I picked up that pink GE Americana refrigerator

[spacepig]

This one was posted in the Shopper's Square. It was located in MS, which is only a couple of hours from here. I initially just wanted the GE cabinets she had for sale (also in pink), but decided to get the refrigerator, too. Why, I'm not sure, as I don't even know if we can make it work in the kitchen since the original plan was to put in the 55 GE combination which is quite a bit smaller.

We plugged it in today, and so far the refrigerator part is maintaining at 30 degrees, and freezer at 10 degrees. It's missing a shelf and a compartment, but it does have the ice tray that flips over. It's in our shed right now which doesn't have water hook up, so we have no way to tell if it works, but were told that it was operational before they unplugged it. Also, the light behind the panel does not work. I was hoping it was just the bulb, but I a put a brand new one in today with no luck.

 

[ovrphil]

I know there might be some "gotcha's" with these, but congratulations - hope to see it working as planned in your future remodel? Love the color.

 

[rp2813]

I think the Americana is a lot more practical than the Combination for your main fridge, and there's no defrosting required.  Add to that a semi-automatic ice maker and the choice is clear, even if the ice may not be.

 

[turquoisedude]

Congratulations!  The Americana refrigerator-freezer is such a unique style - I am sure you'll find a way to fit it into the kitchen plans.  

 

I think the panel light is a fluorescent one, so it may just need a new starter.  

 

Great find!!  

 

[spacepig]

Yes, I definitely agree that for practicality the Americana wins hands down. We would gain cabinet and counter space if we were to go with the Combination as it's smaller than what we have, but we'd lose a few inches if we went with the Americana. It'll fit in the space, I'll just have to see if we have a smaller cabinet that will work.

Also, I really like the pink, but I'm not sure how it will look with the other appliances being turquoise. I would be tempted to paint it to match, but then feel bad for not keeping it original.

Paul, yes the light is a florescent one. Is the starter the little button that you push?

 

[countryford]

As turquoise dude stated it could be just the starter. I posted a picture of a common one. You can easily find them at ACE Hardware and even Home Depot or Lowes. Also the transformer could be bad too. That is what the second picture is of. The starter is usually only a couple of dollars, the transformer is maybe about 10. These should be located behind the glass, where the bulbs are at.

 

[fridgenut]

Oh, so nice...

I love these fridges. Love the color. Love the style. I hope you are able to use it just like it was meant to be used.

 

[ken]

Jeannie

Here are some pics of our webmaster (Robert's) kitchen to give an idea of how well (IMO) different color appliances work together.

 

[rp2813]

I agree that the pink should work well with the turquoise appliances you already have.  I also think that the bit of counter space you'd lose would have minimal impact since you'd be gaining counter space where the average kitchen doesn't have it -- right in the middle of your refrigerator.   I think you'll find the surface included with the Americana to be more useful than you might have imagined.

 

[spacepig]

Thank you everyone for the compliments.

Justin--thanks for the picture of the starter and transformer. My husband works at Home Depot, so I may tell him to go ahead and grab those.

Ken--I've seen that picture before and just love that kitchen. If there is a such a thing as a happy kitchen, that would be it! It does show that all of those colors can work really well together.

Ralph--I do keep forgetting that I will actually gain counter space with the Americana. Measurement wise, I'm hoping it will fit in the space with cabinets we have. I had exactly enough cabinets to replace everything as is, so I may need to reconfigure a tad since it's a few inches wider than the fridge we have now.

I think I have enough GE metal cabinets now to replace all my wooden ones. Some are turquoise that are fairly rusty so need to be redone and the rest are the pink ones that went along with the Americana. They are in remarkably good shape considering being in the humid deep south, but I'll probably paint all of the outsides white and leave the pink interiors, and the same with the rusty turquoise ones. I was originally going to paint all the cabinets turquoise, but I want the appliances to pop, so I think white will be the best choice. For now, the Americana will stay pink, and we'll see how she looks when it's all done.

I've attached a picture of some of the cabinets I got as they were in the kitchen.

 

[ovrphil]

What a nice looking kitchen! Congratulations, it looks like you have done a lot.

 

[spacepig]

Phil, thanks for the compliment, but that isn't my kitchen That's the kitchen the refrigerator came out of, and I ended up buying most of those cabinets and cabinettes. They are currently in my shed until I figure out how to configure. The way I worded it was a bit confusing.

 

[ovrphil]

Oops. Well..they'l look good in yours!