Over the last seven years I have blogged. a lot. And one of the biggest things I get asked is “How is blank holding up?”. Everybody is interested in blank and how it’s surviving the Bower household.
Usually I answer that with “none of your business…it’s my blank not yours”….followed with “stop judging me…blank is happy here” and then an emotional and remorseful “I am so sorry….I need a nap”. Seriously. I do. And I need to lay off the cheesy jokes.
I just didn’t realize what a frequent question that is….until recently when I started counting how many times that has been asked. It’s over 400. I lost count at that point. Also I lost a lot of brain cells too because I’m not used to counting over twenty. That’s the top number in Curious George’s Big Book of Curiosity 🙂
So I thought that I would answer the majority of the 400+ questions and give you an update on the products and projects that we have installed and used over the years. This post is to answer the question “How is ________holding up?” and hopefully make you more informed on whether that item is the right choice for your own home!
Item : The Martha Stewart Winterthur Carpet in our second floor bedrooms (read the post here)
Grade : A-
Review : We installed our carpet four years ago in our upstairs bedrooms. We bought our carpet directly from Home Depot and were really pleased with the installation and the initial quality of the carpet. It has a lattice type pattern that adds interest and hides dirt well. We have never had the carpet professionally cleaned but we do vacuum regularly and we have our own cleaner so our wear is based on four years of normal traffic. I would not say that our bedrooms are high traffic areas. Overall, we are still loving our carpet (although we do think that this year it does warrant a visit from a pro carpet cleaner) and we have noticed that over the years we will get a loose thread here or there but nothing that a quick snip of scissors can’t handle. The areas that receive the most traffic are Jeremy’s side of the bed (he wears shoes more than anyone else in the house) and if we don’t vacuum it regularly, it will mat down and not look nice and new. We use Folex carpet cleaning spray on little spots and so far, we have had great success with that.
Buy or Pass : Definite buy for low to moderate traffic areas. I recommend regular vacuuming and cleaning every other year at least.
Item : LG LFX28978ST Refrigerator (read the post here)
Grade : C+
Review : Overall, this fridge hasn’t been terrible…but it hasn’t been the wondrous machine I thought it would be either. It cost us roughly $2000 and for that kinda moolah, I fully expected to live with it for a couple months and fully jump onto the french door fridge train. Just. Didn’t. Happen. There are some features that I do like about the fridge…it’s relatively easy to clean, easy to find filters for and the adjustable shelf space in the fridge part is great. I realize though that the freezer part is just not great on french door fridges. Things get buried. Things get lost. And then you find an old frozen fish stick at the bottom and question how long it’s been in there. A couple of the shelves in the doors have broken and that is disappointing because we don’t use them for anything heavy…just condiments…and the ice & water dispenser thing still confuses pretty much every single guest that comes to our house. Also, in the last year the water button sticks…so you could be filling up your cup and stop pressing the button…but it keeps spewing. We have a worn floor spot in front of the fridge from numerous spills and constant wiping just because nobody can figure it out. I don’t have any other french door fridges to compare it to so that is why it still gets a passing grade.
Buy or Pass : Pass unless the price is right and you love french door fridges.
Item : LG LDF6920ST Dishwasher (read the post here)
Grade : C+ for the first three years, D- for the last year
Review : If Jeremy were writing this review, it would be full of curse words. He currently hates the dishwasher. When he started working from home, he asked me what he could help with…housework wise….and we quickly learned that laundry is not his thing…so dishwashing has become a shared task (he does the morning load and I do the night time load)…and he has said numerous times that he hates our dishwasher with a passion. In our last house, we had a much cheaper dishwasher and it worked great. This one…notsomuch. It stops constantly. It doesn’t always dissolve the soap. It’s not a great indicator for the drying agent….which you absolutely have to have. You actually have to put clean dishes in before washing because otherwise it just cements the food particles onto the dish. We have taken it apart to clean all the parts and tubes and sprayers and filters and it still doesn’t clean like we expect. The positive part is that the inside LOOKS clean and that the door is still intact.
Buy or Pass : Pass. Pass immediately.
