When we moved into this house back in 2015, the kitchen had very dark brown cabinets and semi-working appliances. When we painted the cabinets white, suddenly we realized our appliances where almond, not also white, and that the stove temperature buttons didn’t work properly.

For three years we cooked at 350 degrees or less, or on high broil, and for three years I’ve been tucking a few dollars into an Appliances Savings Account, waiting for the day we could upgrade.  We waited for a big holiday sale, and finally went with a Whirlpool brand that is stainless steel and has the biggest window in the front of the oven, almost the whole door is glass!

 

With the mismatch of the brand new oven and old beastly oversized microwave, I knew what was going to be on the chopping block next. I have long wanted to put a hood above our stove instead of a microwave, freeing up tons of space and making the whole kitchen feel bigger. However, our kitchen is on the small size and there isn’t really a place to put a microwave anywhere else. After sporadically exploring a few options, I stumbled on a seemingly mini microwave and suddenly all our problems were solved.

So, once a second holiday sale rolled around, we picked it up and started dismantling the old one.

Can I just say even though I have replaced a lot of the finishes on our house, I am so glad our kitchen wasn’t covered in this wallpaper when we moved in!

Ready for the big reveal?!

Not only is this 9″ shorter than our other microwave, it has a working light AND a working fan. Isn’t there some saying about you know you’re an adult when you get excited about appliances?

Here’s the most exciting part for me: as an almost-6-ft-tall person, having a low hanging microwave with a curved bottom means I can’t see the buttons when I cook, so I have to do a weird tilt/squat/slouch thing. I know for all you shorties that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is. Now, since the microwave is so much slimmer, I can actually see what I’m doing!

Also, I’ve had a few comments about “…isn’t it too small?” to which I say, we’re not cooking a turkey in our microwave. We use it primarily for leftovers, nachos, and popcorn, but here is my biggest mixing bowl in there. It begs the question: why the heck are microwaves so big, anyway?

I’ll leave you with a before and after, it’s been a dream cooking at 400 degrees when need be!