No one knows where you live, or what the local "competition" looks like. In my neighborhood, prices are still rising and no one is selling. But who knows what your neighborhood is like?

Have you consulted with some local realtors? Have you researched recent home sales in your neighborhood and looked at the photos to see how yours compares?

In general (keeping in mind, I'm in a HCOLA, where the home itself is often much less of a factor than the location, location, location), I agree with lisedv above, that cleaning and keeping things extremely tidy is the best bet. And then consult with a realtor, or three, to get some advice, keeping in mind that any spent is YOUR money, and it's very easy for realtors or agents to advise you to spend your money to make the house easier for THEM to sell. But if you're the only house on the market in walking distance to your excellent elementary school (for example), then updates might not be advisable at all, or profitable for you. It's going to depend on your very local real estate market.

It looks like it's in good condition. Is it typical for the homes in your neighborhood or have most of them been remodeled?

It all comes down to price. You're not going to get the same price for your house as the guy down the street who did a total kitchen remodel last year. On the other hand, he probably spent $50k for that new kitchen and will be lucky to recoup half of that in his sale. A good realtor should be able to guide you. Just be sure to price it right.

Get rid of those daisy box inserts (or whatever they are called). Recover them in a solid color

find a small table for window spot. space is large but lacks feel of wanting or ability to spend time in it. craigs list / resale shop or ikea…..maybe a runner or couple good looking mats . leave one appliance only on white vintage cab and add instead decorative plant a ceramic piece or the like and the green flowered door fronts are fine….people like personal touches. Here sre small tables for window .. never know what you can find

Verbena Dr. · More Info

Binscarth · More Info

note below limit to ONE appliance..and include small framed art /bowl ....or ceramic canister/ plant/etc....

Charmean Neithart Interiors, LLC. · More Info

What does your realtor say?

I wouldn’t touch it. Clean, neat, and uncluttered. I would like the wood cabinets and they appear to be in excellent condition.

The cabinets are in really good shape, which is a bonus. The only things to consider changing is the floors, and the laminate counters. Those are big ticket items though, and you may not recoup the price. It depends on your location and competition. It's easiest and safest to do only cleaning and decuttering to a home, rather than "remodeling for resale".

I like the idea of possibly adding a runner

I wouldn’t do anything. After two years, I finally bought a house. I always was disappointed when I liked the house well enough but the kitchen or baths were updated for resale. Sigh. The question was always should I live with it or tear it out - which seemed like a huge waste.

Wooden cabinets are back in vogue. I'd keep everything as is, natural, neat and tidy. A potential buyer can definitely live in your kitchen space, while thinking about how they'll make it their own. And as far as consulting a realtor, in my experience, they always seem to like advising to spend money to update. Your kitchen looks immaculate and won't likely be a deal breaker. Good luck!

In many situations, depending on variables, such as the appraisal value of your home, finances of the buyer, etc., you can arrange to offer the buyer and “allowance“ which allows you to reimburse them funds as part of the closing for them to make changes to the home after they purchase based on their own preferences. Realtors can advise you more on the details of how this can “sometimes” work to the advantage of both parties. I agree with others that trying to anticipate what a future buyer will like in terms of what you have picked out is very difficult. And even if you follow the merry-go-round, that is home fashion trends, this still leaves a lot of room for error in terms of attracting buyers based on the selections you have made. When I purchase a property, the only thing I want taken care of before deciding to buy, is anything that might be structurally unstable, or perhaps, not up to code. But when it comes to aesthetics, I really want to be able to make my own decisions, and not accept, as others here have shared, the preferences of the seller. And, of course, the other benefit to you is that you don’t have to live through renovation/construction madness as you have enough going on during the process of selling a property and moving somewhere else.