Item : Our painted kitchen and laundry room cabinets (read the post here)
Grade : B
Review : This is a hard one because honestly, we still love our cabinets. We painted our cabinets with Clean Start primer and then Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint to change them from brown to white and used a sprayer for a better finish on the kitchen cabinets and a brush for the laundry room cabinet. Overall, they are holding up well. The only part that is even showing real wear is the trash can pullout cabinet front and that is probably because I constantly have to wipe it and scrape stuff off the front. The finish did take a lot longer to cure than the paint can said. When I clean, I use a antibacterial spray with a paper towel and then for tough marks, I pull out the Magic Eraser. There aren’t a whole lot of marks that survive that cleaning method. The only reason I give it a B is because now I have handled the factory finish of the basement cabinetry and that is SO nice. Way nicer than painted cabinets. Overall though, painting cabinets is a lot cheaper than purchasing new and ours did not justify replacing.
Buy or Pass : Buy….great alternative to spending thousands on new cabinetry
Item : Target Belvedere patio furniture (read the post here)
Grade : A
Review : The patio below our deck has this furniture and so far, it has been exactly what we expected. We actually don’t pull the cushions inside…we just leave them out….and after it rains we just turn them on their side so the water drains out. The “wicker” has held up great and we can clean it when we pressure wash each year. Overall, this area does stay moist and we expected more rust on the metal screws underneath and green junk growing on the chair surface but we have been pleasantly surprised that the rust has been very very minimal and the green junk takes a long time to show (a yearly pressure wash takes care of it!). The cushions have bedded down a very slight amount over the years but still look new. I did notice one seam started to come apart (it was on a hidden area and it was a one inch separation….so I probably will try to fix that with a needle and thread but since these live outside and we have three kids (four if you count the neighbor kid and seven if you count the kids in the basement) climbing all over these, I’m surprised there aren’t more. We do spot clean the cushions and do a light pressure washing to them when we do the rest of the patio.
Buy or Pass : Buy! Very nice quality!
Item : Pottery Barn Kids Madras bedding in boys room (read the post here)
Grade : A+
Review : I honestly questioned my sanity when I bought the madras bedding for the boys room….it’s kinda pricey (like a hundred dollars a pop for the quilt and then $30 for the sham) and kids are notorious for ruining things. But I couldn’t be more pleased! It has held up great and still looks bright and new. Our boys don’t love quilts so they definitely don’t get normal wear but we do follow the instructions to wash cold and dry low and so far, the colors have lasted and the fabric has gotten softer and perfect for sweet little boys!
Buy or Pass : Buy!
Item : Target Brookline chairs in our current dining room (read the post here)
Grade : B+
Review : I bought the Brookline chairs for our dining room and so far, they have received VERY light use (maybe 12-18 times!). The legs have needed tightening twice in the last year (easy fix but surprising since we hardly ever use them) and the fabric has held up ok. We did ScotchGuard these and children rarely are on them so that probably helps with the wear and tear factor. Overall, I still love the style and besides the loose legs, there has been zero problems with them (I expected zero problems!) so I guess the less than stellar grade is because I hate digging out the little tightener tool 🙂
Buy or Pass : Buy….good price for the chair but expect to tighten them legs 🙂
Item : Ikea Hemnes dresser – dark in nursery, white in boys room (read the post here)
Grade : B+
Review : We have two Hemnes dressers and both are holding up well. The top of the dark one has some fairly large dents (we attached the changing pad to the back of the dresser and tucked the belt under the pad….we just never buckle them for diapers….and those buckles did leave marks) so I definitely would not say that the wood is hard as nails. Overall, these hold a great amount of clothing and the size is great for diaper changes (Jeremy is 5’11” and I am 5’7″ so if that is an indicator).
Buy or Pass : Buy
Item : Ikea butcher block countertop in our first house (read the post here)
Grade : A-
Review : We installed the butcher block countertop in our first house in the master bathroom and so far, we have been pleased with it. We still own that house and rent it out and over the past four years have noticed that there will be marks and spots indicating that the top needs to be refinished which is not difficult with an electric sander and some sealant. We did choose not to stain it just simply because refinishing would then mean restaining and that is one extra step that seems like more work considering it’s a rental and will probably get increased wear and tear. Overall, it’s a great piece and has not warped or cracked.
