Wednesday, July 10, 2013

A Dishwasher Saved My Life. Yes Really

OK guys I'm not beating around the bush here, this post is sponsored in by the new Fisher and Paykel DishDrawer Technology and Finish Quantum and I have a real life dishwasher story and how it helped save my life when we sold our last house.

You no longer need to miss out on having a dishwasher due to a tiny kitchen or small family
It didn't involve a dishwasher as hip and happening as this Fisher and Paykel DishDrawer glamour, which is rather cute and looks like she would fit in the smallest of kitchens.   Rather it was an old banger that Mr Beach House had bought second hand, when I first moved in with him to live in sin all those years ago. Well at least that's what my mother called it anyway.  Mr Beach House has a heart of gold and the thought was clearly there, but the purchase of that dishwasher from a friend, says a lot about what he is like in terms of sourcing the cheapest option over quality or aesthetic.  This story also goes to prove that a dishwasher can be more than just a time and energy saver and assist in creating a clutter free kitchen. It can be a deal maker too.

Select the DishDrawer that suits your lifestyle.  This baby could perhaps go where you currently have a drawer
I was in love with that dishwasher in our old house for another reason all together than it's proven efficiency.  We were able to negotiate the price up on the sale of our last house, because of that dishwasher.  True story.  Our Dishwasher allowed me to move on from that house.  A property Mr Beach House had purchased with a previous girl friend.  I mean I was still living with the curtains and some of the decorating the ex had chosen, so you may understand a little of why I wanted to get out of there.

By a stroke of genius, we inadvertently forgot to check the box on the contract for sale which made the dishwasher an inclusion in the sale of our house.  The market was coming off the boil and our purchasers made only one offer and would not budge on price, no matter how hard we tried to get them to. It was starting to get desperate. 

I was so keen to sell that house.  It had been on the market for 5 months, I was over the Saturday opens, where I had to present it in perfect condition, which, I am sure you will agree, was no easy feat with a one year old to wrangle.  Mr Beach House works on Saturdays, so the lions share of the presentation was left to me. I think I was clinically depressed in that house too.    It got not one ray of sunshine from April to August.   It faced due south with a hill behind it to the north.  Worse still, we could see the sun shining on all the houses on the north facing hill across the valley from us, which naturally captured all the Winter sun.  It was such a tease, it almost sent me crazy being at home in a cold house with a kiddo under one each day.  I felt trapped and being a new mum with its associated isolation, probably didn't help either.


Our house was the one in the clouds on 'Mount Everest' up there, at the top of that hideously steep driveway.
I mean look at it.  Can you see why I didn't feel confident pushing a pram down there with a new born and began to feel very alone?

Anyway, we didn't want to loose the purchaser, but they made a silly offer and just would not move on it.  We had one last crack at them and asked our agent to put it to them that if they increased the offer by x, we would include the dishwasher in the sale of the property.   It was only 1000 bucks, but I think it was psychological to us really.  We were not going to accept the first offer on principle.

Not sure if the purchaser agreed because dishwashers give a better more shiny result than washing up by hand, or they lead to fewer domestic arguments. Both true, but who knows!!!!!

Who cares what their reasons were, the purchasers accepted our counter offer and the deal was done, we were out of there and they got a cute, albeit cold starter house, with a dishwasher thrown in.   Yippee!!!!! The dishwasher saved the day.  It broke the deadlock and I'm glad it did, because the market continued to dive and it made what seemed like a puny offer at the time,  quite a good one from where I am sitting now, at the back end of the GFC.  Lets just say, they wanted that dishwasher enough to seal the deal and it allowed us to move on from that house and follow our dreams into the next house.

The funny thing is, I later met the purchaser of our house, Rachel  and we actually became good friends through the local play group, which was interesting.  Particularly when we discussed those rather heated negotiations over the final sale price.  The irony is, that banger of an old dishwasher broke down and had to be replaced several weeks after the sale went through.  I felt quite bad about that actually, but for the market as it was at the time, I still think Rachel and her husband got a great deal on that house, which we had put our hearts and souls into renovating and it just meant we probably paid too much for our new house in that same market.  And no just to clarify, that dishwasher was not a Fisher and Paykel.

I have never been lucky enough to own a Fisher and Paykel dishwasher.  Only one of their fridges.  They have a great reputation for quality and based on that, the Fisher and Paykel fridge I purchased, was actually the first house hold appliance I ever bought, when I set up my first home as a single girl all those years ago in that little Eastern Suburbs studio I remember so fondly.  I have cooked many great singles dinner parties from food stored in that fridge.

