Appliances Part 2

Last week we installed a new microwave. This week we finally installed our new stove! We weren't sure we could fit it in the PT Cruiser so we decided to borrow my parents suburban and trailer. So, after a car switch with my parents we headed off to the store to pick up or stove. When we got there Ben was talking to the clerk who loaded our stove on the trailer and said that we had considered using a PT Cruiser to pick up the stove. The clerk goes "oh, we load stoves into those all the time! They're our favorite vehicle because they're so versitle!" Good thing my parents are only 20 minutes away...

It had been raining on and off all day and it hadn't rained for at least an hour so we thought we were in the clear... we were wrong. As we pulled out of the parking lot it began to rain, not just a drizzle a full out down pour! Thankfully the stove box was pretty thick so the stove didn't get wet.

Once we got home it was pretty quick getting the new stove in and the old out. So now we have a stove that no longer requires a lighter to start the burners, it's got 5 burners, 1 that can boil a gallon of water in 7 minutes, it has a convection oven and a warming drawer.

Now cooking is going to be so much better!

Stove before

Stove After

Let there be light...

Awhile back we put some rope lights above our cabinets to provide some nice "mood lighting." There was one problem with this, in order to turn the lights on/off we had to run the cord down the side of the kitchen cabinet and plug/unplug it every time.

After some thought Ben decided to try and wire the light cord into a light switch. Out came an outlet in the kitchen and in went a light switch/outlet combo. Ben drilled a hole in the top of the cabinet and tried to run the light cord through the wall...one problem, the cord was too big and the space that we had to fish it through was too small.

Ben then says to me, "I think I'm going to have a drill a small hole on the other side of the wall to fish the cord through." I'm thinking a hole the size of a quarter isn't too bad, and would be fairly easy to patch. So I said "alright, that's cool". Soon the sound of power tools fills my kitchen and in a few moments the switch is installed and the lights above the cabinet can now be turned on with the flick of a switch.

I decided to check out Ben's handy work and see if I could take care of the small hole in the wall...errr what I thought was a small hole. See below for what it actually turned out to be... thank goodness I still have a large tub of Spackle!

New Appliances!

We've been wanting to get a new stove and microwave since we moved in over 6 months ago. Every time I want to use the stove I have to light the burner with a lighter because the starters are broken. So, thanks to some amazing holiday sales we are proud owners of a new microwave and stove! However, there was one small glitch, there was never a microwave above our stove, just a fan. Well, thankfully I married a handy man! After some careful cutting and reconfiguring of the cabinets Ben was able to make it look like there had always been a microwave above our stove. Hooray for more counter space and a working stove!The picture above is what the stove area looked like when we moved in.

The picture below is what it looks like now. Next project is to shorten the doors and put them back up!

Kitchen Cabinets

Our kitchen cabinets are probably one of our least favorite things about our house. The only thing we like about them is that they are spacious and they were custom made, meaning we do have some unique storage options. (i.e. all the upper cabinets connect in the inside)

Otherwise the varnish is terrible, it's got a yellow hue to it and they are finished in a REALLY high gloss and thick lacquer. The cabinets had these 1980's looking handles on them that had clearly never been cleaned since the house was built 23 years ago. I'm sure back in the day they were "hip" and "modern" but now they're just ugly.

There's about 30+ handles in the kitchen that we wanted to replace. After some shopping around we found some inexpensive and simple silver handles that had a more modern appearance.

But now, I'm stuck with 30 ugly cabinet handles that nobody (not even Craig's list) will take for free...perhaps I'll just donate them...

Before (above)
After (below)

The Amazing PT Cruiser

Visits to Lowe's and Home Depot have become a regular part of our week now. After Ben finished the attic stairs we needed to put down some plywood for the flooring so we could expand the storage space. So, off to Lowe's we went. We loaded our cart up with 4 pieces of plywood and 4 pieces of dry wall and 2 longer pieces of 2x4's. After we checked out the cashier asked if we needed help loading the items onto our vehicle, we said "sure". So the cashier followed us outside and asked "so, where's your truck?" Ben and I pointed straight ahead at the PT Cruiser. The cashier's eyes got wider and he finally said, "really? you're going to put this on that? *pauses* ummm... OK..."

After they finished loading up the car I turned around to bring the cart back inside and noticed that we had attracted a few bystanders who simply could not believe we could fit all that on top of the PT Cruiser, one person even took a picture of the car. It was pretty funny.

Stairway to Storage Paradise

Over the years Ben and I have acquired a wide assortment of things, most of which was stored at my parents house since we only had 4 teeny tiny closets in our apartment. When we moved into our house we needed somewhere to store those forgotten items. Our entire basement is finished, so that wasn't an option for storage of random furniture and Ben's assortment of computer parts and boxes for his company. So, Ben built in the garage what I called the stairway to storage paradise. Storing items in the garage attic has never been easier!

If only we had a Fire Place

The picture above is of the yard before the tree was cut down.

The picture below is of our good family friend Pete cutting down the tree.

According to our backyard neighbor when they built our house the builders just left pre-existing trees. In most cases that'd be quite nice, since the trees would be more mature. But...in our case it's not so nice, since the trees they kept were scraggly and drop sticks all over the yard.

Over time several of the trees have died and we were afraid of having some of the larger branches fall on the house. So, we called up "Stehouwer tree removal and Company" and tackled our 2nd tree removal since owning the house.

Unfortunately we have 2 more trees to take down this Spring... on the bright side, we'll have less leaves and sticks to rake in the fall next year...