A post from Kelli–
A while back I asked for opinions on appliances and boy was I given appliance opinions! It was great that some of you brought up points that I had never thought of before, so it made me think twice about things. I had planned on ordering them quite a while ago, but then life happened, I forgot about them (until I had to defrost meat) and I just plain didn’t have time. I also wanted Jason to look at them before I ordered them just to make sure that he approved, which I knew he would. I was talking to my sister-in-law Lora who had been helping my coordinate my purchase and delivery and she told me that they were going to be having a big Memorial Day Sale, so unless I needed them immediately, it might be worth my time to wait and order them then.
Time passed and I almost forgot about it completely as I was having my foot surgery just a few days before. I ended up ordering them late that Monday. Originally, I wanted to spend less than $2500, but by the time I chose what I actually wanted instead of what was cheapest, I realized that they would be closer to $3000 or $3200. I had also applied for a Best Buy Card which was going to offer 0% financing for 18 months, so I was figuring about a $!75 a month payment which I could handle, so I didn’t get too worried about it.
After adding everything to my checkout and measuring everything one more time to make sure it would fit, I moved along to the shopping cart. Much to my amazement, I ended up getting everything for $2300 or so,
$2400 with taxes included due to their big Memorial Day Sale and because I was buying Whirlpool appliances. I was really excited! And then when I went to checkout, I saw that they had also extended their financing to 24 months, so my payments would really just be closer to $100 a month! I could definitely do that one!
I had also talked to Lora and she said that she could likely pull a few strings and get delivery to my area, even though the website said otherwise. She said that as long as I wasn’t picky about a date and time for them to be delivered, they should be able to work it out. I assumed that meant a month or so, which was fine with me because I had gone that long without ordering them that another month didn’t seem like too big of a deal. I was happily surprised when she said they would be here a week or so later. It turned out even better because I didn’t have to work that day!
I knew that Jason was going to be around that day to help put the appliances in, but I decided to help him along a little bit and get the stove out. This way, he would either have to put my stove in or have to pay for supper if I didn’t have a stove to cook it on! I’m a smart thinker like that! I also wanted to make it as easy and painless to put the appliances in.
Before long–Walllaaaa! They were here. The two guys that dropped off the appliances were great. They even carried everything in the house. Delivery was definitely the way to go!
Puppycat got in on the inspection process, but sure didn’t like it when we were taking the plastic off of everything!
Over all, I love the appliances! There was some sxtensive French used in my kitchen that day by Jason when putting in the dishwasher though. We discovered that there were some mislabeled electrical fuses and coupled with an issue we had with an upstairs heater, our old dishwasher likely still worked, we just didn’t know about the electrical issues. But the new one works now, so I’m perfectly fine with it–because I’m no longer the dishwasher!
The stove looks great too! As far as the microwave–That’s not in quite yet. We thought there was an issue with the venting, but since we got it all figured out, Jason hasn’t had time to get it all installed.
My only problem now, is that I want to update my kitchen.
I don’t like the stain and wood pattern on our cabinets and feel like it clashes with the appliances, butcher block, and kitchen table, all of which I love and do not want to replace. The only trouble, I won’t be able to replace them at the moment or in the foreseeable future and Jason happens to like wood.
So I’ve been searching pinterest to see if I can come up with a happy medium or atleast a bomb way to update them that he won’t hate. Also my kitchen countertop will need a bit of attention. I’ve considered doing the paint to make it look like granite as Kalissa tried that and loved her results…
So now I need your help with suggestions about updating my kitchen. The butcher block and dark stained table aren’t going anywhere. I have been pinteresting a few ideas in my (not so) spare time, but havent’ found anything that I’m absolutely in love with. Do you have any suggestions? Spill below–And as always–Thanks!
Can’t see the table too well but I like your cabinets! What about back splash tiles that pull together the wood and black but have lots of light/white to lighten the kitchen up and reflect light. Surely someone in the family could install them, and Lora could help you get a deal on them, too. And make a cheery table runner for the table.
What about doing a wash of grey on your cabinets that would match the grey in your flooring? That would take the clash away from the butcher block and table as well as lighten up the space. You could also go crazy and ModPodge fabric to the doors and drawer faces that could be easily removed, washed and used in a quilt when you get to do your full-kitchen makeover!
