Before I lay down the incredible awesome-ness that is what happened yesterday while I was at work I've gotta' say a few words. I haven't blogged much in the past week or two and even though I might say that it's because I want everything to be done, and that is true, it's also because I frankly just felt a little down. Here we were, staring down the finish line of our accidental kitchen remodel and it just didn't turn out the way I wanted. I shouldn't say that. It turned out perfectly but, the thing about an accidental remodel is, when you finish painting and poly-ing you just have to put your old crap back in. Namely, your not-so-pretty, came with the house stove.
Well now, all that has changed. Introducing...THE STOVE OF MY DREAMS!
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| Womp. Womp. This thing was just bummin' me out all over the place. |
Now, if you don't follow along on the twitter, you may not know how feverishly I've been perusing Craigslist, trying to find a vintage stove to be the crown jewel of my kitchen. The cherry on top if you will. We lost a very promising one on Saturday evening and my dumpy mood went even dumpier.
"It's never going to happen." I thought. I should just take pictures of the cabinets and the floors and call it a day. So like I said earlier, I was at work yesterday when I get a call from Conan.
"It's never going to happen." I thought. I should just take pictures of the cabinets and the floors and call it a day. So like I said earlier, I was at work yesterday when I get a call from Conan.
"Is Roper a good name of stove?"
"I don't know, I think so. Why?"
"Because I'm standing in front of one right now."
"What does it look like?"
"What does it look like?"
"Exactly what you want."
And here's the kicker. Brace yourselves.
"How much?"
"45 dollars."
FORTY FIVE DOLL HAIRS!!!!
Can you believe it?
I couldn't!
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| Proof. |
Turns out, our dear friend Lisa, who lives in an adorable apartment right behind where I work had gone for a bike ride to a nearby coffee shop and had passed the stove, sitting in a driveway at a garage sale. She texted both Conan and I but I didn't get the message. Conan jumped in his car and drove over to have a look and bought it up. He borrowed his dad's truck and his brother Evan to help move it into the house. I don't know how they did it and I'm very sorry I wasn't here to take pictures because that thing is a beast!
As you can see from the photos it's in BEAUTIFUL shape. Well, what I would consider beautiful anyways. Incredibly clean and with all the little knobs still attached.
It even has a cooking guide!
And a clock!
The left side is a warmer drawer.
(The oven door handle pieces are in there!)
(The oven door handle pieces are in there!)
The bottom left is storage.
And the bottom right is a broiler.
I cannot wait to get this puppy hooked up and start makin' the mac and cheese of my dreams. It's like Christmas around here. Seriously. I woke up this morning and thought, I can't wait to go downstairs and look at it!
If you're curious, it's 40 inches wide which puts it about half an inch past the edge of each door frame (not bad) and 27 inches deep which is exactly the depth of our stove now. Perfect! We already have a gas line running up out of the floor right there because, if you'll recall, when we moved in the oven that we have now was sitting there, with no outlet to plug into where a gas stove had been previously. I'm guessing they must have had some sweetness like this puppy and took it with them. Can I blame them? No.
So, now my accidental kitchen remodel is pretty much complete. I don't feel awesome when I look at the cabinets then queasy when I turn around and look at the stove. I'll have Conan take some pictures and stitch them together as soon as the stove is all hooked up.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go stare at it some more.
What a beauty!
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to get a vintage stove here but we just don't have the space for one.
Yeah, these things are typically pretty large. This one is about four or five inches wider than the stove we have now.
DeleteWHAT!?! GO LISA!!!!!!!!! That is the most rad beautiful stove!
ReplyDeleteShe has the gift. The gift of thrift.
DeleteWOW! looking very very very very good! {too many 'verys'? probably not ;-)} now i can't wait even more for your 'after' photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you very very very much Helene! I can't wait to show them to you now that I have my "crown jewel".
DeleteThat is a great stove! I can identify with you when you say you looked all over CL to find one. It took me a few months to find my Chambers. I would reccomend looking into adding an automatic shut off or a "saftey system" to the gas line in the oven, I do not know much about Ropers but I know my Chambers needs to have one installed. If the pilot light blows out you could have a major issue because the gas may not stop flowing.
ReplyDeleteOh! here is a link to someone who has done it.
