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Upgrading the
SchoolAgain Kitchen
September 2005 The project is finally over! This page has been created in appreciation to the helpful citizens of the Gardenweb.com Appliances forum. After 2 months of reading, research, and asking those that have done kitchen projects before me, I settled on, what I believe, the best equipment for the job. My experiences might be helpful to you as you contemplate a similar journey. Obviously, choosing the right appliances and ideas are highly objective to the person making the decisions, but as I have learned, it's sure nice to see what others have done. I've had my share of nervous moments; realizing the daunting and mind numbing assortment of ranges and hoods available, wondering what would work best for my kitchen, the realization of the cost of this stuff, finding a dealer who carries it, hoping that I made the wisest choices, waiting three months for the things to arrive, finding the right installers, and on and on. I've included a link to my email and am willing to field a few basic questions and can share my experiences with the Seattle area dealer that I worked with. Better then me however, for an incredible amount of wisdom and experience, check out gardenweb.com and join the discussions that take place in the appliance forum. I've included a link below to that as well. Enjoy the photos! |
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The 30" down-draft electric range to be
replaced by a gas range. This could have been a simple job
except that I decided on a 36" high powered bad boy gas range that
needs a high powered bad boy hood where none currently existed.
Did I mention that natural gas was not available in my area?
I leased a propane tank and installed the piping under the house.
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First step: remove the range, and move the cabinet over to gain an additional 6 inches for the new one. |
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| Ok, the range is out. Hmmm.
. . moving the counter over could present another problem. |
Looks ok from here. |
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| oh. . . | A thin piece of wood, some primer, paint, and a length of corner trim- I don't think anyone will even notice |
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| Uncrated, this little baby looks ready to cook! A 36" Bluestar Model RNB, 6 burner, outfitted specifically for propane use. Ka-ching! | 42" Vent-A-Hood Eurostyle Emerald Hood. 600 cfm with a dual blower, 2 pot rails, 4 halogen lights. This hood sucks! Ka-ching! |
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| I lost sleep over this decision. I
love stainless but because this is my home and not a restaurant, I
was looking for a built-in, made for my house look. Based on a color
sample viewed on a two inch square piece of metal, I special ordered
this in a textured enamel after signing a
cannot-cancel-or-change-my-mind waiver. For three months, I wondered and worried. |
Putting a hole in a perfectly good
ceiling, these two guys knew what they were doing. They
crawled in the attic, on the floor, on my roof for six and a half hours. Ka-ching! |
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| We were making pretty good progress
until I blinded Steve with the flash. |
A little bit of trim, caulking and
paint- this thing turned out better than I had imagined |
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| What a fit! | Snug, level and beautiful from every angle, we are finally ready to fire it up. |
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This was the gas installer's first Bluestar. They turned on
the burners, and after a moment of silence, looked at each other and
then at me, and said at the same time, "Wow!" This truly is a
race horse. All on high, from left rear to right is a
simmer burner, 15K, and 22K burners, and from bottom left
to right-22k, 15k, and 15k. I took a chance with the low
profile island backsplash. That is tile against the wall ... and oak. |
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Bad idea!.. That took about 4 minutes with a pan of pasta water on
the 22,000 btu burner. I guess I'll be ordering the 8" back splash
after all. Ka-ching! |
All in all, this turned out rather well, I think. |
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| Note to self- "Sit down and relax for a while" | Another note to self- "Invite some folks over real soon!" |
