Midwesterners make the East Coast their home

The blog has moved...oh...and we have news!

2009-05-29T01:02:14Z

This little blog garden has moved to a new web-address...http://midwestkids.wordpress.com/

I've been blogging there for a couple of months. You can catch up by going to the East Coast Offspring entry that was posted on April 12th and read our recent news! Which by the title you should have guessed...yes we are expecting!

And we have also been to Europe...

So you have a lot to catch up on if you have missed it. This account will be closed, but don't fret...all old entries have been moved to the new wordpress account.

See you on the new blog!

Yes we are still here...

2009-03-06T14:09:00Z

I have a new distraction...can you blame me for the lack of posts? We have been cooking and enjoying our kitchen a lot since my last update almost a month ago. Mom said she is tired of reading about our backsplash so I figured I better get back into the swing of things.

I finally acquired a kitchen aid stand mixer. She (yes I named it) is lovely and so far every weekend since her birth I've made an assortment of things. Right now my infatuation is with bread. The challenge of getting this yeast stuff to work is very addicting. So far I have made rosemary focaccia, pita bread, french baguettes and pretzels. All have turned out OK...each better than the last. I think I'm going to re-try the focaccia this weekend. Now that I have a little more experience, hopefully it will rise like it is supposed too. I've also made my share of cake balls and last weekend I tried my first recipe of many for the perfect carrot cake. We had carrot cake at our wedding and it is by far my favorite 'take to a desert island' dessert. The recipe I used was from King Arthur Flour and although the exact recipe isn't online this one is similar. Next up a recipe from Gourmet that was given to me thanks to an NIH co-worker. Speaking of co-workers they have been the recipients of all these fruits of my labor...thank goodness because without them I would be 10 lbs heavier.

We have gone outside this past month...over the holiday weekend we went to see a couple of exhibits at the art museums here. I heard about The Americans on NPR and while we were downtown we noticed adds for Feature Photography at the Portrait Gallery.

That's about the extent of our excitement. Trying to save some money to get our savings back to the level it needs to be after the kitchen remodel so things have been very low-key. Seems like everyone (OK 3 friends) are pregnant and expecting this year so hopefully this summer/fall we can get out of DC and back to the Midwest to see these new babies. I also just booked our plane tickets for the Burns family Switzerland vacation in May. We will also be stopping in Paris for a long weekend. Staying with an old neighbor and Christine is going to meet us there from London. Very excited! I started brushing up on my French a bit last night on my long walk.

We are both ready for spring but this weeks snow was fun too. Will be nice to get out and plant some flowers in the front. Everything feels and looks so drab right now. Doesn't help that the deer are feasting on our new bushes...poor little guys...they look so pathetic. I need to read up on what to do because they really haven't grown much since we planted them over a year ago. I'm sure the deer munching doesn't help. Royce bought some spray for them...I guess it smelled horrible...made him gag...mental note to not spray that stuff on windy days.

Newsy post is over...I will try to be more diligent at keeping up with the posts. It's just hard to compete with the excitement of a new kitchen.

Kitchen - Backsplash

2009-02-08T12:28:17Z

Dave came over to put up our backsplash on Thursday. I heard it was a pain in the ass to deal with (the tile, not me).

We went with glass tile which is all the rage these days for kitchens and bathrooms and mantels and lots of other places you can think of to stick tile. Check it out...it can get pretty insane. When I first saw my tile (at HomeExpo of all places when we were looking for the floor) I fell in love. The colors were perfect, they blended in the cabinets to our dining room. It was subdued but it popped. It just fit (even the snobby lady at Architectural Ceramics agreed with me).

Oceanside Glass tile - Tessera Collection - Mosaic Blend - Color: Enchantment

It's pretty right? The standard 1 x 1 pattern wasn't doing it for me though...I liked the variability of the random modular pattern (example below). I guess installing this pattern was a lot harder than the standard 1x1 becuase of the way they ship the sheets...Sorry Dave!

In the end I still think it is lovely. These photos were taken during grout prep.

