Your appliances are from the late 60’s or early 70’s. They may work fine today, but if I were considering your home, I would make my offer and it would be minus the cost of replacing them. Even if someone were willing to put up with that color, they are so energy inefficient, they should be replaced if only for that reason.

Look at LG appliances. They are reasonably priced and are good quality. $1300.00 will get you these. You will get it back when you sell and don’t forget that anything you spend money on in order to sell your home will help if should have to pay capital gains tax.

http://pinterest.com/pin/234750199297632871
Here are instructions for painting appliances.

The biggest problem with replacing that stove and fridge is the dimensions of the existing appliances will make replacement a major task. That stove appears to be at least 36 wide and possibly 40. Plus, older fridges are typically shorter than modern ones and the only fridges likely to fit that space might be toward the budget end of the spectrum.

The stove is a difficult call. The cheapest new 36 inch stove is going to be $600 minimum and it will obviously be a bottom of the market model which won't necessarily help sell the house either.

Ask your realtor for suggestions.

For re-sale, I could see painting relatively newer appliances if they're mismatched, but when your dealing with a fashion color on a retro appliance, this makes no sense. Any value is within the original style. The tell tale signs of age are there in the trim, so why destroy them. Litmus test: Digital display, OK to paint. Anything else, toss and replace with new or used if you need to. There are decent looking used appliances for well under $500 on craigslist and at salvage yards.
In this case, I think the appliances are fine.

I'm the husband on the job. Thanks for some great insights! The cabinets are metal, the stove is 39", and there is only about 67" of space below the fridge cabinets.

We live in northern NJ in a traditional 1920s colonial home in a commuter town outside NYC. Comps in this town are mid-$400k.

Here's our hardwood floor throughout that is in the rest of the house and a couple other perspectives of the kitchen. The partition between the pantry and EIK is planned to be removed to open up the kitchen more.

Is the rear door near the dishwasher or in that back pantry on the left? Is that a freezer back there or laundry?

Brickln - the rear door is where the pantry is. That is a washing machine in the pantry that will be moved to a basement hookup with the dryer that is already in the basement. The other door at the dishwasher is a door to the basement.

I would replace the appliances. If I was a potential buyer, I could live with a neat and tidy kitchen with reasonable appliances whilst I saved up for my dream kitchen.......but couldn't live with the avocado appliances, just too retro for me. Beautiful winters morning here in Sydney.

OK- you said you we're trying to do this on the cheap, NJ! :) Problem now is finding a solution that doesn't take away from the home's charm, which comes from a different era than your appliances!

If you remove the wall entirely, the eating area will be next to the door- pretty drafty come winter. I'd recommend leaving 5 ft. of the wall next to the door, and putting in a small banquette/booth style seating at the window in the nook. Cool if you can find a 70's style that fits, but you could always do it in wood and get the right color upholstery/cushions. Remove any other wall that you can in that area. I don't think it will take away from the house's original style. A wall was removed from my 4.5x5.5 breakfast nook before I bought the house. It looks ok, but clearly altered due to the woodwork.
Don't think it will give you any extra storage space, but it will feel more open.

We bought a house a couple years ago with similar problems with avocado green appliances. I wanted to replace the appliances for better efficiency and I didn't want to replace the original cabinets because they were solid birch wood and in great shape. It was very hard finding a new fridge that would fit in our existing cabinet space. Our kitchen has the same flooring and we kept it because it was in good condition and a neutral color.
Like the idea of taking out the dividing wall and stripping and painting the walls. Unless everything else is in really bad shape I wouldn't replace anything and price it right so buyers have room to remodel it to their taste.

Also those beautiful hardwood floor will be a major selling feature of the house.

You could always offer an appliance allowance (which consists of the cost to buy new, low-budget replacements) to the prospective buyers. Then they couls use that toward whatever appliances THEY chose, whether it's low-budget or higher end.

Ikea sells butcherblock countertops for a pittance - they would be beautiful with the floors - and the cork floors for the kitchen are mid-range but look expensive and really terrific next to wood floors. Especially commuter distance from NYC at 400k, you should not spend money you won't get back on appliances.

