THE DAY STARTED OFF UNPROMISINGLY. “This is your Sears delivery team,” said the voice on the phone. “We just pulled up to your garage.”
“I don’t have a garage,” I said. “That’s the house.”
I guess in East Hampton 1,000 square feet passes for a garage.
Now I have a washer and dryer (no more trips to the $4 machines at the Amagansett laundromat); a stove, but no pots to cook in (luckily I’m really into Citarella’s Vietnamese chicken wraps); and a noisy little refrigerator I’m thinking of returning. Perhaps best of all is that the cruddy old appliances were carted away.
Here’s the Smeg I coveted and should have gotten, maybe. It comes in great colors, but I’ve only seen it in pictures. Does anybody out there have actual experience with one? They’re close to $2G but look like they could really make a kitchen, if you like that retro thing.
Highlights of this rainy afternoon: planting up two wooden boxes with exotic basil seedlings a friend gave me (Genovese, Greek, lemon) and placing (not yet planting) five Korean boxwoods, top, as you round the corner from driveway to backyard. I saw them at my friend Jill’s house, sprawling magnificently, and promptly copied her, buying them the other day at Home Depot in Riverhead for $15 apiece. They’re very green and glossy and will eventually spread four feet if you let them.
casaCARA 
Recommend you check out Eco-Fridge (formerly Conserv). Have owned several of these in the past decade or so. They are very quiet and very efficient and apparently, very sexy–always have gotten a lot of “love your fridge” comments. Cost a bit extra, but worth it.
Isn’t SMEG a character in LoTR?
GAP, as regards the Conserv refrigerator (designed in Denmark) – there’s something else called Euro-fridge, not sure about Eco-fridge – I’m intrigued. It’s good-looking, but don’t want a manual defrost freezer (bad memories of chipping and dripping). Also, is it quiet? That’s important.
I was seriously considering Elmira Stoveworks “1951” Northstar fridge for my vintage kitchen. It’s quite similar to the SMEG in appearance but has a real freezer section, whereas the SMEG basically has an ice-cube tray holding area. They’re the same price. Both are small by American standards, which I thought would keep the look vintage-appropriate. In the end, I decided I couldn’t justify a premium priced fridge at the moment and bought a very generic but smallish modern one.
So glad you finally got your appliances. I think the SMEG is adorable if you want to spend the bucks! Now when are you getting a guest bed??
If anyone would like to email pics of their vintage-look (or vintage!) refrigerators in situ, I will gladly do a blog post about them! Modern refrigerators in an old-house kitchen can be as much an elephant in the living room (to mix metaphors) as a TV in the parlor!!
caramia447@gmail.com
how about this?
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/for/1200595510.html
as long as I’m at it, can I convince you to pick this up and have it powder coated in a bright orange or green or blue or red or… and put it in your backyard?
http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/fuo/1206515002.html
Like the fireplace! However, refrigerators are one of the few things I prefer new, not vintage.