Introducing our beautiful new KITCHENAID appliances from The Brick…

Oh goodness, our kitchen really has come such a long, long way, hasn’t it?

I used to dread being stuck in this dark and dated space, cooking away with appliances so old and utterly terrible that each and every one of them refused to do anything the easy way.

The fridge was inefficient and unreliable, freezing our food solid more times than not. And it made more noise than any fridge ever should, drowning out entire conversations in the space each and every time it turned itself on.

Speaking of noisy, if the fridge wasn’t making conversation hard enough, there was always the dishwasher to bring even more noise to that party. And even worse, for all the noise it made while it was working away, it never really did a very good job of cleaning all those dirty dishes.

And finally, my least favourite appliance of all…

Oh this old range was the bane of my existence.

The one thing I hated most of all about our kitchen.

I suppose I should count my blessings that the darn thing could still turn on after all these years, but cooking on this thing definitely came with it’s challenges – only parts of each element seemed to work, the timer refused to actually start (though you could set it if you had the patience to play with the dial all day long), the oven temperature was totally inconsistent, and worst of all, it would literally take me 10 long minutes to actually get the proper oven temperature to come up when I turned the dial (the numbers just jumped randomly with each turn!). Oh. My. Gosh.

Honestly, cooking with that thing was SO frustrating!!!

Though the list of things I couldn’t wait to change in our kitchen space was a very long one, our noisy, dysfunctional appliances were at the very tip top.

In fact, shopping for new appliances was our very first step in planning out our new kitchen (find all of those design plans here)!

Knowing this was going to be a decision we’d have to live with (and would hopefully love) for many years to come, we had a few must haves we just wouldn’t settle on:

one. They had to work well. Knowing I’d be using these appliances each and every day for years to come, finding the very best our money could buy was our top priority.

two. They had to be quiet. It was important to us that we could be in our kitchen with the appliances running and not notice any extra noise. This was especially important with opening up our kitchen to the rest of our house as well.

three. They had to be reliable. You better believe I scoured the internet for hours, reading each and every reveiw out there to make sure that we were choosing efficient, reliable appliances that would stand the test of time.

four. They had to be beautiful. I was definitely on the hunt for sleek appliances with clean lines that would compliment rather than clutter up our kitchen design.

five. They had to be from a brand we trust. Having moved 6 times through the last 8 years, we’ve certainly been through our fair share of appliances. We’ve owned appliances from nearly every major manufacturer, but the name that’s proven itself to us over and over again, the name we’ve chosen every time we’ve had the chance to has always been KitchenAid. They’ve just never let us down.
 

So, armed with this list, we did A LOT of research. We read the reports, the blog posts, the reviews. We thought about the features we’d most love to have and which models might fit our space and design style best. We hummed and hawed about colours (I was SO close to making the leap to the dark side!). And in the end, here’s where we ended up…

And oh my goodness friends, we are head-over-heels in love! I cannot wait to tell you all about these amazing appliances!

The Dishwasher

The KitchenAid Dishwasher with Advanced ProDry™ System
 

We love the clean look of the front (the touch controls are hidden along the top) and that sturdy handle brings a bit of industrial style.

With 9 dynamic wash arms and the ProScrub™ feature, we’ve started skipping any soaking (or most times even rinsing) of our dishes and just pop them right into the dishwasher after meals. And even better, this brilliant little dishwasher comes armed with a ProWash™ feature that determines the wash cycle itself based on how dirty our dishes are, and then makes real-time adjustments to achieve the best cleaning performance imaginable. And, if that wasn’t enough, it uses a clean water wash system to continuously remove food particles from the wash water, which reduces cycle times and water and energy usage. Plus, there’s no need to ever remove or clean the filter (thank goodness, because that is the grossest job EVER!!!).

We have put this thing through the wringer my friends, giving it our worst, stuck on messes and, no matter how terrible they go in, those dishes always, always come out sparkling clean!

Seriously, it’s the best dishwasher we’ve ever owned!

And best of all, it is whisper quiet. You can easily run it while you’re in the space and not even know that it’s on!
 
 

The Fridge

KitchenAid French Door Refrigerator with Interior Water Dispenser
 

We went with a counter depth fridge with interior water dispenser to keep everything looking sleek and clean in our design and the french doors allow more space for people to walk by even while the doors are wide open (a must in a busy kitchen!).

Obviously, it looks right at home in our new kitchen, but it’s what’s inside that matters most. This fridge is SMART! The ExtendFresh™ Plus temperature management system uses sensors to help foods stay fresh and a produce preserver absorbs the ethylene gas emitted by many fruits and vegetables that causes them to over-ripen, which helps extend freshness.

Plus, the FreshChill™ temperature-controlled full-width pantry drawer adjusts the temperature manually, controlling the amount of cold air that enters the drawer, which allows for perfectly controlled storage for whatever we need to keep in there.

The bottom drawer freezer is probably my favourite feature of all – with three levels of pull out baskets, it’s so easy to keep our food perfectly organized. And nobody has enjoyed having ready-made ice at their fingertips more than our sweet little man!

The Range

KitchenAid Slide-In Induction Convection Range with Baking Drawer
 

This is not the first time I’ve gushed about our beautiful new range – you can read more about our new stove and why we chose to go with induction heat over gas or electric here. Or, I can just tell you that it’s basically better than both gas and electric in each and every possible way. Seriously. (Okay, now you want to read more, don’t you!)

We didn’t just choose this range because of it’s induction heat (though that was certainly a HUGE part), it was also really important to me after years of burning baking cookies that I have a convection oven with even heat. Convection ensures the entire oven is kept at the perfect temperature, so food comes out evenly-cooked no matter where it’s been sitting in the oven, which means my days of switching cookie trays are over!

And one of my favourite parts is having this extra little baking drawer, which is the perfect spot to bake a second dish at a separate temperature, slow cook a meal or keep a dish warm.

You guys, these new appliances have been absolutely life changing!

After living with them for more than two months now, I can say with complete confidence that we couldn’t be happier with our choices! Not only do they all work just as they should, but they look amazing doing it too! And, best of all, each and every one of them does their job SO quietly, you’d never even know they were on!

HUGE thanks to the wonderful folks at The Brick and KitchenAid Canada for sponsoring this post and making it so darn easy to recommend their incredible products and service!
 

Wishing you SUCH a lovely day!