Buy or Pass : Buy
Item : The Pallet Accent Wall in our first house nursery (read the post here)
Grade : A++
Review : I love going on Pinterest and seeing that the pallet/wood wall has been such a huge trend. I feel like I was on the forefront of that trend when we did Will’s nursery five years ago. I had never seen one before and there were no tutorials to follow (Pinterest didn’t exist then!) so we did our best to make this accent wall safe and last for the long haul. It is still in our first house (currently a rental) and has been great! At one point this room was even used as a homeschool room and papers were stapled all over the pallet wood and those little holes just disappear! We do recommend vacuuming the wall for dust that might find it’s way into cracks but other than that, it’s super low maintenance but adds so much dimension and personality. All the boards have stayed attached and not shown any wear and tear.
Buy or Pass : BUY! Or should I say do!
Hope you guys liked the little blast from the past and hopefully that convinces you to either jump in or steer clear of similar items! If there is anything else that you want a long-term review of, put it in the comments and I’ll do this again at some point. ya know. in another seven years 🙂
We have an LG dishwasher and we LOATHE IT ENTIRELY! If this weren’t a family friendly blog, I’ll tell you the names we call it! 🙂 Glad to here we aren’t the only ones!
I have to give a shout out to the Kitchen Aid French Door fridge I bought on close out at Best Buy. It is seriously the greatest fridge ever. We LOVE it. So there is hope for other brands of french door fridges
“…seven if you count the kids in the basement”
A non-regular reader would think they stumbled into something sinister!
we have the LG refrigerator as well and also have the water button sticking problem. I have found that if you push the left bottom corner with your finger rather than pushing with your glass, it doesn’t stick. Annoying but works.
I also used the Benjamin Moore Advance paint on my kitchen cabinets. I gave them a good sanding, primed twice and put two coats (maybe three…I can’t remember) of paint on them. They are holding up for the most part. I noticed that I can’t use the Magic Eraser on them. It does something weird to the finish. Now I only use a antibacterial wipe for tough dirt marks and soapy rag for others.
Please don’t wait 7 years to answer this one since we are in the market for exterior painting now. Are you pleased with your paint job and the company that did the work?
I’m convinced that everyone who claims to love their french-door-fridge is either lying to save face or part of some government-sponsored french-door-fridge conspiracy. Totally not a fan!
Thanks for posting all these follow-up reviews. We always comb for reviews when buying appliances, so that is super helpful. Blog reviews are soooo much better than the ones on the manufacturer website!
I didn’t know you were renting out your first place! (Love the idea of butcher block in the bathroom, btw.) If you don’t mind sharing, I’d love to know more about that process and tips on being a landlady. My husband always teases me for my dream of being a landlady someday. 🙂
We have a French door fridge with the freezer on the bottom. I agree that stuff gets lost or when you over fill it food will fall behind the drawers and then you have to maneuver it out somehow otherwise the door won’t close. Have you tried washing your dishes on the hottest setting (we do hi-temp/sanitize/heavy wash) to help with drying the dishes at the end, I don’t know why but it works!
YES! Posts like this are so helpful!
love this post. We have the same fridge – and I have the same frustrations – no one can figure out the water! And that dishwasher – we had it too. My husband probably said the same words yours did…finally we bit the bullet and got a great one!
We also have that wicker patio set and I love it!
It’s nice to see reviews of everything. Especially those chairs. I’ve had my eye on them. Thanks for sharing!
Wondering about cloth diapering… How are those holding up? And do you still use them ?
The kersey glider/recliner! How has that held up?? We are having our first baby in July and I have been going back and forth about getting it! Would love to get your opinion!
That post was very informative Katie. Your kitchen is just dreamy. I especially like the pic where the island shows. On dealing with your dishwasher, have you ever used those little pods? I have not because I have a pretty stellar dishwasher. (of course, it doesn’t get run nearly as much as yours does! ) I have heard those pods are the bomb.
