I’ve Changed My Mind On One Of My Most Controversial Decisions (Plus, I Need A New Refrigerator)

I’m starting off the new year in need of a new refrigerator. The refrigerator itself isn’t horrible. It’s keeping our food cold, although I do have to deal with frozen heavy whipping cream every morning when I make my coffee. That’s getting annoying, and it freezes no matter how I adjust the refrigerator temperature. But that’s a minor annoyance that I can deal with, and it doesn’t make buying a new refrigerator an urgent need.

But what’s really getting to me is our freezer. There must be a continual drip coming from the ice maker because what happens is that ice builds up gradually at the back.

And as that chunk of ice gets bigger, it prohibits me from pushing the ice container all the way to the back of the freezer. And once the container gets pushes forward too much, almost all of the ice that drops from the ice maker goes back behind the ice container and starts filling up the lower part of the freezer. And if I ignore it for a couple of months, I’ve got a real mess on my hands…

So yesterday, when I came into the kitchen after lunch and saw that the freezer door was standing open (because it had been pushed open by the ice container being shoved too far forward by the ice buildup), I had to take an hour of my afternoon and clean out the freezer, removing about a sink-full of ice, and chipping out that big mound of ice at the back with a knife.

So I’m hoping this year, I will be able to get a new refrigerator with an in-door ice dispenser. The challenge of getting a new refrigerator for our kitchen is that the refrigerator cabinet is only 30 inches wide.

Now if I get my wish, and I’m able to completely redo our kitchen along with our addition, and I get all new cabinets like I want, I could possibly move thing around just a bit so that I have three or four more inches there. But then that’ll just reduce my countertop space, and I don’t know that I want to give up countertop space for more refrigerator space. We don’t really need a bigger refrigerator, but the issue is that there isn’t a big selection of 30-inch-wide and narrower refrigerators.

So I’m not really sure how that will all work out, but I do know that this freezer is driving me crazy. I’ve been battling this ice maker for at least two years now (probably longer), and it’s winning. It may win the battles, but it won’t win the war. 😀

But along with a new refrigerator, I also want a new range and *drumroll, please* a new dishwasher.

Let it be known that I have changed my mind about not having a dishwasher. 😀 I think it was back in 2019 (before 2020 completely derailed so many things) that I decided I didn’t want a dishwasher in my kitchen anymore. It was one of the most controversial decisions I ever made about anything in my house. It seemed like some people were literally angry with me for suggesting such a thing. 😀

Well, fast forward a few years, and I never got around to converting that dishwasher space into cabinet space. I still don’t use the dishwasher. I can’t even remember the last time I turned the thing on. It’s been well over five years, and I’ve only used it a few times since we got it.

But I have now decided that I do want a dishwasher, and I want to use it as more than just a glorified drying rack (which is what our current dishwasher is). So if I do get the opportunity to redo the kitchen this year when we do the addition, I will be including a dishwasher in the kitchen. And I will be using it.

What made me change my mind is that a lot has changed since 2019. Matt and I went from never having people in our home to now having people in our home regularly. I cook for a crowd once a week (except that we took time off of that over the Christmas season), and we always use paper plates, plastic utensils, bottled water, etc.

I’d actually like to move away from those things and use real plates, non-disposable silverware, and actual cups for drinks. But I also don’t want to be stuck hand washing all of that when everyone leaves. So with our lifestyle now, it would be very nice to have a dishwasher that can do the job quickly, efficiently, and thoroughly. Just as long as it’s a panel-ready dishwasher, and I won’t have an obvious dishwasher visible from the front door, I’m actually excited about having a working dishwasher.

But again, we’ll have to see how all of this works out. I’d love to do the kitchen remodel at the same time we’re tackling the addition since part of the addition will probably affect the back wall of the kitchen anyway. In the meantime, I’m going to start planning for and dreaming about my new kitchen with a non-leaking ice maker, a usable freezer that doesn’t get filled up with ice, and a working dishwasher.

Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.