Some 15 years later, it still purrs along as our second fridge today.  It became our second fridge because Mr Beach Houses Fridge was bigger, mine being bought for a studio and all.  The fridge still gets a great work out when we are entertaining and we need it for over flow.  It was fabulous then and is still a God send now, when we need the space and I have no problems recommending Fisher and Paykel to anyone in the market for some good quality kitchen appliances.



I could have done with one of these cute dishwashers in that studio as well.  It would have liberated me somewhat and fitted well into the limited space available.  Lets face it, even though the kitchen in that studio was like an over sized wardrobe, (I wish I had a photo to show you) a dishwasher would not have gone astray in keeping control of the clutter in that tiny space.  But back then there was nothing available to really fit the space.


As you know dear reader, every kitchen is different.  The new Fisher and Paykel DishDrawer family is designed for choice and convenience.  
DishDrawers come in all sizes and formats, Single or tall (both genuine half loads).  Double or extra wide.  No longer must a kitchen be without a dishwasher due to it's size or the number of members in the household.  With DishDrawer technology, there is a dishwasher design for any demographic.  You can even replace a drawer in your kitchen with DishDrawer.  So if it's in the budget and you need a little liberation from the kitchen sink, think about this kind of thing.  If I am ever lucky enough to make over another kitchen,  I will be.


Oh and thanks to Finish and  Fisher and Paykel for reminding me of that mini crisis in my life and how it was resolved via a dishwasher. After all, it did allow us to buy into the Beach House, the prime subject of this blog.  Just think of all the fun I would have missed out on, if I was writing this blog from the top of that scary driveway.  Really it does not bare thinking about.

Oh and I saw Rachel at the shops yesterday and told her I was blogging about the dishwasher incident and we laughed about it.  She said they got six months out of the dishwasher before it blew up.  That made me feel better, I thought it was only 6 weeks.

Today I am linked up here
With Some Grace









12 comments :

  1. When we bought our last house it had a dishwasher in it, it took us a few months before we were game to even try it! We fell in love with it, but it kept breaking down and the parts were expensive in the end we pulled it out and hubby made me some much needed pot drawers to go there. Needless to say I could wait until we did our extension and new put in a new kitchen in this house so I could get a dishwasher! We bought a Meile, but all the other appliances in the kitchen are Fisher Paykel!

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  2. There are so many houses on the Peninsula that don't get a ray of sunshine in those winter months and they all seem to have impossibly steep and slippery driveways. So many around Newport and Bilgola. We lived down in Bilgola Valley for a while and I hated the winters. And with no sunshine and a house that's freezing cold, it's very easy to get depressed. My dream is to own a north-facing house with enough space between me and the neighbours that there's no chance of anyone being able to take away my sunshine xx

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  3. J'ai beaucoup souri en vous lisant...
    Je suis heureuse que votre maison se soit vendue.
    Gros bisous à vous

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  4. i like the look of dishwasher drawers. they would save a lot of bending over to stack and empty.
    x

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  5. I'm going back and forth Carolyn, should I or shouldn't I (buy a dishwasher). I've never had one in any place I've lived. I've gone on holidays to a place with a dishwasher only to have been there 3 days before I've realised they have a dishwasher! Its not like I love washing up or anything. I don't mind it but I don't love it but I would lose too much cupboard space in my kitchen. The jury is still out. I think I might have to bring in the professionals to advise me of the possible locations for a dishwasher. Maybe I need one of these small F&P ones. (PS I can vouch for the washing machine. The best ever.)

    Anne xx

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  6. Hello, that's a story I could hear more about... especially living with the ex-girlfriend's decor, I wouldn't have liked that at all. And these steep driveways we have here in Sydney are quite mad. Glad you are now where you are, with that baby turned big boy, a sweet girl, and lots more sunniness all round.

    Now then, I have seen dishwasher drawers in a friends's house and can tell you they looked so divine. They were very well blended in with the decor, and she had two, so could do as much as a typical dishwasher when needed, but could do a single drawer when that suited. The novelty value was huge to me, they were cute.

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  7. This is a cute story. I couldn't live without my dishwasher. My hands would be in shreds.

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  8. I LOVE my dish F&P drawer. It is the best dishwasher I have ever owned. Good to know that dishwashers can save lives as well as relationships x

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  9. Yay, glad the dishwasher got you out of that house, just the thought of living with the ex's choice in decor would've driven me crazy!

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  10. Cute story. I totally understand that feeling of not being able to move until someone else moves. Glad you got that impetus through the dishwasher. Sounds like the other people felt exactly the same - everyone holding out for that win-win feeling. Because seriously, $1000 for an old dishwasher. No-one is really persuaded by that!

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  11. Oh, I bet you were so glad to get away from that decor! That driveway would also drive me a bit nuts :)

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  12. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful idea. I am renovating my kitchen will share the idea with the contractor.

    Dishwasher Repairs

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