<h2 style="margin: 10pt 0cm 0pt"><font size="3" color="#990000">Your New Kitchen Appliances – What to Keep in Mind Before You Go Shopping!</font></h2><p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt">Most of your budget will likely go towards the things you just can’t live without such as a sink, dishwasher and refrigerator. Therefore, selecting quality appliances that will give you the most for your money is essential!</span></p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt"><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> <img src="../images/Home_Appliances.jpg" border="0" alt="Home Appliances" title="Home Appliances" vspace="2" width="400" height="280" /></p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> </p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal">With the abundance of brands, styles, colors and technologically advanced machines, it’s hard to weed out the good and the bad and pick what’s best for you. Luckily, we put together a few guidelines to make this process much easier!</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Dishwasher</span></strong> – Look for brands with low energy consumption, a delay timer and an economy cycle or half-load button, all which will result in saving water and saving money.  </p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Refrigerator</span></strong> – One feature worth paying for is a new design to prevent frost build-up. By circulating air inside the freezer compartment rather than using a defroster, you can say goodbye to freezer burn! </p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Sink </span></strong>– Materials include stainless steel, which can withstand more abrasions and is hygienic and trendy, and fireclay and ceramic which are more traditional for their solidity and wide range of colors.</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Oven </span></strong>– Multi-functional ovens may be worth the investment. Traditional cooking and fan assisted cooking and grilling are increasingly popular. The combination also provides cooks with more options such as browning and thawing.</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Range </span></strong>– Ranges are either free-standing or built-in. Picking one out depends on the design of your kitchen and the features you want. Worthwhile accessories include a cooker hood, splashback, grill, griddle plates, rotisserie, wok burner and fish-kettle burner.</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Taps </span></strong>– A cost-efficient option is the three-way or tri-flow taps which take away the need for bottled water or other purification system. New models also offer dual-flow for hot and cold filtered water.   <br />Countertops – Formica and Corian are some of the most common surfacing materials, however new trends such as Luxore®, a non-porous heat and chip resistant stone, and Swanstone®, a reinforced surface with seamless joints which is moisture resistant and requires no fabricated edges, are becoming increasing popular.  </p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt">Flooring </span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt">– The cost of installing can be as much as the material and harder options such as tile can be tiresome to stand on too long. Softer, more absorbent materials include cork, carpet or vinyl and most of the time, are much cheaper.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt"></span></p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’">Courtesy of:</span></strong><span style="color: black"> <a href="http://www.icfhome.ca/">www.ICFhome.ca</a></span> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt"><a href="http://www.ontario-home-builder.com/Home_Appliances.html"><font color="#800080">http://www.ontario-home-builder.com/Home_Appliances.html</font></a></span></p></span></span>