While doubling down on my recommendation to consider a dish drying cupboard above the sink, or at least dish drying shelves there, the following brings up another topic. That would be the topic of drawers and rolling cabinets-of-drawers.

Below the counter top, you can have massive, easily sliding drawers. The new kind roll open and closed quietly and with little effort. Then you can not only reach what's in the back, you can see immediately what all is in there. There are also rolling cabinets which not only contain such drawers but roll out and can double as a kind of table or work space.

However, since you mention selling, a lot depends on the time frame but regardless of when you plan to sell sooner or later you can do a few rounds at the library looking through their collection of home and garden magazines and comparing it to what you see on the real estate web sites to see what is going out of style, what is a short term trend, and what is a long term trend.

Shelves wouldn't make any difference. Even when I was younger stuff got shoved to the back of the cabinet and neglected. That's less likely with shelves. I have a hard time bending over, get down on my knees, have a pad to make this less uncomfortable.

I like shelves and will put in cabinets only if I move, which I want to do and can afford. The library's books are ancient and H&G magazines are all 'house beautiful' which is something no one moving into this neighborhood would pay for. A neighbor did theirs up beautifully: hardwood floors, marble countertops, etc., and wanted far more than anyone would pay, were on the market for more than a year.

Real estate agents get a cut of the sales price but pay nothing for renovations. If I spend $10K but only get $5K more I've lost $5K, while the agents get 6% of that $5K.

Well, that sounds decided.

As for the stone countertops, I've seen them around and you only need to barely touch a glass container to them to have the container shatter -- especially crystal. If something drops or tips over on them, expect clean up. So some other "cheaper" material with some give is far more practical if the space is for anything other than decoration.

I guess the important question is then which distro will run on the shelves?

Which is why I suggested contacting someone you know in the real estate business, to determine a relative increase in the value of the home with new cabinets. Another option is if you decide to sell to give an allowance of a specific amount of money for the new owners to replace the shelves with cabinets. Might be a better solution as the cabinets you prefer might not be the same as the cabinets a prospective buyer prefers. This kind of thing is frequently done.

I installed formica.

I know no one. A stranger would encourage me to upgrade everything, in the interests of her tribe. I have never had a useful conversation with a real estate agent.

That's much more expensive, the kind of thing people in expensive houses may do. If I install cabinets I'll buy the cheapest at BigHomeStore and install them myself. That's what I did for the cabinets under the sink and they look as good as anything anyone who buys this place will pay more for. I paid $28K in 2004, can hope for about $90K today.

I got an estimate on new windows (the physical kind) from BigHomeStore. The 3 estimates included the increase in resale value, which was about 70% for each. Surprisingly honest of them. I'll probably just reglaze them and install new balances.

Surely living in a desert implies sand and dust? I doubt you keep your doors and windows sealed shut all the time so it must get into the house. Do you have to periodically clear your shelves and dust both them and their "contents"?

I'd think cupboards wouldn't need cleaned out so often.

I have a bedroom with a wooden floor which has to be cleaned as dust bunnies appear by magic under the bed, the bedside cabinet gets dusty on top but not inside, same with the chest of drawers. Come to think of it, most of the surfaces in the house need to be dusted now and again, anything behind a cupboard door... Nope.

Note I live in Scotland, not renowned for its deserts and dustiness, more its temperate damp weather.

Just my

Play Bonny!

No, I don't have much sand or dust.

I keep my windows open in fair weather, run fans to bring in fresh air.

No.


'Dust bunnies' are lint from fabric and hair. I got rid of my carpets, don't have pets, don't have much hair left anymore.

It is actually a fairly common practice with moderately priced homes. I've done it both ways in the past (as buyer and seller). Usually the allowance offered is a part of the actual expected cost and an advantage is that the buyer gets to select the type of cabinets s/he prefers rather than what the seller likes.

Competent real estate agents are hard to find. The best are the ones who do it full time and have experience locally but even then, they may not really be good. If you don't know anyone in the real estate business, it will be more difficult to ascertain values although there are may sites online that list information, generally in larger or moderately sized cities. If you live in a rural area it will be more difficult to get accurate information. Based on your posts, this seems to be your situation.

If you do decide to sell, good luck.