My Maytag Appliances Have Arrived! #MaytagMoms

I found out I would be getting a brand new set of gorgeous Maytag kitchen appliances the very day we put a contract on our new home. We had traveled to Ohio from Virginia, and we were staying at my Grandma's house for a week while we looked at homes.

We had just returned from looking at a wonderful Century home that we absolutely fell in love with when I checked my e-mail and got the news. I literally stood there in absolute shock, re-read the e-mail about 30 times to be absolutely certain that I wasn't misunderstanding anything, and then I began hooting and hollering loudly enough for everyone in my Grandma's house to rush in to see what all of the commotion was about.

"I got it! I got it! Holy Cow!" I screamed with absolute delight.

I proceeded to show my family the e-mail, and they were stunned. My Grandma has used Maytag appliances for decades, so she was the first to tell me how dependable they are. Maytag is a brand that has been around for over 100 years, bringing fantastic appliances that make everyday life so much easier and more convenient. And very soon, I would be the proud owner of an entire kitchen suite! Woo-Hoo! I would have to say, this is the highlight of my entire blogging career!

The news couldn't have come at a better time. You see, our home is nearly 100 years old. It definitely needs some updating and you can tell that a very old woman lived here for many, many years. We will need to remove lots of tacky wallpaper, paint rooms, refinish floors, and remodel an entire bathroom. Yes, we have our work cut out for us. But we paid for our home in its entirety, so we're willing to do the necessary work to bring this grand old home to it's original splendor.

One of my biggest desires was to replace the sad, old appliances in the home with modern, energy efficient stainless steel ones. I am a total foodie and I love to cook, so having a kitchen that is comfortable and efficient is very important to me.Thanks to Maytag, this dream was going to come true, and it wouldn't take 10 years of skrimping and saving!

Take a look at my kitchen before our appliances were delivered:

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Yes, a very old woman owned this home before us. It's a work in progress!

Nothing fancy here! This old dishwasher had certainly seen better days!

Well I waited patiently for a few months, and finally I received word that my appliances were ready to be delivered! The folks at Maytag were awesome and even sent out a plumber to install a water line to the fridge. In our old house, this didn't exist previously.

I dealt with Shane at JB Hunt & Associates, and he facilitated my delivery and installation from start to finish. It took 4 trips to my home as well as a few unexpected hiccups, but he and his crew were very friendly and helpful. They kept at it until the job was done right. They even rolled out carpets to ensure that my carpet and flooring wouldn't be marred or damaged during the delivery and installation process.

We did have to alter our kitchen slightly to ensure our new Maytag Ice20 French Door Refrigerator would fit. It was taller than our previous fridge, so we had to remove a cabinet to accommodate the height of this "Lamborghini Fridge" as Shane called it. This was a bit of a pain, since our cabinets were built in rather than screwed in, but it was well worth the work....and the damage sustained to my house when we removed the cabinet. That's a whole other story altogether, though!

After my appliances were installed, I couldn't stop staring at them. I couldn't believe I actually owned such beautiful appliances! I had to pinch myself more than once! Yes, my kitchen still has updating that needs to be done. We want to have the cabinets completely redone, we're re-doing our shabby counter tops,  and the ugly, old-fashioned flooring has GOT to go. But having these amazing new appliances really do change the look of the kitchen already!

First I'd love to tell you about the star of the show, the Maytag Ice20 Refrigerator. Holy moly, this is the fanciest, most modern fridge I have ever seen!

I love the fact that this model has a touch-screen, digital control panel that allows you to dispense filtered water in measured increments, gives crushed or cubed ice, and even has a rapid cool feature. What is rapid cool? Well, if you go shopping, chances are you leave the fridge open for extended periods as you unload your groceries. This can cause the temperature of your food to rise to dangerous levels. With the rapid cool setting, you can quickly bring the fridge back to a safe, cold temperature ideal for foods and other perishable items.

For one, this model boasts a whopping 25 cubic feet of space. With a family of 5, space is something that's always appreciated. In the past, it was a challenge to make room for our groceries, and we often had to play "food tetris" to get everything situated. This was inconvenient, and it also caused waste because we couldn't easily see what was in the fridge. With our new Maytag Fridge, this is no longer an issue!

The Ice20 has gorgeous French Doors and has ample space for everything under the sun. You can even hold 2 gallons of milk in the door of the fridge. For all of you wine lovers out there, there is a great wine holder built into the door as well.

Another thing I absolutely love is the easy access drawer. This is located between the main fridge compartment and the bottom freezer. This drawer is very strong and can hold up to 5 bags of groceries with no problem! I use it for my massive amounts of cheese, snacks for the kids, and the hubby has taken over one side to store his cans of beer or soda. When you have the French doors open, you can actually see down into the easy access drawer because the bottom of the fridge is glass. This definitely comes in handy because I can see at a glance what's available!

