Kitchen Appliances

If you haven't shopped for appliances in a while, wow, there are so many options.  It's pretty overwhelming when you first start. I mean there are tons of brands and each one has pros and cons, with different features/styles for each appliance. Since we're going to be getting all of the appliances around the same time, we're going to try to match them, so that means finding one manufacturer that we really like and picking from what they have.  So far, I like GE the best, but there are a lot of close contenders.  

For appliances, I'm pretty sure we want a counter-depth side-by-side fridge. I just don't know if I like the French-door style with the drawer freezer or not. I think we'll have to think about this more before we buy, there are definitely pros and cons to each of them.

We're also going back and forth about getting gas hooked up for the stove or keeping it electric.  I'm concerned about having a gas oven for baking/broiling because I've heard they're so different, but I know the gas cook-top would be nice.  But, I also love the built-in look of a slide-in range. Then there's also single vs. double ovens and conventional vs. convection. There are just so many options and I don't know if there is one that actually has the right combination!   

     

                           

The microwave and dishwasher are pretty easy, but they're fun to shop for too ;).

   

Other brands we're looking at are:
Kitchen Aid, Kenmore Elite, LG and others. 

     
                        

More house updates!

It's been so long since I posted. Things have been really busy with school/work/house stuff for both of us.

We're ready to close on our house! We've officially finished all of the things we had to do to get ready for closing and buying this house.  The inspection, survey, financing, seller repairs and everything else has gone smoothly and we're so excited! But, now we have to wait a month, we close April 29th! Oh well, I'm excited that now I can really move on to decorating and picking out things for the house. We've got a lot to do and I have so many ideas.

Since the kitchen is one of the first things we're going to do, we've been looking at appliances, granite and paint colors a lot recently. I think we're going to paint the cabinets a creamy white. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think it will look great in the end.  We want a medium tone granite counter, one that has grays, browns and black in it. And since we need new appliances, I think the stainless steel look will work great with the rest of the updated kitchen.

There's also a lot of landscaping to be done outside which I'm actually really excited about. Weeding and seeding won't be a ton of fun but planting flowers and shrubs will be. Plus, we're going to re-stain the deck. I can't wait to use that space, it's going to be a great place to entertain and relax. It will be so nice to have a place to grill and I know Darcy's going to love the back yard!

Back inside, we're going to decorate the rooms slowly. We need to get a formal dining room set and decide what to do in the formal living room/library. One of the bedrooms upstairs will be made into an office and another will be a guest room.  We have most of the furniture for these rooms, which is nice, we just have to figure out how to arrange it. The bonus room is probably the space that will stay empty for the longest. We want to eventually make that a media/game room with a big TV and couches, but that'll have to wait a while. 

Here's some kitchen inspiration and I'll update with more later.

A Thoughtful Place

House Updates

Everything is moving smoothly with the house. So far, so good!  We close at the end of April, so until then, we're getting lots of things done to prepare for closing and just enjoying dreaming about what we'll do when we move in to make it our own.

We know we'd like to make some changes in the kitchen, as it needs some new appliances and updating. We're still brainstorming about what kind of look we'll go for, but I'm excited! We also haven't really figured out the scope of our kitchen changes yet, as we have a few other things we want to do.  I love how the space feels very open and I think it would look really pretty if we paint the cabinets and add new countertops and neutral painted walls.

Here's what the kitchen looks like now:

And what we'd hope to make it look like eventually with white paint,

or maybe dark cabinets?

I'm not sure, but it's fun to look at all of these gorgeous kitchens.

I also love that there are oil-rubbed bronze hardware on the doors throughout the house.  The light fixtures are also dark and coordinate nicely. I think it makes for a very traditional and classic look.  It's still just fun to think about all the things we can do, we'll see how they actually turn out later/what we actually do once we're in ;)  But, for inspiration, look at these similar kitchen transformations that I found. It's amazing what you can do in a kitchen by changing a few key things.

before #1

after #1

before #2

after #2