And this is a random photo of Charlie with his creepy rat like hair cut. This is what happens when you go too long between trims...they have to cut him really short to get the mats out of his hair. Poor Charlie. He does blend in nicely with our new kitchen though

Kitchen Day 23 - Back in action

2009-01-29T01:01:51Z

Paul the plumber made it through the snow & ice to hook up our water and gas lines. Tonight we were able to have our first dinner in the new kitchen. Royce described it as my sanctuary. I can't complain...it is beautiful. I still can't believe we waited this long to get this project going. Cooking is my favorite thing after all. We made a simple dish of vodka cream sauce. All my hesitation about the new gas stove (I've never cooked on gas before) has been erased. It is so responsive and WAY easier to clean up than my old electric coils. I have a feeling this kitchen will have many more good meals to come.

Tomorrow our floors will be sealed and I think our backsplash is in so Royce will go pick that up. We may have it all completed by Friday!

Counter tops!

2009-01-27T23:25:48Z

Our counter tops were installed today and they sure are nice. We went with Silestone...basically manufactured granite. Color: Beige Olimpo. The backsplash will be the focal point here so we had to go with a plain counter...which is fine...it looks smashing. Dave also installed the pulls we purchased this weekend. More are coming in the mail...we could only find 28 in-stock and we need 34.

Tomorrow as long as the plumber can make it to our house (threat of ice) will be our 'go live' day. He is hooking up the sink, washer, range. Our first planned dinner isn't anything too difficult b/c I wasn't sure I would have all my tools in their proper places. We plan on making a simple penne with vodka cream sauce. Can't wait!

And I finally caught a photo with Dave...he is hard at work framing our window out with the pieces he stained that match perfectly to our cabinet. Such detail!

A weekend trip

2009-01-23T00:06:20Z

For the long MLK/Inauguration weekend we decided to go out to WV for some skiing. It's not that we don't support Obama, we do. We just figured with no kitchen and 4 days left to ourselves without being able to go downtown to do things/eat wouldn't be an ideal use of non-work days.

I'm a huge lover of winter. Last year we went out to Shenandoah for some winter hiking. This year we stepped it up a notch and went to West Virginia to try out hand at cross country skiing. We rented a cozy one bedroom loft style town home complete with a working kitchen and fireplace in Davis, WV near the Canaan Valley and Timberline Ski areas.

Our first day we went out to Whitegrass and our second day we were at Blackwater Falls State park. When we were not skiing we were reading, relaxing, and cooking. It was quite a refreshing vacation. Needless to say we had so much fun that I'm going to get some gear at the end of season so that we can do this more often. Click on the photo below to see more!

Kitchen Day 18

2009-01-22T23:41:30Z

I feel like we almost have our house back! The kitchen floor went in yesterday. The 'bubble wall' came down today. And I'm slowly starting to peal my protective plastic back from the living room furniture and vacuum around the areas. I'm hopeful that this weekend I can get the dining room set back up and the living room back to a room for living, instead of a hermetically sealed off-limits room. Tomorrow we are going to search for nobs and hopefully this weekend I can get them all purchased. So far we are still on schedule for an active functional kitchen 6 days from today!

I can't believe this has happened so fast!

Kitchen projection

2009-01-17T12:37:45Z

Contractor Dave (I really gotta get a picture of him!) was over yesterday doing small things to the kitchen. The range hood went in, and he put in the over-sink lights and under-cabinet lights. Which got me thinking there are A LOT of small things in addition to big things. As to the big things that are left, I guess electrical should be finished on Monday, Counter-top man is coming Tuesday (when we will be attempting to drive back from WV) which means that a week from Tuesday (the 27th) our counter-tops will be installed. Then Wednesday, Paul the Plumber is coming to hook up the sink, range and fridge.

So our first projection is that we will have a functional working kitchen by Wednesday Jan 28th. That means this entire process only took 23 days if everything goes right. And here I was preparing for 4-6 weeks of no-kitchen. We still have a lot of frozen meals to eat! The only problems I see for thwarting our success are if the counter-top people don't keep their appointments, or if Paul the Plumber has an emergency plumbing thing to attend to. Of course there is still many finishing touches that need to be done like the floor...backsplash...window. I'm sure Dave has those somewhere in his schedule.

In other news, Royce found our backsplash for $12 cheaper (than other tile stores in the area) at HomeExpo of all places. And its scheduled to only take 2 weeks to arrive (compared to 4-8 weeks from the tile stores) and they ship it directly to us. I guess it pays to shop around...and include all those places you never thought would be cheaper. I'm not a fan of big-box stores but when we are talking about saving upwards of $500 on tile I'll happily spend my $$ there.

