Paint those cabinets and all of the woodwork white. Pickled is definately dated. Replace your knobs and faucet with either nickel or oil rubbed bronze. I don't know your home's pricepoint or where that is in your local market, but I'd also replace those corian countertops with a dark granite to tie in the black appliances. If granie isn't an acceptible expense for you, then I'd do a dark laminate. That white corian just doesn't work. I'd also do some type of backsplash with an interest to it to tie in the countertops and flooring.

Choice #2 would be to use a gel stain or paint and get those cabinets to a chocolate brown and leave the corian alone. YOu'd still need a backsplash, but that'd be less $$. Definately nickel pulls with that choice, and maybe some pops of green or red in fabrics and accessories.

Your kitchen looks good, and it's neutral. And neutral seems to be big in home staging. I don't know where you live, and every market is different. I would call 2 or 3 real estate agents who work in your market, tell them your situation, and ask them if they would come over and advise you as to what, if anything, under $5,000 they would suggest to increase the saleability of your kitchen. They'll know what buyers will be looking for. Additionally, one of them might impress you as the one you want to list your home, when the time comes.

I'd add to get rid of the wallpaper and paint in a neutral tone that'll subtlely contrast the woodwork around doors and baseboards. I was going to suggest live wires choice #2. There are some good threads about using gel stain on cabinets to redo. Good luck.

If it were my kitchen I would DIY the following

- Paint the walls a solid color
- Keep the cabs, appliances and flooring. They are all in great condition and look fine
- Replace the countertop. You need a bold stone there. You can get prefab counters in gorgeous granite colors. If you are handy, that can be done for about $1500
- Refinish the island cabs in a dark stain. Can be done in one weekend.

Pickle is not dated. Just saw a photo on a Better Homes and Garden web page that was pickled with black granite and absolutely gorgeous. It's just not a popular style. My sister just had pickled installed a year ago. She also has black granite counters. Many years ago I loved pickled, but now I'm over it, but that doesn't mean others have to be over it to. As long as it's still being sold, it's not dated.

pharaoh has made some great suggstions for a fix up of your kitchen. Only thing I would add is to get a rug and window treatments to help soften the room. Something that matches your new wall color. Also, changing out the stools to something more formal (mabye a metal to match your new handles and knobs) with fabric seats that matches your new paint color.

It sounds like everyone is in agreement that I need to change the walls by taking down the wallpaper! I have a quote to do that, and it is a very big job given my kitchen dining area is so large! I also have quote to paint the cabinets.

I tend to like light and bright, but I do need a contrast, so perhaps a black honed granite countertop would work well to provide the contrast. I also like that light tan looking granite (obviously I am a kitchen newbie as I do not know the terms).

What about gray cabinets? I know the Swedish look is very 'in' now, and I wonder if gray cabinets might provide a contrast with the white countertops?

I would leave the cabinets alone except for updating the hardware. A very low cost upgrade that can make a noticeable change. I would much rather see a new countertop than painted cabs - if I were the prospective home buyer. And maybe either a different tile flooring, or a wood/laminate. That can really warm up the room and soften it. The tiles are too sterile looking for my tastes. But of course, there are my tastes, so since you will be there for a year, what is most important to you?...

i wouldn't do much to that kitchen. it's in great shape and hardly looks dated at all.

remove the wallpaper, paint, and do a backsplash. some colored glass mosaics would give you a nice punch of color.

you could rip out the corian and do granite, but i don't think you'd get a return on that investment. whoever buys your home is going to either be fine with the kitchen as is, whether the counters are corian or granite, or they're going to rip out the whole thing and re-do it.

i'd spend $2 grand max just making it more presentable to add to the overall feel of the home.

Definitely Petlady's advice to consult agents, but sift the advice for chaff--some people just don't benefit from years of experience. Paint the walls. Aside from that, investigate whether setting that $5K aside as an incentive to the buyer in case the market is still very soft might be its best use. People working long hours at high-paid jobs do tend to insist on nicely designed move in-ready homes, but people looking for a way to be able to afford most of what they want may well be excited at the chance to choose their own counters.

Again, check with the experts in your area. If economics are really your big concern here, avoid the temptation to use this as a reason to go shopping yourself.

I agree with pharoah, leave cabinets eventhough if it was my house I would paint or gel stain them. But since you're moving leave them alone. Replace counter with granite or quartz in dark color. Change hardware, sink and faucet.
I would like the island in a darker color.
Paint walls in a neutral but not boring solid color.

