You need to call Hillary and David. ;)

My personal experience with black gel stain on kitchen cabinets is that it does not hold up well at all.

Thank you moogers! I needed to hear that. It's hard finding unbiased advice about General Finishes products

Who are Hilary and David?

Hillary and David are the stars on HGTV "Love it or List it." One fixes up the kitchen while the other shows you new homes so you can decide if you want to sell or fix the place up.

Yeah, I'm not even sure I'd get new counters (et al) for resale, because the cabinets show some wear, you yourself know the layout isn't ideal, and many buyers might prefer to gut and redesign to their own needs/tastes. In that case, clear everything off the side and top of the fridge, replace the white ovens, and price to reflect "some additional love required"...

Note: the reason there's not space to eat is because you have an incredibly tiny table. If you end up staying, replace that table with one 12-18" wider in diameter, and you might be amazed by how many more chairs can cheerfully squeeze around it.

IMO this kitchen will be a redo no matter who buys the house I would not bother doing anything it will cost more to fix then you will get ROI save the money and use it in your new place

@acm can't fit a wider table without bumping into the island. The baby is still in a highchair, I'm looking at thin rectangular tables.

Our realtor suggested the obvious of putting granite and appliances in to help sell quickly. I'm afraid doing nothing and adjusting the sales price will leave our home sitting on the market. At this price point buyers don't want to see Corian. I'm just so tired of looking at this ugly ass kitchen! I've hated these countertops for almost 13 years!

But you're moving! So it doesn't matter what you hate. Clean, uncluttered, sells homes. Talk to at least 3 realtors, use a real estate app like Zillow to see what's selling in your area, and remember, not every one like white kitchens.

Spend an hour on evaluating the competition. Look at the competing houses online. What do their kitchens show? Then look at the "sold" comps from your agent. What do their kitchens show?

The kitchen floor plan would be fine for one person cooking. I suggest getting an estimate for basic granite in a light color. Check http://www.ajmadison.com for a double oven in stainless. Measure yours carefully first because many current ovens are a lot wider than they used to be. A professional white paint job would run several thousand dollars in my area. If you don't get it done professionally, don't do it yourself. There's a reason why the professional job costs so much.

Pictures of the kitchen in "show" condition. Also, used Howard's Wax n Feed on the Cabinets

Pics

Very tidy. Best of luck.

Neat as a pin, ready to show. Good luck for a quick sale.

Not on the market because we haven't found a house we like yet. If we do go to market, I would change out the cooktop and double ovens. Debating on whether or not to change the Countertops too. Thoughts?

Great job!

I would not go for this expensive staging...

To improve the first impression when visitors walk in, I would try out some peel-and-stick paper for the island in a light marble or granite and stainless steel on the double-oven https://ezfauxdecor.com/

I would also consider sticking some LED lights under the upper cabinets to add light to your countertops

Both worked for me :-) And if you don't like it, just peel it off...

Finally, you may also want to try some peel and sticktiles (Wayfair and some Home Depots) to refresh to your backsplash?? I haven't tried yet, on my to do list!

Good luck!

I would definitely brighten it up with white like you said. Also it may not be a bad idea to add white Subway tile for a backsplash as well. I would consider continuing the backsplash along the left side wall with the refrigerator as well. The cabinets look like Particle board. You can paint them but you will need to put a few coats on them. That kitchen is nice. Its laid out like an open concept for the most part. it just appears a bit dark and uncomfortable. The white will surely brighten things up and buyers tend to be attracted to

open and bright.

Your "show" kitchen looks great! Applepieorder suggests talking with realtors about what buyers want and have already purchased. That will be so helpful in deciding how to proceed since it sounds like you really do want to move on.

In the meantime, you have a fine, workable kitchen for yourself and your family, and you've only invested time in tidying everything up. I think a clever potential buyer will note that the kitchen doesn't have to be updated immediately and is ready for their personal choice of colors and materials. This is to their advantage since it will be reflected in the asking price.