Next thing for me to figure out...knobs. And geez there are a lot to consider!

Kitchen Day 11

2009-01-16T14:39:19Z

The remainder of the cabinets were installed today. It's starting to look a lot more like a functional kitchen now. I of course made sure all the doors and drawers opened properly like a giddy kid. Rumor has it our range will be hooked up by the time we return from West Virginia. We are escaping the inaguration chaos here and are bunkering down in the woods. Looking forward to some skiing and general relaxation not to mention being able to cook some food in the cabin kitchen.

Kitchen Days 4-9

2009-01-15T00:30:30Z

More destruction on Day 3. Removal of floor and construction of new sub-floor and new wall.

Day 8....cabinets and stove arrive! and spackling begins.

Day 9. Sanding, ceiling painting, and the first cabinet installation.

It is all leading up to Tuesday

2009-01-10T22:34:52Z

I'm impressed with the progress on the kitchen. This may actually get done (expect the back-splash) in a month. We decided on a back-splash today and I'm guessing it will take 4-8 weeks to arrive once we put in the order, which we haven't done yet...shopping around for prices. Glass tile is $$$! Who knew? Also faucets...gee-maney you can spend a lot if you want to! I was like seriously $800-1000 for a stinkin faucet? I think not! And off to the Great Indoors we went and found a nice mid-range Moean for a steal...and if I don't like it in 5 years I won't feel guilty about replacing something that cost $199. You may have gathered today was a busy day. We completed shopping for the back-splash, the countertop and the faucet. None have good internet links so you will just have to wait for the final pictures.

Up until today Dave has been busy demoloshing and building. Friday the electrical people were over and I sure and glad I was home becuase these guys had no idea what all the switches went to. It's also helpful becuase now I know I got my plugs where I want them. Was quite annoying working from home in the dark though. I think Dave will start spackling drywall on Monday...which means more dust will be in our near future when he starts sanding.

Tuesday is the plumber, the arrival of the stove and cabinets and the completion of the electrical work. It will be a busy day at casa Burns. Can't wait!

Kitchen Day 1 & 2

2009-01-06T22:51:08Z

First of all...you gotta give our guy credit for his thoughtfulness to keep our house relatively clean. Check out this set up he made in the archway between the dining and living room. He fashioned a door (which Royce and I are joking is the only door in the house that opens and closes properly) and sealed the area with plastic. Its like this creepy bubble passage way.

He got all the counter-tops and cabinets out on Day 1. I'm not feeling sentimental anymore now that everything is gone.

Day 2 was the wall and bulkhead removal. The messiest job next to dry walling and I have to say there is not much dust anywhere in the house except in the sealed bubble.

And for those of you who are wondering how we are surviving w/o a kitchen (considering we cook every night)...I fashioned a makeshift area in the laundry room. The important staples are present (coffee maker, microwave) and we also got a toaster oven from a neighbor and the camping stove is on stand by if needed. It actually is not that bad. I was able to make my lunch-salad yesterday with no problems. I also froze a lot of food the over the past months (lasagna, enchiladas, soups, meatballs) so that we can hopefully avoid eating out each night which comes with its downfalls for both our waistline and our pocketbook.

Kitchen Before

2009-01-05T23:15:18Z

I got everything cleaned out and organized last night and I even had a chance to take the obligatory 'before' shots.

The cherished double-ovens. Although nice...are rather small and a typical cookie sheet does not fit well. We traded in for a standard range. The door goes out to the deck, and to the left and down is the staircase to the basement.

View of the main cooking corner. Yes beer is needed for any renovation.

View of the sink area. The window will be replaced with a 'green house' type bay window so that I can grow herbs.

View of the fridge area. This wall will be knocked down and the fridge will be moved.

View into the dining room.

The pantry. This will stay but will be integrated into cabinets.

View from dining room into kitchen. The wall to the left will be going... going... gone.

The living room ready for demolition.

View from the front door.

The task

2009-01-03T12:39:55Z

The task at hand for me this weekend is to clean out the kitchen while Royce works. In comparison to packing up the entire house, just packing 1 room should be simple right? Ugh. So not.

