Rebirth

One of the quirks of Case de Revivalized is the mixed-up appliance situation. It had two kitchens, but only one refrigerator. Maybe to make up for that fact, there was a much-larger-than-we-need, standalone freezer. The washer and dryer that we contracted to come with the house ended up going with the Previous Tenant, and there wasn't even the faint whiff of a hookup for a dishwasher. Bottom line: we've stepped back into the 1950s Housewife's dream.

To add a little color to this tale, let me remind you that the sole refrigerator was Blush Pink:

(To match the stove, duh!) It was also located in the Second Floor Kitchen, which we want to use as a Laundry/Crafts/Utility Room. After much backing and forthing, we decided that the laundry center would best be placed where the refrigerator stood. It required the least demolition of cabinets and allowed for easy venting of the dryer.

What little demolition was required wasn't done prettily. I'm kind of a hack, I guess. The problem is that I don't really understand carpentry, especially the kind of well-made, hand-built, custom cabinetry in our kitchens. I keep expecting it to be 90s-style screw-it-in modular. But it's not. Here's the end result:

And here's a little tiny bit of old newspaper or wallpaper I uncovered:

Hardly worth posting really. For the record, I did find more of that "classic 40s minty green" behind the upper cabinets. It seems like that's going to be the Revivalized version of Fixer Upper Pink.

So after preparing the site and agreeing to a usurious charge from a plumber/handyman, we trundled off to Lowe's (voted Best Appliance Store in the local paper, where we had a pleasant and satisfying experience with buying our refrigerator) and chose a front-loading washer and dryer. We specifically had a lovely conversation with the lovely Andre about how these needed to be delivered to the second floor rear, and he assured us that it was the delivery guys' problem and we shouldn't worry another moment. Andre is very soothing - a good trait in someone whose job it is to talk you out of thousands of dollars.

On the assigned date, the delivery guys showed up to do their job. Without any equipment. Hoist to get to the second floor rear balcony, which is just off the kitchen - NOPE. Blankets to wrap the appliances as they go up stairs - NOPE. Pretty much, the only tool they had was a measuring tape. Well, you know what they say about using the only tool you have, no matter the problem. Tape in hand, the guys told me that no how were the washer and dryer coming up the back stairs. "Only 25 inches, ma'am. Not gonna happen."

I admit, it was early in the morning, so I wasn't at my friendliest. I stubbornly refused to let them move the 400-pound appliances up my beloved front stairs and over my brand-newly refinished wood-floored hallway. Again with the backing and the forthing, and now with the calling of their manager, and the calling of the Lowe's Appliance Manager. (Andre was on vacation all week, even though he told us he would come right over and put the whole thing on his back and carry it up the back stairs if the delivery guys give us and duff, here's my home phone number if you need it. Our confidence in Andre is shaken, to say the least.) The Appliance Manager told us Lowe's would be liable for any damage to our intact original 80-year-old oak staircase, banisters, and newel post, our freshly painted walls, or our big-money floor refinishing job.

So D. made the tough call: take it up the front stairs.

Here's what I think: I think making these guys wait an hour and do a little dance with their supervisors etc. made them be more careful. Because, in the end, there were only a few small scuffs on a few stair treads. But do you think they would have been so careful if I had just let them do it their way in the first place without any rigamarole? Neither do I. I don't think standing there watching them, wincing with each step, hurt either.

The appliances are now in situ, waiting for the usurious plumber/handyman to take his sweet time and show up a week after originally scheduled, if then:

And the old Pink Beast is gone:

We wanted her to meet a better, more dignified end than that. At one point, we had even hoped to find her a new home, with owners who would lovingly restore her and happily pay her astronomical electric bills. But the one prospect we had fell through, and after the incident, our affection waned. We just wanted the hassle of dealing with her to end.

It was bittersweet for me to see her go, especially Primo Levi-style like that, over the back porch railing. I felt she deserved better. So I ended up saving thetwo, solid steel produce drawers. I'll find some way to reuse them. Maybe as organizer boxes in the kitchen or laundry room, or maybe I'll just plant some flowers in them.

Blush pink, of course, in her memory.