Porch Sitting

I spent a half hour sitting in the swing on my front porch this week. “Porch sitting” is a family tradition.

Porch where I grew up.

The house (with original owners) was built in the late 1860's
and the porch went half way around the house. They must
have enjoyed porch sitting too.

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One of my earliest memories is related to porch sitting.  My grandmother, mother and aunt were sitting on the porch sipping iced tea when I stuck a hairpin into an electric socket inside the house.  The fuse box was on the porch wall.  It made a really loud noise popping and sparking as it shut down the power and probably saved my life.  My adventure in electrical power resulted in my explanation, “I fall down, Mommy!” and a much deserved swat to my backside.

The same threesome plus my grandfather, father and uncle were porch sitting when my brother (aided by my cousin) hit the baseball.  It broke the window behind my grandmother’s head.  That was one infraction that did not draw a single reproof from any of the men, because my grandfather had carved out the bat for my brother.

During childhood my porch sitting consisted of seeing how high I could make the swing go, or whether I could make the swing into a train by making it move sideways with my feet stuck out under the arm rest.  Much of my porch time was spent playing with a litter of beagle pups, often dressing them in doll clothes.  Another great porch activity was baking mud pies and making a mess that I would eventually have to clean up with the broom and garden hose.

Teenage porch sitting was a solitary activity, usually accompanied by a book from the bookmobile.  When not reading on the porch, I was talking on the phone. (Yes, there were no cell phones.) I moved the phone as far as possible toward the door and then stretched the receiver cord so I could sit on the floor of the porch by the front door. Talk went on there for hours.

 

As I grew older I became one of the adult porch sitters…

Ø  Sharing the events of the day,

Ø  Deciding what to prepare for dinner (the noon meal) tomorrow. 

Ø  Snapping beans or shelling peas….

Ø  Listening to stories I had heard a hundred times before and some I had never heard.

Ø   Listening to the spring peepers, or the deep, deep croak of an old bull frog at the pond.

Ø   Sometimes just watching the grass grow or

Ø   Spotting the wildlife roaming the meadow, usually deer, an occasional fox or, now, a coyote,

Ø   Spotting the groundhog standing up to view the world from the calf lot next to the barn.

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We would sit and watch for the barn swallows to arrive (on March 17^th every spring).  The red winged black birds would dive after an interloper (usually a cat) approaching the pond. We could hear the wild turkeys calling one another from somewhere near the top of the hill. In the background there was the sound of a beagle calling out as it scented and gave chase to a rabbit.

Evening porch sitting came with special activities besides swatting mosquitoes. Sometimes we would watch the kids catching lightning bugs and putting them in jars.  Or they would get a flashlight and look for “night crawlers” (earthworms) for a possible fishing expedition to the pond.  Often a game of hide and seek would develop.  As a porch sitter I was just aware of what the kids were doing, but never hovered or involved with what they were doing, unless some critter needed identification or, I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a gift.

My porch.

We spent time talking about how pretty the peonies were and whether they would be ready by Memorial Day.  We talked about Aunt Jessie’s recipe for pickles and why they never turned out when we prepared them.  I asked Aunt Pearl what ingredient she was leaving out of her peanut butter fudge recipe, since mine never tasted or looked like hers.  We all laughed, because I had been asking her this question since I was old enough to make fudge.    Does anyone need some more ice tea?

My grandparents, aunts and uncles and parents are gone now.  But, when the weather becomes warm enough, I head to the porch and the swing with my glass of ice tea.  It is a family tradition..

Come sit in my swing and have some iced tea.

Diane's Kitchen--Goal: A Better Traffic Pattern

The new traffic pattern is great for getting to the two eating areas, first the counter with the bar stools and second the table and chairs.  I decided to give us more open space by removing the leaves from the table.  After all, most of the time Jim and I are the only people here and when the two girls are home we can still seat four at the table.  The leaves are available if we need them and then there is also the dining room.

It's a straight shot from the family room to the bar or to the table.

Table for four.

It's a straight shot from the oven to the table.

And, we can even go
 "Round the Mulberry Bush"

Create an Island from the Penninsula

Goal:  Create an Island from the Peninsula

We used the same cabinet, just rotated it.  So the sink
and dishwasher still have the same relationship.

I love the touch free Moen faucet and new deeper stainless
sink.

Added the old fashioned paper holder/cutter to pull in my
antiques (from Pottery Barn.) This is also a good
look at the counter material:  quartz. 

