Our New Cafe Appliances: Range and Hood Edition

This post is sponsored by Cafe

Since we finished the kitchen for the One Room Challenge, one of the questions that keeps coming up is; what do we think of our new range from Cafe? Well, I LOVE IT! This range was quite an upgrade for us. We went from a 30″ mid 1990’s white electric range to Cafe’s Dual-Fuel Professional Range with six burners. I talked a little bit about Cafe a few posts ago, the ones that are customizable, and allow you to choose a base color as well as the hardware color. Which I am loving so much because I am a big fan of mixing metals in the kitchen.

This range is the perfect combination of form and function. Everyone is always saying how you have to choose between the two, but with this range, you get both.

Because this baby is a duel fuel (natural gas cooktop + convection oven) range, we had to add a gas line which was an additional cost of about $1,500 after permits and the cost of the plumber, but it was worth every penny. Nate, who is the cook in our family, has always wanted a duel fuel range so this was kind of a dream come true for him. Another thing to note is that if you live in higher elevations, like we do, then the convection oven will make your life so much easier. Higher elevation baking often means that your cookies are raw in the middle and your cakes will not rise, but not with this convection oven. We are able to follow regular baking instructions on mostly everything now and it comes out just perfectly!

Each of the six burners have their own knob (plus one for the oven) which makes operating the range very straightforward.

The grates are easy to remove and when I notice they need cleaning,  I just place them all in the sink and give them a good rinse. While the grates are off, I usually use this opportunity to wipe off the cooktop. Just a sponge with a spot of dish soap, and all of the cooking messes wipe right up. Easy peasy.

The width of this range is 36″, when a standard range is 30″, and this extra six inches allows you to bake multiple dishes at once. This came in handy over the holidays when the green bean casserole was ready to go in the oven, while the turkey was still roasting away. My mom and I made Thanksgiving dinner together this year, and she LOVED that the racks are on rollers and slide in and out with ease. It’s these small details that make a big difference!

For our hood, we went with their 36″ commercial style hood. It’s mounted to the wall and then we built the cedar surround. The hood cover was a relatively simple DIY. After the hood was installed and secured to the wall, Nate built a frame around it with 2×4’s, and then wrapped the entire structure with cedar 1×2’s. I am always a fan of adding natural wood tones whenever and wherever I can, I love the warmth that wood adds to a space. It’s a statement maker and only cost around $75 in materials.

Here is what the hood looked like before we wrapped it with the cedar. I love how it matches the white appliances, but also comes in all of the same color options that the range is offered in, so you can coordinate accordingly. It’s pretty enough to leave as is, or you can customize your look, like we did.

The fan is so quiet, even on the highest of settings and the grates easily remove in case they need a good cleaning. Also, I love the light that comes inside the hood. You guys know how I HATE a cold, blue LED light bulb…makes me feel like I’m the operating room at the hospital. But, these lights are warm and lovely and even have a Nite setting, which is a very low light that I have been turning on every evening after the kids are in bed. It’s soft and adds such a nice ambience to the kitchen.

With the kitchen finally complete and all of the Cafe Appliances stealing the show, we are just LOVING all of them! They all look and function the part. We knew we loved how they looked when we picked them out, but now that we’ve been using them in our kitchen for a few months, we are hooked!

 

 

The Sink And Faucet That I Couldn’t Stop Pinning

This post is sponsored by Kraus

I don’t know if I told you guys this but when we were remodeling our kitchen for the One Room Challenge, we were without a working sink in the kitchen for twelve weeks…yep, you heard that right. TWELVE LONG WEEKS! So when our sink from Kraus was finally installed, I was a over the moon! Has anyone else washed dishes in the bath tub before? Well, believe me…it’s not a fun job.

It seems kind of funny, but when you’re planning a full kitchen remodel, the sink has to be selected at the very early stages. Which makes sense if you think about it because cabinets can’t be ordered and counter tops can’t be measured until the exact dimensions for the sink are set. And there are lots of options too; under-mount, apron-style (like mine), drop-in style, single or double bowl….whew! In our last house, we had a single bowl, under-mount sink and I LOVED being able to drop a full baking sheet right to the bottom for washing. But, I didn’t love the stainless steel finish and was always fighting with water spots. So I knew I didn’t want to do a stainless steel sink again but wasn’t sure what new direction to go…until I saw it. THE ONE. I went with the 33″ Reversible Apron front Fireclay Single Bowl Sink in gloss white from Kraus. Are you wondering what they mean when they say reversible???? I know I was when I first read the description. Well, this sink is so cool and allows you to choose which style you would like for the front, or the exposed apron. Isn’t it rad that you have the option?

I opted for the flat front because I was attracted to the slightly more modern vibe of the flat front, versus the rounded front, which felt more traditional to me. It’s such a great size too! You could easily fit two baby bums for a soak in the sink or to hide all the dirty dinner pots and pans until you feel like doing the dishes.

 

It comes with a grid that lives on the bottom that I LOVE! It’s so handy, especially for watering all of your plant babes as it lets the water drain freely from the bottom of the pot.

For the faucet, I selected the 18″ Commercial Style Pull-Down in matte black. This baby is sleek and I will never get over how it pairs so well with the black windows. Meow.

I also have really been enjoying the pull down option, and the button on the back which allows you to switch the water stream to a spray. It makes cleaning up a breeze. And the shiny finish always looks clean and sparkly, which is such a nice perk! I couldn’t be happier with this duo from Kraus, and know we will love them for many years. A BIG thank you goes out to Nick from Kraus who was so helpful and even tracked down another sink option for us at the last minute, when the sink we had originally selected was out of stock. He made it possible for us to keep our ORC deadline and for that, I’m so grateful!