Choosing Kitchen Appliances
BTW – This post is just 1 in a series of Home Design and Build posts. You can find them all right here: Positively Jane's Home Design and Build.
My husband and I are building our 4th house. And in the process we went appliance shopping. I wanted to see the new models and find out what prices were…before we said yes to the build – this is how I keep my budget in check. You can read that blog post right HERE.
Now, I will confess, right up front, that I am an appliance snob. Yup – I said it out loud. Please don't judge me. I love high end appliances. They make my heart sing with joy. This is just me…it may not be you at all! You might not care.
When we gutted and renovated a kitchen in one of our previous houses I delayed the project until we had enough money for me to buy those fancy Wolf ranges and Sub Zero refrigerators that I saw in all of the magazines. I wanted the 48″ range, integrated refrigerator with drawers, freezer drawers to match and an ice machine. And, I bought ALL of that.
It turns out that all of those fancy appliances that I saved and saved to buy delivered exactly what they promised. Outstanding quality and beautiful aesthetics. I loved the look of the range but found that bending down to put things in the oven was getting harder. I did love the 2 ovens in the range. I LOVED the refrigerator and freezer drawers. But, the ice machine made too much noise and we didn't use it all that much.
Lake House Choices
We sold the above house and built a new one from scratch (house #3). Knowing what I liked and didn't like – In the lake house I installed the:
- 36″ Wolf Gas Range top
- Double ovens which were the:
- Wolf pro series convection.
- Wolf steam oven above it.
- Wolf warming drawer.
- Sub Zero 36″ Integrated Refrigerator with freezer drawers below.
- 36″ refrigerator drawer unit in the island (for fruits and veggies).
FYI – I LOVE panel ready appliances (panel ready means that a custom panel will be put on the front rather than having a stainless front). A word of caution…if you really use your kitchen, those panels will get dented – my cabinet people came out once a year to touch them up and fix the dents. If dents bother you – stainless might be a better option.
A few tools/appliances that I may put in my new kitchen:
Lake House Photos
Review of those appliances:
I loved the range top. It was just perfect. I loved the steam oven (reheating does not dry out your food). It was just perfect. As for the convection oven… I don't think that Wolf ovens cook as evenly as they say they do…in both the range oven and the wall oven.
I loved having the refrigerator drawers in the island. Fruit was on the top. And veggies on the bottom. So convenient. I hardly ever used the warming drawer – so I will nix that this time.
English Cottage
Sometimes choosing kitchen appliances is not as straight forward as you might think. It's not a matter of heading to your local Home Depot, Lowes, or appliance store and picking them out. Style of the space is a major consideration. Since we were building an English Cottage I wanted a colorful range in the kitchen. I have looked into the ILVE range and love the look. One word of caution here…The 40″ ILVE has 2 ovens – both are too small for a large turkey. Either get a 36″ with 1 oven or have another wall oven someplace else. The reviews look good AND they have custom colors.
When shopping for appliances, find someone who has been in the business for a long time. They know what has been happening and what the trends are. Loren at Jeff Lynch appliances wanted to know what I liked and what I didn't like. He also asked me what my budget was. There was NO sense in showing me appliances that I would fall in love with but then can't afford.
First up – I wanted panel ready in everything.
So we started with the dishwasher. I happen to like the ‘European' style of dishwashers. The tines in the middle are closer together so that I can fit more plates. Personally I am not a fan of the silverware drawer pull out thing…it takes way too much time to organize the silverware (my husband LOVES it). I also wanted quiet. We chose the Asko 50 series.
Next up was cooking.
My sister has GE Monogram and loves it. Monogram has a french door oven…so amazing and I definitely wanted it. No drop down door…how amazing.
They also have a great steam oven that I would put above.
I looked at their 36″ range and it is beautiful. I had Loren price it…just in case the ILVE didn't work out.
And last…refrigeration. Since my floor plan is not final yet I wasn't definitive on this decision. All refrigerator with 1 big door, or 2 drawers below? Were the drawers going to be freezer or refrigerator? Would there be drawers in the island? OMG – so much. Loren showed me ALL of my options. I looked at SubZero, GE Monogram and Thermador.
I chose SubZero because they are the ONLY ones who allow a custom toe kick. (A toe kick is the space at the bottom of your cabinet where your toes fit in). All of the other brands have a metal grate of some sort (I think it's for air circulation). But that was definitely NOT the look I was going for.
We also chose 2 under counter refrigerators. One is SubZero (wanted to hide that toe kick) – Model DEO2450R. And the other is a GE Monogram – Model ZIB1240II. This one has an ice machine on the top. Perfect for my husband's get-away room.
A few lighting choices for my island – which do you love?
To Re-cap:
When you are choosing kitchen appliances the first thing that is important is your budget. How much can you realistically afford to spend? I didn't get my ‘designer series' of appliances until I was almost 60. Other things were WAY more important than appliances/
Second up – how do you cook. Do you love to cook? If so, find something that can be cleaned easily. If your appliances are ‘for looks only' then cleaning is not an issue for you.
Do you have a large family? Do you entertain a lot? Do you grocery shop often or once a month? ALL of those answers will help you get in the right direction of your choices.
And last…find an appliance store that has a lot to choose from. Look at your options. Gather prices and then make decisions based on your budget, what works for you…and what you love!
What is Joyful Living all about?
Joyful Living is ALL about not letting the circumstances of YOUR life determine who you really are. You learn to choose YOU instead! Not sure how to do that? Let me help!
To begin, go ahead and read:
3 Financial Mistakes Most Women Make
Looking at Life Through the Lens of God
5 Ways to Get Ahead Financially
must reads
Marriage Killing Money Issues
check 'em out