What about starting small and painting your backsplash a light color and live with it for awhile. The cabinet pulls appear black (maybe brass can’t really tell) if not spray them black which ties them to the appliances. After living with it all if you decide to keep wood maybe “marbleize” the countertops using a dark vein with the white.
looking forward to see what you come up :)
Paint the ceiling white, walls a color called Sutton Gray, that I’ve used numerous times for clients, it’s a pale pale grey, does not have a purple, green tint to it, paint counter tops a light white, the back splash a light white/grey mix,( actually I’d use a paint that had some Kilz in it to seal the backsplash area, then you could use a stencil for a design, maybe with some darker grey enamel paint, (think wipe clean) if you didn’t want to tile it) change out your cabinet hardware to the satin nickel or black to match your appliances, grey wash the cabinets or some kind of pickling, get those LED lights that will screw into your existing can lights, ( take existing light bulb out, & this new thing just screws into the socket where the old kinda light bulb went) I have also found/used some drop lights that are Brushed Nickel that drop down on a wire from a can light fix, any length you want that have a white glass shade on it. Treat that butcher block with some Mineral oil, I pour it out on top, let it sit & wipe it off, sometimes I have to do it several times, but it makes the butcher block look gorgeous, almost takes the cut marks & numerous colorations out, mine looked like rich well oiled wood pieces. For the floor, I’d almost do it like the back splash… Any questions just email, would be tickled to help you resource. Also is there a Habitat store near or close ? I have found some unbelievable bargains & when I didn’t like their price, I ask them to sharpen their pencil & would they take whatever my client’s budget could afford or just tell them you don’t have what their asking…I embarrass my family members when I bargain shop, but hey all they can say is no !! and honestly they say yes, more than no !!
Maybe try a gel stain
Get new knobs & drawer pulls. It is surprising what a difference that will make until you decide.
You can replace just the doors on your cabinets and paint the cabinets to match the new doors. You can order the doors through a cabinet company. It will look like you replaced all your cabinets, but it’s just the doors.
I did what Vickie suggested and it really transformed my kitchen. The old pulls were dull brass and I changed them out to porcelain with flowers (this was 20 years ago). It made me feel better until we added on the dining room and totally redid the kitchen.
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/bleaching-wood/
I can’t really determine if your cabinets are solid wood or not. This would give you a new surface that you could finish off in a coloration you might fund a better fit.
I’m not an “update” person but I’ve seen this on renovation shows.
What about grey paint/stain for the bottom cabinets and a white paint/stain for the upper cabinets? The darker grey will go with the black appliances, and the lighter color on the uppers will brighten up the kitchen.
Our contractor talked me into white cabinets & trim when we redid our kitchen. I hate it but we spent so much money on it, there’s no going back. We live on a farm and have 2 boys and a dog in our house. The trim is all scuffed up & the cabinets show everything. I did see something really cute at a smoothie shop in N Dakota-they mod podged printed burlap (seed companies, feed, etc) on their cabinet doors. I’m not sure if it was new or vintage burlap but appeared to be in pretty good condition so it may have been new.
I heard about this fantastic way to update your kitchen cabinets. I’m planning on doing it in October when the weather cools down! It uses a milk paint called General Finishes Milk Paint. I heard about it in a blog called “Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body”! Lots of good ideas there for easy DIY; it kind of addictive!
Here’s the link for the post and it has updates of how her cabinets looked two years later.
https://www.designertrapped.com/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets/
We bought our house over 30 years ago and it came with stained wood cabinets. We painted the cabinets a light yellow and changed the fake early american black hardware to chrome and I love those changes to this day. To me the kitchen always looks cheerful. One warning about yellow though is yellow always seems to look much brighter after you paint than it seemed on a paint card. A light yellow looks plenty bright when used. The cost was only sandpaper to slightly rough up the stained surface, can of primer, can of paint, paintbrush and hardware.
Your new appliances look wonderful and I think changing out the knobs and pulls is the first step with the kitchen. I bought some really nice ones at Menards but online are some great prices also. It really changed my kitchen to get rid of the gold, I replaced them with brushed nickel.
I had a girlfriend who was renting an old farmhouse, which she adored but her landlord wouldn’t let her paint or do anything permanent. She used to dip fabric in full strength starch (Vano Liquid Laundry Starch) and then smooth it onto her walls, cabinets and stair risers. She often changed things up for each season or holiday. When it got dirty from kids’ handprints, it would peel off easily after spritzing with warm water. Launder and reapply or rotate to the next season. It looked very homey and welcoming!
One of our first apartments (34 years ago) had ugly wooden cupboard doors in the kitchen that had aged to an orangey-gold yuck. We had very little spending money marrying young as we had, so I wrapped the cupboard doors in gift wrap paper! Truthfully, even the Sunday color comics from the newspaper would have been a vast improvement!