Microwave Hung

Not surprisingly, the opening for my cooking appliances was not square. This has happened with blinds and new countertops too. So, one spacer at the side will need to be reworked. That should be done along with the doors over the microwave next week.

New Range

The new range was delivered today along with the microwave which the cabinet guy will install. So far, so good...tomorrow morning the electricians are coming to put in the circuit for the microwave.

This is what it looked like with the old range removed. If you look closely you can see remnants of the hideous wallpaper that was here when I moved in.

And the new range - perfectly level - too bad the electricians and cabinet people will probably have to move it again!

New Kitchen Project

I'm not a cook and my 25 year-old range is functioning just fine but availability of bisque appliances is making me jumpy. I contacted GE to see if they had any plans to discontinue bisque - they say they don't - but I can see the choices becoming fewer and fewer. And my friends with smooth top ranges love how easy it is to keep them clean. I've been thinking about replacing this for awhile but the lack of access to my attic had held me back because I will need an additional circuit. Well, an air conditioner crisis last summer necessitated adding access to the attic (and when I saw how easy it was to add it, I wonder why I waited so long!). My seventies-era range in all its glory:

This morning I had the cabinet guy come to talk about what to do about the spacer at the top. It's not a big deal at all and his company will install the microwave/fan when they rework the cabinet above the stove.

I visited two local appliance stores. The first was a disappointment - the salesman was nice but not that knowledgeable. The second place was great (and cheaper!).

The salesman there pointed out the differences between the microwave I thought I wanted and the less expensive ones and I actually liked the cheaper ones more. And everything can be delivered within two days!

He also gave me some good info about bisque appliances. They're still very popular in Florida though not in the rest of the country and he doesn't think they'll ever go away totally. I did consider stainless - bought a roll of dull silver wrapping paper and covered the stove with it to get an idea - but stainless just looks too "cool" in my cream kitchen:

Desks

I've found that as technology changes, what constitutes the "perfect" desk changes, too. Back in the Stone Age of technology this was my desk:

This picture was taken after I upgraded to a flat screen monitor - there was no room to even write a check on this desk with a CRT. The tower, printer, and assorted cables under the desk was really getting to me!

So Desk #1 became the kitchen table and was replaced by this one from Ballard Designs:

The desk had a compartment to hide the tower and all the "junk" was moved to a stool in the corner. This sort of worked for awhile. But the way the furniture needed to be arranged meant that there was no room for an end table next to the sofa and when I had company using the sofa bed, the coffee table had to be moved to the hall so that the whole place looked like a mess when I had overnight guests. And once I bought an iMac, I no longer needed the tower compartment. Desk #2 was given to a former co-worker along with its chair which really wasn't comfortable for long periods of time.

Scan Design isn't a place I normally shop but, in desperation, I went in there and found the perfect desk components - actually a return and a printer cabinet that fits under it. The cabinet has a top shelf that's perfect for hiding all the junk. And it allowed me to go back to my original furniture arrangement:

I know technology keeps changing but I can't envision ever needing to replace this!

New Pillows, Again

I knew I'd get tired of the orange Ikat pillows but they were a good way to learn how to make envelope-style pillow covers and I just might put them back in the fall. But, for now, I found some beautiful coral and white linen fabric at Ballard Designs. A couple of days ago, I pulled out the old sewing machine and ran up some new covers.