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Saturday, January 5, 2013

New Microwave means a Kitchen Redesign???

I'm a walking Murphy's Law!  I really am.

After Christmas we decided to purchase a new microwave.
Cuisinart Microwave Oven
 Photo Source: Kohls
The one we've had is a hand me down from my mother, who passed away nine (can it be?) years ago.  I'm not even sure how long she had it, but probably for years!  In the years since I've had it the revolving plate had broken, and I replaced it with one that didn't fit properly.  We've limped along like this for several years.

We're New England Swamp Yankees. We make do.

While searching for what I wanted, the cowboy kept saying, make sure it's not more than 21" wide. That's all the space we have. We keep our microwave on a shelf on the baker's rack in our kitchen that only allows for 21".

So I measured while I shopped.  I found just what I wanted in a model that was 20.5" wide. Perfect! I fell in love with it! It's stainless and black, so it blends with the other appliances we have.

He never mentioned to check the depth.  NEVER!

We brought it home and put it on its new shelf after I scrubbed the shelf of 9 years of dust. (Don't judge).  While it kinda hung over the shelf, a little, all four "legs" sat squarely on the shelf.  It didn't look bad. Honest.  We figured we were okay.

We tested with a bag of popcorn. Well, it's a good thing I didn't step away.  The popcorn popped the dang thing right off the shelf.

Don't worry. I caught it. The popcorn is safe, as is the microwave.

Now the easy thing to do would be to return the microwave and get one that fits. But no. I'm thick. Did I mention that I fall in love with my appliances? I won't return her.

So now more shopping to purchase something to put the microwave on. And while I don't want to make purchasing a new microwave turn into a kitchen redesign, that's usually how I roll.

While I can find LOADS of things I love that are in the $1000+ plus range...that's really not what I want to spend.

I've found a sideboard online from Ikea. But I'm afraid it might be too long.  But because I currently use the baker's rack to hold recipe books and other kitchen utensils, I'll still have some storage. I'm debating it.
Ikea Liatorp
Photo Source: IKEA
My other alternative is to replace the current baker's rack with another one with a wider shelf to accommodate the extra  depth needed for the microwave.  I've found one that appears to meet my needs on overstock.com
Augusta Black Baker's Rack
Photo Source: Overstock.com
So that's it for now on the home front. The next few weeks will be spent going from store to store to try to find something to put the dang microwave on.

Let the shopping games begin!

How about you?  
Do you have these same mishaps happen when shopping?  
Do simple purchases turn into major remodels?  
I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.  
I hope I'm not the only walking Murphy's Law!


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