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:
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:
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:
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:
