Choosing Appliances | One Room Challenge: Week 4
Hey friends! It’s Week 4 of the One Room Challenge and this week I’m talking about how I chose appliances and giving a bit of a status update on the project! If you’re just tuning in for the first time, the One Room Challenge is an 8-week challenge where participants make over one room in their homes and I’m tackling the kitchen! You can catch up here:
Week 1: Kitchen Plans, Before Photos, and Mood Board
Week 2: Traditional Floorplan vs. Open Concept
Week 3: New Floors for an Old House
I thought I’d talk a bit this week about choosing appliances because it’s something that honestly took me forever! I haven’t really had nice, new appliances since I moved out of my parents house so the idea of getting new ones was really exciting! I knew I was looking for a fridge, dishwasher, gas range, and range hood. Since the microwave will be concealed in an appliance garage I’m just keeping my current one for now.
In terms of colour, as much as I love some of the new, more modern lines of white appliances, I decided stainless steel would be the most neutral option at a reasonable price. I had a few wants and a few needs for each appliance, so I laid those out from the start to narrow things down for me.
Needs:
30” gas range
36” counter-depth refrigerator
24” dishwasher
matching wall-mounted, vented range hood with light
Wants:
5-burner cooktop for the range, ideally with an integrated griddle
Convection oven
Dual ovens
French-door refrigerator with a drawer freezer
Water dispenser and ice maker in the fridge door
Third drawer in the dishwasher for awkward utensils
I didn’t think I’d get all of these things, but listing them out was helpful! Next I considered brands. Honestly, it seems like these days almost every brand has issues so my primary goal was choosing a manufacturer that I could get repaired as needed. I also knew I could get more for my money if I went with scratch-and-dent, so I’ve been closely monitoring a few scratch-and-dent retailers for months, and a few weeks ago I hit the jackpot!
Elmira Home Comfort, a local retailer we bought our kegerator from, had a matching Kitchenaid range, fridge, and dishwasher for sale, all scratch-and-dent. I saved hundreds of dollars off the regular retail price, and got ALL my wants except for one. The water dispenser is located inside the fridge instead of in the door, and the ice maker is in the freezer itself. As much as I wanted the convenience of these in the door, this is a great compromise that also gives me more internal fridge space. Also, Elmira Home Comfort was kind enough to hold the appliances at their warehouse for me so that I don’t need to worry about storing them until I’m ready for them.
That left just the vented range hood I needed to install over the range, so I kept watching and found a matching Kitchenaid one open-box from Best Buy for $100 off the retail price. I am so excited for our new appliances, it’s going to be such a dream to cook on new, functional appliances, and to have an exhaust fan!
In terms of progress, I am on track so far but I do have a few possible setbacks on the horizon.
I was hoping to take two weeks to finish the floors and we’re in the second week now. My current goal is to finish laying the tile by Saturday so that I can grout during the day on Saturday. The section of floor we’re covering connects the front door, living room, dining room (which is our temporary kitchen), the only full bath, and the second floor (where our bedroom is). That means not being able to walk on this flooring would prove challenging to say the least. And keeping our 100 pound dog off of it would be nearly impossible. To make our lives a little easier I’m planning to book a night at a local hotel for Saturday night so we can all just clear out for most of the 24 hours it will take the grout to set.
A slight issue this week was with cabinet hardware. I ordered a sample of the pulls and handles I was hoping to use so I could take a look at them before order all 30, but they were delayed by about a week and by the time I had received both they had just gone out of stock online. Now I’m trying to decide if I should wait it out (and reveal the room without cabinet hardware), or change gears and try to choose something new.
I’m also still waiting to hear from the company who is installed my new windows as I’ll need the new kitchen window installed before I can tile the backsplash and install the range hood. In good news, I got an email this week letting me know that the last IKEA cabinet I was waiting for is coming back in stock and I should be able to get it soon!
What’s next?
Demo- Frame out the new pocket door
Insulate and vapour barrier exterior wall- New electrical,
venting the range hood - Replace drywall as needed & paint
Replace/reinforce subfloorLay underlayment- New floor tile & grout
- Install cabinets
- DIY appliance garages
- Run new heating/cooling vent for kitchen, gas for the gas range,
electrical for the dishwasher, and water for fridge and dishwasher - Install counters
- Install and grout backsplash
- Install appliances
- Finishing touches
I’ll be back next week with an update! In the meantime you can follow along with my progress in real time over on my Instagram, and you should check out all the other awesome projects the other participants are tackling over on the One Room Challenge blog!