Those Shaker cabinets are not outdated leave them away they are your kitchen is really nice has is if someone wants to change something they sure will

Your kitchen looks very nice and clean. The paint color is calm and pleasing, not off putting. I’d find a way to clean up the cord hanging down under the microwave, and add a nice little vase of fresh flowers (a shorter arrangement) near the kitchen sink when you expect it to be shown. If you really wanted to, a nice little mat/carpet in front of the kitchen sink would look nice.
If you happen to have any nice storage solutions inside of your cabinets that you plan on leaving, you could always add a little note on cardstock placed on a small easel or something to encourage people to open up your drawers or cabinets. I’ve noticed most people won’t bother to look that far unless encouraged to do so. We did that with our last home that we sold. It was a phenomenal kitchen that my hubby custom built, but at first glance it “looked” like it didn’t offer much storage space. We had cameras set up during showings and heard comments like “oh... not much storage space...” but nobody bothered to open any doors or drawers. It’s like they thought it was just a show kitchen, but we had a lot of kids and it was VERY much a working kitchen. (With phenomenal storage solutions) I added notes that said things like “check out my drawers!” You wouldn’t believe the difference that made! Suddenly people were chuckling about the note, and opening all of the drawers and there were tons of oohs and ahhs. Our buyers were super nice people who went bonkers over that kitchen. ;) For the last two homes we sold, we also always left a flyer that highlighted upgrades that we had done, and as I’m an avid flower gardener, and we always seemed to sell our homes in the winter, we also always had a tv playing with a video that scrolled through photos of the yard in the different seasons. So, if you have anything to really highlight, don’t be shy about promoting it like that... don’t trust a realtor to capture the special things. Otherwise, keeping everything clean and uncluttered like you already have done is huge. Good luck! (I also always turned on all the lights and played soft music in the home before we left for a showing, it helped create a nice atmosphere, and we always got pleasant feedback and sold our homes quickly. Most people are trying to buy a better lifestyle than they currently have. If they think they can be better organized and more relaxed in your home it’s a huge selling point!)

You do not need to update for resale. What you should do is de-clutter, clean, clean, clean, then clean again, and fix anything in obvious disrepair. That's it.

The kitchen could be substantially improved in function. And obviously it could look more current. This could help the house sell at a higher price than its current value. Buyers can include the cost you spend on renovation in their mortgage. They may not be able to get a loan to remodel if they buy at the current lower price. The problem is, you're not an experience flipper with subs you know and trust who price fairly. HGTV has shows doing it with successes and pitfalls. FLIPPING 101 and UNSELLABLE HOUSES are two.

Totally unnecessary. Most places are sellers markets these days with multiple possible buyers. Sure, you might get a buyer who wants to pay extra $$$ for updated kitchen, but then you are excluding others who wont want to pay extra for a remodel they may or may not like. Are you going to want to spend 75K to appeal to buyers who may want a more upscape rehab, probably not. Usually all thats needed is something that's clean and functional until people can get around to doing whatever it is they want to do.

I wouldn't do anything other than possibly try to find a more appealing ceiling light fixture. Even if you need a big rectangular one to cover holes, etc. they have some nicer looking LED fixtures these days

Do NOT do anything to the kitchen. It's clean, clutter free and fine as is. Despite what HGTV shows, it will NOT get you more money for your house UNLESS it's a fully custom house in a neighborhood of custom homes (meaning very expensive). Your house will appraise for whatever other houses in the neighborhood appraise for otherwise and the only advantage of a newer kitchen would be that it MIGHT sell faster.

The only thing I might do is change out the florescent fixture for one that is more updated.

Clean the tile and especially the grout with Oxiclean, rinse, let dry and reseal with a penetrating sealer. Then as suggested, update the light fixture.

Will

Clean both the tile and especially the grout with Oxiclean, rinse, let dry and reseal grout with a penetrating sealer. Then update the light fixture and maybe paint the walls after lighting addressed.

Maybe a shade or two lighter than the interior door color or even the creamy off white color of your trim?

Will

I like your kitchen and I like the daisy inserts!

Just a comment-those are NOT shaker cabinets.

