State of the kitchen when we bought the house

We bought a split-level house that was built in the 50's.  It's a nice place, but definitely in need of updating.  The kitchen is ORIGINAL, with built-in wood cabinetry.  They are dark-oak stained plywood, and were custom-designed for the space.  They are not modular like today's cabinets. 

The only updating the previous owners did consisted of changing the appliances.  They also removed all of the fancy brass cabinet-door pulls.  We know this because we found one lying in a bottom drawer.  We really wouldn't care so much that the sellers replaced the flush-mount door-pulls with $0.80 cheapies from Home Depot, except that this caused the dishwasher, which was installed in a corner, not to open fully. 

Don't get me started on the condition of the appliances when we bought the place.  Each one had its own special problem, and the refrigerator didn't make it two weeks.  Apparently, it got cool, but never went below 55 degrees Farenheit on a good day.  We caught on when two quarts of milk soured in about 2 days, back to back.  Lesson learned?  Make sure your home inspector uses a thermometer to check the fridge temp. 

But there was an upside here, as we got a "brand new" Kenmore side-by-side with through the door ice and water.  It came from a Sears Outlet store, and we got a major deal on it because it has a few minor dings.  None are very noticeable, and we have kid-art all over the doors anyway.

The stainless-steel wall oven and ancient stainless cook top were passable.  The wall oven is not deep enough to hold a standard size cookie pan, and forget about putting two cookie sheets next to each other on the same oven shelf.  The thermocouple for the broiler element was lying in the cabinet above the oven, and the broiler has never worked since we've been here.  Why?  Because there's no thermocouple installed on it!  Lesson learned here?  Make sure your home inspector trys BOTH the broiler AND the oven heating elements, especially when you FIND A THERMOCOUPLE lying in the cabinet above the oven DURING the home insepction.

Surprisingly, the dishwasher is holding its own.  I actually like the dishwasher very much, especially now that we budged it over an inch and can open the door all the way.  It's a Kenmore, guessing about 10 years old, but it runs very well, and the dishes actually get clean.  It's a fighter, the dishwasher.  It has to pump out it's drain water through a teeny-tiny copper tube, much too small for it.  If the pump hasn't burnt out yet, it never will.  The dishwasher will be very happy in its new home next to the sink, and will enjoy its new, larger-diameter drain pipe very much.  It's earned its spot in the new kitchen.  The wall oven and the cook top have dates with eBay, and I'll be sure to disclose the broken broiler element, and also that the electric ignition for the left-front burner doesn't work on the cook top.  Becaue that's what sellers usually do, at least the ones who like clear consiences.  Let me rephrase that, at least the sellers who have consciences and like to keep them clear.