The height of the easy access drawer is also wonderful because it's truly at kid level. My kids can easily grab their own fruits, string cheese, juice boxes, or veggies, all on their own. What a great way to encourage independence and give little ones a sense of pride!

I also love the freezer. It's HUGE, and it's separated into 2 different sections. One is a standard freezer located at the very bottom. Then you also have a pull-out section that is made of wire baskets. This allows me to easily keep our frozen foods organized and easy to access. I was able to fit a lot more food in this freezer than I ever could in our old one!

So the fridge is pretty darn awesome, but the other appliances are fantastic, too! I love our Maytag JetClean Plus dishwasher with fully integrated controls. Not only is it sleek and modern looking, it's also very efficient. One of the best things is that the controls are found inside the top of the door, not on the face of it. This is wonderful for me since my toddlers used to make a game out of turning off our dishwasher after I had started a cycle. Talk about frustrating! Now they can't do that at all.

This is an ENERGY STAR® qualified dishwasher you can count on. There's no need to rinse off dried-on food thanks to the steam-enhanced ToughScrub™ Plus option and a powerful 4-blade stainless steel chopper. For even more cleaning power, the Jetclean® Plus Steam cycle blasts off food particles with high-pressure spray jets and then adds the finishing touch of steam to clean and reduce spots on glassware. There's even a premium adjustable upper rack, added cup clips and a utensil basket for convenience.

I know cooking will be a breeze with our new Maytag 6.2 cu. ft. Capacity Electric Range. This range does it all! Okay, so maybe it doesn't give you Iron Chef-worthy cooking skills, but it does help you to prepare the best meals possible and fine tune your cooking skills! In my opinion, using a good oven is key to creating successful dishes. Even cooking, consistent heat, and convection cooking are all key to making great food.

Built to cook everything from dinner for two to large family feasts, this industry-leading 6.2 cu. ft. capacity freestanding range has the space to get it all done and the power to get it done fast. You won't know how you ever cooked without features like a Triple-Choice™ element for more flexible, even heating, a 3,200-watt SpeedHeat™ element—the industry's most powerful—and a 10-year limited parts warranty on the ceramic-glass cooktop and oven and cooktop elements protecting your purchase. For added convenience, odor-free, low temperature AquaLift™ self-clean technology helps get your oven clean in less than an hour.

I love the fact that this range gives me the extra burner space to prepare several dishes at once. With the Holidays rapidly approaching, this will save so much time and headache as I rush to prepare huge family meals!

This range also has a lighted indicator that lets you know the surface is hot....Even when the burners are turned off. As a mom, this is a great safety feature that will help ensure there are no burns that occur from touching a hot cooktop.

Last but certainly not least, we received a Over-the-Range Microwave. This is also stainless steel and very sleek, and looks amazing in the kitchen!

We had some issues when installing this, and the service men actually had to come out twice to get it squared away. It seems that a bolt was missing when they first attempted installation, so this wasn't installed with the others. They were great about getting our microwave re-ordered and installed in just a few days, though. I do have to say, going a few days without a microwave was tough and I will never take this modern day convenience for granted again!

The first thing I noticed about the over-the-range microwave is that the inside is made of metal. (gasp!) Now I had always thought that metal and microwaves simply did not mix. Apparently, I was misinformed! Not that I will try microwaving forks or spoons anytime soon, of course!

The other thing I noticed is that this microwave is incredibly roomy! I can even fit casserole dishes in it! Not only will they fit in this 2.0 cu. ft. over-the-range unit, but the WideGlide™ tray is designed to move throughout the microwave for uniform cooking results - even in cookware as large as a 10" x 15" pan. The powerful 1,000 watts of cooking power ensures your food will be heated all the way through, while sensor reheat means you can warm your meals without worrying about cooking times or power levels. The stainless-steel interior looks great and cleans easily, while the four-speed ventilation fan will help keep your kitchen clear of cooktop smoke and odors.

Overall, I am beyond thrilled to be a proud Maytag Mom. I know that these appliances will give me dependable results for many years to come. They also give my very dated kitchen a mini-facelift! I have always dreamed of owning top of the line, stainless steel appliances. Thanks to Maytag, this has become a reality.

Be sure to check back often, as I will be posting updates about my Maytag experiences. I plan to put them to the ultimate test of Holiday meals, as well as everyday use. I am loving them so far, and I can't wait to try out all of the amazing features these appliances have to offer!

And since these are backed by a powerful 10 Year Warranty, I know these appliances will be there for me during life's most important moments like family meals, special occasions, and kids' birthday parties!

Want to learn more?

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***Disclosure:“I wrote this post participating in an Maytag Moms Dependable Kitchen Ambassador program by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Maytag. I was provided with a Maytag kitchen appliances set, including a refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and range to facilitate my post.”***