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    Updated: Mar 3, 2020 by Kris Jarrett

    Choosing My Kitchen Appliances & Kicking Off Our Reno!

    After months of dreaming and planning we finally kicked off our kitchen renovation last week! It’s definitely an it’s-going-to-get-worse-before-it-gets-better situation since we’re demoing our kitchen down to the subfloor and studs. The crew started last Wednesday and unfortunately because we lost power on Thursday and Friday after getting hit hard by the nor’easter that came through, they were only able to get in that one day of work but even in just a single day they made some serious demo progress:

    Day One of our kitchen renovation - demo!

    The next step is to demo the floors which they’re going to start into on Monday. My contractor warned me that taking out those red tile floors was going to be the dustiest process ever no matter how many dust containment strategies they put into place so I know this week isn’t going to be fun (and the fact that yet ANOTHER snow storm is heading our way doesn’t help either!). But that doesn’t lessen my excitement about the good things to come with this space because the closer we get to finishing tearing it all apart, the closer we are to putting it back together! 

    A few weeks back I shared my kitchen layout and cabinetry plans (you can catch that post {here} if you missed it), and since then I’ve had lots of questions about the appliances and countertops I’ve chosen for my new space. While I’m still flip flopping between two final contender countertop choices (I know… I’ve got to make my final decision asap!), I have my appliances nailed down and wanted to share those with you today since I put a lot of time and thought into that decision.

    Before I even started planning our kitchen reno, I reached out to a local real estate agent to find out what kitchen features she thinks are most important to buyers in our area. We plan to move in about 3-4 years and the real estate market isn’t all that great here so it was important to us to not only create a kitchen we love for ourselves but also one that will help with resale down the road. To be honest, I was kind of surprised to hear that higher end appliances were a biggie. I’ve always thought that appliances wouldn’t matter too much for resale because the buyer could swap them out with exactly what they want but apparently the name of the game to selling around here is to have your house 100% move-in ready, including premium appliances. So with that in mind, my appliance shopping began! I started by simply looking at the design and looks of appliances because let’s be honest… no matter how many functions or cool features an appliance has, it was also going to have to be pretty too for me to want to use it in my kitchen! And one that stopped me in my tracks and that I kept going back to time and time again is this stunning lady: 

    Gorgeous Monogram range with double oven - love!

    Umm… did Monogram custom make this range with me in mind?! LOVE those chunky knobs and handles, the clean lines, and the idea of having a smaller sized second oven because half the time that’s all that I need. After finding that same combination of elevated, purposeful design in Monogram’s dishwashers and refrigerators, I started researching appliance ratings and asking friends about their appliances and found two that owned and loved their Monogram appliance suite (including a designer friend of mine). So after being convinced that Monogram appliances were the perfect fit for our new kitchen, I reached out to Monogram about partnering on my kitchen remodel and was thrilled that they shared my excitement and vision for the project and loved the idea of working together. I’ve since learned so much about the Monogram brand and couldn’t be more excited about my future appliances and the crazy number of innovations packed inside their beautiful exteriors.

    One of my favorite innovations with this soon-to-be-mine Monogram range (I chose {this model}), is that the oven has a temperature sensor probe that plugs into an outlet on the oven’s interior wall. You insert the probe into the meat you’re cooking and once it’s reached the desired internal temperature, the oven will signal that’s is done. How awesome is that?! I’m also pretty excited to have a built-in griddle instead of having to store and haul out the big old electric griddle that I currently use for weekend pancakes:

    48" Monogram range with six burners and griddle (that can also be replaced with a grill!)

    And given that I’m a girl who hates to hand wash dishes, I love that the oven roller racks are designed to stay in the oven during the self-clean cycle and that the burner grates of the range are dishwasher friendly. Plus, the grates are reversible so you can use the flat side for regular pots and pans and then flip them over to their contoured side that perfectly cradles woks – I make a mean stir fry so it’s a feature I know I’ll use a lot:

    This Monogram range has flat burners that reverse to contoured burners for cradling a wok - so smart!

