We didn’t exactly plan to buy all of our beach house appliances during Black Friday sales (aside from the pink stove), but the timing worked out in our favor and saved us more than $1,350. The appliances won’t arrive until after Thanksgiving, but if you’re hunting for similar deals, here’s what we chose, how we saved, and how one last-minute layout change helped us get better function for less money.
sconces / counters / cabinets / pendants / hood / stove / walls: SW White Heron / trim: SW Stone Isle
First, a change of plans. In an earlier post about planning our kitchen, we’d been leaning toward a particular white refrigerator to sit along the same wall as the stove. There aren’t many compact white fridges that would fit the small space, so it felt like a natural choice — except our instinct told us to wait until the kitchen started coming together.
Waiting turned out to be a good call. As we began building the cabinets, Sherry’s concern about that fridge became more obvious once we made a cardboard mockup from our island stool boxes. The mockup revealed how the fridge would impact sight lines and balance in the room.
The photos don’t fully capture it, but the fridge would have cramped the door molding and, more importantly, become a visual barrier when entering from the living room or foyer. Sherry jokes her tombstone might someday read “Lover Of Balance And Sight Lines,” and we weren’t thrilled with how the fridge would block the view of the back door and the breakfast nook doorway.
We tried moving the fridge to the back wall between two doorways, but it looked even more cramped there. (The plumber had already run a water line as part of the standard package, even though the fridge we’d been considering didn’t have an ice maker — that’s why you’ll see that line.)
After debating our options, we decided to convert the breakfast nook into a walk-in pantry and relocate the main refrigerator there. That choice was shared in our latest update and felt like a huge functional improvement for the first floor.
The nook was already a bit cramped even with a placeholder table and chairs. Between island seating for four and seating for six to eight at the dining table, a breakfast nook felt redundant — especially in a house that will likely sleep eight and already provide seating for a dozen without the nook. Turning the space into a pantry gains much-needed storage for dry goods, coolers, and possibly the microwave, which would free up a deep drawer in the island. It also allows a larger refrigerator to fit in the pantry.
Still, I wanted a small fridge on the sliver of wall near the prep area for frequently used items like milk, juice, and eggs. That led us to a vintage-inspired mini-fridge from Amazon that pairs nicely with the pink stove and won’t interrupt sight lines. It was also far less expensive than many retro-style models.
It arrived last week and we plugged it in right away — that cold Coke tasted amazing. We still need to patch the outlet opening and add baseboards and a backsplash, but it’s already functional and looks great next to the stove.
Next up: the rest of the appliances. We needed a washer and dryer for the mudroom, a dishwasher for the island, and the larger fridge for the pantry. We headed to Home Depot to hunt early Black Friday deals and landed on a Maytag Bravos XL top-loading washer and matching electric dryer. A few things made this an easy choice:
- We had space for a standard side-by-side washer and dryer in the mudroom, so no odd sizes were required.
- We already own very similar models and have been very happy with them.
- They were heavily discounted — originally $899, on special for $599 each.
We ended up with higher-capacity machines than what we have at home for less money, which should be handy for beach towels and bedding.
The dishwasher search took more time because we wanted a white model to blend with the cabinets and keep the pink stove as the only accent. White dishwashers are oddly harder to find and sometimes pricier than stainless. Ultimately we chose a Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher with top controls and a white toe-kick that blends in. It was $499 at Home Depot, but I spotted it for $449 at Lowe’s and Best Buy; Home Depot matched the price for us at checkout.
Finding the pantry fridge was the trickiest part because the space can’t accommodate a fridge deeper than about 28″. After searching, we found an apartment-sized Haier refrigerator (made by GE) with strong reviews. It wasn’t white, but it’s going in the pantry so the finish didn’t matter. Best of all, it was marked down more than $500 — a $1,200 fridge for $698.
One more saving came from a Home Depot promotion that offers increasing savings based on how many appliances you buy: $50 off two, $100 off three, $200 off four (which was our case). Lowe’s had a similar promotion that issues the savings as gift cards.
To recap what we purchased — fridge, washer, dryer, and dishwasher — the total came to $2,150. That’s still a sizable expense (not including the pink stove, mini fridge, or microwave), but we feel confident in these choices: familiar brands, strong reviews, and good value for the beach house.
On another practical note, we installed cordless white faux wood blinds throughout the house over the weekend — 29 windows total — which are safer for renters and look cleaner without dangling cords. They raise and lower from the bottom and made a big difference; it was a relief to shower without “modesty cardboard” in the windows.
vanity / stool / towel / art / light / walls: SW White Heron / mirror: HomeGoods
Quick tip for installing many blinds: work as a team. One person unpacks and preps each blind while the other drills and hangs. Pre-drill holes for all units before switching bits to save time. It still took about three hours, but that approach kept it manageable.
Happy Thanksgiving! We’ll share another update after the appliances arrive and when we make some additional kitchen changes.
P.S. To read more about restoring this beach house over the past year, check out our previous posts covering before shots, floor plans, drywall, and bathroom tiling.
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