Fixing It Up

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After we got the Broan Range Hood and the stove installed in the kitchen, and finished painting, it was time to put things on the walls. I have been shopping on Amazon.com to find a spice rack and a pot rack. Installing both of these on the wall took up most of an afternoon for us. We are old and we are slow.

The stainless steel sheet that holds the magnetic spice canisters was easy to put on the wall. It has six holes for the screws. It also came with the little plastic things that you use when you have to put screws in sheetrock so that the screws won’t come out of the wall. The hardest part of putting this thing up was getting it straight. I bought the Lipper International SOHO 20-Piece Magnetic Spice Rack with Tins.

To hang the pot rack, we first had to find the wall studs. At least two of the huge bolts that hold the pot rack on the wall have to be installed in wood. If you don’t have the wood studs, the screws will pull out of the wall and your pots and pans will fall down. Fabgrandpa found the studs, marked the spots where the screws would go, and then used a hammer to start the hole for the bolts.

Next, I held the pot rack in place while Fabgrandpa screwed in the bolts. It was a little hard to get the bolts all the way in, but we know they will hold firm.

The brace attaches on one end to the inside of the pot rack. The other end is attached to the wall with a long screw and a wing nut. As you tighten the screw, the wing nut expands to help keep the screw from pulling out of the wall. The brace stabilizes the rack so it won’t sag in the middle from the weight of the pots and pans.

The rack came with six hooks for hanging pots and pans, and I bought another set of six, just in case I needed more. The CuisinartChef’s Classic Half-Circle  Pot Rack is strong enough to hold all of my pots. Now I can get them out of the dishwasher. It is easy for me to reach them to use them and to put them away. Love it!

I kept the two stainless steel spice racks that I had used in the RV. They will be installed somewhere on the wall under the magnetic spice rack so I will have space for extracts and other things that I didn’t have tins for.

The kitchen is coming together nicely. I still want to get some decorative art for the walls, and a couple of canister type things for storing oatmeal and brown sugar. One other major thing I would like to do is put a glass tile backsplash behind the stove, but that will be a while before I can do that. What do you think so far?      

I almost forgot to tell you about the new front door and storm door. Just to remind you what the old one looked like, I put the pictures of it up there. It was just SO UGLY! Who does stuff like that to their house? In addition to a butt ugly front door, the old storm door was bent up and it was missing the piece that made it lock and stay shut. I could not open up the front door to let light or air in because of that storm door.

So, Home Depot sent the guy out to measure the door. Once he measured, we had to go back to the store to order our doors and pick out the hardware like door knobs and locks.

We did that a while back, and waited and waited. It was supposed to be only about two weeks or so for them to get our doors in. After about a month went by, Fabgrandpa called Home Depot to find out what the hold up was. It turns out that there was a glitch in their system that never sent an email out to the contractor when the doors arrived. Once that was brought to their attention, it was only a couple of days before they came to install the door.

Once the old doors were removed, the new one was brought in and put in place. It did not take long for the guy to get this done.

The new door came with a new frame and threshold. It just fit right into the hole where the other door was taken out. The installer had to put some short pieces of wood, or shims, to make it straight. After he got everything in place, he caulked it all around.

It is so nice to greet visitors to my home at this new door. It is pretty. It is also a good, strong door that fits well. The installer did a great job.

I love having this new storm door, too. It is so nice to be able to open the front door, and have the light come in. If it is a nice day, we can open the top part of it and let air in too. I can lock it, and now if Parker comes over, we won’t have to worry about him falling out the door.

The overall experience with our Home Depot door installation was positive. The only problem we had was when the glitch prevented the email from going out to notify the contractor that the door was ready for him to pick up. Hopefully, they have fixed that, and the next person will not have this happen.

The Home Styles Savannah Kitchen Cart

The last time I wrote about the kitchen remodel, I included photos of four kitchen carts we were thinking about buying. I also included a poll, and asked y’all what you thought of them. The overwhelming response to the poll was for this one, the Oak cabinet with wood top and wine rack:

I liked that kitchen cart at first, too, and would have had a place to put wine for sure, but…It has a wood top. And I was looking for something to put next to the stove so that I could put hot pans on it when they needed to come off the stove. So, the kitchen cart we we wound up buying is the white one shown above. It has a stainless steel top, which can take the wear of putting hot pots and pans on it. The white one also matches the stove and refrigerator that are both on that side of the room. I felt that if we tried to get a wood, it would never match the existing cabinets, and would make the room too dark.

About The Home Styles Kitchen Cart and Assembly

The Home Styles Savanna Kitchen Cart has wheels so we can move it easily. It also has two open shelves that are made so that they have spaces between the boards. That will make a good place to store potatoes and onions in baskets. It also has two big drawers, something we needed more of in the kitchen. I like the way it looks there. And if we decide on a different cabinet later on, we can easily use this one in the bathroom for towels and other things.

