Change The Color Of Your Dishwasher, step by step

Glad Friday folks! Since the first three days of this week were full of bigger updates (like this craziness, our desk haul & overhaul, and a bunch of showhouse progress) it felt pleasant to switch gears and knock out a few smaller updates at the end. It is consistently refreshing to bounce from broad planning stuff – like office layout debates and showhouse furniture arrangements – to focusing on a few swift tasks (like yesterday’s mirror switch). And thankfully this update could not have been easier.

Remember our lovely almond dishwasher?

As you know, we are planning to replace our appliances during a full kitchen renovation down the line, but I heard an nearly-sounds-too-good-to-be-true pointer from a few of you that I had to try. Urban legend has it that appliances like these frequently have removable panels (i.e. the almond colored part) that can be flipped over or painted. So the other day I did some exploratory unscrewing.

With three screws took out on the side, I was able to pop off a thin metal trim piece.

And then, lo and behold, out slid this removable panel. The best part? The backside was white!

When I pulled it out entirely I realized there were in fact two separate panels in there, and each one was double-sided. Which meant I could snap this side-by-side photo of the original cream-colored panel and the bright white one next to it for comparison. The color that you see on the dishwasher behind them is simply some sort of cardboard backing that was in there.

On the backside of the cream panel was this mustard option that would’ve been… um… an interesting choice. I could not resist holding it up simply to freak John out.

Predictably, I put the white panel in, reattached the side panel, and stepped back to take pictures – ready to marvel at how much better it looked. Except I did not like it. Sure, it was white like the shelves and the upper cabinets, but among all of the dark lowers it simply kinda of called more attention to itself.

The backside of the white panel was black, so I took out the panel again, flipped it over to the black side, and tried again. MUCH better.

It is still not the prettiest dishwasher there ever was, but for the 10 minutes and zero bucks, I am glad to have banished a bit more “almond” from the room – and it certainly helps the dishwasher blend in a bit more with the surrounding cabinets. You could even spray paint the panel a color before sliding it back in (red for a retro kitchen?) or buy a sheet of stainless steel at Home Depot and cut it to size with metal snips if you are going for the stainless look. Plenty of possibilities…

The best part is that something about that straightforward switch kicked us into high gear in the kitchen again, because we are right now working on:

• Removing our broken trash compactor to add something that is a lot easier on the eyes in its place

• At last redoing the counters with concrete (holy cow, it is messy – but such a dramatic change)

Has anyone else flipped their dishwasher panel? Or updated their appliances in other ways? We are still truly glad with our updated fridge, our secondhand range hood, and our microwave in the pantry – so our last remaining almond eyesore is the stove. Have you ever used Ardex on counters or taken out an old broken disposal? Kitchen updates are typically disruptive since it is such a busy room, but it is so pleasant to enjoy them when they are done.