Love those windows!

White, all-Ikea, light quartz (available at ikea), white subways, halogen track lighting, real wood floor to match the rest of the house, stainless appliances. White IKEA table (if kitchen is eat-in). Buy some teal dishes to put out. Paint walls a light gray. Teal roman blind or else paint the window teal. Maybe an orange dishcloth and flowers. OTR micro.

I just think a lot of people like teal these days. I could be wrong. Certainly grey is big.

Unless stove and fridge are side by side, leave the layout.

If I walked in to the above, I would say, "How clean! How cute!"

I'd pay attention to the roof, foundation, plumbing, and electrical first. Those are the money eaters. The kitchen won't be at all difficult in Ikea if those major systems are in good shape and have already been modernized at some point. If it has galvanized water pipes, fuses instead of breakers, and a crack in the foundation, then even a cheap cute retro kitchen won't be enough appeal to make a profit in most markets.

Definately white cabinets, white appliances, and warm it up with wood somewhere. Turquoise and pink touches would be retro cool for sure! For the baths, Daltile's octagon and dot in the classic black and white with a cute little vanity and new chrome fixtures on a standard tub/shower would work. It's probably a small enough space that some cool retro wallpaper would give it some character.

You could even do the fabric applied to the wall with starch bit using something like this.
{{gwi:2141542}}

Gaa! Not subways!

You could definitely get away with IKEA and a bit of quartz. For a flip, I'd do a nod to retro to stand out and make it cute, but otherwise pretty contemporary. Many kitchens in the '40s were pretty mod anyway.

Can't read that floor plan at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some '40s kitchens for inspiration

This post was edited by marcolo on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 12:23

Love both suggestions -- I have to admit that I have been into the teal/turquoise myself. That fabric is so fun!

My kitchen had usable pine underneath the original linoleum so this place might also.

Yes, LWO, I will certainly make sure that there are no major problems with the foundation/systems -- I know that no insurer will take on one of these unless the electrical has been upgraded. The crawl space is a concern because we have a high water table in the neighborhood with natural springs.

It's subways or nothing :-) Nothing might be fine, actually.

If you could squeeze in a third bedroom somewhere, that would bump up resale $, no? In fact, depending on your area, that might be THE most important thing to do.

Two beds don't sell well where I live.

If the cabinets in the picture are the only ones in the kitchen I'd add a work table with an open shelf at the bottom and maybe use it as an "island" if there's room. I'd peel off the border, too.

Maybe use the same flooring in the whole house would make it feel larger. A decent laminate?

It seems really bright in there so I'd try not to spoil that.

Let's see if this plan image is better: so you can see it is small, but I think could have room for a small table or counter of some kind on the utility room wall. I might even be able to steal a bit of space from that utility room, do you think?

This is a neighborhood of small "starter" homes, and the 2 bedrooms do sell because it is such a desirable area. People often add on and/or up (in fact I think that an untouched original is uncommon now), there is room here to do that here, but I would be inclined to leave that to the buyer.

This post was edited by raee on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 12:47

Definitely consider the utility room in play, but only if it helps separate the fridge and range. You might even be able to squeeze in a small pantry somewhere.

Subways are inappropriate. 4 x 4s will look great.

I'm guessing you don't want to open up that utility room? Is there enough room for a table and chairs in the LR? Maybe in the three-sided bay? If so, I'd think about recessing the fridge and maybe a little pantry storage on that wall. Then center the range on the bottom wall, because having it by the door is kinda a show-stopper.

Eta. If you capture that closet in the lower left of the kitchen you could possible better locate the fridge and range. Maybe even with a corner range, though that's a space waster. Then maybe a recessed booth for seating, carved out of the utility room.

This post was edited by marcolo on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 13:27

The utility room is where the water heater, furnace, and utility sinks/laundry live. I think that our climate is too cold to shift any of those to the garage -- which is a small 1 car unit so no room there anyway. So I wouldn't want it open, but I think it is feasible to recess the frig and put a pantry on the shared wall. The laundry would have to shrink. Maybe also there doesn't really need to be a door to both the garage and back yard in that room although it is quite convenient.

I think there is plenty of room for a small table in the little nook just outside the kitchen.

If I took away the linen closet, I would have to plan linen etc storage elsewhere and I am not sure where. The bedroom closets are small and I don't think there would be room in the bath itself. Either divide and share with the coat closet, or maybe just make the linen closet less deep?

