Among the list of must-haves for our new house — a kitchen with plenty of light, a flat backyard for playing, a smaller footprint for easier cleaning — a dishwasher wasn't even on there. I kind of just assumed I'd get one. So when the perfect little 1950s ranch came up for sale in our favorite neighborhood, we couldn't pass it up, even if I was disappointed by the diminutive dishwasher. A few weeks after closing on our new home, moving in, and unpacking boxes, my feelings for the half-sized dishwasher have suddenly changed.

Dana McMahan recently wrote about how the lust for a Parisian-esque kitchen led to the purchase of a smaller fridge, a purchase she'd later regret. We inherited our small dishwasher and had no immediate plans to replace the cabinets or appliances, so this mini appliance had to do.

Here's the thing, though: I absolutely love our small dishwasher now. With a family of four (which includes two small children), there's always a need for someone's favorite sippy cup or snack bowls to be washed. Our former full-sized dishwasher never quite filled up each day. I felt too guilty to run it if it wasn't totally full — even if I needed dishes for the morning. And let's be honest, I wasn't about to hand wash all those dishes either.

Related: The 2 Worst Dishwasher Mistakes You're Probably Making

I can easily fill up the small dishwasher every day, and I run it at the end of the day with no shame. It also seems to be incredibly efficient at cleaning its small loads.

The little guy has changed the tidiness of our kitchen, too. Because of it the dishwasher gets unloaded every morning — leaving it empty for dirty dishes throughout the day. And since I run it in the evening after dinner, at any given time there are no more than, say, two dishes in the sink that need cleaning. Yay for tiny dishwashers and empty sinks!

Do you have a small dishwasher? What do you love or hate about it?