Welcome to the 882nd Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had an awesome weekend! As I type this, I’m awaiting the arrival of an electrician who will hopefully be installing an outlet in the cabinet that’s just underneath the sink area in the kitchen. Why do I need an outlet in that location? Toward the end of November, I purchased a new dishwasher for the Dollhouse kitchen. It was just delivered last week, but the delivery/installer guys were not able to complete the install since the dishwasher I chose requires an outlet, as opposed to being directly wired in.
This ancient Kenmore dishwasher has seen better times. Based on when the kitchen was last renovated, I’m guessing this dishwasher is around 25 years old, and it shows. It has served its time and has the battle scars to prove it. Three of the buttons on the front of the machine are unreadable.
And just look at that badly stained interior. I don’t know what could have caused this staining, but ever since moving in, I’ve been dreaming of the day I could replace it with a new one.
What dishwasher did I choose as its replacement? A few months back, when I first mentioned replacing the dishwasher, Janet, a lovely BNOTP reader, recommended looking into the 2-drawer style dishwashers. She spoke highly of the brand, Fisher & Paykel. After reading more about F & P dishwashers and checking their reviews online, I decided to go with a Fisher & Paykel 2-drawer dishwasher. Janet had mentioned the two-drawer style, and after checking those out, I loved the concept!
Fisher & Paykel make multiple styles of two-drawer dishwashers. One style has two equal-sized drawers, but the most popular model appeared to be the one that has a deeper/taller top drawer. I liked the idea of a larger top drawer since I knew I would most often run the top drawer, and I liked the idea of having extra “headroom” in that top drawer.
These are the various wash cycles available on the model I chose: Heavy, Medium, Eco, Fast, Delicate, and Rinse. The drying cycles shown are Extra Dry, Quick, and Sanitize.
While I’m awaiting the installation, I decided to try loading the top drawer just to see how the dishes I most often use would fit inside.
The top drawer will hold 6 dinner plates and 6 salad plates, with space left over for another plate. There’s also room for 3 large cereal bowls, 4 glasses, 6 food storage containers in various sizes, and a ton of flatware. I’m not sure what the 5 little spots on the front right corner are for, but I used those for holding 4 serving utensils. A butter knife fits well in the last spot.
The images for this dishwasher showed teacups/mugs on the top side rack. Since I don’t drink hot tea or hot coffee, I’m using that space for small glass food storage bowls. That shelf is adjustable, up and down. Right now, it’s set at a height that works well for washing my La Rochere Napoleon bee glasses that I regularly use for iced tea. When washing wine glasses, the little shelf can be lowered, and the wine glass stems will fit in the little slots along the edge of the shelf. It looks like it would hold 5 or 6 wine glasses or 6 champagne flutes.
The flatware baskets came with inserts that fit on top of the baskets. I removed one insert for this photo and will remove the other one once the dishwasher is installed and I start to use it. I like having those flatware baskets open so I can easily drop the flatware into the baskets. That’s one thing I really dislike about my current dishwasher—how the baskets go down the side of the dishwasher, where they are difficult to use.
This is the area I mentioned that’s perfect for holding larger serving spoons. I wonder what else could go here? Unfortunately, I can’t open the bottom drawer to share how it looks inside due to how the dishwasher is currently sitting inside the styrofoam it was delivered in, but once the dishwasher is installed, I’ll share a photo of how it looks filled with dishes.
In case you’re wondering, as I was, the two drawers can be run separately or together. Again, I’ll mostly be using just the top drawer, but when having family or friends over for dinner, that second drawer will for sure come in handy. It will be nice—being able to run smaller loads every few days instead of having to wait until I have a full/large dishwasher load to run. This style dishwasher is perfect for empty nesters since it can take me 4-5 days (or longer) to fill up a regular dishwasher.
Thanks so much to Janet for telling me about 2-drawer dishwashers. I never even knew those existed before reading her comment! And thanks to all the dearhearts who left comments on that previous post, sharing their experience with 2-drawer style dishwashers. That information was so helpful as I made my decision on which dishwasher to purchase. I’m looking forward to trying this dishwasher out later this week once its installed. Hopefully, that will happen before Christmas gets here. (Previous post can be found here: 2-Drawer Dishwashers: Which Brand Is Best & What Are The Pros And Cons.)
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You will love it! I’ve had my Fisher and Paykel for ten years or so, and not one problem! It’s perfect for hubby and me, and then when family roll in for holidays, I use both drawers. The interior hasn’t changed much so I have all your options as well. Did I mention quiet? You can hardly tell it’s running when in operating mode. Enjoy!
Oh, I can’t wait to use this one! My current one is noisy, so this will be a definite upgrade in that respect, too. I hope mine is as trouble-free as yours is, Bea!
The is off subject but can you tell me the light wheat paint color you used in the kitchen? Searching for something similar!! Thank you !
That color was already on the wall when I moved in. I’ll check in the basement and see if there’s some left over in the basement, hopefully that one is down there.
Kay, I’m 99.9% sure this is it because it’s labeled “Kitchen” and paint color looks the same to me in both the kitchen and dining room.
Looks like a great dishwasher! I love the idea of two drawers – running a smaller load more often will prevent that dreaded “dishwasher smell”. Would love one like this, but as we are in a Senior Living apartment home all our appliances are GE – and ok – but if we wanted anything different the maintenance would be our cost. Just this week our refrigerator was making a funny sound…we put in a work order and they call the appliance repair. Two new parts, no charge to us…included in our monthly fee. So it is a perk….but I would LOVE a dishwasher like yours!