I'm loving shiny, new and no hands.

Now I have an actual towel rod--at each end of the island.

We added new lights both ceiling and pendant.
This one from Pottery Barn is great.

These are my first pendant lights.  They are
over the island.

Diane's Kitchen Finally Finished

Hi!  Thanks for hanging in for so long for my kitchen update.   Here are the final pictures.  I hope you will enjoy them.  Seems like it has taken a long time. There is only space for a few pictures so I will make several posts from different areas.

Goals of the update:

More counter space and updated material:

Coffee and Tea Bar off set from regular counter.

A nice big space for mixing .
and the microwave is under the counter.

Here's my Kitchenaid Mixer (It's blue!)

 

There is plenty of storage for bowls and measuring cups.

This little appliance is my birthday, anniversary, Mother's Day gift to me!

The Back Splash Adds the Color

Hummm….thought I would be able to say that my kitchen is finished today with the pictures to complete this story.  But things have not turned out that way.  I am still waiting for a half page of items to be completed including the back splash.  But, I’m going to tell you about the back splash anyway.

A couple of weeks ago when the floors were installed I stood in the middle of my rearranged kitchen and was a little taken aback!  Medium brown oak custom cabinets, tan (Noce) porcelain tile floors from Florida Tile plus toasted almond quartz counter tops from DuPont were adding  up to a fairly monochromatic color palate in my kitchen.  I wondered whether I had made design mistakes by being too conservative.  But then, there is the wallpaper border above the cabinets with the dark blue stripe.  And, the back splash is still to be installed. So, I decided to reserve judgment of my design choices until completion of that project.

Tree of Life and Willow Tree on the Blue Boarder

Willow Tree on the Wallpaper (Sorry for the fuzzy photo.) 

I admit the bask splash has been a challenge.  There were so many materials to choose from including tile (of course) in glass, stone (too many kinds to mention), metal such as copper, tin, stainless steel,  wallpaper, plain paint or paint with a special application technique, and bead board. Even the counter top materials can be extended up the back splash. I could envision nearly all of these choices in my kitchen.  But, of course there were criteria to consider.  So, I made a list of what I was looking for in a back splash:

·         Cost--Underlining all the choices is cost.  I shopped at five tile (brick and mortar) stores and searched the internet in making my choices. (Being a backslash designer would be a good occupation for a young person with talent in art and design.  I could have used the help in developing my back splash.)  In the end, I purchased some tile from a small local store, some tile from a big box store, and more tile from an artisan located across the state via the internet.

·          Color- was the first “must have.”  With the blue wallpaper border surrounding the top of the kitchen wall, I wanted to repeat the color blue in the back splash.  So, blue was one way to focus the choices.

·         Texture—I wanted something smooth and reflective.  A glazed or glass tile would be easy to clean, reflective and certainly smooth.  These nonporous materials would also be stain resistant. Ease of cleaning is important both over the cook top for cooking spatters and in the mixing area where I often fling batter when using the mixer.

·          Pattern—The wallpaper has pattern.  If I used pattern in the back splash it needed to repeat or blend with the wallpaper pattern. There are house and tree motifs in the wallpaper, so I looked for these motifs when I was shopping for tile.

·         Focal point—I wanted to have the space between the cook top and the vent fan as a focal point in the kitchen.  So far there was no place to attract or lead the eye and this rectangle shaped blank space was the natural place to focus.

The Focal Point

I began by choosing glazed porcelain 3 X 6 subway tiles for the main background of the backsplash.  The color is “Crema,” a creamy light color gradient of the floor color from the Renaissance Collection of Florida Tile.  These were purchased at a small local store, G & G Flooring in Greenville, Ohio. 

Next I began searching the web for tile that might have a house, a willow or a tree of life.  These are all motifs in the wallpaper of my kitchen. To my amazement I found exactly what I was looking for at www.emu.com.  The tiles are hand made by crafts person Emily M. Ulm of Emu Art Tile located in Kent, Ohio. You can find her website at http://emutile.com/   I am so pleased with the decorative tiles and they are the exact color (Watercolor Blue) I wanted. However, the willow tree and tree of life tiles came in a 4 X 4 inch size.  This created a problem for the layout with the 3 X 6 inch field tiles. So I launched another search for 4 X 4 tiles needed for the field tiles within the plaque I planned for incorporating the handmade tiles over the cook top.

