We’re Buying A New Kitchen! (With House Attached)
Since starting Southern Plate, one of the regular things I get asked is to show readers my kitchen. Many loving and wonderful people have this grand idea of me having a spacious and functional kitchen with the latest and greatest of appliances and decor. While I do have some pretty awesome counter top appliances, the “coolness” factor of my kitchen ends there.
Whoever designed this house had a real eye for miniatures and they really let that shine in my little kitchen, which I affectionately call my “walk in closet with appliances”. I’ve never actually shown photos of my kitchen because I have a difficult time fitting in there with a camera. The designer’s love of miniatures is further emphasized by the dark finished cabinets and dark blue counter tops. The teeny tiny window pulls it all together, shedding just the right amount of light to make one feel as if they are in a small and cozy cave. Ahh, the baking bliss I’ve known for the past ten years.
~grips the sides of her keyboard with white knuckles as she looks to you in desperation~ I need sunshine people!
Now I know some of you are thinking that I could have painted those cabinets and remodeled that kitchen. Seems easy enough until you realize that I don’t have a handyman handy. I have a husband who can design entire space stations but after ten years I just recently managed to talk him into taking up a paint brush for our living room. This left me with two options: Do it myself or hire it done. My two answers to those are: I don’t have time and I can’t afford it – BUT ….
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…the moment you’ve all been waiting for!
Alright, so I’m the one whose been waiting for it but I’m trying to be all grandiose here because this is a big moment for me so bear with…
MEET MY NEW KITCHEN!!
(with cabinet hardware that is soon to be replaced with shiny chromey silvery looking deals because I can do that much myself!)
MEET MY NEW STOVE!
It has FIVE eyes!
FIVE!!!!
~giggle~
Thank you, GE, for making my FIVE eye stove!
Meet the interior of my new stove!!
MEET MY NEW DISHWASHER!
Isn’t it beautiful? I swear I want to have wallet prints made of it to hand out…
~blows a kiss to Whirlpool~
MEET MY NEW MICROWAVE!
(I think its a toaster oven, too. I’ve never had one of those!)
Now class, say hello to the sink…
~voices pipe up in happy unison: HELLO, SINK!~
Another view of my kitchen!
Yes, I do need an island but that old no-handyman thing comes into play again so we’re just gonna have to save up some moolah and buy one or get creative.
I’m hoping I can come across some type of antique work table or such to use that will prove useful as well as be a cool story telling piece and make me seem all Martha-esque!
Another view of my new kitchen…
This is a photo of MY FIRST EVER PANTRY!!!
And follow Katy right out this door from the kitchen into….
My Southern Plate office!!!!
(formerly known as “the sun room”)
My current office is a recliner by day and my bed by night
Another view of my new office!
My FIRST EVER office which is ATTACHED to my NEW Kitchen!!
This is the upstairs apartment where visiting Southern Plate dignitaries will stay
(That means Terri of Dixie Cornbread fame is gonna come visit me)
Honestly, I never thought in a million years I’d ever have a house with an upstairs! How COOL is this?
VERY COOL!
This is another view of the upstairs apartment, with Katy heading into the big closet that is going to serve as an overflow for my pantry.
Look at me, getting my first pantry and already planning a second!
Apparently, getting in closets is an awful lot of fun.
This is the back view of my Southern Plate office with a view of the balcony on the visiting dignitary’s suite :).
This house is SO BEAUTIFUL, I cannot BELIEVE I am going to get to live here!
I am going to be holding my breath until closing!
This is where I want to have my raised bed garden.
My garden has become quite a point of contention around here but we won’t go into that ~smiles sweetly~.
Now THIS is where you come in!
All of my beautiful new appliances: microwave, oven, dishwasher…one thing is missing!
I am most likely going to have to fill that hole with our current refrigerator for a time at least. The one we have was the cheapest model available ten years ago and it has pretty much held up as expected. Shelves have broken and had to be tossed. A drawer in the bottom cracked and eventually had to be thrown away as well. It’s even missing one of the front door handles!
Bless its little pea pickin’ heart, this fridge runs fine but leaves so much to be desired other than that ~laughs~.
I’ve just been grateful to have it though. Think of all of the people in the world who don’t have refrigeration and its hard to complain about a working refrigerator.
However, I feel like I am moving into a dream kitchen with my new stove, microwave, dishwasher, and pantry. I would dearly love to have a new refrigerator to go along with them. I’ve already been window shopping even though it will be a few months before we purchase one. This is going to be my new baby and I want to get the best I can possibly get for my money.
With that in mind, here are my questions for you:
- What brand of refrigerator do you recommend?
- What features do you find indispensable?
- If you were going to purchase a new refrigerator, where would you go?
- How long have you had your refrigerator and what kind do you have?
AND if you would like, send me a photo of your refrigerator along with a description of it to publish in a future post ! (No, I’m not kidding!) You don’t even have to clean it off, just send me a photo of it as is, along with what brand it is and how long its been keeping your family chilled.
Email photos to: fridge@southernplate.com
So here is the summary of my new kitchen with house attached!