    Above my range I’ll have {this Monogram hood} that has a feature that I haven’t seen anywhere else – there is a remote mount option for the hood control panel so instead of reaching underneath it to access the controls you can mount them on the wall or countertop. In my last two houses, I had downdraft stoves by necessity since they were both located on peninsulas so having a hood is new for me – I’m trying to decide on the best location for the controls – what do you guys think? 

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    I found just as many features to love about Monogram refrigerators too! First off, just like the ranges, they’re stunners! I chose {this counter-depth French door refrigerator} which has a slightly shallower depth than most counter-depth fridges so that it lines up with the kitchen countertops, which is a great trick for making a freestanding fridge look built-in. There are two different handle options and I had the hardest time choosing but ultimately decided to go with the Professional handles to match my range. I think I’m going to go with somewhat delicate pulls for the cabinets and since I love contrast, I decided to mix things up with the chunkier appliance pull option:

    Monogram appliance handle options - European vs. Professional

    Our current refrigerator doesn’t have a way to make easy adjustments or customizations (you have to take everything off the entire shelf to move it up or down) so I’m excited about the flexible features my new fridge will have, such as as the option to pull down a drop-down tray in the door of the refrigerator that allows for extra storage when you want it and tucks away when you’d rather leave more space for tall items below:

    Awesome refrigerator feature - drop down tray in door of Monogram refrigerator. So smart!
    and this brilliant Quick Space shelf option where you have a full-sized shelf available when you need it but can simply slide it out of the way when you don’t: 
    Love this quick space shelf in Monogram refrigerators that functions as a full sized shelf when you need it and slides down for storage when you don't!
    There are some really innovative lighting features too! Along with showcase LED lighting that’s designed so that you can see what’s on every shelf even when it’s full, some Monogram refrigerators have a temperature controlled drawer with three setting options, each of which is associated with a different colored light so you know which setting you left it on with a simple glance at the color of light. So smart! 

    My new dishwasher has that same perfect combination of Monogram brains and beauty. Like my refrigerator, it’s designed to be installed completely flush with the cabinetry which helps create that clean-lined look that I love! 

    Love how this Monogram dishwasher can be installed flush with the cabinets for a clean-lined look!

    And there will be no more shoving my head halfway into the dishwasher to figure out whether my dishes are clean or not because there’s LED lighting that lights up the interior when you open the dishwasher door:
    LOVE the idea of having LED lights in my dishwasher like this one from Monogram! So smart!
    But my favorite feature of all has to be the bottle jets built into the upper rack of the dishwasher. You guys, hand washing water bottles is the bane of my existence. Ok, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration but every single night I find myself hand washing those suckers and wishing I didn’t have to. The bottle jets in my new dishwasher spray water all the way up into the hard to reach areas inside water bottles and other tall items so that they get totally clean. That makes me ridiculously happy 🙂 

    My FAVORITE dishwasher feature - bottle washing jets to get the inside of water bottles and vases clean!

    And last but not least, I went with {this Monogram microwave drawer}! Thanks so much for all of you who gave me the nudge I needed to go for the microwave drawer instead of a freestanding one. I’ve actually never used a microwave drawer before but after all of your rave reviews, I’m sure it was the right choice. 

    Monogram microwave drawer - perfect for a kitchen island!

    Oh and one last thing that I’m looking forward to playing around with – I’m going to be able to integrate my dishwasher and refrigerator with Monogram’s Kitchen App! It lets you know if your refrigerator door is left open and alerts you if your refrigerator loses power (an especially nice feature when you’re gone on vacation) along with telling you how much time is left until your dishwasher finishes its cycle and if you need to order more dishwasher pods. Monogram’s electric wall ovens are also wifi connected and you can use the app to pre-heat your oven, track how much cook time is left, and even turn off the oven if someone in your family accidentally leaves it on – how amazing is that?!

    Love that you can control your Monogram appliances with their Wifi Connect app!

    I had no idea that appliances had come so far since the last time I appliance shopped years ago and I can’t wait to start putting these babies to use! But first we have to get through this week of dusty demo. Wish me luck and check in on Instagram Stories for in-progress peeks throughout the week! Thanks as always for stopping by – it’s so fun having all of you to share my renovation excitement with!

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