Tree of Life Handmade Tile--Watercolor Blue

Willow Tree Handmade Tile--Watercolor Blue

The focal design or plaque is composed of a frame formed by glazed chair rail tiles the same color as the floor, the six handmade watercolor blue ceramic tiles with tree motifs and ten fairly plain tiles that would coordinate with the frame and the subway tile. The six blue tiles are in a staggered arrangement with field tiles of a mottled cream and beige picking up the cabinet and floor color and the cream in the subway tiles.  Jim and I found these field tiles as remnants at Home Depot.

Picture Frame with Handmade Tiles

Glass Mosaic Tiles

Finally, I chose one inch square glass mosaic tiles in varying shades of blue to form a horizontal stripe around entire room.  These are from Mohawk.   Glass tiles would have made a beautiful back splash, except they were cost prohibitive.  If I had used this beautiful glass tile for the entire back splash, it would have cost more than the tile for the entire kitchen floor.   So, we made a little go a long way by using four 1 inch tiles to form the stripe.  Each square foot allowed 3 one foot lengths of the stripe.

I’m sure that if I had more imagination, I could have solved the backsplash problem in another way.  But at some point I had to stop gathering information, make a decision, take action and then take my lumps.  There is still more grouting, sealing and finishing to come, but the decision part is done.

Next time don’t miss the finished kitchen. I hope!!!!

The Microwave Saga

February 17^th I lit out for Sears to do some appliance shopping.  I had already made my list and knew exactly what I wanted:

·         One Kenmore cook top—induction

·         One Electrolux double oven—regular and convection

·         One Frigidaire microwave

I had all the measurements and knew which model (and their numbers) of each appliance had the features I wanted and would fit in the space available. The measurements of the spaces that each appliance needed to fit were also on my list.  I was loaded for bear.

When I got to Sears I found a sales lady and told her what I wanted.  She was a happy camper!  She was a new employee just learning the ropes, so I knew that patience would be a virtue.  (I had been a new sales person once, trying to figure out the cash register, etc.)  I understood.

So, we began the process. First on my agenda was the oven because they only had two that met my criteria and I was worried that my first choice would not be available.  It was.  Then we worked out the details for the cooktop.  There was more than one cook top I could be happy with, but again my first choice was available.  Finally, on to the microwave of which there was only one model which would fit in the space and was in the right price range.  We would pick up the appliances and save the delivery charges.

I wanted the microwave to go under the counter for a couple of reasons.  One, I did not want to use up any of the valuable counter space by placing the microwave on the counter.  Previously, it was located above the oven.  Second, when I was having problems lifting things above shoulder level, I was unable to place items in the microwave. So, I wanted the microwave low enough for my needs in that situation and also accessible by wheel chair.  The cabinet maker had installed the cabinet with space for the microwave.  I had the measurements and this was the one microwave I could afford and that fit. It was available too.  I was on a roll!

The Microwave Space

Then we began to ring-up the purchase:  first the cook top, then the oven and finally the microwave.  They would all arrive on the 28^th of March.  What!!!!!  So, the sales person checked on the cook top.  It would arrive on February 21, in just three days.  The oven would arrive on February 28, in a little more than a week. And, finally the microwave would arrive on March 28^th.  Then she rang up the sale and announced that everything would be delivered on March 28^th to the store for me to pick up.

What?  I had to wait until the end of March?  My question was, “Why were the oven and cooktop not available now until March?” So, the sales lady voided everything, called the manager for approval and started in again.  This time, I suggested that she separate the microwave from the other appliances and charge it separately.  Well after three or four tries (the manager had to be summoned each time), she finally got the delivery dates to match my time table.  After all, Jim and I could put the microwave on the shelf under the counter, but we needed the expertise of our contractor for the other two items.

So, appliances were arriving on time.  I began to worry about whether the microwave would fit in the space.  I must have checked the measurements listed on the Sears web site every day to reassure myself that all was well with the microwave.  Then one day on the web site I noticed that there was a frame to fit around the microwave to give it the appearance of being built-in.  Ah hah!  So, I ordered the kit listed for the microwave…only instead of ordering from Sears, I saved $100 by ordering from Amazon. 

