Mission (finally) Accomplished!

Dishwasher Installation Success!

Forgive the horrible taken-over-the-back-of-a-chair-with-my-phone-while-eating-lunch photo, I was just that excited. Hey, if you had been hand washing dishes for over 2 months with not one but TWO dishwashers in the middle of your kitchen floor you'd be excited too :)

Allow me to give you the brief recap of our dishwasher drama...

-February 16: Dishwasher & stove ordered

-March 22: Dishwasher & stove finally delivered after 3 previously scheduled-then-delayed delivery dates

-Next few days: J disconnects the old dishwasher with confidence he'll be able to hook up the new one

-After 83 trips to Lowe's, we discover that the type of valve that connects the water line to the dishwasher under our sink is not standard. It will connect to the old dishwasher pipe which will not fit the new dishwasher. The new pipe that came with our installation kit connects to the new dishwasher but doesn't fit the non-standard valve.

-Weeks pass while we ponder how to get around this. J worries about disconnecting the valve. I decide to just call a plumber.

-Two weeks later the plumber comes. He takes a quick look, says he sees what's going on with the valve, we just need a new (different) one. Plumber writes up the sales slip for standard installation + valve replacement for a grand total of $494. As I'm talking it over with J (who is at work), the plumber suddenly says he's "not supposed to do this but..." he would do the work for $290, final offer. Really? Two minutes later and the price is $200 less? How does that work exactly? Since we only paid $400 for the dishwasher itself and he seems to be less than trustworthy, we tell Mr. Plumber "thanksbutnothanks," and send him on his way.

-J goes in for yet another attempt on his own, armed with the new correct valve. A few hours later things are looking good. The dishwasher goes into it's new home, everything else gets attached appropriately, and a test wash is administered.  Success!

I have since been excitedly loading it with dirty dishes in eager anticipation of it's maiden wash cycle! Who knew one could be so thrilled over a kitchen appliance? We are still awaiting the maiden wash since not that many people live at our house, but we will finally re-assemble the kitchen when we see for sure that there aren't any leaks or issues. Meanwhile, some things are still out of place in the kitchen, and there's still an old dishwasher in the corner, but I'm not wasting time standing at the sink washing dishes, and that's what's really important in this story :D

This concludes the "Appliance" portion of The Great Kitchen Upgrade of 2012! We only started at Christmas and it's June, but who's in a hurry? ;)  So our upgrade list looks now like this...

Paint

Upgrade appliances

Paint cabinets

Lay new tile

*Over the past few months I think I would also add crown molding around the room and to finish off the tops of the cabinets, but those are less of an immediate necessity. 

Since we've had our tile for something like 2 years now, I'm guessing I'll be painting cabinets next! I think that will make such a huge difference in the whole look of our kitchen. Don't get me wrong the appliances certainly do their part for making things look much nicer, but the cabinets take up a lot more visual space. Having them painted white should really brighten and clean up the look of the entire room. Have you seen the difference it made in John & Sherry's kitchen on Young House Love? So excited!

Have you done anything fun to your house lately that you were seriously over-excited about? Do tell!