The previous owners
graciously left behind this beauty:
And I failed to take a
photo of the stove they left behind but it was similar to this:
Just add a lot of stains and general abuse and you would
have had our stove.
Now we’re totally on board to use whacha got train, but both
appliances just weren’t cutting it. The stove had a gas leak and was so caked
with dirt that we figured we just weren’t up for the challenges. We were
considering restoring the stove for a retro themed kitchen in our garage
someday but after putting in some research, the cost and time benefit fell short.
Sadly she ended up scrapped out for cash because we needed space in the garage
to store my car for the winter. Still makes me sad we got rid of her.
The refrigerator was also equally dirty and needed a small
part to keep the temperature steady. Again we decided it wasn’t worth our time
and tried our shot at Craigslisting it. We hit gold, someone was interested in
a second fridge for an apartment unit and sold it for $75, score!
So with the fridge and stove gone, we needed something to
cook and store all of our food. We scoured craigslist and found only a few gas
stoves all over $500. One weekend while garage saling, we saw a sign for a gas stove
for $350. It was at another location so we thought we’d check it out. Come to
find it was a great fit, and it was in great condition. Granted it was an off white/ivory
color.
This was our
craigslist ad, cell pic quality.
The previous owners had
mentioned they took it out of their cabin and hadn’t used it since. Shortly
after we brought it home we tested it and found it odd that the flame wasn’t
very large even on high. The flame wasn’t even high enough to boil water. After
a bit of research we found out the stove was propane as opposed to gas. Whop
Whop, guess we should have known since it was taken from a cabin which are
generally propane in our state. We could have paid another $100+ to convert to
gas, instead we decided to resell on Craigslist. It sold for $325 so we only
lost $25 trying to make it work for our house. So we were stove-less.
Shortly after our stove
purchase (and before we knew it wouldn’t work), we found this beauty on
craigslist. Good thing because we may have sworn off craigslist for a few
months.
Since the stove was off
white/ivory, we tried to match the ‘larger’ appliances as best we could. When
the boyfriend went to look at it, he talked the seller down from $150 to $110
saving us $40 because it was dirty and had some scratches. So taking the loss
of $25 from the stove into account, we weren’t down so much. After the stove failure we were a bit bummed
about the stove that we worried about the fridge. I’m happy to report she’s
still kicking.
After discussing fridges,
we found that we both grew up with a top and bottom fridge and our move to side
by side was a surprising success. We fell in love and now when we’re ready to
purchase nice shiny and new pieces, we’ll know exactly what we’re looking for.
The one downside to the side by side was that a standard pizza cannot fit
horizontally, rather at an angle. So we’ll take that into account when we make
our next purchase as well. Nothing our extra freezer (which we scored free for
helping his parents move) can’t handle.
You may wonder how we cope
without a stove and the answer is these two:
The silver one is an
electric skillet, and the old school is an electric skillet we are borrowing
from my dad. I must say free is good. My boyfriend’s parents got him the oven
for his birthday (since we were using a pizza oven instead). We’re extremely
happy with our combination and haven’t found the need to go out and buy another
stove as of yet. Although we do have a stove notification on our craigslist in
case a gas one pops up for the right price.
Call us a little burned (pun intended) but we’re content with our
decision. Plus it’s a huge space saver. When we had the stove in our kitchen it
made the entire room feel smaller.
We are considering a small tabletop
burner; you know the kind used in tiny NYC apartments? Something like this:
So we can finally return
the electric skillet. $40 isn’t such a bad price. Who knows where we’ll end up.
After the stove was
removed, one may think it looks as though we have a miss-matched appliance design,
but it actually plays really well in our kitchen. It may seem as though the refrigerator
may stand out but I have plans to bring in curtains that will really tie it in
nicely. The electric skillet is tucked away in a drawer when not in use and the
oven and microwave play well together. Coincidentally I have a microwave that
matches the stove even better, but it’s in storage.
What are your thoughts on
miss-matched appliances in general? Does it drive you nuts? Do you try to match
them in a unique way?
Want to follow along with the Kitchen progression? Here’s
the Prepping
for paint, Painting Part
1, Repairing
Drywall, Painting
Part 2, Hardware
Decisions, and the
Floor.
I like my appliances to match.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to tackle the kitchen someday and splurge on matching ones.
DeleteWe happen to have one of those tabletop burners lying around from my college days when the landlord wouldn't repair the stove when I moved in. If you're still interested.
ReplyDelete