I'm afraid I'm really old school about this--if everything has been replaced but I don't like it, I'm paying top dollar for items like countertops, backsplash, or flooring that I'll wind up replacing anyway!

I'd change out the door/drawer pulls but not paint or do anything else. looks great!

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! Really appreciate your time and thought!

I'm a shopper: so, how'd the Wax n Feed go? easy... smelly.. expensive... ??thanks. I bought Costco's battery-operated LED lights, partly for an experiment. In daylight it doesn't show, since the output is so poor, but at night/ on north side of house, might be worth the approx. $18.

Clearance tile?

http://shop.newravenna.com/rosa-portogallo-12-x-12-319-square-feet-available/

http://shop.newravenna.com/carrara-18-x-18-honed/

Thanks everdebz, I'll check it out. The Wax n Feed was very easy! And the smell was pleasant, not super chemically or combustible smelling. I was shocked at the results. We have been in our house for almost 13 years and I've tried my fair share of products and this by far has done the best job. It's been about a month since I first applied it and it still looks pretty good, not as gleaming as the first day but GOOD. I think it was under $10 on amazon too.

thanks... it could very well be meaningful to me! I don't like grubby work like that. Checking that you didn't use a REstore Finish with a stain color?

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_10?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=wax+n+feed&sprefix=wax+n+feed%2Caps%2C213&crid=1D32FLQNV0GR2

I agree! Clean and uncluttered and priced accordingly. You cannot predict what the buyer will want and they will want the price adjusted so they can redo your redo! Just sold one that we 'priced accordingly'. I am so glad we did not go through the headache of redoing an outdated kitchen. In fact, what sold the house was our 22 years of meticulous care!

Clean the kitchen cabinets or use Howard's restore-A-Finish on them. Change the knobs, But don't invest any more than that. Buyers may want to do a complete redo. You can never second guess what others will like OR change. So don't waste your time and energy. Deep clean, declutter and hand the keys to the realtor for an open house. Good Luck.

A couple of thoughts:
I would move forward with replacing the ovens and cooktop - with stainless - it will create a cohesive look with all appliances being stainless. A new owner could use all the appliances if they redo the kitchen.

Before spending any money on painting cabinets, new counters or a backsplash. Go look at photos of homes that are for sale in your neighborhood. If your already working with an agent to find your new home, ask them if a redo will make a difference in your sale. At certain price points people may or may not have money to remodel a kitchen. For a buyer that can't afford to remodel, having an updated kitchen could sell your home.

Cabinets: DON'T paint them yourself. Spend the money and hirer a professional with good references and ask to see their work. I have sold a number of homes over the years with DYI paint jobs, they never look professional and most people skip the proper preparation techniques and the paint doesn't adhere properly.

The last couple of homes I sold with Corian counters - we offered an allowance to the new buyers (set a price limit and have a local stone yard preselected)

If your going to stay for a while - do somethings you will enjoy, but with resale in mind. If you don't mind the cabinets, replace the counters and install the backsplash. A light colored counter and backsplash will brighten up the room. Also if you replace the counters, install an under mount sink.

Even if you do nothing add under and over cabinet lights -it will brighten the room. Easy weekend project to install . You already have electrical to plug into from the microwave and behind the fridge. (There should be a gap between your cabinets to run the wires) - use the warm white LED lights and you can install a remote controller (like the one for holiday lights w a remote) behind the fridge and in the cabinet. Easy on and off.

Great advice everyone! Thank you! Update on our situation. We would only list our home IF we find another home we like within our current neighborhood. There is a section of larger more expensive homes within our community. They don't come in the market very frequently so it's a waiting game for a house..lwithin our price range. Fact is our kitchen area is too small. Both my husband and I would love to have a better looking kitchen. He wants to renovate. Im hesitant, I would love an updated, pretty kitchen but I doubt even with a reconfiguration it would solve our space problem.

We would sell our house close to what we bought it for 13 years ago. So a $50,000 renovation in a our home( $600,000 range) may not be the wisest investment. Id rather spend that renovation in a larger home with more of an investment potential.