Samantha Skye - Aug 30, 2006 AND Maxwell Griffin - April 14, 2009
However, you said you NEEDED to do a kitchen remodel, that you would be "miserable" for two years if it didn't happen now and that you have "no cabinets or storage space."
If your life really will be made miserable by the state of your kitchen (which, again, is super cute!) I think you have a whacked life perspective.