Yes, I so agree about that dishwasher smell. Won’t miss that! lol
Wow, that is a nice perk, can’t beat that!
Thanks, Ann! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, can’t believe it’s almost here.
Merry Christmas, Susan to you and your family! I always hesitate to recommend something for fear that it will not work out. But as I mentioned I’ve had this brand and style in 3 houses since 2008 and I wouldn’t want anything else! It’s so easy to load and unload and as you said, for empty nesters it would take forever to load a full sized dw. Good luck with it and have a wonderful holiday with your family!
I’m so glad you mentioned it! I promise I won’t complain or blame you if I get a dud. Ha! I’m sure it’s going to be great, although I did notice after the delivery guys left, there was a paper attached to the plastic covering that had been around it saying that it had been returned due to being in a vehicle accident. Yikes! The box looked fine, so hopefully the dishwasher is fine. I’m holding onto that paper just in case I have any issues, although I’m sure it has a warranty, too. Can’t wait until it’s up and running, which will probably be after Christmas, since the electrician who gave me a quote today wanted double the $$$ to install the outlet. I’m going to wait and use an electrician I’ve used before who quoted a much better price. I should have it for the new year, though.
What a beauty. I can’t wait until you start using it for more details. If you can, see if there is a repair shop that would like the old one for parts. Some years back, I gave an old dryer to a local guy rather than send it to the dump. I thought he was going to sell it for scrap metal, but he said he repaired appliances and wanted the spare parts. Another person collects the electric cords to sell because they have copper wires. Not sure how to list things on “On the curb” or free stuff on Craigslist. All for recycling.
The clock is ticking. Santa is getting closer and I know your grandsons are excited. Merry Christmas to all that celebrate.
That would be nice if there was someone who wanted it, although all the parts are so old, I doubt anyone would want it.
Yes, it’s almost here! Merry Christmas, Myrna!
Thanks for the peek – we’ll probably be in the market for a new dishwasher soon too. And thanks for the party – it helps my week get off to a lovely start! Happy Christmas Week!
Good luck with your future dishwasher shopping, Barbara. I find the process a bit stressful…still have one more appliance to replace. I’ll report back in a month or so how this one is working out for me, in case that helps.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I love the idea of a 2 drawer dishwasher. I have a stove that has two ovens. The top over (which I use almost daily) has one rack and holds a casserole or two cookie sheets. The bottom oven (which I rarely use) has two racks and is the size of most regular ovens. I only have 3 people in my household and a two drawer dishwasher would be great (just have to wait for my current one to bite the dust) lol. Have a very Merry Christmas!
Sharon, that’s what I’m hoping to buy when I replace the stove in this kitchen here. That’s what I’ve had for many, many years in the GA house and I love it! It’s a Maytag Gemini and I rarely use the lower oven, mostly just use the top one, like you mentioned, which is perfect for rolls, casseroles, pizza and 99% of what I bake/cook. The only time I’ve used the large oven was for parties or holiday dinners where I prepared something really large, like a turkey. I think a lot of other brands must be making the two oven stoves now. I bet you would love the two-drawer dishwasher, Sharon! I’ll share how it’s working out once I’ve had a chance to use it for a bit.
We have had a Fisher Paytel dishwasher for 20 years. It gets used everyday sometimes twice. You’re right the two drawers work separately. In those 20 years our family has gone from 6 people living here and now just my husband and me. You can imagine our dishwashing habits have changed, but the dishwasher always works. The best thing is not having to bend over to load or empty from the top which is what we use now,
Love hearing that, Fran! I hope this one will last that long, too! I am def looking forward to that—not having to bend over to load and unload it. My Kitchenaid in GA is much higher than the dishwashers today, so you hardly hae to bend over to load it.
I really need one of these. Two questions, will you need 2 plug ins (one for each drawer) or will the unit plug in as “one”? Do you use a full pod in these? I don’t like using pods and seems like it would be too much for 1/2 a dishwasher. Thanks.
It only needs one outlet and one plumbing thing. I wondered if two plumbing lines had to be run and the answer is no on that. If I’m remembering correctly, they recommend liquid or powder and not pods. I purchased powder. There’s a very small detergent compartment that you fill up…and another tiny compartment for the JetDry. I should take a photo of those and add it to the post.
Thank you!
That looks great! I hope you like it as much as the others have liked theirs. I have been oohing and ahhing over the two drawer style for years now, but haven’t taken the plunge. Next time ….
I would never have known about them if not for Janet mentioning it. I’m so glad she did!
I’m glad to know that Fisher & Paykel makes a model with a larger top drawer. I have a Fisher & Paykel but get frustrated because large mixing bowls, etc., won’t fit. When my current model gives out, I will consider that. Otherwise, I have had no problems with this brand.
That’s good to know! I’m eager to try loading the lower drawer to see what fits there.
No garbage disposal in your sink so there would be a plug available? Older home I guess. I like the idea of the top drawer…wow no bending over! I can say I had a F&P washer and dryer and they were good for 19 years with one self repair on the washer.
I don’t know, I just know that the installer looked underneath and said I needed an outlet. I don’t think there’s an outlet under my sink in Georgia either and I have a garbage disposal there, too. I guess it’s directly wired in.
Wow, that’s a good track record on the F & P washer/dryer!
Susan,
Thanks so much for hosting!! I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into it along with visiting all the links!! I hope you are enjoying your week and you are doing well…
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
Have an awesome week, Debbie! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Merry Christmas Susan, I hope that you enjoy family time together watching Christmas movies, playing games and whatever else you all love to do together. Iris