I started with the pantry yesterday...moved it all downstairs to our 'makeshift' pantry across from the washer. We had these storage shelves that really never had a purpose...until now! This task took longer than I thought it would and required lots of trips up and down the stairs. My new HyVee grocery bags sure did help though (thanks MOM!).

Now all that is left is the rest of the kitchen (21 cabinets and drawers) full of dishes, spices, pots & pans. I took it as a complement a couple of weeks ago when my Jen my old neighbor/friend/serious foodie was visiting complemented me on my spice selection... "NO one has that many spices but ME!"...however now, looking at trying to move/pack all those things I'm not so impressed with myself. They take up an entire corner cabinet lazy-susan style.

To add to the stress I keep having these renovation stress attacks. Is getting rid of the wall a good idea? Is the floor color OK? Will I like the new set up? Did I forget anything? I've never had problems with previous renovations and I think it may be due to the fact that the rooms we have renovated/gutted I had a deep loathing already established. Our master bathroom vanity could barely hold a toothbrush and the sink was this Alice in Wonderland Miniature sized thing...and the brown toilet..enough said. The basement...went from bad, to worse, to just plain dangerous within a year. The kitchen, although ugly, is extremely functional and larger than 90% of the kitchens in this neighborhood. My only complaint is the height of the cabinets (they are mounted so low we can't even fit our coffee maker under them), the size of the double oven, and the fact that you have to open up both cabinet doors to get anything from inside.

There is no turning back now though. Demo begins on Monday.

Holiday update

2008-12-23T15:17:26Z

We are gearing up for the holidays here, and when we get back from Kansas City we have one more week before the kitchen will start. I'm not to trilled to pack everything up in that room. It seems really daunting for some reason. We got our floor last week from Lumber Liquidators. We were looking at another store when a customer came up and told us everything was about $7 cheaper at Lumber Liquidators. I'm glad we got the tip off cause cork is expensive! We ended up with a nice dark chocolate-like cork. I'm not sure if I'm going to like the dark floor with the dark cabinets but for $500 we will try it out and if I hate it...in a couple of years we can redo it. Maybe it will all come together once we get the counter-tops picked out. A couple of our friends have cork floors and they are far from whats probably in your mind (quit picturing a cork board!). First, it can come in all sorts of colors and patterns. And secondly it's hard...way more dense than a cork board...but soft all at the same time. The thing I love is that it is smooth. Once coated with polyurethane it's just one smooth surface...no divots or cracks for gunk to get stuck. I have high hopes that this will be a hell of a lot easier to clean than linoleum... which to me, no matter how hard you scrub on your hands and knees, NEVER comes clean.

RIP old washer

2008-12-05T13:24:46Z

Royce and I recently practiced our right at home appliance euthanasia. Although our washer wasn't dead we decided it should be and so on Black Friday we went out to find it's replacement. I had tagged our old washer as being from the 1970's. It looked and smelled old and it did things like pee all over our basement which you would expect from old things. Imagine my surprise when I see this guy was purchased in 1994. I was truely excited about the size of this moster when we moved in. Coming from apartments with stackable units laundry day took a while becuase you had to do so many small loads. This one was 'extra capacity' which to Royce ment "stuff all your laundry in at once". It was a nice feature but it used a lot of water (as we found out in the afore mentioned basement flood). I always joked that when we did our laundry the lights in DC would dim a bit.

In the end we decided to get a new fangeled front loader from a company that I thought only made cell phones. Research showed that LG had ranked in the top for the past 2 years for washers so we hedged our bets. Its pretty cool...it is really high tech and even makes little computer noises and sings when it is done. My favorite feature so far is that after a couple of tumbles it decides how much water it needs. Our old model left that up to the humans and one human in our house was known to wash very small loads with the "extra high" water setting.

According to the energy guide label our new fancy macine will only cost us $10-15 a year to run...in comparison the energy guide label from the old one...a whopping $136 to run. I can't even imagine how much water we are saving.

Bahamas

2008-11-30T14:02:33Z

We recently returned from our last big vacation of the year. Royce attended a ER medical education conference in the Bahamas which just happened to be at Atlantis on Paradise Island. Our overall review of the resort was that it was expensive...they nickle and dime you to death. I guess we are just used to all inclusive beachy vacations or frugal EU vacations. Either way I really wished I had packed more than a box of wine and whiskey. Next time I'm adding bread and PB & J to my list. Food was very expensive...as were drinks...but we finally figured out if we went to the casino and gambeled we could drink for free. As for the food I just woke up each morning and walked with Royce to his conference to partake in the free coffee and breakfast (I wasn't the only one who did that) to avoid at least one meal expense.

