Burning Question: The Finish Line
This week we’re wondering about your dream kitchen appliances. Namely the finish. Do you lust for sleek stainless steel or prefer the more finger-print-resistant white or black options? And while we’re on the subject, what’s your idea of the perfect fridge design? Is it a side-by-side model or one of those freezer-drawer-on-the-bottom dealies? Do tell.
And we can’t talk about amazing kitchens without sharing the easiest way to spiff up a tired or dated one. Painting those old cabinets will have your kitch looking like new in no time (and contrary to popular belief, it’s not rocket science).
Images courtesy of Lowe’s.
Psst- Don’t forget to drop in on Hamburger’s House to see what Burger’s blogging about today…
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We are planning a kitchen remodel next year and I have been stalking new appliances online. I am torn between white and stainless. I thought about black but our kitchen gets very little natural light and the black would darken it even more. I know I want a side-by-side as we already have an upright freezer. I know I do not want a freezer on the bottom as my sister had one in her home and the freezer drawer often does not close tightly.
Love your blog!
Patricia
I prefer white with the freezer on the bottom. I love stainless steel, however, i do not love the fingerprints.
At the beginning of this year, we got a black French door style with freezer on the bottom. That being said, I’ve often thought about getting one of those big stickers you showcased on your blog a few months ago — they were awesome and would really add some panache to any kitchen!
As somebody who’s lived though more than one ‘era’ of kitchen color (70s harvest gold, 80′s almond, 90s black etc), I vote for timeless white. I do have some stainless accents in my kitchen – IKEA shelves, the ‘island’ rollaway baking cart and the edging on my vintage countertops. That’s enough stainless for me.
In my tiny galley kitchen, a side by side is mandatory. Otherwise the frige door hits the counter edge on the opposite side. I LOVE ice and water in the door. And I have a big chest freezer in the basement, so the kitchen freezer can be small – no problem.
Therefore my side by side is not divided half and half – there’s plenty of room in the fridge side for pizza boxes or a platter with a turkey on it.
I’m just afraid that in 20 years or so, everyone who walks into a kitchen with stainless will go “ugh – so turn of the century”. I was SO proud of my brand new harvest gold stove and fridge in my first house (sigh).
Stainless steel, with exception to the fridge, which we are installing DIY chalkboard panels on the door fronts.
Can’t wait!!
My husband and I really want a Big Chill fridge for our kitchen after we remodel. Have my eye on the black one.
Funny, we moved into a house with white appliances (had to buy a new/matching fridge but that was it) a year and a half ago and I have to say, I’m a convert! I like how simple and easy-to-clean this color is. We used to have black and I felt like grime was always lurking b/c you couldn’t see it easily to clean. I do think stainless is pretty but I’m too much of a cheapskate to care THAT much and pay extra as a result.
Picking out a fridge was a nightmare for me personally — too many options! We went with the french doors, bottom freezer version with water (not ice) in the door. Works for us and my husband LOVES it.
Our fridge is the centre white one with the french doors, although now it is covered with pictures, colourful magnets and kid’s art.
I am very happy that we chose that style. It is a little wider than a conventional fridge and I like that there is so much storage space in the doors.
White. I think SS has been really overused. And we live in an old house (1929 Milwaukee Bungalow) with a bank of the original birch cabinets in the kitchen still intact and unmessed with (major reason we bought the house–no one had messed with the original wood anywhere). White fits in with the age and look for the kitchen; stainless or black just wouldn’t.
i love stainless. we have stainless fridge, stove and dishwasher.
when we moved into our house, we purchased a stainless side-by-side fridge. we were at the mercy of the space it would fit into. i hate it! the freezer is way too small. if some baking recipe calls for me to put a sheet pan in the freezer, forget it. we also have a problem with the fact that we can’t open the fridge side all the way because it hits the doorknob to our basement. when i want to do a good cleaning of the fridge, i have to move it out and then i can get the drawers all the way out.
some day our dream is to move the refrigerator to the other end of the kitchen – major remodel, but would be so worth it. and we would convert the current fridge space to a pantry. ahhh…some day.
We have an old white side by side. It doesn’t have an ice maker or water but the freezer is still cramped! I’ve seen the ones with the door dispenser and you loose even more room. I’d be happy with an old fashioned freezer on the top model but even the biggest are smaller than the side by side type. I guess my dream is a commercial or Viking freezer next to a glassed door commercial fridge…and a maid to keep the inside of the fridge clean & organized, ha! Or else a fridge with matching cabinent door panels!
Oh, I like the white look but it does show dirt and I really don’t like to clean. Guess I should have bought a black fridge.
I’m so tired of all these real estate shows where you MUST have stainless steel or your kitchen is worthless. I have white and wouldn’t have it any other way.
I also have a freezer on the bottom, which I like, but it’s a little on the small side. But I guess I have to stop leaving things in the freezer for months at a time. :)
Just bought a fridge on Friday! It’s a bottom freezer “clean steel” – which looks like brushed stainless steel, and is finger print resistant, and magnetic unlike stainless steel. Love the bottom freezer – we have a storage freezer in the basement so how often do you really use the freezer portion anyway?