So, my prescription is:

Steam off the wallpaper, paint the walls sw whole wheat or one shade lighter - believable buff.
Lay cork floors where you have now have vinyl - don't remove all old flooring as there may be asbestos vinyl underneath from the 70's which gets expensive to remove professionally.
Put in butcherblock countertops, they will look great with your butcherblock topped work island and the green and cork.
To stage your home, when you move the washer, move appliances there - your coffee maker, microwave, toaster and clear the other things now on the countertops to open it up. Possibly move the butcherblock cart there to perform this function and give the room more openness.
You have terrific windows, light and cross ventilation and the pantry plus eat in area will give any kitchen remodeler hope that they can put in a larger kitchen themselves.

Optional - paint cabinets a green in a shade complimentary to the cabinets - sw recycled glass is a terrific shade to test. This will make a better first impression with the green appliances, as your room will feel charming and "done" on arrival. The other elements above are more important to the selling price - but this will have a positive impact on the appearance of the kitchen disproportionate to the cost.

(Since you have metal cabinets, I would take the doors to an auto body shop - that is the part that gets the most wear and tear and have them spray them in their paint booth to the color you specify. They appear to be full overlay doors, so paint the sides yourselves that will be exposed with a very smooth roller and ask the auto body guys for advice on the primer and paint formulation. They will color match anything you take them - sw publishes the chromatic values and probably sell you some paint for that part of the job. See http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6120-believable-buff/ and http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW7747-recycled-glass/

Good Luck and please come back and share your story as it plays out.

I have the Ikea butcher block counter tops and I love them and yes they are ridiculously inexpensive.

Oh, libradesign you are so clever. Painting the steel cabinets green to complement the appliances is a great idea. It takes away the "out-of-date" statement that the avocado appliances make. It will say "vintage and proud" to buyers. Libras other ideas about moving small appliances are good ones. Eliminate as much clutter as possible - the less evidence to a buyer about who lives in the house the better. In order to purchase, the buyer must feel that it is his/her home. (I am a retired realtor.) I wish you well and hope you are moving on to bigger and better - or at least better.

Hi Sn8ppy!

Yes, libradesigneye! I have taken many things to a local autobody shop, and have had great resuts. I took 2 1930's metal beds with painted finishes, and they look beautiful. I love creative ideas that allow you to use what you already have!

I like the turquoise idea. Remove the bread box and install a glass mosaic tile backsplash with avocado and turquoise. That way it will look fresh and like the avocado was on purpose. If the new owners want to change to stainless it will still look nice. Freshen the cabinet knobs and pulls. No checkered flooring, but something neutral in your price range. Get some mod accessories from Goodwill, but only a few. Don't go nuts with it. Then a modern/contemporary print with the aqua/avocado combo, orange accent color in a stainless steel looking frame.

Regarding the above photo... Focus on the back splash and imagine the avocado in place of the aqua appliances.

... Color combo...

I am a real estate agent, and before you spend a DIME speak to some local agents. If your kitchen is in good working order, you may be better off to leave it as it is. It may be a total waste to do anything, if you aren't willing or able to do the WHOLE thing. Speak to at least three local agents, and ask to see the numbers (comparable sales for renovated homes and comparable sales for un-renovated homes). Although the Houzzers have given several good ideas if you were wanting to spruce up cheaply and stay, no one here has even asked what the rest of the house looks like or if most of the homes in your neighborhood are renovated. All these little band-aids being suggested could total up to hundreds if not thousands of dollars and it is a total waste if someone coming in is going to rip it out and renovate for real anyway. Get the FREE opinion of several local pros...

Agree with Cindy- my recommendations were based on the assumption you're trying to make the house work for you in the meantime. If you can live with what you have, don't change a thing. Not sure how long you've been in this house, but I've found these floor plans end up working better than most remodels.

And with the appliance sizes non-standard, it makes even more sense to leave things as is.

I would just make sure that everything is clean, clean, clean, and you put a good coat of wax on the linoleum floor.

