If you can't stand the heat....

Get out of the kitchen!!!

So, here is my dilemma- we have an old house, lots of character, charm and a 50 year old oven and it is neither charming or full of character. It is just UGLY, horrible and at this point pretty dangerous.

We have been searching everywhere to find a new oven- for years- the thing is - the damn thing still works!  However, we take our lives in our hands every time we turn it on.  It get so hot that you have to open it with a pot holder! Notice the bubbled paint above the oven....scaryyyyyyy

Ugliest Oven on the Planet

Now, there are a lot of things I would like to redo in our house- so it has crossed my mind now and then just to turn the oven on broil and go out for awhile, but then reality sets in and I think about all the things I would miss if the house burned down- plus, arson is just not my gig.

So here is the problem. The cabinets were built in the house, custom- to fit the stupid oven, and they were made to last a millenium. Not that I don't hate them, I do- but the thought of gutting the entire kitchen just wears me out to think about. Not to mention it took 2 years for my husband and I to agree on the new countertops when we redid them. Both of us are arty and like "different", so any type of normal countertop was out of the question. Finally, we did this:

Copper Engraving Plates Countertop

My husband owns a stationery store and I used to have a stationery/invitation manufacturing business, so when an old stationery engraving business moved from Birmingham, my husband got a bunch of their old copper engraving plates.
I laid them out all over the counters and then poured tons of epoxy over them. They look great (even though this picture doesn't look so great), and they are REALLY different, but perfect for us!

Back to the oven dilemma- The space the oven is in is just too small for ANY oven- we have looked, and because the way the cabinets are made, there is no way to enlarge the space.  

This is where I need your help. What do we do???

 Here are the options we have thought of:

1) Don't cook. Sounds pretty good to me, but not entirely practical.

2) Remove the cabinet with the oven and just replace that and get a new oven. Well, that would make me NUTS- I just don't think I can handle having ONE cabinet that is different from all the others.

3) Gut the kitchen- oh... 

4) My husband suggested taking the oven out and having a very small chef live in the space- he thinks he is SO funny....

So, I am open to any and all suggestions- would love to hear ANY kind of idea, because we can't figure it out and sometimes it takes just someone else's eye to figure out just the right thing to do...so lay it on me....and hurry, before my house burns down!!!

hope you all have a great week!!
xoxox