Kitchens, they say, are the heart of the home. We all know that! Taking potential buyers emotions into consideration, kitchens rank as an important priority in a home makeover.

Potential purchasers often value a kitchen replacement as double its actual cost and will use it to their negotiation advantage, so here’s what to do.

As home makeover specialists we have been faced with all sorts of properties and all sorts of kitchens. Essentially, the only kitchens we don’t suggest to touch (aside from a deep clean – compulsory in all) are those that are in an imminent knock down or one with serious immediate renovation requirements.

Your vendor may have a 20-25 year old kitchen. Ideally, you might suggest they update the entire kitchen and bench top, but a well made wooden kitchen with a good carcass and with a number of years life left offers a budget option to re-paint. Unfortunately you can’t really hide that it’s a re-paint, however, it will likely present much better for pre-sale than the old version. Here is a great example of how well this 1970’s kitchen was improved with a re-paint and new appliances: