What to do with a windfall

Anniepa i am in the same fortunate position, am having the kitchen totally reburbished, no extension, also having more comfortable seating to make it a more usable room.
It’s a tricky choice for you, have you discussed with your husband, if possible? Is there a great yearning you both have to go somewhere specific perhaps?
Best of luck x

I would want to so both, not knowing the full extent of your situation, that's what I would choose to do with my windfall, which I have to say wonderful for you.

Wonderful days out, lots of laughs, fun and definitely photos, and a new kitchen that makes home life far far easier for you because maybe there will be a time when you will spend a lot of your days at home..... you could frame 1, 2 or 3 of your memories photos and place them in your newly adapted kitchen.

Wonderful news on your windfall

jeanainsworth

Actually I do do the majority of the cooking, we live in the lounge/dining room, it is a compact kitchen perfect for one of us to cook efficiently. Obviously mostly it’s just the 2 of us so it’s just so no big deal, but no problem for the family at Christmas etc - 15 of them!. I really don’t understand all this nonsense about slaving away in the kitchen, it’s easy, even I can do it.

I can only assume you are a misandrist, sorry about that!.

I watched an online talk this week for a group I belong to. The speaker described an amazing holiday she had enjoyed in Antarctica. The money to finance it came from a legacy from a dear aunt. She said she fretted about whether to put it in the bank, house improvements or a long desired holiday. She chose the last and said it was her best choice as, every time she spoke of the holiday or looked at the photographs, it brought her pleasant memories of her aunt.

Just one person’s view

Try and cover both options if you can annie weekend breaks or shorter holidays and limit your work on the kitchen.
I hope you have some good times still with your husband.

make precious memories....you`ve managed in the kitchen so far!

Maybe my own views are coloured a little by the fact that since he retired, DH is the cook round here. He hasn’t complained about the facilities (yet) though.

I’m pleased to say that both meanings apply, janea!

Maggie I don’t think I know anyone who lives in their kitchen, however nice some of them are

The first time I read this sentence I thought you meant your friends were nice, not their kitchens

If you're spending a lot of time in a kitchen, cooking or otherwise working, it's a huge benefit to have it ergonomically designed and the most commonly used things within easy reach.
Otherwise the kitchen becomes a daily source of irritation and low-level stress.
That does not necessarily equate to lots of space in the room, as long as there's enough storage for all the paraphenalia.

I can only assume from Davidhs's non-reply that he does not in fact do much of the cooking in his household and was indulging in a bit of mansplaining in his post.

When we downsized we stripped out the very ancient kitchen, knocked down the wall into the dining room and created a wonderful light space in which I spend most of the day. We have a large table, chairs, a work station for my computer, a sofa, a television, lovely outlook onto the garden, and should DH ever need to live entirely downstairs the room will be a perfectly adequate living space if he needs to take over the sitting room. Total cost five years ago with mid-range kitchen units was around £20K and it has been worth every penny.

If my kitchen was completely ripped out and redesigned I might be tempted to live in it!

That’s interesting, kitty, that people have such different lives. I agree on the whole with Davidhs.

I don’t think I know anyone who lives in their kitchen, however nice some of them are. Ours is pleasant enough and actually slightly bigger than the front room. We cook and eat in it, and squash all 14 of us round the kitchen table and a couple of little fold down ones when the family are all round for a meal. But we don’t hang around in there afterwards.

I’d agree it’s nice to have space to move around in though.

Davidhs

With just the two of you why do you need a bigger kitchen?,
to make it larger probably means knocking walls down and a lot of disruption.
As you are both getting older is the bathroom as easy as it could be, a walk in shower/ wet room is very convenient when you are not as agile as you used to be.
If hubby is declining a holiday when you both can enjoy it would be good.

Davidhs whilst not arguing with your other points, I am baffled by your first comment.

We more or less live in our kitchen as, I thought, most people did.

I should have added how very nice for you to have the pleasant surprise of a windfall in these troubled times
I hope you have much pleasure in planning how you are going to spend it!

Perhaps you could plan a couple of nice breaks in this country to make some memories with your husband and also plan to improve your kitchen?

Would you have to extend it to make it a better place to work in? Can you plan it so it is ergonomically designed to work better for you without the upheaval and cost of building an extension?

In a Sock

I too think putting it in the bank is absolutely the worst thing you can do! Interests rates are virtual zero at the moment so it is no better than putting it in a dock under the mattress. If your DH ever needs to go into residential care, because his dementia worsens, money in the bank will count against you.
Travel is tempting but maybe you should be looking to “future proofing” your house (e.g. a walk in shower if you don’t have one already, or a downstairs bedroom) including the kitchen as you are likely to be spending more time at home in years to come. Memories of travel are wonderful though so perhaps you could allocate some of it to a few city breaks if that is your thing.

With just the two of you why do you need a bigger kitchen?

Do you do much cooking, Davidhs?

Oh go out and about have some nice times together
a kitchen is only needed for a small amount of time per day or week I ve got a big old kitchen but spend as little time in it as possible and if I had a partner I d be up up and away it’s not much fun on your own but at the end of the day anniepa You will get as many fors as againstS and it won’t make any difference You ll be no further forward, this one you have to work out for you

Holidays are a bit uncertain at the moment, so I’d go with the kitchen.

I’m a practical person - kitchen every time - in any case, I’m sure you’ve had many holidays together in the past and many, many memories and photographs . All the best wishes to you and your dear husband.

If I was in your position and well done you, I would extend the kitchen to make things a bit easier,as you say you haven’t got ease of movement, so that’s what I would concentrate on first,get a few quotes in and go from there, as you also say your husband could be at the start of dementia, he would probably like to be in familiar surroundings, it’s very hard at this moment of time to go anywhere, or take a few short trips out if able, I realise it’s not that easy to do though

Your husband may prefer to stay in familiar places. Perhaps you could make some changes and also have some short trips as well to make some good memories.

I think I’d get a couple of quotes for the kitchen and see how it fits with the budget. With luck there would be enough left for some short breaks in the UK. Anything to do with a kitchen can be horrifically expensive, the cost might make your mind up. Do let us know what you decide, anniepa and good wishes for you both for the future.