When Life Gives You Lemons (or ovens)

When life gives you lemons...

make limoncello lemonade!

(but making Limoncello would not be a bad idea either...)

Last Friday our 1966 oven died. 

We knew it was coming, but were hoping later than sooner.

Some things cannot be controlled by human effort, so here we were looking for a replacement.

I guess if you need to replace appliances, January is the month to do it! 

Both Lowes, Home Depot and other stores are having a 10% off until mid February.

We went with the least expensive with the best reviews.

Kind of funny to think that the least expensive that would fit our odd, old size cabinet opening, was $800+tax.

(we were able to get it for $700 tax included, thanks to coupon and rebate)

Needless to say, I had to do modify the opening some, modify the cabinets, and even modify the cabinet doors.

And here is where the fun began...

Now, this was a first for me.

I don't really have the right tools to modify cabinet doors, but I have plenty of creativity...which helps when money is tight.

(Also I consider myself a content person, which allows me to be happy with what I have)

SO here is what I came up with.

I cut the doors in half, around the 3/4 mark at the top. I then cut a 2" strip from each door.

Then I connected the two pieces from the inside.

Filled in the gap (since my cuts were not perfectly straight, I used a jig saw).

Sanded, filled in some more, sanded and painted 2 coats of paint.

the paint is the same , just looks different in the pictures

I also had to build a raised shelf right above the oven.

The truth is, I didn't have anything to lose cutting the cabinets' doors. Those were unusable as is, so trying to make it fit was really just a trial.

I am really excited to say it worked!

The wood used were scraps, and we already had the paint. 

Hubby was gone for a week long business trip. He is coming home in a few hours and he is going to be really excited to see the new oven put in, and the cabinets all finished.

the picture above, shows the true color of the cabinets

And one more...the horizontal cuts are completely gone!

***In case you wonder...no,I didn't pick up the 112lb oven by myself. A couple of friends from our Church came over to help me with that***

And tonight 

homemade PIZZA (my easy crust recipe here) 

is on the menu!

Stay Frugal,

Daniela

Linking to
It's Overflowing

Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm
twelveOeight
Stone Gable