Harvest Gold




The Electrolux

   Our stove went out last week which means that our cosmetic kitchen makover now has the potential to morph into something more elaborate. On Saturday afternoon we took a trip to the appliance store to see what's available in the world of freestanding ranges.  Joel's favorite is this Electrolux range (photo left). It comes with "wave-touch" controls that light up when you pass your hand over them and also includes a "perfect turkey" feature. My favorite was the Bosch range (see photo below). Its clean lines and straightforward utilitarian design give it a timeless look.  I was completely sold on this model too until the salesman told us that Bosch is a German company. As he (the salesmen) continued to talk about quality engineering and product longevity, the realization hit Joel and I at about the same time - we'd be buying a German oven. Not sure that's the kind of mental image I want to build my kitchen around. We're still contemplating our options at this point, although it probably won't be the Bosch.   

    

The Bosch



The Harvest Gold

     As a point of reference, I grew up in a house that had "Harvest Gold"  kitchen appliances (most houses built in the early 1970s were graced with either a "harvest gold" or "avocado" color scheme). This photo of my mom and me was taken in March 1977.  I was five years old and inflicted with the chicken pox and we were baking a cake to get my mind off the itching and the scratching. It worked too, at least as long as I was using the mixer. What's relevant (to me) about my parents' harvest gold stove is that it kept working years longer than my mother wanted it to. She finally gave this stove away in the mid-1990s and replaced it with a black stove. She also updated the dishwasher, refrigerator, floor and cabinets - and then they moved.  I'm actually wondering if this stove is still out there somewhere in working order.  It was ugly but well made.

Random Footnote:

     The wallpaper in my mother's kitchen was very similar to the wallpaper in the kitchen on the television show "Three's Company."  I had a huge crush on Jack Tripper when I was little and I always thought it was pretty cool that we (me and Jack) had the same kitchen wallpaper.  I guess it also means that the orange-green-brown plaid wallpaper was fashionable which is more than a little scary.  But hey, who am I to criticize bad wallpaper, right?  http://adayinthelife-julie.blogspot.com/2011/01/make-it-so.html