In the past year our house has had a major kitchen transformation. Here’s where we started:  black and white appliances, stained cabinets, a small window, an appliance garage, and the apron over the sink.

First we added a bigger window, removed the apron over the sink, removed the appliance garage, painted the cabinets white, added open shelving above the cabinet, and replaced the broken dishwasher and microwave. Many of the cosmetic changes we had planned were inexpensive, but we knew we would have to figure our some affordable appliance updates. The microwave was a great deal at the Sears Outlet, and I found the dishwasher on craigslist with a tiny dent in it.

At the time we couldn’t afford to replace our functional appliances, so we lived with the tri-color appliances (black, white, and stainless).

But last week it all changed! We went to Sears because of a deal on their ovens, but when we walked in we found a great deal on the perfect fridge! It was a counter depth Kenmore Elite, which is exactly what I was hoping to eventually get. It was also deeply discounted because it was a discontinued floor model.

The counter depth fridge is just what this kitchen was meant to have. It fits into the cabinet better. It opens up the walkway to our DIY’ed pantry. BUT… counter depth refrigerators are SO expensive that I didn’t think we’d get one for a long time. We got such a good deal though that I never would have expected to walk in for an oven, and walk out with a fridge.

Just ignore the counters that we’re waiting on, and the open shelves that we’re waiting for, oh and the unfinished backsplash. Just look at how perfectly it fits into place.

We even were able to sell our old oven, fridge, dishwasher, and microwave for a decent price. After selling the old appliances we were able to upgrade all four appliances for about $1500! This isn’t our first time slowly updating our appliances, and my tried and true methods have been:

–Sears Outlet

-Craigslist

-Discontinued Floor Models

-Scratch and Dent Items

I’ve also ALWAYS gotten a discount by offering cash and offering to haul away that day. This kitchen is really coming around! AND we’ve got counters arriving in the next few weeks! Then we can finish our backsplash and officially be done with the kitchen!

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