How We Saved Over $1,350 on Beach House Appliances During Black Friday Sales
We didn’t exactly plan to buy all of our beach house appliances during Black Friday season — it was mostly fortunate timing. That luck ended up saving us more than $1,350. The appliances won’t arrive until after Thanksgiving, but here’s a clear rundown of what we chose, why we changed our plan for the kitchen layout, and how the timing of sales and a retailer promotion helped us get more for less.
Early on we were leaning toward placing a compact white refrigerator on the same wall as the pink stove. White fridges that fit that narrow space were rare, so it felt like a done deal — until we waited and started building the kitchen. Once the cabinet layout and sight lines took shape, the fridge option began to feel visually intrusive.
We tested the placement with a cardboard mockup made from our island stool boxes. From the front it wasn’t obvious, but from the adjoining living room and foyer the fridge would have blocked the view toward the back door and the breakfast nook — a sight-line problem we wanted to avoid.
We briefly considered moving the fridge between the two doorways on the back wall, but that felt even more cramped. Ultimately we decided to convert the breakfast nook into a walk-in pantry and relocate the full-size refrigerator there. This change improves function and frees up the main kitchen area visually, while giving us more storage for beach essentials like cereal, chips, and coolers.
While the pantry will house the main fridge, we still wanted a small, vintage-style fridge close to the prep areas for frequently used items like milk, eggs, and OJ. We found a compact retro-inspired mini fridge on Amazon that complements our pink stove without interrupting sight lines. It was also much cheaper than many of the other retro models.
We plugged the mini fridge in as soon as it arrived — first cold Coke confirmed — and made a few cosmetic adjustments (repositioning the outlet and planning baseboards and a backsplash) so it will look finished once the kitchen is complete.
What we bought and why
We still needed a washer and dryer for the mudroom, a dishwasher for the island, and the larger fridge for the pantry. We shopped Home Depot’s early Black Friday deals and locked in several marked-down appliances:
- Washer & dryer: We chose a Maytag Bravos XL top-loading washer and matching electric dryer. We like the brand from our own home laundry room and the units were heavily discounted — originally $899, on “Special Buy” for $599 each. These have slightly more capacity than our home models, which is great for towels and bedding at a beach house.
The dishwasher decision was trickier because we wanted a white model to blend with the cabinets and keep the pink stove as the sole accent. White options were sometimes more expensive than stainless. We picked a Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher with top controls and a white toe-kick that integrates neatly with the cabinetry. It was $499 at Home Depot, but we price-adjusted to match Lowe’s and Best Buy and got it for $449.
Finding the pantry fridge was the toughest due to window and doorway constraints — we couldn’t accommodate a fridge deeper than 28″. After searching we found an apartment-sized Haier refrigerator (manufactured by GE) with solid reviews and a very large discount — marked down by more than $500.
Additional savings
Home Depot was running an additional promotion where you save more depending on how many appliances you buy at once: $50 for 2 appliances, $100 for 3, $200 for 4 (we qualified for the $200). Lowe’s had a similar offer, although theirs issued the savings via gift card. These stacking discounts helped bring the total down substantially.
All told, the appliance purchases still totaled about $2,150 — not insignificant — but we feel confident in the choices. They’re either models we already use and trust, or units with strong reviews that fit our space and budget.
Other improvements: blinds and installation tips
On top of appliances, we installed cordless white faux-wood blinds throughout the house for a cleaner look and better safety for renters with children. They raise and lower from the bottom and were a noticeable upgrade — especially in the bathrooms where we finally removed our temporary privacy cardboard.
Quick installation tip when you have many blinds (we had 29 windows): work as a team — one person unpacks and preps each blind while the other drills and mounts. Pre-drilling all holes first saves time swapping bits. It took us about three hours total, but it could have taken much longer without a system.
Happy Thanksgiving! We’ll share another update after the appliances arrive and we have more progress on the kitchen conversion and pantry details.
P.S. To read more about the beach house restoration journey over the past year, see our previous posts covering everything from initial before shots and floor planning to drywall and bathroom tiling.
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