Leave the cabinets, they look good and your buyers may not like the color you chose, but change the hardware, nickel would work well. Change the faucet, again a nickel faucet would compliment the kitchen. You may also want a new sink. Get rid of the wallpaper and paint a warm neutral shade.

ok i've done this in five homes (staged to sell) including one that sat for six years (and then sold within 30 days after i staged it) so i probably have a little voice of experience to share with you.

your kitchen is far too neutral and very dated. (brutus they still sell orange oak too....and it's dated) :oP

wall paper MUST go. even though its easy to remove, buyers look at it and run! and i wouldn't have it done if you're in any sort of good health. a steamer and a couple of tools can be had for $100 and you can easily DIY the job if money is tight.

I would not choose another neutral for your kitchen walls since it's already too neutral for a sale. paint it a pretty pumpkin or green (in the olive) family.

you have no prayer of making that a swedish kitchen dear :) don't try. that look is nice for those who like it, and actually i'd prefer a yellow cab to grey but for resale, go with white for the cabs. they need to be painted. pickled oak, unless it's 100 years old, is very dated. orb knobs and it's a must to do a dark counter top. your white corian is a deal killer...too much white and no contrast is not a good thing! you need to pull in the dark appliances so the dark counters are a must.

when you as questions in a forum like this...of people like this, you are going to get a lot of "leave it like it is" because most of have huge vision and can see right past stuff like this. 99.9% of buyers can't.

if the balance of your home is also as neutral as the kitchen, i'd spend some money on gallons of paint and do some earth tone accent walls for color. think of autumn tones, which tend to look good with most skin tones (people like what they look good in). stay away from pastels and your 8 crayon pack basics.

personally i wouldn't waste any time with local agents. they tend to be dumber than a stump when it comes to stuff like this (In my experience). i might consult a professional stager if you need one, but not agents.

Wow - I really appreciate all of the comments. I especially appreciate the brutally honest comments. There is a lot of food for thought. I am so glad I found this forum!

I am going to start with taking the wallpaper down, no question. My dilemma is that my neighborhood, although in a great location, has traditionally been a slow selling neighborhood because the homes do not have basements (a big plus in Atlanta, where I live). When we bought this house, it had only been on the market for 2 days, and there were 5 offers, as my house has a great floorplan and almost 4000sf. But, it is synthetic stucco, and since I bought the house, synthetic stucco has gotten a very bad rap here in Georgia. I have a stucco inspection every few years, and it is in great shape, but people are nervous about it. Any money I put into a kitchen will possibly help the house sell a bit faster, but it will not increase the value of the house.

I can easily have the paper taken down, have the cabinets painted, change the knobs. I wonder how much a new countertop would cost?

Anyway, I sincerely appreciate all of the comments.

Well, I called the granite place and they are going to come give me an estimate this week. Of course, as is always the case, replacing one thing causes a snowball effect...if I replace the granite, then I should probably replace the sink. Also, if I replace the granite, then I should probably replace my cooktop, which is a Thermador gas cooktop, but is white.

I know it would all look great....but then I think, maybe I should just price my house low and not deal with it! I know when I see a house with a freshly redone kitchen that I do not like, I won't even consider buying the house. If the kitchen needs to be redone, and the price is right, I feel more inclined to be interested in the house.

However, as igloo pointed out, many people do not have that vision, and as someone else pointed out, some buyers (maybe even most) want to have a house move-in ready.

Money is not tight, but I guess I need to decide where to put my 'prep the house for sale' budget - to fix up the aging deck and the screened in porch (a huge selling point for the house, as our house overlooks 6 acres of preservation land), or update the kitchen.

Put your money in the countertop and use your sweat equity for everything else. Taking wallpaper down and painting cabinets and walls isn't difficult and it's something easily DIYable. If you can't DIY, then I would leave everything alone. Paying for what someone would charge you for painting cabinets and taking down wallpaper would blow your budget already up front.

Why don't you look into Granite Tiles for your countertop? I've seen them on HGTV and they look great. They are a less expensive alternative to granite slab counters, and give the same look. Check out the color Uba Tuba, to update and match the appliances.

As far as the "snowball effect", that only applies to a house in which you will continue to live. Remember, you are moving, so if the sink and cooktop are in good shape, keep them. Change the cabinet hardware with ORB pulls to coordinate with the black appliances

Definitely off with the wallpaper, and on with fresh paint in a warm neutral tone.

periwinkle,

Your house is "move in ready"! You have a good functioning kitchen and good appliances. The only thing I would do is a few cosmetic changes to update the space.

