baby steps {part 2}

Boom.  New microwave installed.

Keeping an OTR microwave wasn't my #1 choice especially because of how low it hangs, but it's what made the most sense for now.  Even though I'm not a big fan of temporary solutions, I'm glad we did this.  That old guy was made in 1989 and was probably slowly poisoning us every time we turned it on.  RIP buddy.  Here's the before and after (sorry about wonky white balance):

Cara was in town this weekend.  She imparted some family wisdom: to expect projects to be more "2 stones for one bird" than "2 birds with one stone".  Killing this one took 8 stones.  

baby steps

Step 1, phase 1 of kitchen renovation complete.  The dead microwave is gone. 

I'm loving how open it feels.  Also took off the edging strip for the cabinet on the right.  I think it looks so much better.  Creamy carrot & grape soup on the stove (sounds strange, but was super good!).  New installation tomorrow!

kitchen inspiration {microwaves & hoods}

Last week I unexpectedly returned to kitchen planning and looking for inspiration when our over-the-range microwave broke.  Just completely dead.  We don't really use the microwave much, but I use the exhaust function daily when I cook.  So I immediately began looking for replacements, only to find that most standard OTR microwaves are about 17" tall, while our broken one is about 14".  Wouldn't be a big deal to swap one out quickly, except ours already hangs down below the cabinets, quite close to the cook top.  So of course I tried to research what we'd ultimately like to have there.. and am still undecided.  But here's a mix of what I'm thinking and a collection of inspiration photos. 

The original thought was to have a range hood on a blank wall or between floating shelves, and then a separate microwave.  A bunch of inspiration photos are shown here, but here's another few:

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