Soda or Pop?

I am obviously hurting for wall decor (yeah right!) so Nicolette was kind enough to donate to my cause. I had to show her I combined her contributions with a few of my kitschy ad items and am already enjoying them on the wall.

 

The boring 70's diagonal paneled wall before.

And after! 

Now I seem to be thirsty for something sugary, caffeinated and carbonated every time I walk in the room. I wonder why? 

We wouldn't want too many things working at once!

What is this!? I'm sitting at my computer with no interruptions? I guess the cat is trying to get my attention but that is nothing new.

Despite the 90's green paint slopped all over I do love my door handle. 

Promptly, after we FINALLY replaced the broken dishwasher the lock on the door decided to break. The key would fit halfway in and go no further. I pulled off the cylinder and greased it hoping something was just sticky but there was a tiny wire hanging out inside which looked important.

Fortunately the antique hardware store down the street had a replacement which fit for $28 including the keys which wasn't a bad price? I couldn't even find a replacement online so I wouldn't have known where to go from there if they didn't have anything. This old broken cylinder screwed out and the "new" one (which pretty much looks the same) popped in so it was a fairly easy fix.

Dishwashing

I'm back and with a story and pictures of my newest possession. A shiny new dishwasher! But first lets take a moment to remember the old (very smelly) dishwasher.

Here it sits in all of its 1970's glory. 

It at one time had some fancy settings. Plate Warmer? Plus a closeup of the marble finished panel.

The shelves were adjustable with this "high tech" Dial A Level knob.

 

At one time dishwashers came with your choice of color panels. Unfortunately today's reasonably priced dishwashers come in stainless, white and black. I tried to change to the matching harvest gold when we first moved in but left the white when I saw the unfortunate condition of the panel.

Coppertone and a pale avocado green were the other choices.

Gross!

 

It's not as dirty as I thought it would be back here. Yes, similar to the bathroom, very little to no painting has been done behind the cupboards. 

I can see the sink was along the diagonal wall flanked by 2 skinny built in cupboards with shelves which would have fit nicely under the windows. The bright yellow was a pre-1970 remodel and I see apple green from before that. This means when/if I take the cupboards off the opposite wall I will probably find a stove outline and I already know the icebox was on the landing going down to the basement because the drain pipes for melted ice are still there. Enough with my random kitchen ramblings and onto the dishwasher. 

Lowe's told us they would deliver it between 8 and 12 on Saturday morning. Figuring they meant closer to noon and then into the afternoon I was preparing for a day of antsy waiting. Seven that morning my phone rings and Mark answers. I hear him saying "yes, we are. Ok, umm, yeah, Ok. We'll get up and get ready then." We were their first stop so by 7:30 am our old dishwasher was gone and our new one was sitting on the porch ready to be installed. My dad added needed shut off valves for the sink and dishwasher and I'm not sure what all as he was under the counter most of the day soldering and such. I think he replaced some of the pipes with copper? 

So we got the dishwasher in place Saturday night. Sunday we decided to test it out. I loaded it with dishes, pushed the buttons and it started to run. Yay! We went out to lunch and then my parents went back home (an hour and a half away). About an hour after they left we went to empty the dishwasher and noticed the glasses almost looked dirtier than when we put them in. It was then we noticed the undissolved dish soap packet sitting at the bottom. The dishwasher ran its cycle but no water was in it so now not only were the dishes still dirty but the food was baked on! Gross! Long story short we decided to see if the fancy flood control? hose my dad decided to install instead of just a normal hose was closed so we pulled it out, undid the hose and reset it. Crossing our fingers I started the dishwasher again to hear water splashing in. Whew! I was picturing having to call Lowe's again and I know whoever would show up for servicing it would not be there as promptly as the delivery guys. 

I was delighted to discover the front panel was metal and not plastic so I can use my kitschy clean/dirty magnets. (They left a rust mark on the old dishwasher so plastic is still behind them).The magnet is correct. The dishes are sparkling clean inside.