Following a series of unfortunate events, most of my week has been spent in the kitchen instead of the bedroom.
The fun started when the dishwasher stopped cleaning the dishes. They wouldn’t just come out still dirty, they actually had more gunk on them than they did when they went in. So it was being used as a very big drying rack after hand-washing.
Then the fun continued when I found the raw chicken I had on the top shelf of the fridge was leaking…all over the rest of our food. So most of our food had to be thrown out, and not only did I have a lot more dishes to wash, I had to wash the fridge components as well.
But that wasn’t all. Before I began to wash the dishes that were taking up the whole counter, I turned the garbage disposal on. At which point, the pipes under the sink broke apart. It sounded like a waterfall. And the cabinet, rug and my legs were covered in dirty, broccoli-filled water. It took 3 days to get the kitchen back to looking clean again.
But, it did lead to me finishing a small project that had been sitting there for 6 months waiting to be done. After the Hubs fixed the pipes, of course.
The sink cabinet wasn’t lined with anything, it was just a piece of plywood with no veneer covering.
After I scrubbed it clean, and let it dry, I put down peel-and-stick vinyl floor tiles (similar here).
They are easy to cut with an X-acto blade. And they only cost $1.20 a piece, so it was less than $8 for a prettier and way easier to clean cabinet floor.
Just start with one corner and stick it down (I started with the front, so that in case I didn’t cut a perfectly straight line, it would be in the back and not noticeable). Then line the next pieces up to the first one. Once you hit the back of the cabinet, you *might* need to trim some off. Just flip the tile over, and mark on the paper backing where to cut.
Make your cut with an X-acto blade or an utility blade (this is my favorite) and then pop it in place. (Affiliate links)
Peel-and-stick tiles are so easy.
And now the cupboard is much easier to keep clean!
The Hubs had the brilliant idea to just take the fridge parts outside and use the hose on them (which actually led to a burst hose in the basement–but he got that fixed too). And I finally got the dishwasher fixed yesterday. Everything is clean and sparkly…for now.
The plan for this afternoon is to get back to work on the bedroom.
We have had the EXACT same thing happen with our dishwasher! At first we thought it just needed cleaning, but that helped absolutely nothing. Our landlord had to replace it in the end. Not fun at all, and of course the heat from the dishwasher essentially baked on the gunk that was being shifted around, so cleaning them by hand was a pain.
The cabinet floor looks amazing! Another good trick I like is to use a boot tray, like you would put next to your front door for wet shoes and such, for any cleaning items you keep under the sink. That way if anything leaks, it’s contained in the tray which is easy enough to wash out!
Yes, the baking-on part is the worst! It happened to us before and it’s usually a gunked up sump, it sure was a mess this time, so hopefully it will stay clean for at least a few months. Your new dishwasher hasn’t done it? What kind is it?
The boot tray is a brilliant idea!
It’s a super cheap GE, whatever cheap one our landlord also happened to pick up on sale, I’m sure (he’s great, but I don’t blame him for not investing money in expensive appliances for tenants!). It doesn’t spread gross things on our dishes like the old one, but I also wouldn’t recommend it for various other issues it has – the wheels on the racks have popped off, lodged themselves under the heating elements, and melted during the wash cycles! We’re down 2 wheels at this point, with a less-deformed one left on the rack…
HA! Oh, that’s terrible. I guess as long as it cleans the dishes, right? 🙂
Oh, my! I never rains, it pours, doesn’t it? I’m sorry to confess I laughed while laughing that post. It’s so good to know I’m not the only one whose projects are delayed by stupid every-day life problems!
Don’t be sorry, we laughed too! Not at the moment when I had broccoli covered legs, but shortly after. 😀
Oh my goodness. All of that at once? Let’s hope you have used up your bad luck and broken things allotment for a very long time!
All in one afternoon…the evening was actually even worse, but those problems weren’t house related. Everything worked out though! 🙂
I certainly hope all things that were about to broke broke.
I remember from the middle school from the domestic class that the teacher said that uncooked meat should always be stored on the lowest shelf possible, now I remember why.
Yes, it was good advice! 🙂
Oh man, big time kitchen problems and all at once. But, you seem to have handled yourself very well.
Thank you…it was a challenge, but we worked hard to. 😀