It's impossible to know exactly what kind of taste your buyer will have. Most people will buy a home with a functioning useable kitchen, even if it's not to their taste, knowing that they can change it in a few years. I personally would never buy a home with "painted" cabinets, it would be a big turn off to me. Yet someone else may LOVE painted cabinets. I would keep it simple. Update cabinet pulls, faucet etc, rip down the wallpaper and chose a warm paint color.

I would talk to a number of different agents. Dumb as a stump on some things but they should know your market. I agree, those improvements may not net you more in the end but may hasten the sale. I am in a similar situatiion and the two realtors I consulted said two different things: 1 said replace the counter and floors and the other said, don't touch it but price your house realisticly instead. I did, however, remove the wallpaper in another room, thanks to their advice and am enjoying it while we are still in the house. It is a very soft market here in New England and I am thinking very strategically about what $ to put into what in preparation to sell. good luck with it! I would def get some color in there with paint..

cabinets look fine, change the hardware and put in a dark backsplash for contrast, something along the lines of a slate tile splash. I would not paint the cabinets, once you paint you can never go back. The next buyer might like dark cabinets and they could be refinished as they are now, but not once you paint!

I actually don't think I'd do that much or even change the countertops. While the countertops are a bit dated and very neutral, it also allows the buyer to see the possibilities, IMO; there's no guarantee that they'd like whatever color you chose for the new countertops and then they wouldn't be able to see past that. Heck, around here, corian is still advertised as a plus in the real estate ads because it's newer than Formica!

I think the same about the cabinets; they seem to be in great shape, and painting them would lose you as many buyers as it could gain. Lots of people really prefer wood cabinets or associate painted cabinets with cheaper cabinets or older cabinets that are trying to hide their years.

I'd change the hardware and the faucet and get more color into the room with paint, curtains, a rug and a backsplash if it can be done at a reasonable price. In general, I'd try to make the room warmer and homier.

I think a lot depends on knowing your market and whether this would be an upscale sale or not. It it was an upperscale price or in a certain neighborhood, people expect everything to be perfectly modern and fresh. But most people expect to get a kitchen that wasn't done in the past couple of years and that usually means something or other is going to be a little dated. As long as the price reflects that and the kitchen is functional, clean and everything in good working order - and yours seems to be - they'd rather pay the money themselves to design their own dream kitchen.

I just bought my house last year and your's looks nicer than 9/10ths of the ones I looked at so I don't think it will prove to be a problem, and think it mostly needs to be staged but I'm sure your real estate agent could give you the best advice. Actually, my floor looks almost identical to yours and I still bought the house so I guess it wasn't an issue! Must admit I can't wait to change it one day to one that doesn't show the dirt so much but those are things people learn once they've lived with it for a while!

I agree, my kitchen is very neutral. I think this is why it has not bothered me, even though I generally like things to be updated. Everything works well, the layout works well.

Unfortunately, there are several homes for sale in my neighborhood, one of which does not have an updated kitchen (and the kitchen is quite '80s), one of which has a completely updated kitchen (new appliances and granite). They have both been on the market for months. They are priced just fine, but not low. My house has a much better floorplan than either one. I have also remodeled and updated just about everything but the kitchen (including an amazing master bath renovation). So, I think I will just take down the wallpaper (which actually does add color to the kitchen, you just could not see it in the picture), paint, get new knobs (I love the Emtek Bastogne basket knob). I am also going to look into getting a stainless panel for my fridge, but that is low priority. I will probably also redo the bathsplash.

Thank you for all of the advice! In this market, my objective is really selling the house in less time rather than trying to make a ton of money off of it. I would rather set the price lower than the others in the neighborhood than worry about recouping a $10,000 investment in a kitchen facelift. I will still listen to what the realtor and stager says when it comes time to sell the house, and maybe they will have me do more. We will see!

It sounds like you know your market pretty well- and I think your observation about selling faster rather than for more $ is a very good one.
I promise I am not connected with this site, but they have great prices and great service, and here is the knob thing I think you like for $1.79 each. I can tell you that changing the hardware really gives some surprising major bang for the buck.

Here is a link that might be useful: kindalike the knob you like

Why did you decide not to go with granite countertops? I am curious if you got sticker shock when the granite company gave you its estimate. I read people in this forum talking about prefab granite, and how inexpensive it is, but I am in Atlanta (like you) and I cannot find the inexpensive variety anywhere! Does anyone know where to find it in Atlanta ... or in the Southeast for that matter? Thx!!