No freezer for a year

Jonathan walked in the door the other day and nearly collapsed immediately. “What is that?” he gasped and pointed to a discolored spot above the baseboard on the wall outside the kitchen. “How long has it been there? Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“Well, darling, I’ve been watching two toddlers all day and haven’t noticed a small spot appearing on the wall,” I answered sweetly. (Um, actually I was not this gracious.)

Turns out it was a water spot. Which was not good for a couple of reasons. One, we just had a major leak area repaired in the playroom and two, it was in the middle of the house – obviously and ominously not coming directly from the outside…. but wait, what if it was? That would be one serious leak. This worried Jonathan.

Since the boys were born (really since I got pregnant), Jonathan and I have divvied up who worries about what, in a casual and abstract sort of way. This system works pretty well, except for when we have major arguments about it monthly. But for the most part it’s Jonathan’s job to worry about the house. He’s really good at it.

But I did think about this particular situation for a moment and wondered aloud if this leak might have anything to do with the ice maker not producing ice for the past few days.

Jonathan pulled the fridge out of its alcove and – to his everlasting relief – that was indeed the problem. Something had happened to some sort of hose and there was water pooling on the floor under the fridge, into the cabinets, and into the wall. We will still have to re-do the drywall there, but at least it wasn’t a leak from outside.

So we monitored the situation over the next 48 hours and discussed our alternatives in case it was more than the hose and we needed a new fridge. Our plans to gut our kitchen next year impacted our decision. We were thinking of buying a separate fridge and freezer, but with the current configuration there’s only room for one.

Should we buy just the fridge part of the new set we were planning to buy next year? And live without a freezer for a year? But what if we bought the fridge and now then the matching freezer was no longer available next year. (Jonathan was the only one concerned about this.)

Should we just buy El Cheapo fridge now then replace it with a new set next year?

Should we buy El Cheapo and put a mini-freezer in the laundry room?

What about you - what would you choose? Would you go without a freezer for a year?

We decided on the first option. But 48 hours and no more leaks later, we decided it was just the hose and therefore the current fridge could stay put till next year. But I have started monitoring some good kitchen-design blogs to start getting ideas for next year. My favorites thus far are Trendir and Get Decorating.

If you know of any other good ones, let me know!