Is the new green rug still shedding a lot??
LOL.
I still find it funny that you call your fridge a French door fridge as here in Ireland it’s called an American fridge-freezer. Really curious what they call it in France now.
Really love your blog Katie. And I keep reading every time you have new posts.
(And pretty sure it was the pallet wall that put me onto your site in the first place)
Fiona.
(All the way in Ireland xxx)
Great little update for sure!! One tip I have for those dining room chairs if you don’t mind…what about using loctite?? That’s what we use any any pieces that require us to assemble them and it seems to work great:)
Thanks so much for sharing these reviews! I agree- hearing how things have held up over time is so important! We’re in the market for a patio set, and considering one made out of the same material as yours, so it’s nice to hear that it holds up!
Love this post! I’m glad to know that the Pottery Barn bedding is holding up. We got a crib set from there that I’m hoping to use until my son gets his big boy bed!
Few comments –
1. I love the cheesy jokes so please don’t stop! I don’t always have time for DIYs but I always have time for a good laugh. God gave you the gift of humor and all of us get blessed by it.
2. I agree – you definitely started the wood wall trend. It’s an amazing look.
3. This is a great post! The grading system is a good idea. Later on, I am going to start a food blog and think I might “borrow” that idea for recipes I try from various cookbooks.
How about a ‘hows the bank holding up’ post? That’s what I first thought this one was when I skimmed past on facey! haha
But seriously; would love a Monroe house update, and also an update on the business you went into with friends, and even the first house and how renting is going….and how the people in the basement are…? Just a general update…!
Oh, and an updated house tour with laundry updates, office, and I propose your nooks make it on there too; hallway to garage (with bower build off bench), bedroom hallway and living room built-in’s and console 😉
Just an FYI for IKEA fans. They now carry protective glass pieces to fit the top of their dressers/chests. We have a Hemnes chest that is 4 years old and it is slightly wider than the current ones. The glass fits good enough to protect the top of the chest from a college gals beauty items. I thought it was $$ well spent.
If you decide to replace your appliances you should try something built by Whirlpool. They own several major brands, all good quality and are the only appliance brands still owned by a US company and built here as well!
Great post! That is the exact dresser I’m considering to use as a changing table! How did you attach the pad to the back?
I have a five year old LG dishwasher and will not buy that brand again. I like the quiet and the delay start feature but I get tired of finding stuff inside cups – and the dishes are basically clean when I load the dishwasher. With French door refrigerators, it is either love it or hate it. I have a Kitchen aide and really like it.
Our pad came with a little tab that you tack into the dresser. It’s just a strap with a grommet thing. We attached it with a small screw.
xo kb
I bought all new LG appliances 3 years ago. I’m disappointed overall. I actually really like my freezer but I have two drawers, not one. The stainless steel is so much work to keep clean. The little flap on the french door is a pain. But I like the layout inside and the LED light. My water button doesn’t stick (yet) but I notice it seems to have some scratches. The ice maker needs ‘stirred up’ to dispense unless we use it daily.
The LG dishwasher was like $900 and is a pain. I had to buy a water softener to get clean dishes. I can’t tell when it’s out of rinse aid. And worst of all– if you leave dirty dishes in it for more than a half day it STINKS so bad when you open it.
At least you didn’t get the electric range. That’s the worst. Digital controls suck and you can’t use anything but steel pots on it. I used an iron skillet once and it marked the glass permanently, like melted the paint on the underside or something. I told LG and their response was “we recommend steel cookware”. I told them ‘recommend’ wasn’t the right verb and I was done with LG. lol.
One of my dear friends had that EXACT LG fridge and it was a total piece of crap. The compressor went out twice within two months. After hearing their experience and yours I will NEVER buy LG. My friend’s husband bought the domain for LGScrewedMe.com and is going to eventually do something with it…ha!
I’m so glad I read this! We have a changing pad on our white Hemmes dresser for our baby that’s due next month. I definitely just threw the buckle under the pad since we have a cover over it and don’t plan to use the buckle. I never thought about how it could scrape up the top of the dresser! Pregnancy brain much? Thank you for saving our Hemmes!
