We’re kicking off a kitchen makeover on Monday – the first real update we’ve done to our house in years. We’ve been here 16 years now, and while it’s been a great home for our family, the style has definitely slipped into that “a bit dated” category.
What looked sharp and timeless in the mid-2000s now feels dark and heavy compared to what buyers (and we!) prefer today. When I say dated, I mean the deep-colored granite countertops, heavy stone backsplash, beige walls that read yellowish / gold at the wrong time of day, and traditional lighting that no longer feels very “classic.”
It all worked back then, but tastes have shifted. We want our kitchen to feel lighter, brighter, and more contemporary. The plan is lighter granite countertops, a fresh tile backsplash, gray/beige paint (“griege”), and updated lighting fixtures. New window coverings and kitchen table are likely next. It’s a cosmetic update, not a full gut renovation – the cherry cabinets and stainless steel appliances are staying – but it will completely change the vibe.
From a financial standpoint, this is about a $30K-$35K project, which sounds like a big spend but is a small fraction of the home’s current value. According to remodeling cost/value studies looking at mid-range cosmetic updates, we can potentially recoup about 50–75% of that when we eventually sell. That could mean a return of $15K–$22K in higher resale value, although I think that is a bit optimistic.
Beyond the financial return, an updated kitchen is said to be a strong selling point: it helps homes move faster and reduces the chance of needing price cuts later. One of our neighbors was told by their realtor that he wouldn’t list their home until it was updated. They did, and the house sold in 24 hours with multiple offers.
Our early retirement mindset often pushes us to question every dollar. Could we skip this update, live with the old kitchen, and save the money? Absolutely. But part of financial independence is not just hoarding resources, it’s using them wisely to improve our lives. For us, the “ROI” here is two-fold: enjoying the update ourselves for the next 3–4 years and positioning the house for a smoother sale down the road.
In the end, FIRE isn’t about spending nothing – it’s about spending intentionally. This is one of those times where the numbers and the lifestyle benefits line up. We updated our living room and office a few years ago and are very happy that we did. I’ll share some before-and-after pictures once the dust settles in about a month.
How up to date is your house? What would you consider updating for your own enjoyment or to make it more saleable?
MrFireStation 
My theme is currently making my house more disaster tolerant after learning what we were lacking during the Palisades Fire. I just finished putting in a whole house standby generator with automatic transfer switch that turns it on and off automatically whenever the power goes out. Since placing it in service in June, it has run four hours during one outage and nine hours during another. Since it relies on a propane powered engine starting the cutover is around 15 to 30 seconds. It turned on in middle of night and we slept through the night in air conditioned comfort.
I also recently completed setting up Starlink to have redundant internet connectivity. Power and communications during a disaster are important for staying informed.
Right now I am insulating my garage to turn it into a conditioned space. The same insulation contractor who originally insulated my house is coming on the 26th to insulate the cathedral ceilings in my garage. I wish I could go back in time and have the contractor insulate my entire house using their modern high R-value materials. They told me that they are fire hardening the houses they are insulating with their norm now being ventless attics. This was something I did in 1990, so I was ahead of my time.
After completing the insulation, I am bringing in a drywall crew to hang type X drywall. I already have a mini-split heat pump in place and will have a nice home gym and workshop in my garage by the end of September.
Next project coming up is redoing a walk out deck. Once again the theme is making the deck Class A fire rated and freshening it up at the same time. I am following a guideline that was developed in Marin County to fire harden decks.
I haven’t thought about resell value, but having fire resilience and disaster tolerance makes up more comfortable in the here and now and surely someone else would see the value in a house that survived two major fires without problems.
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That’s a lot of projects, but understandable given the wildfire disaster you have been through.
My son had to do an “Emergency Preparedness” project for our house, as part of his path to Eagle Scout. It’s a good exercise for anyone to do … think about all of the potential calamities that you are at risk for in your locale. (We also watched a lot of that show, ‘American Preppers’!)
We don’t have a back-up generator. I think only one person in our neighborhood does. My brother, who lives near us, has a diesel generator at both his house & cabin in WI. He lost his power in a big Midwestern Thunderstorm a few weeks ago and used it for a few days when he was without power.
We’re in a master-planned community with good power and no flood risk. We’ve never lost connection for more than an hour that I can recall. Our biggest risk would be tornadoes. There’s not much you can do to save yourself from that – although the damage is very localized. You could get a hotel room 5 miles away if your house took a direct hit.
At our FL place, the risk is hurricanes. Our condo building is currently being upgraded to Class 3 hurricane resilience, although nothing stronger than a Class 1 has ever hit the area. Disney engineers brought their typical meticulous attention to detail when designing the town.
Even torrential rains are quickly drained from Celebration out into the surrounding swamps (which feed the Everglades), and the town has never lost power. Many people come to Celebration from the coasts to be safe.
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Walt Disney used an Army Engineer who had experience working in the Panama Canal Zone to control flooding and mosquitos. https://insidethemagic.net/2024/05/no-mosquitoes-disney-world-bb1/
The moving water features at Disney World are mosquitos nemesis.
Disney had a vision for doing more around LA to improve traffic flow and allow him to addon to Disneyland and the morons got in his way. I like Disney’s Engineering better than Getty’s, Brown’s, Pelosi’s and Newscum’s.
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Yes – Major General Joe Potter knew a thing or two about flooding & mosquitoes from managing the Panama Canal. There is a steamship ferry named for him which (along with the monorails) carries millions to the Magic Kingdom every year.
Celebration also benefits from his planning. It’s part of the original “Reedy Creek Improvement District” that became Walt Disney Works.
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We also have a list of optional home improvement projects and I’m struggling on getting the right criteria to determine which ones to undertake. If we can do it mostly DIY, those go right away. However, now we are into the projects that will mostly be outsourced. The home prices in our area have been on a downward trend so playing the ROI game is tough. The hedonic adaption is also real. Some of the projects we have already completed are quickly forgotten. Any suggestions on decision criteria?
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Honestly, we didn’t apply any “decision criteria” and aren’t DIYing any of it. With the market as strong as it’s been the last few years, we just decided this is a “splurge” and we’re not worrying about the price. Not what you expect from a personal finance blogger, but sometimes you just do something on a lark!
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