Should you update your kitchen before selling your house?
by Bridget Blonde, June 29, 2022
Short answer - it depends!
For a lot of homeowners, the kitchen is the heart of the home. From the obvious uses - meal prep and sharing, to informal gatherings and game nights, kitchens are an integral part of your house. They are also a top priority for home buyers.
Consider the other listings in your market - what are you seeing? Think about the budget you have, or don't have, for updates. What about your reason for selling - does it leave you time and desire to deal with updating your kitchen?
When people are looking for a new home, kitchens play a major factor in their decision. Full, high-end kitchen updates are expensive so, finding a dream home with an updated kitchen is ideal. Home buyers are looking for kitchens that are clean, light-filled, fresh, and that they can picture themselves in. One caveat to any updates is to stay neutral and classic instead of trendy. This will help your updated kitchen to appeal to more buyers, and will reduce the risk it will be dated quickly.
Here is a list of relatively inexpensive and simple kitchen updates to consider:
Update kitchen hardware! Hardware is like jewelry for your cabinets and updating them is the easiest, quickest, and least expensive way you can update your whole kitchen.
Paint the cabinets. Cabinets are one of the most expensive items in the kitchen so you may not have the budget to replace them. Instead you can fix any imperfections and paint them a nice neutral colour with a good, scrubbable paint to give them a fresh, new look.
Update flooring. If your kitchen floor is dated or damaged, consider an inexpensive, modern update. The best way to save money is to choose flooring you can do yourself - vinyl plank, ceramic tile or laminate.
Kitchen backsplash. Consider adding or upgrading your kitchen backsplash. Save costs by choosing an option that you can do yourself.
Update light fixtures. New light fixtures are like a facelift for your kitchen and can be pretty inexpensive and relatively easy to do on your own. This is a quick and cheap way to update your kitchen.
Update faucet. A new faucet(s) is another inexpensive way to update your kitchen. Again, you can save money by doing it yourself after following youtube videos!
Paint the walls. Choose a neutral paint that is scrubbable. This is key in a kitchen. Currently white walls in a kitchen are very popular but the most important thing is the colour is neutral and not overwhelming so that the majority of buyers can imagine themselves there.
Reach out to me if you want to discuss this or have questions about any of these ideas. Your regular real estate agent, home builders, decorators, and painters are all people who are aware of current home decor trends in your market. They can be valuable sources of information while you get your house ready to sell!