Worked for me! Display your cutting boards

and your trivets. Yes, display them on your counter for a pop of color and to keep them within reach.

I used IKEA GARBODA plate holder to hold different cutting boards and couple of IKEA HEAT trivets. Just put a pretty, new, colorful cutting board in the front and hide the daily used ones at the back. I also store microwave plate cover behind this, since it is in the corner.

The White Ice Effect

Happy Friday!

We have all white appliances and I love them, well, may be except the dishwasher. But I like the look of white over stainless steel. So when it was time to upgrade our basic apartment fridge, we looked for a white one with bottom freezer and no water dispenser. Yes, no water dispenser. It might seem strange to many, but we decided against it because it takes up lot of space inside and we don't really drink ice water. Water no ice, please! We installed a Reverse Osmosis system near our sink a while back and it has been good enough. So we thought we could just have an ice maker in the freezer for those chilly drinks once in a while and reclaim that space inside the fridge. Samsung was our first choice. After deciding on the model, we waited for the good sales to come along and snagged it during Thanksgiving sale at Lowes (not 2014, but 2013 thanksgiving, you know I don't post realtime) for an awesome $950 including 5 yr warranty (after using a 10% coupon and 5% Lowes credit card discount on the already low price). It retails for $1700.

It arrived with minor scratches that were barely noticeable but I thought, I went to Lowes for this because I wanted a pretty, shiny new one. For a scratched one, I could have gone to a refurbished store or craigslist. So I contacted Lowes and they happily agreed to replace, but they were out of stock for holidays so they asked us to use it and they will contact us to replace when they get new stock. So we kept it.

The size was right, it looked shiny so matched with our glass front ovens & stove, but something was off. After staring at it for few days, it hit me, it is the look of a giant white swatch between our maple cabinets. I tried covering the handles with some aluminium foil and BAAM! it looked awesome, matched better with the ovens (with the see through windows on the oven doors) and our stainless steel backsplash (read about that here). I was sold on the idea of buying new stainless steel handles and as I was searching for a good deal, hubby liked the idea so much he ordered them right away.

Look at the beauty. I have been eyeing on Whirlpool White Ice Refridgerator from the time they introduced the line, but they are so expensive it remained as a fantasy. But now it has come true! Though we spent $150 extra for the handles, we have a unique look and I love it.

Any other fans for Whirlpool Ice series? Anyone else prefer White over Stainless Steel? Am I the only wierdo?

Worked for Me! Protecting backsplash with another backsplash

Being addicted to Pinterest, I find so many tips & tricks to make life easier. Everytime I put a good tip to use I thank those that have come up with it and shared. So I thought I would share some of those tips & tricks that worked for our family, around the house and in our daily lives so others can benefit from them too. It could be something that I came up with or something I was inspired from or an idea from friends/family/Internet that I tried and benefited from. I will post them in a weekly series 'Worked for Me!'.  I will try as much as I can to maintain the weekly schedule.

Today's tip - Put a backsplash over your backsplash!

We were fortunate to have a house with pretty kitchen complete with backsplash, though not my style. It was an upgrade from builders when previous owners bought it, they chose light colored stone. I matched well with cabinets and flooring and looked nice.

But we knew we can't keep it that nice. We cook quite a bit so we knew there will be a lot of splatters that will stain the grout and make a greasy mess. So my husband came up with a brilliant idea of putting a stainless steel sheet over it right behind the cooktop. Easy to clean, reflects light and looks modern. I was sold. He had a piece cut to size and mounted with Command strips. It has been 5 years and it is still holding up strong. Above all, it's a breeze to keep it clean. 

It doesn't show as well in the pictures. It is really hard to take pictures of this space because of bright daylight all day long. Can't complain though. I love lot of light in the house.

You could keep it for day to day and take it off when you are having company/parties. We chose to keep it on because it looks good.

I am guessing a peel & stick stainless steel film like this one will work as well. Make sure it is wipeable and heat resistant.