I'm overwhelmed by all of you so generously giving your time and advice. Thank you! I am newly inspired by the idea of perhaps a cork floor with butcher block countertops and incorporating a complementary green shade on either the metal cabinets or walls (either way they will both be painted). I liked the idea of green lower cabinets and white uppers on the wall with the stove but am unsure about the other two walls since there is no discernible upper/lower on the fridge wall and because of the white dishwasher on the third wall. Any thoughts on how to handle that?

I would paint all the refrigerator cabinets green first. See how you like it. If you don't, switch to white for everything else. If you do, paint all the lowers green. If you like the two tone look, paint the uppers white, if you don't, paint them green too. The white dishwasher will just look like the white trim and doors and fit right in. It may be worth it to replace your sink with a white sink and a new pull down fixture - makes a good first impression and is fun to use. - Will make all that area look clean and new.

Sorry, but those appliances are so not energy efficient! Some cities will give you a rebate or a tax credit for replacing energy-
guzzlers. Replace them with white appliances. If you must keep them, go totally 60's! Repaint the cabinets white if they need painting, add round knobs or slim handles in a 60's color (harvest gold, avocado, rusty orange or rusty red) and buy a couple of colorful retro-style countertop appliances (toaster, blender) and a new Formica counter.

Love the appliances which look like they're in great shape. I would show the house with them and if you're not getting a good response, then try to sell them and replace with something more vanilla. Black hood or maybe paint the current one a matching avocado.

change the walls and the hardware. go for the checkerboard floors.
and maybe butcher block counter tops,

Check out http://retrorenovation.com/ before you do anything!

You have a 1950 s meets the 80 s with the avocado green. Cabs very 50s. Go retro. Google looks that appeal to you'll

I like the checker board.

The avocado doesn't seem retro to me, it just seems old. If I were you, I wouldn't do anything except declutter the kitchen to list it. Buyers are going to know immediately that the kitchen needs a reno. Just price accordingly.

I purchased a home last month that still had all of its avacado green appliances. We went to see it at an open house, and left thinking the house was not for us because of all the updates needed. We went back a second time though because it was on a good lot and had potential. In the end, we quantified how much it would cost us to redo the kitchen and negotiated a lower price by quite a bit. Simply switching out the appliances probably would have gotten the sellers a lot more in the sale price. Just my two cents. Good luck!

You know you can have appl spray painted, not that expensive. I can't believe they still work have to be from the 70s. Wallpaper needs to go. Checker broad is keeping with the era. But may over power a very small room. a slate would work on counters and a dark gray on floors. Lowes carries a nice slate. There is one called autumn really nice.

Paint walls a gray with green under tones. Leave cab and hardware.

You could put slate on floors and tile on counter in dark gray.

Could you use tile checker on counters? It might work

you could cover the white fronted dish washer with a cool cover from appliance art.com

I vote for green cabinets, cork floor, and butcher block counter tops.

@sn8ppy: It's been a month. How's it going?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We are beginning work on Monday. We will try to post updates as they become available. - The Husband

A couple more pics...

The new flooring and the perfect light green paint make a huge difference. The dark countertops were an inspired choice. Good idea to remove the wall between breakfast area and the back door pantry area. One of the most impressive budget redo's I've seen on Houzz this year. It's staged and photographed well, too.

That's lovely and you really didn't have to make very many changes. Thanks for the After pictures.

So glad for you! You found the right combination to give your house the best opportunity to show its retro bones, but kept it neutral enough to appeal to many. You must be loving having that wall gone (and the wallpaper, and the breadbox) - I spy a new farmhouse sink, some new backsplash tile and new butcherblock at the desk and microwave, too. Can you please share the paint color you used?

Love what you did with the kitchen!! The floor is just too cute!

I must say...your hardwood floor is to die for :0) Yeah baby!!!

Just read through this dilemma. Kudos not only on a charming redo, but on separating the wheat from the chaff on thread!

Libradesigneye - the color is Benjamin Moore Dune Grass. We picked up the sink and butcherblock from Ikea and saved a bunch. But I will say that paint works miracles!

fantastic job :)

Ll