I am still a little obsessed with the Target Brookline dining chairs, regardless of leg tightening! The only problem is that I have two feisty cats and am worried the fabric won’t hold up to their scratching! Any thoughts on this or maybe some alternatives?
Hmmm…it does seem like the kind of fabric that cats would love! I don’t know what kind of fabric that cats wouldn’t scratch….microfiber maybe?
xo – kb
I’ll add that to the list 🙂
xo – kb
That’s a great idea!
xo – kb
That’s hilarious! I had to read your comment to Jeremy because it was so funny! Now we need to see what the French say!
xo – kb
Good question! No, actually it has stopped shedding so much and now it’s just regular vacuuming!
xo – kb
Yup. That’s what we use 🙁
xo – kb
Oooh…good one. I’ll add it to the list. Spoiler…grade : A!
xo – kb
We don’t use them as our regular diapers…we do use them for potty training times but so far, they have held up okay…the velcro is iffy on some but majority of them are fine 🙂
xo – kb
Yup. We do the highest setting…extra rinse and sanitize cycle. It works for me sometimes but we have to make sure the dishes are clean first.
xo – kb
I wish I had more insight on that process…we used our listing agent as a ‘renters agent’ and basically rent it out for the cost of the mortgage plus taxes/expenses and a $50/mth overage for yearly repairs. It’s not a money maker for us but we have found good tenants that are happy with the home and we figure that in twenty years we can sell it for a profit.
xo – kb
Here in France, they call it an American style fridge-freezer too 🙂
(I’m English but married to a French guy and live in France)
HATE my LG dishwasher!
I can’t agree with you more on the boys’ Pottery Barn bedding. Both of my children have quits from there and my sons is going on 5 or 6 years and still looks great. We’ve only had our daughters white & purple quilt for about 6 months and of course the first week we had it she had a bloody nose during the night. The blood washed out completely and the quilt still looks great. They wash and dry perfectly & will always spend the extra money for their quilts.
Dishwashers: We just bought a new dishwasher around Christmas and cannot say good enough things about Bosch dishwashers. They are more pricey; but so worth it! Lowe’s will generally have good sales on them a couple times a year so watch for those.
We refuse to buy any LG products as we have received some horrible customer service from them on electronics. One simple fix took over 9 months to get done.
we have a microfiber couch and the cat loves it :-/ i think that’s the thing about cats! 🙂
I’m just a quiet stalker here, who loves to peek at all your cute home projects without commenting. BUT! When I saw your paragraph about the LG dishwasher, and how your husband would insert a hefty dose of colorful words, if he were writing about it, I laughed out loud and felt a sudden kinship to your family. We, too, are suffering through an LG dishwasher that needs to “sleep with the fishes.” My dream is to put a concrete block in it and quietly push it off a dock somewhere. I’m just glad we’re not alone in these feelings! We keep fluctuating between “do we keep going and let it die on its own?” and “do we just bite the bullet and buy a new one, while we still possess a tiny bit of our sanity?” And our LG refrigerator isn’t our favorite thing in this house, either. I’m kind of detecting a theme…
Did you use spray paint on the green mirror in the nursery? I’ve been hunting alllll over for a spray paint that shade of green.
I also hate my french door fridge. Mine is a GE Profile. The doors don’t shut themselves (if that makes sense?) and with kids around it’s too easy for them to be left slightly open. Frustrating. Tip for cleaning stainless steel appliances… use a damp microfiber cloth… it’ll take off everything, fingerprints, grime, etc. And no chemicals needed!
I second the Loctite for the dining room chairs! Used it on my bar stools that needed tightening about once a week (super annoying) and haven’t had any issues in the three years since adding the Loctite. They get used daily so it’s been amazing.
One question…did you ever shorten the blinds?!
