Tag Archives: renovation

Kitchen Upgrade

The project to renovate and upgrade my kitchen came about from a broken dishwasher which was taken out and converted into a useful cabinet (see process and photos here). I thought, well if we’re going to get people to take the dishwasher away, why not replace the old stove and noisy fridge as well?

First, I went hunting for a new fridge and range. From my research, and looking at different places, I finally decided on buying them from Sears. They were the most knowledgeable, convenient, fair prices and good incentives, such as earning points on my Sears card which I later used to redeem interior decor.

Next was painting the neon green walls in the kitchen. Apparently, the previous owners thought it was a good idea to have these bright blinding green walls. I wanted to keep it simple, so I went with white. It also would match the rest of the suite which was also white.

idearabbit-kitchen6

idearabbit-kitchen7

After painting the visible area of the wall white, I pulled out the fridge and painted the wall behind it. It was tricky since the fridge would only come out so far until it hit the dishwasher in front. I had to slip through the small opening you see above and painted in behind.

The new Fridge 18.2CF was for $679.99. It was difficult or limited to find a fridge that would fit perfectly into the space I had. Since it was an old fridge that was there previously, it didn’t allow for modern fridges which were much taller. Luckily, I found one. I was a bit worried when the delivery guys came and said, ‘I don’t think it’s going to fit.’ But viola! It was a perfect fit, even better than the old one. Goodbye old white fridge. Hello new stainless steel fridge!

idearabbit-kitchen

idearabbit-kitchen2

idearabbit-kitchen5

idearabbit-kitchen4

The wall behind the range was also green, so it was pulled out and painted white as well. Since the green was so vibrant, we needed to painted it over like 3 times.

Then the Range 30″ was delivered.  The range was $699.99 and the delivery cost (only one time fee even though they brought the fridge and range at different times) is $69.95

idearabbit-kitchen8

I highly recommend getting appliances from Sears. I was really happy with the customer service when I was looking at their different appliances. Very helpful and knowledgeable. The delivery was somewhat of a hassle since they delivered the fridge and range on two different dates. Prices are good and have been pretty happy with their products.

 

Take out the Dishwasher, Replace with a Cabinet!

Ever since I moved into my current apartment, I’ve never used the dishwasher. I just find it so time/money/energy/water consuming. Unless you’re a big family or something and have tons of dishes, it didn’t't make sense for me to use it. Recently, my roommate told me that it was dirty inside – likely from all the dust that’s accumulated. So I turned it on for a quick spin. I was shocked to find that the water wasn’t draining, and ended up scooping up most of the water with a cup.

My first mission was to go and find a new dishwasher. I found some reasonable priced dishwashers, but since I wasn’t going to use it, it seemed like a total waste. The only reason I would get it is that the suite would sell better if it had a dishwasher. But since I didn’t know when I’d move out and sell the place, it made sense to take out the broken dishwasher and install a cabinet instead. It would store all my stuff that would normally be sitting on the counters in the kitchen.

idearabbit-kitchen3

Out of order…

Taking out the dishwasher was a bit of a challenge. Thankfully, there’s YouTube. I watched several of them, like this one to see how it’s taken out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6DluU6KM98

I asked for help taking it out – I’m glad that I did cuz it needed a lot of force. I could have never been able to pull it out with my no-muscle arm, lol. At times, it was even hard for him. Since I had ‘studied’ on how they were installed and stuff, I had the knowledge and could direct him on what went where. We were a good team. After it was taken out, the dishwasher was taken away for $25 by Sears and it became a corner under the counter where ‘stuff’ sat for a while…lol

We then bought shelves. We bought a big 24″x48″ board for $15 from Home Depot and cut them accordingly to size (that we had measured numerous times before) so that they would fit in properly.  The rest was also from Home Depot; the door was $60, already made with hinges, the handle was a special order for $30 which took about 2 weeks, a couple bucks here and there for brackets and washers, plus one scrap wood for free. So in total, the project cost about $130. Not bad.

idearabbit-cabinet

Measurements are important!!

idearabbit-cabinet3

Tools!

idearabbit-cabinet2

First clean out the inside. Added a small narrow board at the bottom.

idearabbit-cabinet4

idearabbit-cabinet7  idearabbit-cabinet5

idearabbit-cabinet6

You can fit a lot of stuff in there! More counter space! :D

idearabbit-cabinet8

Tadaaaa~! :D

I’m super impressed with the result, considering the guy wasn’t a professional builder or anything, and didn’tt have all the tools – but he can do just about everything lol. I love it – it holds so much stuff! My counters are clutter free from blenders, rice-cookers, toasters, and pots. The heavier weight of the door then the rest of the doors in the kitchen makes it more higher-end, and must say is my favourite cabinet :)