Our current house:
- a little over 1400 square feet
- 3 bedrooms
- 2 baths
- teensey weensey miniature kitchen 🙂
Our NEW Kitchen (with new house attached!)
- over 2500 square feet
- 4 bedrooms plus bonus apartment
- 3 full baths
- GINORMOUS kitchen filled with SUNSHINE and a walk in pantry!
- Southern Plate office in the former sunroom (more sunshine!)
Now there is ONE MORE THING I need from all of you! You know how Martha has names for her houses and such? I want a name for my new home. Y’all know I enjoy having humor injected whenever possible so that would be a plus (but not requirement) in the name. A play on Southern Plate might be fun as well but not neccesary. After you tell me all about your refrigerator, I’d love it if you’d help me think up a name for the new house we are getting (as a result of it coming attached to our new kitchen). Got any ideas?
“Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities — always see them, for they’re always there.” ~Normal Peal (Submitted by Southern Plate reader, Barbara)
To share your positive or motivational quote and read more from other readers, click here!
Thank you for letting me share this big news with you! It still doesn’t seem real to me that we are going to get this house but closing date is set for the end of the month so cross your fingers with me that I don’t wake up!
Gratefully,
Christy
Congratulations on your new kitchen and house! For the refrigerator, I have had a GE for 10 plus years and it has been great. It is the freezer on top model. My dream refrigerator is stainless steel front with the freezer on bottom. Some have two doors for the refrigerator section, but I would be happy with just one! My sister and my daughter have both had side by side refrig/freezers and hated them. Not as much shelf room as a regular refrig. Good luck!
Christy,
Isn’t it great moving into a new house? We moved into our new house on 20 acres we had for a few years and YAHOOOOOO I love it. I love your sunroom/office. I can totally see a dwarf lemon, lime and orange trees hanging out in the sunshine. Oh and herbs wow I’m jealous I don’t have a sunroom but I love my kitchen.
What brand of refrigerator do you recommend?
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=295995-83-GFSL6KEXLS&lpage=none
What features do you find indispensable?
Huge veggie and fruit drawers (we have a garden), ice and water dispenser, large storage on the doors for ketchup and all my sauces. I also like big refrigerators because I like to keep my meat in a nice plastic container so it doesn’t leak out.
If you were going to purchase a new refrigerator, where would you go? Lowesor Sears
How long have you had your refrigerator and what kind do you have?
3 years and it’s a Maytag side by side but the link I sent you is my dream refrigerator. My parents have one and I am always trying to get them to trade. LOL
Hope this all helps and good luck.
Oh! Congratulations Christy!! The new house looks wonderful! And how happy must that kitchen be to be getting a chipper, witty, great southern cook!? I sure am glad it’s not going to be wasted on somebody who just calls for take-out.
I don’t really have any specific advice on the refrigerator thing. Everybody has their own preferences. You should probably figure out what has bugged you most about the ones you have used and try to remedy those problems. When we replaced ours not long ago my main “gotta” was ice and water through the door – LOVE THAT! But we were very limited because of the space in my kitchen. The fridge has to fit between a cabinet and a wall and appliances just will NOT suck in a breath so they can fit! We actually had to cut a piece off the cabinet that is over the top of the refrigerator.
P.S. You reminded me of my first experience with real estate – I bought a dishwasher with a house attached!
Christy, how exciting for you. I got a brand new kitchen in my existing house this past summer because last May a tornado put a 150 yr old oak tree thru my house. When re-construction began I knew I wanted an “open” floor plan which I love. I have a brand new kitchen (after over 32 years). My old kitchen was long and narrow, dark and although I had painted the cabinets, replaced the countertops, handles, appliances, light fixtues etc…it’s just not the same a a brand new one. My new kitchen is light and airy with an island. Lots of cherry cabinets, pantry, oak floors etc. I love it, although it was an unusual way to get a new kitchen!! Anyway, I have always liked Whirlpool appliances and my new fridge is a side-by-side whirlpool. This is also the first time I have had ice and water dispenser in the door of my fridge. I’m loving my new kitchen digs and I know you will love yours as well. My fingers are crossed and prayers are sent your way that all will go smoothly until you close on your new house. Thank you for all you do, I so enjoy your posts and recipes.
Great kitchen and office combo. You are going to enjoy every minute in it. How about “Sunnyside” as a name? Simple and positive.
Yay for you!
My opinion on the Fridge, we have a Kennmore and it’s been fine for the last 8 years we have had it. But I wish it were chrome ’cause that’s cool. Side by side is nice, lots of storage for food in the freezer. too. We buy in bulk! I hate the freezer on the bottom drawer thing. My aunt had one, and it is a pain to get stuff out if it’s at the bottom, and things tend to just pile on top of each other so you can’t see things without moving everything around.
You can keep the old fridge for overflow…which you probably already thought about, but it can go in the garage or someplace you won’t see it but can get to it easily.
On names for The Kitchen/house…I keep thinking of Gone with the Wind. when Scarlett says, ‘As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again”….I can see you standing in the wind as you dig your raised bed garden….sorry. Ok, the name, South Plate, or South Fork, South Dish, ….that’s all I got…good luck and congrats!
Yay! I’m so excited for you! Congrats on the new kitchen (with house attached).