In three days the frame for the microwave arrived.  I was very excited.  I opened the box, drew out the frame and held it up to the microwave space.  It was way too big! Installing that frame would cover parts of the drawers below and beside the microwave space.  So, perhaps they had a smaller frame?  Yes, there was one 3 inches smaller and one 7 inches smaller.  Surely one of these would fit.  That’s when I decided to bring in reinforcements for the microwave project.

I gave Jim the specifications for the microwave and ask him to measure the cabinet and see what size frame I should order for the microwave.  He measured and immediately announced that the microwave on order would definitely NOT fit in the cabinet we had constructed.  Therefore, a different microwave would have to be selected.

At that point, I started looking on line for a new microwave.  I checked Consumer Reports again, because by this time I couldn’t remember what the recommended brands were.  I assembled my list of models with the features I wanted.  Then, Jim called from H. H. Gregg in Richmond to tell me about a microwave he saw there.  He thought I should look it up on the computer and see what I thought.  So, I started to work on that.  The second phone call came and he was at Best Buy where he saw another microwave I should consider.  (I was still working on the first one when he gave me the model information on the second one.)   A few minutes later he called again.  He was at Mennards and had another microwave for me to look up.  Then, about a half hour later, Jim called again.  He was in Dayton at Home Depot and had another great microwave for me to check on.  I still had my list of choices from earlier in the day and none of them were ones Jim wanted me to look up on the internet.

Later when Jim came home from work, he suggested that we go to Lowe’s in Greenville and see what they had available.  So, we picked up and headed for Lowes where we found a GE microwave with all the features I wanted.  Jim measured and determined it would fit the space by 1/8 inch.  We made the purchase, brought it home and slid it into the space—thus ending the great microwave saga.  

The microwave slides into the space with a hair to spare on each side.

Notice the two inches at the top for continuation of the saga.

Today I canceled the order for the microwave from Sears. I am not sure what the moral for this story is.  Maybe it is that things are as complicated or as simple as we make them.

A Nap Interrupted and an Oven Wrestled to the Ground

Late Friday afternoon the phone rang waking me from a power nap.  A little groggy, I answered the phone to find it was the counter top fabricator.  His great news was he will be here this Monday morning to install the counters in my kitchen!  Yeah!!!!! That means everything else will fall (not literally I hope) into place. 

The Tile Floor Finally Finished and Grouted

I Am Liking the Floor

The counter will have the sink mounted on the underneath side.  The cook top, now in a box in the garage, can be installed on top of the counter.  Once the sink is attached to the plumbing, the dishwasher can be hooked up again. These things all have to happen in a certain order to work.   I am truly excited!!!

Space for the Dishwasher

Space for the Cook Top

Sometime during this process the 300 pound double oven will be hauled in from the garage and maneuvered into place.  Getting that thing into the garage was a real adventure.  The contractor, Tod Carroll, offered to pick it up from Sears in his truck.  This was great because the 5 foot tall package would not have fit in our small truck or the SUV.  Tod arrived with the tall cardboard clad oven standing in the bed of his truck and backed the truck to the garage door.  All we needed to do was get this 300 pound box from his truck into the garage. 

300 Pound Package in Garage

What the Oven Is Supposed to Look  Like

Patty, Tod’s wife, and I climbed up into the truck and began inching the oven toward the edge of the bed. We are both women of action.  Patty teaches Family and Consumer Science at Arcanum High School.  Meanwhile my husband, Jim, and Tod discussed how they were going to lift this thing down from the bed of truck without breaking themselves or the oven.

Several years ago Jim purchased some aluminum ramps. The purpose for these is still a mystery.  But I thought about these and wondered if he knew where they were located.  I ask whether they could be used to create a ramp to slide the oven down rather than trying to lift such a big carton.  (I had visions of the two men in traction with multiple trips to the physical therapist.) Miraculously Jim not only knew where they were, but produced them in less than 30 seconds. (If you knew what our garage looks like, you too would be amazed.)

Within minutes the ramps were in place, and Patty and I pushed the boxed oven to the edge of the truck bed. The men steadied the box allowing it to slide down the ramp.  Then they walked the box into place inside the garage.

I’m not worried about getting the oven from the garage to the kitchen. There should be several men around for wrestling the oven into place.  I’m just envisioning a finished kitchen and a house put back in order.

I love it when a plan comes together, don’t you?  Hope I wasn’t dreaming about that phone call!