It was a beautiful place though. Waking up early gave me the chance to explore and photograph while Royce was learning. We had a day off together which happend to be one of the best days out there (no wind with our side of sun) so we spent it going down all the amazing water slides they had. It was 2 hours of pure childhood bliss. Our final recomendation is that if you have the $$ this is a great family vacation cause it is stupid easy to get to and it is huge...like DisneyLand with sharks and water. There are so many pools and things for kids, not to mention places for you to drop them off and forget'em. I don't know if we will return, but if we do I can't wait to go down those slides again!

Photos are below...just click the picture.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T00:48:55Z

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of them all. I think it is because you can get away with not spending it with family with low-guilt factor (disclaimer: I would love to spend it with family, but alas Royce always works Thanksgiving so we go it alone over here on the east). We have kinda gotten into a family-less Thanksgiving groove here. For the past couple of years we have gathered with other family-less friends for general merriment. This was the second one I hosted here at the house and sadly the last one for the orange kitchen. I snapped lots of worthy orange kitchen pictures...however getting exposure right in this room is really hard!

Royce had to work all day so I was left to my own intentions all day. Luckily I had a lot to cook (and clean). When he got home though he started the party in a way only Royce knows how:

This year we had Torey and Morning over again, and also Sarah, one of my coworkers joined us.

All of the typical Thanksgiving staples were present, but I will have to admit that shoving some celery leaves, and other random dried herbs under the skin of my turkey breast bumped it up to "best turkey ever".

We are back...and we brought some water with us.

2008-11-23T23:22:52Z

Our vacation was wonderful. Until about 11:30 AM today when out of airport boredom I looked at my cell phone and said "why did Ed (our neighbor) call me and leave a message?".

I was hoping for a message where he invited himself over to watch football or something less...malignant than mentioning that water was shooting from the outdoor spigot this morning when he left the house to rake leaves. I guess a series of events ensued where he called the water people to have them turn off our water before he realized he had a key to our house and he would go do it himself. When he got to the basement to turn off the water supply, the excess water had started to seep in through the foundation. So our neighbors had a fun morning of shopvac'ing and mopping water in order to keep it from getting to the finished basement section.

I got bits and pieces of this from him when I called him back and was able to direct him to where we hide our towels. But I had no idea of the how the damage was caused (I expected a burst pipe) or the extent of damage or water seepage, all I knew was (1) that there was water in the basement, (2) we were getting ready to board a plane and (3) I hadn't eaten breakfast and the Bahamas airport is nothing short of a food prison. Lets just say that was the longest 2 hour flight of my life. During that 2 hours my basement was filled to chest high water and everything from our beer fridge to my computer to my wedding keepsake box was a soggy mess. Imaginations suck.

So this can be added as the Spigot Spastics of November '08 which makes for a whopping four basement water happenings for us in our mere 2 years at Pierce Drive let me refresh your memory: Furnace Meltdown of July '07, Toilet Leak of May '07, & the Washing Machine Flood of January '07. I guess you could say we don't mix well with basements and water.

When we returned to the home and braced ourselves for the worst we walked in and realized they had done a wonderful job of containing the water. None of it made it to the finished part thanks to thier actions. I am eternally grateful and owe them more than I could possibly give them. But as I sit here thinking how lukcy we were that they were around and acted on it, I new I would do the exact same for any of them cause that's what neighbors do.

Oh and the next time we go on vacation I'm turning our water off.

The Katsnelsons

2008-11-14T23:33:58Z

I met Kelly and Boris through the cooking club here in our neighborhood. A few weeks ago I met them at their home to take some photos of them and their daughter Campbell. It's an easy task when everyone is so gorgeous! Click on the photo below to see more.

Good movie season

2008-11-11T12:29:04Z

The holiday season always seems to bring out some good flicks. I was surprised last night when Royce shoved the Sunday Source section in my face and said "Look...SlumDog Millionaire". I was like "wah"? Then took a second to read it and figured out that one of my favorite books has been turned into a movie. I'm not sure where that movie name came from as the book was titled "Q & A" but this is defeintely based on the book. The trailer looks like it follows the story pretty well, and even gives a good feeling of suspense. I'm also impressed with the many film festival awards.

