It's fine to remodel in stages, but I would make changes that are easy temporary fixes and ones that are not too expensive, such as painting your cabinets (which you have done already), changing a wall color, possibly swapping out cabinet hardware. You can buy nice, but inexpensive hardware to update the look for a few years and/or reuse it in your new kitchen. A stone countertop is a major investment. When you remodel the kitchen in a few years, the countertop would have to be removed in order to replace the base cabinets and could get damaged in the process. Also the countertop you choose now might not go with the kitchen you select in a few years. Would you consider getting a new formica countertop instead until you do your full remodel? I would save up my money for now and wait to choose all the big items when ready to renovate the kitchen. This is an expensive project when you add up all the bits and pieces, as well as installation costs if you are not DIY. Have patience. The wait is worth it. Hope this helps.

I think there's a post in the first two pages here about someone's sink cracking and the headache around pulling up old granite to fix something underneath and then putting it back down. Bottom line...it sounds like a hairy plan.

Doing it in stages can be great, but start with the bones, which is the appliances and cabinets. Cheap out on the counters (IKEA butcher block) until you can afford better.

My mom is doing her kitchen in stages. Currently she is taking out the wall (and old ugly fireplace) that is between her kitchen and family room. In that spot she is going to put in a large island with seating facing the kitchen. The island is going to be a dark black with light granite.

She will then wait a few years before doing the remainder of the renovations. Removing a window, and replacing the cabinets and appliances.

This question comes up often, and the consensus answer is that doing the countertops first is a Bad Idea. The worst aspect is that it locks you into your current layout, which may not be the best. It even locks you into the same sink you have now! Also, if you do try to swap out cabinets in the future, you risk damaging the stone.

I'm doing mine in baby steps. I'm still in the appliance replacement phase. I've bought a new dishwasher, an all-fridge, a stand-up freezer for the pantry/laundry, a toaster oven, pendant lights and now waiting on delivery of my new wall oven. This is over the course of the last 4 years, or so. I've also painted everything.
Today I'm going to Ikea to get a drawer and retrofit my trash cabinet so that it pulls out. I'm super excited!

Next will be an induction cooktop with an Ikea butcher block counter. This is on hold due to a shower leaking in our master bathroom, but that's probably where we'll stop with kitchen stuff until the big reno.

I wouldn't do stone countertops if you are going to replace the cabinets. Plenty of stories about the stone cracking from either getting it off or putting it back on. Also, what if you want to change the configuration? You'll be stuck because you won't want the money you spent on the stone to be wasted.

I'm going to add my voice just to echo what all the previous posters have suggested. DO NOT put down granite now.

I totally understand your wanting to upgrade your kitchen in stages, and I love my granite countertops, so I get that you'd like to have that too. However, for all the reasons stated, DO NOT invest in granite at this stage!

Since you've already painted your cabinets, have you thought about painting your countertops? Only thing to lose is your time, as you plan to replace them eventually anyways. I haven't painted countertops, but have done just about everything else, including my dining room particle board sub-floor (supposed to be 2-3 yr. temporary fix, ended up being 11+ years--and they lasted LOL)

I would also think about new formica or even laying tiles on top of the present one.

Just in case, you missed my point, DO NOT put down granite NOW!

Old dining room floor lasted 11+ years!

I think our kitchen might be the poster child for remodeling in stages. We bought the house almost 11 years ago. We replaced the range within a year. Over the next five or so years we replaced the fridge and the dishwasher. Somewhere in there we changed out the vinyl floor for tile. About three years ago we reconfigured the eating area to create a banquette. A few months ago we replaced the small island counter with a walnut butcherblock. And over the years we've replaced all the lighting. But that's as far as I was willing to with the stages. We're now to the BIG stage in which we are refacing the lower cabinets, replacing the uppers, changing things on the fridge wall and replacing the countertops. I didn't really feel comfortable separating the counters from whatever we were going to do with the cabinets, just because if I did that part all at once I know it would all work together (I like to make all the decisions, down to little details, before I start a renovation project), rather than run into unexpected problems with sourcing or my tastes changing, etc. if I did it piecemeal.

Edited to add: I'm very happy with the approach we've taken to making our kitchen our own. Although I'm not sure I'd make all the same decisions (for instance, I would probably pick something else for the floor tile), I'm still more than happy with what we've done and it has allowed us to choose better products that we wouldn't have been able to afford had we done one massive kitchen renovation.

This post was edited by wi-sailorgirl on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 15:38

I painted my countertops/backsplash along with my cabinets. I really hated working in there, surrounded by unattractive things. It's not a long term solution, but I don't regret it for a second.

Before

After