OMG everyone I have had a dishwasher for almost 24 hours and it has changed my life.
Our amazing plumber came and installed it yesterday, and all I can think about is that Bright Eyes Song - First Day of my Life. This is the first day of my new life where I don't spend 30 minutes a day washing dishes.
I'm also excited to have another drawer in the kitchen. We currently have 2 drawers (HOW DO WE SURVIVE) and now we will have three drawers. Hopefully, this will help make our kitchen last another 5 years until we can do an extension (i.e., until we are not paying for all the childcare in the world).
I don't think "nesting" kicks in at 23 weeks but I think "panic home organization" is definitely kicking in.
In addition to the kitchen trolly, IKEA are delivering us a new dining table & chairs and this chest of drawers which we will use as a changing table:
I have lots of minor improvements to make to our home and it's exciting to see actual progress. I'm pretty surprised that I can be as interested in time and time management as I am and yet I still lived without a dishwasher for so long. I feel like I have literally gained 30 minutes + a day which would have been spent on dishes and now can be spent on... something else. Anything else.
I know I'm currently in a fortunate "let's solve this problem with money" stage, but I am hoping that even when the money dries up (i.e. maternity leave) I will still have the solutions and won't regret spending the money.
Do you shop at IKEA? What's the last thing you bought (at IKEA or elsewhere) that massively improved your life?
Woo hoo! I think you've made some really smart improvements and the investment will pay off every day that you're in your kitchen - so most days of the year.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any Ikea furniture but I've got some odds and ends from them and I very much enjoy visiting when I have the chance. The nearest store is about 2 hours away.
Thank you! Our IKEA is about 30 minutes away but I usually pay for delivery - although it's £40 for delivery it's easier than trying to fit everything in our car. I don't order that often but save up everything I need from them so I can do a big shop and then the delivery fee seems more worthwhile.
DeleteHooray! It is so exciting to see something you've wanted and planned for come to fruition! I have owned many pieces of IKEA furniture in my life and STILL own much of it. Holds up well!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, I find IKEA really lasts!
DeleteThis all looks amazing. And I agree that a dishwasher is lifechanging. I'd never had one anywhere I lived until we moved into our current house and 6 years later I am still obsessed. I do find I still wash plenty of dishes, but the dishwasher saves hours of time a week. And I also appreciate that it keeps everything out of sight. Dirty/clean dishes can just hang out until I'm ready to deal with them.
ReplyDeleteWe did an IKEA run this weekend and bought some peg boards and a new dresser-type thing for my daughter. We own a lot of IKEA products (dozens of items at this point). I find things economical, but shockingly great quality. When we moved into our home from a tiny apartment we needed everything. So much ended up coming from IKEA. Our dining room table + chairs, four desks (one each for the kids rooms + 2 for our home office), pillow covers, and so many picture frames!
Thank you! It's definitely true that not having loads of dishes in the sink or on the counter drying is one of the biggest improvements - everything is hidden away until I can do it. It's some serious batching!
DeleteI love the IKEA peg boards but don't have any. I feel like IKEA is one of the few places you get exactly what you pay for (or better). It's nothing fancy - no fancy name - but some of the stuff is so solid! and even the cheap stuff can be solid. Our house is made of Kallax storage systems at the moment.
I'm so excited for our IKEA dining room table and chairs. My desk is also from IKEA (although second hand) and most of what's in the kid's rooms is IKEA as well.
I am so excited for you that you have a dishwasher now that saves you so much time and that you're already optimizing the limited space. I love that kitchen trolley!
ReplyDeleteWe have a LOT of things from Ikea and I don't know why some people bash it - they have timeless designs and for us, the furniture has held up really well. We've had a small couch that is now at least 12 years old and has held up better than the couch that we bought at Lazyboy! I'll forever toot the Ikea horn!!
I regret not buying an IKEA couch when my husband and I bought our sofa! It was the first real furniture we bought and was expensive and is (technically) not machine washable. I feel like IKEA sofas hold up so well!
DeleteYour kitchen looks great! I am excited for you that you now have a dishwasher. I have one in this house but it the first place I have had one and I am still (a) kind of used to just washing the dishes half of the time (b) not that impressed with my dishwasher (I think it is cheap) as I basically have to wash the dishes before I put them in there anyway, so why bother. But I would love one of the dishwashers that you can just put the dirty plates right into. That would be a dream come true!
ReplyDeleteI do not have anything from Ikea, but only because my family has so much old furniture and I just took it from them and repurposed/repainted it and am calling it new to me!
Thank you! I do hope that it continues to clean well - it seems to get stuff clean in a one hour cycle which is awesome. I imagine they run worse over time and I've definitely lived in places with old machines that never got stuff really clean.
DeleteI love old furniture (especially painted!) and would be really interested to see a post on your blog with some of the pieces you've repurposed or repainted if that interests you someday.
I definitely can dig up some home improvement photos and do a blog post about it, as it has been a very long time since I have done a home post!
DeleteIt looks great! I'm so thrilled for you - you deserve to have a lovely, workable kitchen when you have young children!!
ReplyDeleteWe have a dishwasher, but still end up spending 20-30 minutes a day on dishes because of all the dumb things we own that aren't dishwasher safe. Maybe we need to stop being so precious about those things and we should chuck them in the dishwasher anyway.
Thank you! I am so excited for dishwasher. So far I have put most things in it but not wooden things. But I definitely will be intentionally getting dishwasher safe things going forward! I have been told that much more can go in a dishwasher than commonly thought... but I don't want to warp my chopping board.
DeleteHooray congratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful!! Well done on creating a functional kitchen that you love!! How are you feeling? Daria
ReplyDelete