First Things First

It’s hurry up and wait in the Johnson kitchen!  Sometimes when you have a big project, one small item can cause a big back- up. In this case it is the thermostat for the floor heating system causing the problem.  It is a very small device, but you can’t finish the floor until it is in place.  So, Friday the thermostat was installed and hopefully tomorrow grouting will begin. 

Adding the Thermostat

Waiting for Grout

So today I’ll tell you about one of the new appliances going into the kitchen.  Appliances are a surprise, because we had not planned to replace the cook top, oven or microwave.  But, when the sales began for President’s Day, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to save money.  After all, how long could we expect our aged appliances to continue?  There would be some economy of time and personal energy by having the installation completed while the kitchen is already in a state of upheaval. Plus, if there are cabinetry issues to deal with, the cabinet maker still has work to complete.

I’m very excited about the new cook top. Although I love cooking with gas, the new cook top will not be gas.  I grew up with a gas range and have always liked the instant response to raising and lowering the flame. Although we heat the house with propane, a gas/propane cook top would require some new plumbing.

The cook top will not be traditional electric with coils or even a smooth cook top that heats by radiant heat.  (I have still not mastered cooking with electric.)  I’m looking for something better than traditional electric heat with the continuous guesswork, and the burnt and boiling over pans.   

Kenmore 30 inch Induction Cooktop

The new cook top will be electric induction. Induction is an electromagnetic process which heats the pan instead of the cooking surface. The electric current produces a magnetic field which heats the molecules in the metal pan to heat the food.  Of course you need to have cooking pans composed of iron or steel to heat anything.  (You can test pans by seeing whether a magnet is attracted to the pan or not.)

Induction has the advantage of instant response to raising and lowering the temperature. Induction has other advantages too.  I can still have the smooth glass cooking surface that I have come to love. However, the surface does not become screaming hot.  (I’ve melted lots of plastic bags and containers over the years by placing them on a cook top which didn’t look hot.)  I have found that I like the sleek look of the smooth surface and it is easy to keep clean.  With induction the surface is not hot, so even if you do spill something, it will not burn. 

One thing that has been an issue in the past for consumer acceptance of induction cook tops has been price.  I found that there are several companies offering induction models and the cost difference is down to $200-$300.

Here is a video to click on to find out more about induction cooking.

The new cook top will go into the same space as the old one, so I won’t have to learn my way around that part of the kitchen.  There might even be more space for the cookware stored in the drawer below the cook top, because these units are not as deep as conventional cook tops. I expect it will take a little time for me to learn how to cook with inductions, but I’m up for it.

The Cook Top Goes Here

Expect to read more about my adventures with induction cooking and the depth of my learning curve in future posts. In the meantime, I’m still waiting for the floor to be finished and the stove top is sitting in the garage in a box.  Oh wait, the cook top cannot be installed until after the counters are in place. Hmm.  First things first!

The Week of the Floor

Thanks for joining me on my great kitchen caper.  We started this adventure on February 4^th, so if this is your first visit, you may want to check back to see what things looked like from the beginning.

This has been the week of the floor, the second largest space in the kitchen—only the ceiling is bigger.  The decision to replace the vinyl flooring was a no brainer.  After 24 years it is showing wear, along with many gouges and (my favorite) nail pops. Here is the process I went through in decision making about flooring.

Old Vinyl Floor

First, I checked out Consumer Reports magazine.  That’s almost always where I go before making a large purchase.  But, this time CR really didn’t rate all the kinds of floors possible for the kitchen:  wood, cork, bamboo, stone, slate, vinyl, linoleum, and tile.  So, I went to step two.  Using some of the information from CR I started a list of the characteristics I wanted in a kitchen floor.  In the end I chose porcelain tile from Florida Tile’s Renaissance collection and the color is Noce .  Here’s why.

Florida Tile--Renaissance-Noce (Color) 

Tiles in Place

Durablility.  This will be my “forever floor.”  In all likelihood, we will live with these floors as long as we live in this house.  I want something that will not show wear.  The kitchen is the high traffic area of the house. It’s almost the first place we land after entering the house. I don’t want to see paths worn in a few years. Porcelain is stain resistant, thank goodness.  I tend to spill grape and cranberry juice, so the very hard surface will not absorb stains or hold them on the surface. Porcelain is hard. When I drop knives (a frequent happening,) it will not gouge or cut.  It’s more likely that knives will bend, unless they hit my foot. Porcelain is easy to clean with a Swiffer mop or even a steam mop.  It doesn’t fade.

