Comments on: A Kitchen Odyssey: From the Beginning

By: susan.brady

susan.brady — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:38:17 +0000

I call it a mini-remodel because I didn;t have to put in new cabinets or windows, but I do suppose we did a lot. As for dishwashers, I cook most everything from scratch and make a lot of dirty dishes, not to mention I had the help of a hubby and 3 kids adding to the load. Never been big on paper plates. So I have loved having a dishwasher, but my brother and one of my best friends do not have dishwashers and they don’t mind one bit. I think it is all in what you are used to.

Glad you liked the post on What’s that Smell. Sounds like you definitely had a similar experience.

By: ellem

ellem — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:48:57 +0000

PS I just popped over and read your “What’s that Smell?” post and while horrific, it was a fascinatingly hilarious read! When we were in the Air Force (young and poor!) my husband and I toured a house near the base — every room in the house had a vague, acrid smell, but the two smaller bedrooms it was a STENCH — of UNCHANGED diapers!! You that horrible gross public-restroom odour, that just about makes you gag? These bedrooms had it — and each bedroom had a crib left in it, too — I bet the mattresses were completely suffused w/ the urine and the previous owners had just left them . . . such a sorry tale that house told, we quickly escaped from the slightly senile, tottering real estate agent and never returned — we felt guilty though, which says how naive we were!

By: ellem

ellem — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:40:29 +0000

What? You said that was a “mini-remodel”?? I’m exhausted just reading about it!! Wow — to me, completely inexperienced in home remodels, your first mini-makeover was a Herculean task — it seems as if you did EVERYthing! Very interesting though, and helpful to see what a normal, DIY-kitchen reno can be like.

One thing that puzzles me is why so many people have to have dishwashers in the first place. In all the places we’ve lived, we used the dishwasher to store our tupperware and stuff, it just seems faster/easier to wash them by hand. Of course, it’s only me and my husband, and we don’t have that many dishes anyway.

Here in Korea where we currently live (actually this is true of Japan as well) one can buy a mini-tabletop or countertop dishwasher, but it’s seen more as a luxury item, most homes don’t have one. Our apt. in fact came with a wonderful front-loading combo washing machine/dryer under the cooktop, which is also common in smaller apartments. It’s quite convenient, and since it’s a low-water use washing machine there is never any trouble w/ the huge gushing of draining water as with a regular washing machine. We hope to do this in our house too, when we finally buy.