Monday Motivation: Taking care of your range hood

Our range hoods get a lot of grease and dirt sucked up into them.  As gross as that looks, if not cleaned regularly, it will start to smell gross too.  If cleaned on a regular basis, the hood is easier to clean and works more efficiently. 

To clean the outside of the hood, use dish washing detergent in warm water to cut the grease.  I generally just wipe mine down when washing dishes after dinner. 

To clean the filters, follow the manufacturer's directions for your particular model.  Some filters can be washed in the dishwasher.  Older models can be soaked in dishwater to soak off grease.  Rinse well and dry completely before reinstalling.  These should be cleaned at least once a month. 

(our kitchen on the day we moved in)

When we purchased our home 5 years ago, we became the proud owners of all mismatched appliances.  The stove was black and white, the dishwasher was black, the fridge was white, and the range hood was almond.  Since a remodel was not in the budget any time soon, we had to make do with what we had.  Of course, my spray paint played a big part in helping me unite the look of my hodge podge appliances.  I spray painted my fridge, using 3 cans of black spray paint.  So far it's held up pretty well.  Because we didn't want to remove the range hood to spray paint it, I used a brush and oil based paint to paint it black.  It's held up well for 3 years now and, like I said, I wipe it down every week to keep it dust and grease free. 

(our kitchen today - still a work in progress)

It was very hard for me to move from my previous kitchen into this one.  We had remodeled our previous kitchen and it was my custom creation.  I could almost cook in that kitchen with my eyes closed because everything had a custom drawer or cabinet.  Yes, I was spoiled.  Enter this house - beautiful property -  funky house.  To make the kitchen workable, we bought an island from Lowes and a large pine armoire from Salvation Army to use as a pantry.  We had to replace the range last year as the old one died.   This kitchen  functions as well as can be expected for now.  But. . . I have big plans to change it. . . one day.