Attractive. With lots of choices in colors and textures, choosing the color and texture I wanted was the most difficult part of making the flooring selection.  In the end I chose a color (noce) very similar to the cabinets but with variation which looks like marble or even leather.  I worried that the kitchen would be too monochromatic so I chose a contrasting grout color (expresso).  The result will be a warm looking floor with contrasting gout and neither will show dirt.  (That is the real bonus of my color choice.) I chose a smooth glazed finish because I did not want a chalky matte or rough texture that might hold soil.

Porcelain does have some disadvantages.  It is so hard that when you drop a glass or a dish, it will probably break. (I may have to add to my dish collections.)  It is slippery when wet.  (I may need to add some rugs in areas likely to get spills and wipe up spills quickly.)  Porcelain also tends to be cold to the touch, an important issue for a mountain girl who likes to go barefoot in the house.  The remedy for the cold floor is to install heating under the tile.  This will not only warm the floors, but it will make the breakfast room with floor to ceiling windows much warmer in the winter. In the summer, when a cool floor is a bonus, the heat is turned off.

Electric Heating Grid

So here is what happened last week:  the subfloor was secured to eliminate all the squeaks, an underlayment put in place for stability, the wiring for the floor heating was laid down and attached, the tile was mortared in place, and the grout lines were cleaned. The tile cured over the weekend.  This week the grout will be applied. 

The space for the refrigerator was grouted Friday so the refrigerator can be moved from the dining room and attached into the water line today--I hope.  I’m glad.  I really miss being able to get ice and water anytime I want.  I’m becoming dehydrated and my wrinkles are showing.  Also,  I can’t wait to walk on my new tile floor.   

Bucking the Trends

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Keeping Wood Cabinets

Keeping the Old Wood Cabinets:   One of the big trends in kitchen design is painted cabinetry.  While I love the crisp clean look of a white kitchen, and some of the new colors are wonderful, I decided not to paint my light oak cabinets.  The wood is in really good shape with no wear, discoloration or stains.  Unlike many people, I really like the grain of oak.  I think it has character and frankly, I love the warm look of wood.  These are not “builder grade” cabinets. They were custom built, chosen by me-- and I still like them.  I was tempted, however, to change the top molding from the porch picket style to a more architectural design. But, I chose this style because I like to display my antique kitchen items on the top of the cabinets.  Solid molding would make it difficult to see some of my treasured family gadgets.  Plus the rails make decorating the space above the cabinets at Christmas easy with just a few pine garlands.

Still Love the Wallpaper

Keeping the old wallpaper:   The second big thing I like in my “old kitchen” is the wall paper.  Believe me I’ve looked for wallpaper or a paint color and technique I would like better.  I still like the willow and house striped pattern with the blue border and light cream colored background.  It is neutral.  It has the colors I want, the design I like and it is in really good condition.  I am really surprised and delighted that this kitchen has stood the test of time.  The wallpaper has no holes, no peeling, and the seams are really firmly in place.  It has not faded, discolored or stained.  So, surprisingly, the wallpaper stays too.  If I do find a paper I like better or a paint color I would prefer, I can make those changes with very little expense or effort.

These Counters Will Go

Quartz Instead of Granite Counters:  The old counter tops are plain almond beige laminate with bull nose edges.  While these counters are in good shape, this is where I chose to splurge.  The replacement will be a quartz product by DuPont.  Quartz has a look similar to granite but is has more even color and pattern.  Quartz is very hard and heat resistant, it doesn’t need to be sealed and is antimicrobial.  (Bottom line is the low maintenance aspects of the product.)  Because of the new counters, there will also be a new sink, to be mounted under the counter.  I was tempted to replace the stainless steel sink with a quartz model, but decided that stainless steel would coordinate with the dishwasher and be less expensive.

Will Keep Refrigerator

Keeping Some Older Appliances:   Over the years we have replaced several appliances.  These include the dishwasher, the garbage disposal and the refrigerator.  These will stay in the kitchen since they are in very good condition and have several years of longevity left.  Besides, I love my refrigerator.  It is the third one we have had over the 25 years in this house and it is finally the one I really, really like.  It is a French door design with the freezer drawer on the bottom.  I can see all my leftovers in the top without getting on my hands and knees..  I can stuff more frozen foods in the bottom than any of the side by side models I’ve had.  I am a happy camper. 

I will be back next week with more pictures and commentary on my great kitchen caper.