One Month Home-Ownership Anniversary Deserves a Gift!

One month ago today we closed on our condo! It simultaneously feels like yesterday and last year. One of the most frightening, intimidating, and stressful days ever, we had no idea what to expect or what we'd gotten ourselves into. One month later, the stress of building our home is a constant, but the anxiety and fear are easing, and slowly, but surely, it is coming together.

As you already know, the kitchen is our biggest project in terms of the changes that need to be made beyond the cosmetic. We have definitely one, and possibly two contractors coming this weekend to provide us with estimates on the kitchen we envision. Hopefully that work will be able to start soon. Funky, vintage appliances are cool in concept, but I don't know how to work these things at all! Nor are they remotely anywhere near anything one could call energy-efficient. The other night I put a baguette into the top oven to soften it up for dinner. It burnt in two minutes. The oven was set to 200 degrees. Sigh.

So because the kitchen project involves big purchases as well as demo and labor, we've been tracking prices for all of the various pieces we will need. Per my old friend Kate's brilliant suggestion, I have signed up for every e-newsletter possible: Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears, and Best Buy, as well as some local places, in order to hear right away about any promotions, sales or deals. To that end, this weekend is Sears Bonus Days (money back on qualifying purchases), and today only there's a great promotion for purchasing qualifying energy-efficient kitchen appliances at most major retailers. The promotion involves an allotted amount of government dollars in kick-backs on these purchases (this is in addition to the stimulus package in place for similar purchases). So... happy one month anniversary of home-ownership to us... we might just buy a fridge!

(are you our new fridge?)

LG Electronics Stainless 26.5 cu. ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator ENERGY STAR

(are you?)

Maytag Stainless Steel 25.2 cu. ft. Side-By-Side Refrigerator w/ PUR® Water Filtration (MSD2572) ENERGY STAR®

(you?)

Samsung Stainless Steel 20.0 cu. ft. French-Door Bottom-Freezer Refrigerator ENERGY STAR®

(or maybe you?)

Kenmore Stainless Steel 25.1 cu. ft. Side-By-Side Refrigerator w/ PUR® Water Filtration (5894)

(** update: this is apparently going to be somewhat of a challenge because the existing fridge has older fridge dimensions. Contemporary refrigerators are much bigger in every way. We need a fridge no more than 65" high, 30" wide, and 29" deep... the search continues!) 

(** 2nd update: we've changed our game plan! We will get a "normal" fridge, and try to move the cabinet over the existing one across the room when we uninstall the double-ovens. Phew!)