I of course recomend you read the book first...it's a fast read and a whimsy of a story. Hopefully the movie makers won't turn it into a boriing interpretation like they did The Namesake.

Green Chicken Masala

2008-11-09T12:49:31Z

Last night was cooking club and the theme was 'something new'. So we had to make something we had never made before. Risky! I have always wanted to make a curry but never have. I also never had insight into one of the best minds here in DC when it comes to Indian food. So I picked a recipe, crossed my fingers and went against every entertaining rule out there and made something for a party I had never made before.

The recipe is below. It had nothing in it I would suspect in being in curry except for the coconut milk but the finished product was just as good as stuff I've had here in the local restaurant. I'm sure this would work with tofu too...

Green Chicken Masala
(recipe and photo from Food & Wine)
Ingredients
2 cups cilantro leaves (and yes I only used the leaves not the stems)
1 cup mint leaves
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (1.5 lemons approx)
1/2 cup water
2 tbs canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 3/4 lb chicken (I used boneless skinless thighs)
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I used Goya brand)
Kosher salt
Basmati or Jasmine rice for serving

In a blender or food proceser combine the clinatro, mint, jalapeno, garlic, lemon juice & water. Puree until smooth.
In a large deep skillet heat the oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat until softened (about 5 mins...and stir frequently so they don't burn!).
Add the chicken and turmeric and cook stirring occasionaly until the chicken is cooked (hard to tell b/c of the turmeric color, took me about 14 mins). Add the remaining spices and cook a miniute more.
Add the cilantro puree and coconut milk, season with salt and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until the sauce is slightly thickened and the chicken is tender (I let it simmer for a good 30 mins).
Serve with cooked basmati or jasmine rice.

Voting!

2008-11-04T22:10:33Z

Big day here...even Charlie participated. Well not really, but we would like to think that if he could vote he would vote for the brown candidate since he is a brown dog. : D

Tonight we will be watching the polls and enjoying some Chicago deep dish pizza in support of our candidate! Go Obama!

Turkey Burgers & Banana Walnut Pancakes

2008-11-02T16:37:54Z

My friend Amanda and her husband James are visiting this weekend from KC. They will be moving (hopefully to our neighborhood!) at the end of the month. After they looked at a few rental homes yesterday we feasted on Amanda's famous turkey burger concoction. We made these when she was living here a while back. At first I was a bit leary...putting cranberry sauce on a burger seemed weird but with a turkey burger the flavors complement very well.

And then this morning I tried out banana walnut pancakes on them. So far so good. It's fun hosting a pregnant woman because she will eat anything! : D Just teasing Amanda. Tonight it is mussels and frites at Mannequin Pis!

Turkey Burgers - Cheese stuffed
Ground Turkey (Approx 4-5 oz of meat per person)
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Oregano
Parsley Flakes
Cheese - Cheddar or Brie cut into thin slices.
Canned cranberry sauce or lingonberry preserves

Mix the turkey, steak seasoning, and spices together well in a small bowl. Form half of a patty then place cheese on patty half and then cover with remaining turkey (this puts the cheese in the middle of the patty). Grill like any burger. Top with slices of cranberry sauce or preserves.

Banana Walnut Pancakes
Use your regular pancake mix or make your mix from scratch. Using at least 2 ripe bananas mash them well in a bowl and mix in with your batter. Add walnuts to batter. Cook like you would your regular pancakes.

Kitchen Specs

2008-10-28T17:33:26Z

We finalized our kitchen specs last night (click on the picture below to see a larger one). The biggest major change from our current lay out is that we are knocking down a wall where the bar is slated to go. This will open up our kitchen into the dining room which is on your left as you look at the aerial shot. Because we are removing the wall we had to move the fridge. Also since we are getting rid of the double oven/cook-top combo we were able to free up some space on the wall where the range is slated to go. We even have proper slots for Charlie's dog dish (on the floor under the microwave in that little nook) not to mention shelves to put cookbooks on. It will be nice to have an open kitchen...very few of the houses in this neighborhood have that luxury.