The description of the kitchen cart on Amazon did not say that it had to be assembled. It was delivered in a HUGE box, that sat in our living room for over a week until we felt like putting it together. I wasn’t at home when Fabgrandpa took it out of the box. He said it was packed better than any other thing we have ever bought, with styrofoam sheets between pieces, and some pieces wrapped in bubble wrap. They also sent more screws than we needed. It did take several hours to put together, but we only needed a Phillips head screwdriver, a hammer, and the hex key that came with the kit. It weighs in at 125 pounds, but it can be easily moved on the casters. And, it has a brake on the casters so if you move it around or to another location for a party, it can’t be moved until you take the brake off.

I am already loving the piece, and I think it will last years. Next, I have to put up a new spice rack and a pot rack. It is slowly coming together.

After we moved the stove to its new location, we had 56″ of space on the wall where I had wanted to put it. We decided to put a base cabinet, which we just happen to already have, in that space, and have Home Depot install another piece of counter top to match the one they just did. We would also put a small base cabinet, about 12″ wide, between the stove and refrigerator. That little cabinet would also need a counter top.

We went to Home Depot on Monday to order the counter top and buy the small cabinet. BUT, the counter top installation has a $400 minimum labor charge. The amount of counter top we wanted to order did not meet that minimum. We also discovered that Home Depot wouldn’t deliver the little cabinet, and we have no truck to get it home with. So, we have come up with a PLAN B, which I am ok with. My kitchen will have a unique look for sure.

PLAN B is that we will buy a buffet, sideboard, or kitchen cart type of cabinet to put in that space. This gives me lots of options for either trying to match what we have, or to purposely mis-match so that it gives a unique look, and still give me some counter space to work with. I will also be buying a hanging pot rack, but that is another post altogether.

The problem with PLAN B, is that I can not decide which cabinet to buy. I have narrowed it down to four that I like, that will fit in the space, and that are a decent price. So, I am going to do a poll to let y’all help me decide.

Here are the choices. Or, you can see them on Pinterest. Which one do you think would work best there, or, if you have seen one you like better, link it in the comments below for me to check it out.

Broan Nutone sponsored this post.

The Broan Elite RM50000

Installing the Broan Range Hood

Yesterday was a big day for us with our remodeling. We finally found a handyman who came back to do the work after he came out to look at the job. We have been having the hardest time finding people to do the work for us when we are not using Home Depot for the job. This guy has had an ad in the local paper ever since we moved here, but we never called him until this week. Manny showed up when he said he would to look at the job and to determine if he needed any extra supplies.  He came back yesterday morning to install the Broan Range Hood for us.

First Things First. We Had To Move Some Electrical Connections.

In order to install the range hood, the handyman had to first move a 220 volt electrical connection from the kitchen to the enclosed back porch so we could move our dryer out there. The washing machine has been out there since we moved in, but the dryer connection was in the kitchen, so we have had the two appliances spread out between the two rooms. The dryer has been right next to the stove, so we have had to do careful planning about when to dry clothes or they would end up smelling like whatever I was cooking for dinner. Meatloaf scented jeans, anyone?

After the dryer was moved, Manny had to move the gas line for the stove as well. The area where I wanted to put the stove was too close to the electrical connection box, so I had to rethink where I wanted it to be. We chose to put it next to the refrigerator on the wall across from the sink. He left a 12 inch space between the refrigerator and the stove so that we can put a 12″ base cabinet there, so I will have room to put cooking utensils and other cooking equipment within easy reach of the stove.

The Broan Range Hood Was Easy To Install

After the gas line was moved, Manny and his assistant, Marino, set to work installing the range hood and chimney. They had to install a new electrical receptacle to accommodate the plug for the exhaust fan. After that, the range hood and chimney were so easy to install, I could have done it myself in my younger days. The hood part attached to the wall with metal brackets. Then the chimney part attached with more metal brackets.  The instructions that came in the box were very easy to follow. After they were attached to the wall, Manny caulked the hood with some silicone caulking. If you already have an electrical receptacle, you really can install this range hood yourself if you are good with tools.

I am very pleased with the style of the Broan Elite RM50000Rangemaster® range hood. There has not been a kitchen exhaust system in our house since we moved in. We have been putting a window fan in the kitchen window to draw cooking smells out of the house, but it didn’t work well, especially in the winter when it was cold outside. I am really looking forward to cooking my Thanksgiving turkey and dressing this year.

We still have some more work to do in the kitchen. As you can see, we haven’t finished painting, and there will be a base cabinet installed to the left of the stove, where the rolling cart is sitting now. The 12 inch base cabinet will be to the right of the stove, between the stove and refrigerator. It may take us another month or so to get it done, because we are very slow, but it is beginning to look like a modern kitchen. What do you think so far?