Sneaky Microwave Pantry Closet

I didn't want to change up the original redwood cabinets in the kitchen but the refrigerator was a problem. The space for it was 34" wide, 22" deep and a few inches too short for a standard fridge which is 70" I think. I was able to modify the cabinet above to get a few more inches in height. They do make a counter depth fridge which is 24" deep but a standard fridge is 30" deep. Common widths are 30", 36", 42" etc but a 33" is also made. 

We looked into 33"x24" size fridge but they have the about the same capacity as a standard 30"x30" fridge which is apartment sized and pretty small for a 3 bedroom house. My solution was to move the wall behind the fridge back so we could put in a 33"x30" which is a little bigger.

That left us with a tiny pantry closet and Christina came up with a clever solution. We found a 24"x48" rolling shelf from Costco that fits in there pretty snug. I had to put an outlet in the closet and I made a short extension cord to get power to the microwave. I had to also change the wheels to a smaller size so they wouldn't bind up on the walls. For light I put in a motion sensing LED which is perfect since there isn't a switch. It's a neat little system that saves limited counter space. I'm happy with how it turned out.

The 30's Wedgewood stove is up and running!

After weeks of telling ourselves we were close to getting the stove installed, we finally did it! Well, mostly Evan... He found the stove off Craigslist from a woman in Berkeley who only charged the manual labor of moving it out of her apartment. It is VERY heavy.  

The space for the stove was an odd dimension: 38 inches. Stoves are not made at this width anymore, but once were back when the house was built. This Wedgewood is the perfect width and seems to be working perfectly! The woman who sold it to Evan said the thermostat was broken, but it appears that there was only a safety button that had to be re-set.

Evan found the safety switch! 

We were also lucky that the original salt and pepper shakers that came with the stove are still around.

Now we can finally cook stovetop meals at home!

pancakes on the griddle :)

Appliances!

This past week/weekend Evan did an amazing job finding appliances for the house. On Friday he drove to Concord and picked up a stackable washer & dryer. We will be putting those in the closet below the master closet and hopefully adding a laundry "chute" (more like a trap door in this case)! I am very excited for that bit. Evan carried these past the first entry stairs all by himself on Friday and then on Sunday I helped him move them into the house. Here they are waiting to be taken in. 

On Saturday we drove to Redwood City to pick up a 32" wide refrigerator that fits perfectly into the original space for a refrigerator. Evan had been thinking about widening that area into the laundry room to allow for a bigger one, but decided this would be best. So instead of widening it sideways, he will be making the space deeper. The original design calls for a counter depth appliance, but this way, there will be more room for storage within the refrigerator. The closet he is taking space away from behind it will still be useable. But as perfect as it is, moving it in was a bit of a pain...