All things being equal i.e. both are functionable

SuseOrm

All things being equal i.e. both are functionable - which would you do first upon moving into a new property the kitchen or the bathroom ?  

Thank you 

koalakoala

I’ve always done the kitchen first. 

Sandtree

Need to consider just how good/bad each are when you move in but the priority for us would be the kitchen if all else was equal 

FreeBear

Kitchen, definitely.

One (normally) spends little time in the bathroom, so as long as it has a functioning toilet, bath, and sink, it does the job.

A well laid out kitchen with appropriate storage can make a home. But I would spend a bit of time using what is there to test the waters. If it functions well, just a "tart up" job may be all that is required - It took me a couple of years after taking on *this house to refit the kitchen. The original layout didn't work for me, and it took a bit of planning to decide on what was best.

ariarnia

we opted to do the bathroom first because we knew what we wanted to do in there and it could be done in a couple of weeks when started. as per freebear we wanted to live with the kitchen for a bit (coming on two years) to decide what we didn't like and how we wanted to use the space. plus to save up a bit more so that we could actually make it how we wanted rather than a half way job. ended up doing the work in two halves anyway as decided on some structural work to make the most of the space. 

casper_gutman

Weird question. It entirely depends on what they're like now! If I liked the kitchen and not the bathroom I'd do the bathroom first. If I liked the bathroom and not the kitchen I'd do the kitchen first. 🤔

SuseOrm

casper_gutman said:

Weird question. It entirely depends on what they're like now! If I liked the kitchen and not the bathroom I'd do the bathroom first. If I liked the bathroom and not the kitchen I'd do the kitchen first. 🤔

So as per the title and the first two lines of the post both are in equal need 🙄

ariarnia

i think equal need is really subjective. if you can use the bathroom for all bathroom functions and the kitchen has working appliances then they meet the 'need'. then it's just a question of priorities and that's an individual thing. My checklist would be something like

1, do the rooms function at a basic level. if not getting them functioning/usable is the priority for both rooms and I'd say having a working bathroom is more important given you can cook and wash up with a really basic set up 
2, do you know what you want the 'finished' rooms to look like. if you know what you want to do with one but not the other then that's a reason to prioritise it. 
3, are their small quick/cheap improvements you can make to one or the other to make it so they're not 'equal'. do those and then reevaluate maybe you can live with your bathroom now but your kitchen still isn't working for you.  
4. do you have the budget to do either of the rooms completely. if one but not the other then again that's a tick in that column to get it done and off the list while you save and plan for the other room.  
5, do you need to plan for trades to come in or for structural changes to one or other room meaning it might be sensible to do the work in phases and think about what you're doing rather than the room you're doing it in (we started some work in the hall and lounge so an electrician could come and do some work in the hall, lounge and bathroom all at the same time to save time and money even though we're not going to 'finish' the work on the hall and lounge until after the bathroom and kitchen are finished. we've also planned that when we need skips we'll do any other jobs like cleaning some junk from the garden to make sure the skips are full and save future tip runs) 

phoebe1989seb

For us it's usually been the kitchen (we've bought/renovated a few *project* houses 😉), although they have often been as dire as each other, lol!

For example, in one house there was no proper functioning kitchen (just a butler sink and dresser) - although as there were a couple of basic kitchenettes on the upper floors we were able to camp out using these in turn till we'd installed the actual kitchen on the ground floor - but the bathing facilities were also fairly rudimentary. Therefore it was just a case of deciding to get the ground floor functioning first and creating the hub of the home, so to speak.

With our current home (a repossession) we also tackled the kitchen first, partly because we had already purchased the fully assembled cabinets and range cooker for our previous house but decided to sell up before fitting them 🙄 Rather than keep these in storage even longer, we just wanted to get on with using them at last!

It was also a result of relocating the kitchen to a different part of the property and we wanted to get this major reconfiguration out of the way asap. Therefore we did the kitchen within the first eight months.

That said, by the time we came round to sorting out the family bathroom at the end of our second year here, we realised that more reconfiguration was required. In the end, the whole upstairs layout needed altering and after just over four years in the house we've only just completed the first floor including the main bathroom.

With hindsight - and had we not been living on site/DIYing the work, or in other words, had been doing it to a time frame - we'd have started at the top and worked our way down 😉 

badger09

SuseOrm said:

All things being equal i.e. both are functionable - which would you do first upon moving into a new property the kitchen or the bathroom ?  

Thank you 

If both are functioning but you are determined to revamp/replace both, then I think I would probably do the bathroom first.

Basically, because there is usually less scope for major changes in a bathroom, it should cost less than a kitchen, a d you spend less time in there, so even a slightly 'sub optimal' design should not have a major impact.

However, a poorly planned kitchen revamp could ruin the enjoyment of your new home for years to come. I would live with the current kitchen for several months, even a year, until you know exactly what works and what doesn't, and what you need/want to change.   

Good luck

casper_gutman

The rest of the house will affect my answer, too.

Is there a downstairs loo, and a layout such that the bathroom will only be seen by me and the occasional overnight guest? This will make it more likely that I'll do the kitchen first.

Is the kitchen a small galley and not somewhere I'll spend time with visitors? This will make it more likely I'll prioritise the bathroom.