Appliance Additions - Kitchen Upgrade

We've been talking about a new dishwasher for years!  Our dishwasher (we think) is original to the house which was built in 1999.  It's not a bad dishwasher, but it's been through a lot.  We think the dishwasher used to leak water because the previous homeowner clearly used a ton of yucky plumbers goop on the inside door.  The girly-girl in me has always cringed at the disgusting, brown gooey substance spread around the inside (seriously, was that mess really necessary?)  Yet all this time the practical side of me has dismissed that goop because, well, the dishwasher wasn't broken.  

Fast forward to last week... the spring on the dishwasher door broke!  The door was very loosy-goosy and if you weren't careful it would SLAM into your shins.  Both Jordan and I experienced this several times!  That was the last straw.  We decided it was time to get a new dishwasher.

Our dishwasher shopping began at Home Depot.  There are SO many choices when it comes to appliances, you somewhat have to do a little homework to figure out what you want.  While browsing the dishwashers, I also decided to browse through the ovens (I'm only human).  Our oven is okay but it has it's flaws (broken plastic piece, two finicky/trick burners, an electrical short that seems to only effect the digital clock, etc.)  

These are pictures of said dishwasher and oven:

HA!  Photobomb from Abby in the reflection of the dishwasher!

While at Home Depot, we found a dishwasher that we both really liked.  Jordan and I share dish duty on a regular basis.  He is pretty agreeable when it comes to dishwasher features, but I'm glad he had input too.  We were looking for some specific features: stainless steel, top control (fancy way to say hidden buttons), silverware caddy in the rack (not the door), no handle (very tight drawer situation), and reasonable price.  We decided to buy an LG dishwasher, model # LDP6797ST.  This beauty fit all our required features and then some!

Here's a picture of the dishwasher after Jordan installed it.

Left: I have 3 racks which is pretty handy.  The middle rack is adjustable depending on the height of plates and cups.  The top rack has already been really helpful for odd shaped utensils and coffee cup lids.

Right: There are a lot of buttons but surprisingly, they are easy to understand and use.  This dishwasher is supposed to be only 44 dBs and it really is difficult to hear it!  Jordan is excited because the dishwasher has wifi capability.  I'm not sure if I'll ever use that feature, but it makes the machine more interactive. 

Seqway back to the oven...to properly compare our oven choices, we decided to go to Nebraska Furniture Mart.  That store is so BIG!

We browsed through all the ovens and debated (lots) over this and that.  Jordan and I narrowed it down to two ovens:  The first was a good gas range for a fair price.  It was clean and functional but unremarkable.  Biggest negative was the lack of an oven light.  The second was the Samsung flex duo.  It was the flashy and rather pricey option but came with all kinds of helpful features, the most obvious being the fact that it was TWO ovens with an accessible door.

I think I spent way too much time deliberating between those two choices.  I was making Jordan a little crazy.  FINALLY, we decided to go with the free standing Samsung duo flex gas range, Model # NX58M6850SS.  Despite my indecision, I was really pumped about our purchase and looking forward to the delivery!  One of the major pros for the "fancy" oven was the fact that we don't plan to do any more upgrades to our kitchen.  When/if we sell our house, the cabinets and counters might be a negative but the oven will be an offsetting (ish) positive!

Unfortunately, the delivery process was a bummer.  The oven we ordered had a HUGE dent in it!  Buzz kill.  I have to hand it to NFM's customer service though.  They were very transparent in their communication and we were able to talk to an actual person every time we called (without a wait).

The morning of the delivery, NFM said that our oven had a "palm size dent in the side".  Since it was the last one in stock, they decided to proceed with the delivery as planned, but told us up front that we had options.  We could refuse the delivery and wait a bit longer for new stock, OR we could keep the dented oven at a negotiated discount.  

Above are various pictures of the dent.  I'd say this is larger than a "palm sized dent".  Truly, once installed, the dent would be completely concealed.  Cosmetically, it would have looked beautiful.  It's just that the size of the dent was just too big for my comfort.  It had to have been hit HARD by something to cause a dent that size.  Such an impact made me question the inner workings of the machine, looks aside.  Given my aforementioned deliberation between ovens, and the steep price, we just had to refuse the dented oven.  No-go.

NFM was very accommodating and worked with us to find a solution.  After some negotiation and website stalking, I figured out that they had the upgraded version of our oven in stock!  If we got the upgraded version, we would have it in 1-2 days, verses a 2 week wait for the model that we originally ordered.  Given our situation, NFM worked us a deal.  They came down in price on the upgraded oven significantly so that was a big perk.  Plus, we could also get the new oven ASAP since it was in stock.  We both were very happy with that deal and in just a few hours we had the new upgraded oven home!  The upgraded model number is NX58K7850SS.

Jordan did a fantastic job installing both appliances!

This is the NEW oven!  Left: The door splits depending on which oven you use.  This is the top oven door only open.

Right: I also have the option to open the entire door all as one piece.

Bottom Left: This is the duo-flex separator.  This is an insulated divider that essentially makes the oven two separate ovens!  It can be removed to make one large oven to cook tall roasts, big Thanksgiving turkeys or whatever.  It's also really easy to clean since it is removable.  

Bottom Left: This is the gas range.  It has 5 burners so I can cook a lot all at once.  The oven came with a griddle that can be placed over the center oval burner to make pancakes or whatever.  I just love it!

Top: Jordan is super pumped because this oven also has wifi (difficult to see the wifi symbol in the picture)!  What is it with men and wifi?  When did appliances become so fancy?!  Contrary to the dishwasher, I really see myself using the wifi feature for the oven.  If I'm ever questioning whether I turned everything off, I can just log into the app from afar.  If I want to preheat the oven on my way home from work, just push a button.  If I want it to begin cooking at 5AM, all I have to do is pre-program it.  Easy peasy!

Finally, here are some "after" pictures for you all!

Dishwasher done and installed!  Isn't it pretty!  I love the buttons all hidden away.  I think it looks so sleek!

And this is the new range!

I was worried about how much I'd actually use both ovens but already I've found uses for them!  The ability to cook multiple items at different temperatures makes my time in the kitchen so much more efficient!

Overall kitchen "after" pictures:

I know it's not the most beautiful/modern kitchen in the world, but I love it!  It's perfect for our needs and now it looks even more elegant!

Hmmm... the post is making me hungry!  Hope you guys enjoyed the pics of our new appliances!