Or perhaps when redoing the bath, get rid of the tub entirely and have just a shower.

Thanks for all the ideas Marcolo, rmtdoug, lotteryticket and Hydragea. Keep them coming!

I hate that 18" dishwashers are more expensive. That seems the best choice here.

You could also move the sink under the windows and turn the corner with a run of cabinets. Put the range to the left of where the sink is now. Or instead, make a galley, with a run against the utility room wall. Make the bottom wall fridge plus pantry, or put seating there if it fits. Hard to say without more pics or a clear plan.

I think devoting over 100 sf in a 850 sf house for a utility room is a bit much. Options to reduce space are tankless water heaters and mini-split heat pumps, both which take up no floor space. Also, stacking the washer and dryer cuts that space in half.

For linen storage, you can utilize the space under beds with drawers or pullouts.

If you are thinking of getting rid of the tub for a shower to save space and only put in a corner shower, that would greatly affect your resale value. You would definitely want a walk-in shower at least as big as your tub footprint in a one-bath house.

It's hard for anyone to talk specifics until you post a more detailed plan.

I'd do this:

{{gwi:2141543}}

If your likely customer is the type to buy this place and add a few more rooms, it means they probably have children. I just can't imagine a family not really, really missing a dining room. And the enormous utility room seems like such a waste.

So, I made your utility room into a dining room.

1) I stacked the washer and dryer and moved it to a closet in the hallway. It's right there clustered with the bathroom and kitchen, so running the pipes to the new washer location shouldn't be a big deal. Also, it's closer to the bedrooms -- with the original utility closet, you'd have to carry your clothes from the bedrooms to the kitchen to wash them.

2) The furnace and water heater are now in a closet rather than having an entire room to themselves. They are still very close to their original locations, so hooking them up shouldn't be bad. If they need any extra room over what I allotted, you could expand this closet into the pantry/china cabinet space like this:

{{gwi:2141544}}

3) I also moved the garage door to a more convenient location. Now someone who is coming in with groceries can easily walk into the kitchen, but everybody else won't be funneled through the kitchen or into the side of the dining room table.

Voila, dining room!

Does the utility room have a big double window like the kitchen (it's hard to tell)? If so, that'll be really lovely to have that in the dining, and with the wall separating the kitchen from the utility room gone, that'll be a lot of light flooding around that whole space.

Jillius:

Well done...what an improvement!

Great ideas there, Jillius! I think that you and Marcolo have hit the nail on the head by moving the sink. Utilizing that large space seems obvious -- I do wonder why it was designed that way. The big double laundry tub in the original drawing -- I remember that in my childhood home, but don't know why 2 large basins were needed.

Unfortunately I was outbid for the property. I was getting so enthused for the project! I will save these suggestions in case another one comes available. I just don't have the imagination for redesign so I am very grateful for GW!

Thanks for all your time and ideas

Raee

Raee-- Oh how sad! I love the remodels of little places with character -- I was looking forward to seeing what you were going to do with it!

Ranton -- thank you! :)

Bummer! Go find another one. Lol.

Sorry you lost it, if you are interested in flipping I would keep an eye on listings in the area to see what is selling. I believe most buyers could care less about what is appropriate to the house, they want what they believe is "in". While in my personal home I like my 4x4s and feel they are timeless, many buyers consider them dated. The horror! If you want to flip successfully, remember it is not your home, you need to attract the most buyers with your finishes, and sell as quickly as possible to avoid market downturns or interest payment issues.

I would also pay attention to the roof and sewer line. Both can kill a flip.

Jillius:

Well done...what an improvement!

I have a house and neighborhood that sound a lot like this. I want to keep mine forever and put stuff in the kitchen that no one else would want. I was looking forward to this topic, yes, please buy a different one like it. :)

I wish I had that big utility room to take over in mine though.

Now that I've got the "bug" I am going to keep my eyes open for another opportunity. I hadn't really thought about it before, but re-doing my kitchen and hanging out here has sparked the interest. I enjoy the process even though I admit that I am design challenged!

This one (I hear) is selling in the low 90s but once rehabbed will bring at least 150. They come along...not just foreclosures, but people who have lived here 40 years and now need to move, or estate sales. The problem is, one needs to discover it really almost before it is listed. They get snapped up.