Here's the post I promised you yesterday!
A bit of background for you. When we moved into our house about a year and a half ago, all the appliances except the microwave were original to when the house was built. That meant they were all about fifteen years old, and that put them in a precarious part of the appliance life span. They seemed to be working pretty well, but Ryan feared (and knowing our luck, it was a legitimate fear) that one day we would wake up and one would have conked out, and we'd be forced to purchase something on the spot. More than likely "on the spot" and "on sale" would not coincide. He wanted to buy something as big as appliances on his terms (sale) and not in a full-price panic.
So seriously, for over a year he researched appliances. He read hundreds of reviews, shopped many stores, many sales, and made lists and spreadsheets of all his research. All that while, we saved and saved to make such a big purchase, and when the time finally came, we really did get the best price we could get. I am really thankful Ryan took this so seriously and put so much work into it so we could be frugal!
Along the way, we've had a few questions about what we've liked about our final decision, so I thought I'd tell you! I'll just work my way down the line!
Refrigerator.
When we moved in, the refrigerator here was a side-by-side white refrigerator with a water and ice dispenser. In some ways, it was a fancy fridge for us (well, for me) because I'd never owned a fridge with an ice maker or a water dispenser. (Ryan did when he lived in Greentown.) We noticed that often, though, the ice tasted like whatever was in the freezer, which wasn't fun, and the whole appliance had gotten a bit dingy looking over the years. (Parts of the white were bordering on ivory.)
Our new refrigerator is stainless steel (but it has the kind of finish that doesn't show fingerprints as badly as some) and has French doors on the top part. The refrigerator part. I LOVE THIS. I love having a wide fridge, so I can put big boxes/pans/dishes inside without running out of room. It is so much more practical for me than the side-by-side. Because of how the ice maker is designed in this one, our ice always tastes fresh. I love that, too.
The water dispenser is more high tech and actually has more bells and whistles than we even use. (You can put locks on if you have little kids so they don't let water and ice run free over the kitchen.) I do like the feature that measures the water as it comes out. If I'm cooking and need one cup of water, I don't have to mess with a measuring cup. That's fancy! The water/ice area also has a soft light that comes on when you're using it, so if the room is dark, you don't miss your mark.
There is also a drawer under the French doors that is still a refrigerated part, and we use that for veggies and cheese. (There are also two drawers inside the French door part.) The extra drawer is fancy and fun/ And you can see down into that drawer from the main part of the fridge, too, so that's fun!
The bottom of the appliance is a freezer drawer that pulls out. It has a wire basket that slides in and out as needed. This has plenty of storage for us. We do have a (really old) chest freezer, but most of our needs are met by the inside freezer.
This has really been a wonderful upgrade for us. We are pleased with it! It is much more practical than the side-by-side we had. (We sold that one to some friends who have a rental apartment and wanted to put it in there!)
Microwave.
We actually really liked our old microwave, but it was white and we wanted all matching appliances, so our old one was sold to the friends with the rental unit.) Our new one is very similar, but the two things I really love about it are the multiple fans and the underneath light.
Our microwave sits above our stove, and just like our old one, the new one has a fan on the underneath side that we can run while cooking on the stovetop. What I like better about the new one is that it has more speeds. So I can run it at a level you could probably hear at your house, or I can run it at a very faint hum. Convenient!
I also like the light on the underneath side of the microwave that makes stovetop cooking easier to see and quite cozy to look at! :)
Stove/Oven.
This was my favorite upgrade. Our old stove was nice: a glass cooktop and everything, but I love love love love love (you get the idea) the new one because it has a double oven. That may not zing everyone, but I do enough cooking that it is WONDERFUL. If I'm just doing a little baking, I can just warm up the small upper oven and save electricity. If I'm doing a lot of baking or I'm in need of multiple temperatures, I can use both ovens. You really have no idea how much I love that.
The stovetop has a glass top, just like our old one, and it has four main burners and a fifth warmer burner in the back. The only thing we don't like about this appliance is the black stovetop. Our old one had a sort of marbled(ish) gray top and it hid spills and smears much better than the plain black shiny top. But we learned in our research that the old gray tops are apparently just not "in" anymore. Can't find them.
One note is that a double oven eliminates the drawer most ovens have at the bottom. So if you store pans underneath, you'll have to find a new home for them!
Dishwasher.
This was my second favorite upgrade. Our old dishwasher was actually the worst appliance we had. It clearly had the most wear and tear, and some settings didn't even work anymore. So I was really excited about our new dishwasher!
This one runs quietly - ironically NOT a selling point for me. I love white noise, so loud dishwashers are kind of my jam. But for most of you normal people, that's probably an actual big deal, so let me assure you this one is quiet!
We were worried at first that we wouldn't like it, because it seemed the first few times we ran it, not everything got clean. But then it just started working beautifully! Maybe it just needed to break in or something!
As with any new dishwasher, we had to get used to loading things in new places, but once we got used to it, we loved it just fine!
So those are our thoughts on our new kitchen appliances. We love them all, and the stainless look with our new espresso finish on the existing cabinets? Amazing.
1 comment:
It is so funny being in my new apt I of course have new appliances. I lost my gas for electric but am adjusting and now have 3 oven shelves. My fridge is fridge on top which I love but have had to learn new ways to organize it. Biggest gain - DISHWASHER - game changer!
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