ReplyDeletehttp://bungalow23.com/2010/12/21/chambers-stove-cleaning-and-updating/
This is fantastic Brad! Thank you so much! I was just talking to my mom on the phone the other day about this and we were concerned about it not having an automatic shut off. Can't wait to check this out! Really, really thank you!
DeleteAnd also, Chambers! Ooh la la! As someone who has been google-ing "vintage stoves" for a couple of months now, I can say that those are the talk of the internet!
DeleteIt's beeyooooteeeeefullllllll!!!! Awesome catch!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm afraid I'm going to have to name my first born after Lisa for finding it ; )
DeleteWhaaattt??? Damn! Gorgeous! Now you've going to make me start looking for one of those beauties on MY local CL. Do those old stoves run on propane?
ReplyDeleteI've been told by a lot of people that once you go gas you never go back. We'll see. Either way, it sure is beautiful! I suppose you could make one to run on propane. They run on natural gas so whatever gas is coming out of the ground would be what it runs on. I don't know. I should really forward any fossil fuel related questions to our geologist, Conan : )
DeleteI've read you can put them on propane but you need to be able to change the size of the orfaces. I think propane requires smaller orfaces than gas... something about the way that the two gasses burn diffrently. This is the extent of my limited knowlage on this topic.
DeleteYeah, what Brad said : )
DeleteHip hip hooray! And with a week left to spare!
ReplyDeleteOh my word! Do I really only have a week? But yes, I am so so happy that I will have a house full of strangers to ooh and aahhh at my pretty stove : )
DeleteYour pretty *house*.
DeleteAw, shucks!
DeleteI know this is an old post, but I just found it! The stove is great!! 45.00 is amazing! I love how the burners are arranged! My DH just bought the vintage stove of my dreams for my B-day recently. Sadly, it isn't in the house just yet. We have to do some changes first. I searched CL for a decent price and found what I wanted in OKC only to find out that one was in Park City and was listed a week later. (It was gone in no time)
ReplyDeleteYes, once you cook with gas, you won't want to go back. I could not imagine cooking on an electric stove.
Yeah, the burner arrangement is the best part. I'm all, "Why aren't all stoves like this? It gives you so much room!" We got super lucky with this one but I've spent my fair share of time cruising Craigslist and I even secretly still search for stoves on there just to see if I would have been able to find one ever in my price range. So far, I really love cooking with gas. Especially making s'mores inside!
DeleteMy mom's maiden name is Roper, of course it's a good name! We used to have a 1953 Montag that worked and it's a shame to leave stuff like that behind when you sell the house in case the next people don't love it. It's a beauty.
ReplyDeleteVanessa
: ) Ropers are the best! We're pretty sure that whatever stove the last owners had in the kitchen, they took with them. When we moved in, there was that ugly electric range up there and we just ASSUMED that it was left from the previous owners. Fast forward a couple of days and we realized that there wasn't even an outlet back there for the stove to be plugged into! There was a gas pipe sticking up through the floor that had been capped so we assumed they probably had a neat stove like this and they took it with them. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't do the same. This stove is my baby : )
DeleteThat's a cool looking stove. My stove really needs to be replaced. It heats up too much from the bottom, so it burns things easily. I really want to renovate my kitchen. http://www.avado.com.au
ReplyDeleteJust bought a house and they left a stove like this in it. Looks just like it. Stove top works but oven looks like it hasn't been used in forever. Beauty
ReplyDeleteIt really is a beautiful stove and three or so years later it still works like a charm! I will NEVER go back to an electric stove!
DeleteI have the same exact stove but my oven handle is broken. Did you have to replace the one in the picture? If so, where did you find a replacement?
ReplyDeleteSorry to take so long replying. We actually repaired that one ourselves (very tenuously) and moved it down to the bottom left drawer which we NEVER EVER open lol. It's held up fine like that for a few years. We did break a knob though and the Old Appliance Club had replacements http://www.antiquestoves.com/toac/stoveparts.htm Good luck!
DeleteWe have the exact stove! Not quite as good of a deal (80$)but still a great deal. Do you happen to know the model number? I've been looking and this site is the closest I have come to finding more info on our stove.
ReplyDelete