I have been deep into thinking about how our new place will look and function and have probably been spending way too much time reading decorating blogs, Houzz, and Pinterest. There are a few things that we did here that I won’t be doing in our new place, and I thought you might like to know what they are. Now, I should point out that I don’t know yet what the different choice will be on all of them, but they will be different. So, here we go.
Refrigerator
I know for sure that we will not have a Kitchenaid fridge at our new place. I have not liked our refrigerator since the first day we moved in. In fact, I wrote a blog post about it that you can read here. I think our refrigerator was designed by someone who doesn’t cook or spend much time in the kitchen. The design is horrible, and the quality is also bad. In just six years time, we have had to replace the ice maker and the main control panel. Those are the two main functioning components in the fridge, and they both broke and cost us plenty to replace them. So, in addition to being poorly designed, it is poorly made. At this point, I don’t have a clue which brand we will be using in our new place. A few months ago, you all gave me some brands to try, but Mr. Right wants to read up on Consumer Reports opinion, too.
Bathroom Floors
I have loved having heated marble floors in three of our bathrooms, but for our new place, I am going to go with heated porcelain floors in the baths. During our travels we have seen many, many marble floors in museums, historic homes, temples, churches, etc., and they have looked great. Thousands of people have walked on them, and they have patina and etching and just ooze with history and personality. That is all fine in a museum, but I just freaked out when a stain or etching showed up on our bathroom floors. For some reason, I want them to look/be pristine, and marble etches. I definitely have some OCD, and when it comes to our marble floors, it kicks up into high gear. I know they are clean, but I want them to look clean, too.
White Kitchen Sink
I am not truly committed to this decision yet, but I think I might forgo a white kitchen sink in our new place. When we remodeled the kitchen in our last place, we had a stainless steel sink installed, and it was just fine. It was easy to clean and was resilient to scratches. The white farmhouse sink that we have in this house is pristine and looks brand new because I have treated it with tender loving care. I’m not sure I want to be that careful any more. I gently put pots and pans in it, and before I ever wash something that won’t fit in the dishwasher, I pull out pads and place them in the bottom of the sink so it won’t get scratches and dings. Frankly, I am tired of being that careful. You will be the first to know which way I go on this, but as of this moment, I am leaning toward stainless.
Washer/Dryer Without Risers
We had risers under the washer and dryer in our last house, and it was so much easier to do laundry. When we remodeled this house, we opted to have cabinets installed above the washer and dryer. On moving day, we discovered that the cabinets meant we would have to remove the risers under those two appliances. I really haven’t liked bending over again and again to put clothes in the washer, then put them in the dryer, then remove them from the dryer. Having risers made all of that so much easier, so our new washer and dryer will have risers.
Storm Door
Our new place does not have or need a storm door. In our current house, there is no overhang or roof over our front porch which means we have a storm door that provides protection. If we didn’t have a storm door, the actual front door would get wet every time it rains. Then the paint would probably peel, and the door would wear out faster. Having a storm door means that it is tough to hang a wreath there because it interferes with the mail person when mail is delivered, and it gets in the way of people trying to make a smooth entrance into our home. We do hang a wreath during the Christmas holidays, but I love to see homes that have seasonal wreaths all year long. So, for practical reasons, our new home will not have a storm door.
I really thought long and hard about the changes we will make, and it took me a long time to come up with these five. I think that’s a testament to how much we love our home and how well-planned and thought out it is. But with the new place we have new opportunities, and it’s a chance to try something different.
Take care.
When we updated our kitchen and renovated our master bath last year, I labored endlessly over appliances, flooring, sinks… you name it. I’d have our Consumer Reports account logged in, as well as manufacturer’s reviews, and sorted them from worst to best (good way to detect potential consumer issues). We opted to have NO water dispenser on our new fridge (one of the issues on our older fridge), replaced marble flooring with porcelain tile and radiant heat in the bath, and replaced a white porcelain sink with a composite called Siligranit in the kitchen, which I love. Something I love even more than I ever thought is a 60/40 split in the basin, with low divide. It allows oversized pans with handles to lay over the divide so the bowl can be easily washed.
Good luck in your research…..glad that’s behind me right now. It’s a job!
Rita, I am considering the 60/40 split as I have heard others really like them. Interesting that you switched from marble to porcelain, too.
I have a Samsung refrigerator that I love. the freezer is on the bottom and the refrigerator part has French doors. I no longer have outside the door ice makers because I believe manufacturers don’t know how to make reliable ones. Instead, the automatic ice maker is inside the freezer; it’s easy to roll the freezer open and scoop out some ice.
Thank you for the info, Pam. And by the way, are you my Pam in NYC?
I’m rebuilding an old house and am about to make these choices. I bought a new refrigerator about 5 years ago; my local dealer recommended a Maytag/Amana and it has been great. He said he had more returns of Samsungs by far than any other brand. I agree that in-door ice makers are a waste of money.
For floors my contractor likes scored and polished concrete floors! He and his wife have them in their house and others he has done. They look like large expensive tiles and don’t show wear or dirt. And easy to put radiant heat underneath.
Buy your new washer soon–they are likely to have a 75% tariff added on all imported clothes washers.
I’m in upstate New York: storm doors are a must. No choice.
Barry
Good info, Barry. We can talk more about it when we see each other in a few weeks in Nicaragua.
I’m glad to know that about your refrigerator. We have a GE Profile fridge and I will never get one of those again. The ice maker is small and never produces enough ice especially if we have company. Just had to have the whole component replaced. Will be anxious to see what you end up purchasing.
Susan the unfortunate thing about a fridge is that you really don’t know how it behaves until you have committed to the purchase and it is in your home. It’s the same thing with a mattress. Too bad we can’t rent to own!!! LOL!!
Good thoughts and tips for all of us. Agree with using stainless sink and not a white one, ruined mine not being careful enough. On refrigerators….the more “stuff” on it, the more there is to break is my experience. Now I’m going to give some thought to risers under my washer/dryer!
Linda, the risers will save your back.
We did a complete kitchen remodel two years ago and went with Bosch appliances. I went with a combination microwave/convection oven as my second oven and it has been a LEMON. Cannot begin to tell you how many service calls we have had. Bosch has agreed to replace it even though it is out of warranty but the only replacement has terrible reviews. There is only one model that works with my Bosch oven below. All other appliances have been fine.
I would be interested in comments about appliances that are loved in the comments.
Marian, I always thought Bosch was supposed to be great!