I disagree with everyone who says to leave it as it. I think you can get a lot more for your house by investing $1000 into the kitchen and a little diy work. I repainted the cabinets in my kitchen and it got me 30K more for my house. I would paint the cabinets white and change the handles to black. For countertops, butcherblock is a good affordable option. Keep your paint and floor they are fine. The key to renovating to sell is to go as neutral as possible

BM Advance is a cabinet paint you can get a good coat with a brush. The paint will level out because the dry time is extended. Ikea and Floor and Decor have butcherblock.

Use Wooster Alpha brushes.

usually there is a reason to paint cabinets. I do not see any reason. 1. the wood is in good condition .. 2. it would still be a basic no frills kitchen that realistically will get renovated at some not too distant time in the future . .3. painting will involve a lot of work and time, whereas a few much smaller tweaks not so much. 4. the existing tones between floor/ cabinets and walls are okay .....different persons may prefer something else but it is impossible to cater to the unknowable.

I very much agree with herbflavor. Painting cabinets is a lot more work than you might imagine because you don’t simply just show up with the paint, put down a drop cloth and swab it on. The preparation of the cabinet services is a LOT of labour to do it properly; and that is even before you get started with the painting.. Most cabinets that are painted only look professionally done when sprayed. If you leave just one or two brush marks in the paint job, it will look to a potential buyer as “someone tried to freshen things up on the cheap“. Most buyers and their realtors know that if a home seller has made improvements to get the house ready for sale, they typically do not want to spend very much and will use the cheapest materials they can which never impresses a buyer. The paint that was shown in the prior comment is a very good product, but no modern house paint levels the way it once did 75 years ago with all of the solvents (toxic ) they used to have in them. Hiring a paint contractor would raise your costs, and when you go the DIY route, remember to consider just how much your own time is worth. For one person to properly, clean, sand, clean up again.(sanding, dust) prime, complete one finish coat, complete a second finish coat, and having a proper time for all of the coats to dry and cure and you are now into one heckuva project that didn’t seem so vast when you started. (FYI, true “one coat coverage“ is a disingenuous marketing promise buy paint brands because when people are looking very closely at something, you really do need two coats for full coverage with any paint that can cover and level well.

Many people begin painting projects with the best of intentions, and then as it moves along, and they realize that they are taking on a lot more than they bargained for, they really just want to get it over with and it will almost always show in the final product. I agree that the cabinets look fine as they are and you should not bother painting them. This is because a potential buyer may very well end up taking the cabinets in spite of how nice these cabinets currently appear in terms of their condition. You will never get back the time, effort, and money you spend painting cabinets, if the job is done properly. (painting walls is a different matter and not nearly as demanding in terms of how much prep and cleaning is needed). I love the idea of painted cabinets, but I would only have it done if I were wanting to change cabinets for myself and staying in the property. I would follow the advice of others here and replace your light fixture, get everything super clean, and get yourself to closing.

"I repainted the cabinets in my kitchen and it got me 30K more for my house."

Can't really prove this! How do you know the buyers wouldn't have paid the same amount if you hadn't painted the cabinets?

I personally loath raised panel cathedral cabinets, I hate, hate, hate them, but I still purchased a home that had them in the kitchen.

Mine were cherry, but to me they were just butt ugly. I lived with those atrocities for almost 10 years before I did a full gut reno.

In my area houses that need a lot of work are still selling over asking and the ones with upgrades are selling around asking….seems a little ironic, but I guess ripping out attempted upgrades you don’t like, is more painful than ripping out dated kitchens that scream for an upgrade.

Chispa, my thoughts exactly! You have no way to know what you would have gotten had you not re-painted the cabinets.

And yes, ripping out newly renovated kitchens or baths is not good for anyone--the buyer, the seller, or the environment. Nor is giving allowances for cosmetic updates--you give allowances for necessities or safety situations, like faulty wiring or roofing.

Keep it as it is, nice and clean, and price it right--everything sells for the right price.