Nope. I brushed it. It’s called Lime Twist by Valspar.
xo – kb
BWAAHAHAHA! That is so funny. What do the French call French doors? or French fries? Or French bread? I need to know these things. #veryimportant
xo – kb
Which ones?
xo – kb
Wow, some people….Don’t want to know much do they. Some of the replies here, are very curious with questions to say the least. Good thing you are not shy ha!
Oh my gosh, the dishwasher from hell !!!!!! We have the same dishwasher and HATE IT. It has the exact same issues you mention and is now leaving horrible water spots on everything. We’ve had it fixed at least a dozen times in the past three years. It looks pretty but it’s just awful!
SO glad to hear others voice their dishwasher hatred! We got a new GE dishwasher 2 years ago after our older Bosch caught on fire (true story!). We bought top of the line with lots of bells and whistles and it has just suuuuuuucked the whole time. But what do you do? You replace an $800 dishwasher again? Continue to suffer? And do all the modern dishwasher suck so hard? Ours takes 260 minutes to complete a cycle and all the dishes come out gross. And I have to wash out the inside of the thing all the time because it keeps growing mold. Mold! My parents have some 20 year old basic thing that washes the dishes beautifully in like 45 minutes. So do I need to track down something like that?
Would love an update on your old house. That house got me started on your blog years ago!!
Okay, interesting! Thanks for getting back to me. I suppose it all depends on what the housing market is doing and how that impacts selling immediately vs. renting out for awhile and selling later. We live in Denver and it is SUCH a seller’s market that you basically just sell as soon as your place goes on the market…no thoughts of holding and renting. Anyway, thanks for sharing!
I hope it works for you! You’ll have to let us know in the next check up post;)
I hate to hear your unhappy-ish with your LG appliances. I have an LG washer and dryer that are FABULOUS!! Maybe LG needs to stick with laundry! We have french door refrigerator, dishwasher and oven that we LOVE… they are Kitchen Aid though… From the reviews I’ve read, Kitchen Aid appliances hold up well even if they are a bit pricey. I’d rather spend more once than spend a lot a billion times.
Good idea for a post!
Are any detergents better than others in your dishwasher?
We alternate between the Cascade ActionPacs and the Quantum Max Finish power ball things….we like both the same so usually it comes down to the one I have a coupon for 🙂
xo – kb
Mine too! Made me so glad I bought a used one to test it out instead of investing in a more expensive one!
I love your pallet wall, I see it everywhere now and it makes me think of you every time! Great work!
Have you tried liquid soap? Those pac/ball things hardly ever fully disolve for me. They are literally the worst.
Ok, French girl here 🙂
French doors : “porte-fenêtre”, literally : “door-window” (not a term really used though, mostly doors are doors)
French fries : “frite” ([freet]), and they actually are belgian ^^
French bread : bread (“pain”)
I’m thinking that I actually never ever saw a big fridge like yours in France… We have much smaller items, with one door…. But it makes us look kind of cool to be “related” to these things… (especially the frites in my point of view) So I’ll take it! Haha!
SO FUN. My favorite is the door-window…perfect description!
xo – kb
We did but it didn’t work as well for us.
xo – kb
Thanks for the update! Ever since Hildi put hay on the wall I have been a little wary of permanent wall applications. But yours looks so nice, has held up well!
Sorry, so late to post (so behind on my fave blogs!) but I second Whirlpool! We had so much trouble deciding on brands for our dishwasher and stove, read all kinds of reviews and every brand was dinged on one thing or another. We finally picked a Whirlpool d/w and an LG stove, and both are great! They were definitely NOT the cheapest, but with discounts from Best Buy and a little dickering with a PC Richards’ salesman who would do anything to keep us from buying our stove from Best Buy (ha!), we feel like we did okay. Something I hate about the new d/w’s: they all use less water, which is great for the environment, not for cleaning dishes. 🙁 I have to use the Cascade premium pods, definitely keep the rinse aid full, and wash on “sensor” and “high temp” wash cycles. That’s the only way I avoid having to prewash dishes. I don’t get the point of using less water if it doesn’t clean well!
Also, our stove (the LG) is my husband’s favorite appliance of all time! He cooks a lot, and it is our first gas stove with 2 ovens! woo hoo!