Preference Poll: Kitchen Appliances

Joey and I will soon be purchasing new appliances for our new kitchen - including a refrigerator, dishwasher, range, and over-the-range microwave. As such, we have battled the age old question, which color of appliances should we buy?

Obviously, stainless steel appliances seem to be the rage in this season of kitchen makeovers. And while they do look really nice and sleek in a new kitch, we aren't convinced they're the best option for us. First of all, they are priciest option (and money is getting tight these days). Second, are they just another "trendy" item? Will they soon go the way of the era of almond-colored appliances?


We've also considered traditional white appliances. Nice, white appliances come with a middle-of-the-road price, fit the style of our kitchen well, and probably won't become outdated any time soon. But then again, will white appliances with white cabinets be too boring? Or what if they 2 "whites" don't match each other - will that look weird?


Black appliances also offer a middle-of-the-road price, but add contrast to the white cabinets. However, I've never really seen myself as a "black appliance" type of girl, if you know what I mean.


So, what would you do if you were purchasing appliances for a kitchen with white cabinets? Fork out the cash for the stainless steel? Keep it plain and simple? Please share in the poll at the top right or leave a comment...

*Edit: I removed the poll since it didn't seem to be working right (gotta figure that one out). Please leave a comment! Thanks!

Some Necessities

It's been nice having a 3 day weekend to celebrate Independence Day! It gave us much time to get a few more projects done around the house before diving back into work. The biggest project continues to be our kitchen, which is improving daily, yet won't be complete for about 1-2 months at the earliest.

But after this weekend, storing items and making meals will be so much easier. Joey and his dad worked on hanging a few of our upper cabinets - the few that can be hung prior to countertops being installed. This gave me much more storage space so that I could continue to unpack the boxes that sit around the house.

Here's a snapshot of the cabinet progress...

These are the 3 cabinets above the stove (we're waiting to receive the last lower cabinet that sits to the right of the stove). The guys screwed all 3 cabinets together and then hung them as one unit.

Here they are with the shelves added. The side cabinets are 42 inches high. The middle cabinet will have a microwave under it eventually.

You can see I've begun placing items on the shelves. Although they are not in their final home, they're at least put away for now, which means a few more boxes out of the house! I'll have to reorganize everything once we get the rest of the cabinets hung and have even more space.

This is the cabinet to the left of the sink window - also 42 inches high...

...it stores a lot of dishes! The crown molding above the cabinets and the cabinet hardware will be some of the last things to be added when the kitchen is done.

The other project Joey did for me this weekend was set up temporary countertops and a kitchen sink. I never realized how difficult it was to do kitchen duties without a sink. And so until our quartz countertops arrive, Joey laid down some white boards for us to use as countertops, and he cut a hole in one to set a kitchen sink. Since the sink is also temporary (the sink we really want won't be bought for a couple months), we bought a a really cheap stainless steel sink that came with a faucet and sprayer (the basic model that most apartments have). Joey put in all new sink plumbing too, since the original pipes were clogged, and now it works like "new".

So, that's the latest update on our kitchen. I cleaned out the old fridge and stove that came with the house so that we can use those until our new appliances arrive. It sure feels good to have a usable kitchen again!

Progess Is Key

I apologize that the blogging has been a bit slow these last few days. Between moving and cleaning and unpacking, I haven't had much time for blogging. But I did want to give you a quick update on a few things that we've been working on since the move. Although progress is a bit slower then we'd like, it still feels good to get the smallest bits accomplished.

One of the first things I set up when we moved our things over was our bed. I figured that after long days of work at the office and the house, it would feel good to fall into a nicely made bed. And we have soooo enjoyed our first few nights in the new master bedroom - even if it's far from "done".
The headboard and nightstands were made by Joey a few years ago and originally painted black, but we recently gave them a fresh coat of white paint which looks great with the white trim in the room. Still need to find all our decorative pillows etc. that are hiding in boxes somewhere...


One other project that Joey has been working on the past few days is the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen is going to take quite a while to come together, but here are a few snapshots of what's been done so far.

My brother, Adam, and Joey picked up the cabinets here in Kenosha when they arrived at the end of last week. The boxes filled the garage that was just recently emptied of all the junk/trash.

They were able to bring a few of the base cabinets into the house for me to preview. They are maple cabinets painted "dover white". I must admit I was pretty excited to see them in person. Don't the boys look excited too???

Joey then worked on getting the right cabinets into the place...

And then anchored some of them to the wall so that I could begin to unload a few items into them.

We only had 1 problem-o with the cabinets - one of the cabinets by the stove was not finished correctly on side like an "outside" cabinet should be. So, a new cabinet is being made with the side painted white and then should be shipped within 1-2 weeks. Once all the base cabinets are in place, we can measure and order countertops as the next step!

It sure feels good to see things being put back together after all those weeks of demolition!