We just bought a ’56 ranch with a stainless-steel looking tile backsplash, so we’re embracing the retro and going all metal applicances. Woohoo!
Our house has mis-matched appliances – the dishwasher is black, stove is white, and fridge is almond. (Also, the washer and dryer don’t match). I mostly don’t care about what the finish on the appliances are as long as they are unobtrusive. I grew up with and continue a pragmatic approach to home appliances (& furniture, cars, etc) – if it works, we’ll keep it. That said, the black dishwasher does stand out in the otherwise light colored kitchen. So, whatever the finish chosen – stick to one color!
I have a white bottom freezer fridge and I am very happy with my purchase, the freezer on the bottom is the best thing ever. Also, am I to understand that when you buy a house in the states it comes with the appliances?
Good question! It’s usually a toss up. Sometimes some things convey, sometimes nothing does and sometimes everything does (in our house everything did but it was all 20+ years old and in need of replacement). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
We just bought our first house and inherited some white appliances of varying ages. Our dishwasher will be the first to go, and then the refrigerator.
If I had it my way, I’d do custom cabinet fronts for the fridge and dishwasher, but I doubt I’ll be able to match my ancient cabinets. So there might be some cabinet painting in my future :-)
If we don’t do cabinet fronts for them, we’ll probably go with either stainless or white.
We had stainless appliances in the house we renovated about 5 years ago, and I loved it there, but I am tired of seeing it everywhere. I wish there were more colors to choose from, and I could go and buy an aqua fridge or an orange dishwasher, but I suppose it would make it hard to match when one breaks. I know that Elmira sells appliances in gorgeous colors, but the price-point is just too high for us right now. We had to buy a new fridge last year when our 3-year-old side-by-side that came with the house broke, and we went with an LG style that looks like the middle fridge. The finish looks like smooth white enamel, and I love it. I think the smooth finishes look very vintage and classic.
I’m not really a fan of the cabinet-front appliances, because I don’t see the point of hiding something that we use and is integral to a kitchen. I don’t really get hiding TV’s in living rooms, for that matter. It’s there, we watch it, it’s part of our lives, you know? ;)
We have SS in the middle style with the french doors and the bottom freezer. I have to say, I don’t love it. I feel like things are so hard to find in the freezer and the bending over for everything sucks. As far as the fridge part, I have yet to figure out how to nicely arrange everything. Anyone care to take a picture of the inside of theirs and share? I miss our old little fridge with the one door and the top freezer :( Oh, and the fingerprints and everything always seems to show up no matter how careful we are so I kind of miss having white appliances also.
We currently have a SS french door, with freezer on the bottom. It’s a counter depth by LG. Not my dream refrigerator for a handful of reasons:
1. I don’t care for SS appliances (although they always look so sleek and modern). The finger prints drive my batty! So much easier to cover up on a black appliance, in my opinion. Too bad our current fridge didn’t come in black. :(
2. I’d love to have a full size fridge (not counter depth). In our last house we had a huge LG fridge. The delivery guys called it the “mammoth”. They had to remove the doors to the refrigerator and the door on the house to get it in. With all of that hassle, no delivery men to move it back OUT of the house, and really no room for it in our new house (:() we “gave it away” with the house. I miss that fridge.
We’ve revamped out storage options for the fridge – but some days we definitely miss that big fridge we used to have!
Based on my experiences french doors are the way to go. The side by side split is useless if you want to store any large platters/dishes. As for the finish dirty is dirty and clean is clean. Stainless forces you to have to take better care of your appliances more than black or white. The dirt may be hidden better with black or white but it’s still there.
I’m a stainless steel girl myself but my best friend totally transformed her kitchen when she SPRAY PAINTED her appliances from nasty old almond weirdness to sleek black using some appliance spray paint she got from Lowes. I was skeptical but told her worst case scenario is your appliances look bad (which they already did) so we spray painted away. They look amazing! It requires a steady hand and you need to take off the handles and decals but for less than $20 she transformed her kitchen and sold her house for a big fat profit (yes even in this market!). Just an idea.
love your house
-jo
I definitely love the look of stainless steel, and prefer two side-by-side doors.
I like to hear the backlash in some of the other comments on stainless steel appliances! It’s time a new trend to emerge for appliances and I personally think glossy white appliances are the way to go for a fresh, modern look. While stainless steel has been the common choice for awhile now, its popularity will begin to fade and this finish will look dated. If you’re looking to remodel your kitchen, opt for something new and different!
Hi!
In these parts of the world (Europe and esp.Greece) kitchen appliances aren’t huuuuge like yours (we do crave about them though, no doubt!) mainly for 2 reasons: energy saving and lack of space. So…in my new big house I still have a normal sized fridge with 3 freezer drawers in the bottom. It’s stainless steel but with a special coat that doesn’t show the fingers and little hands of my 2-year old! I love it.
It’s a similar model to this:
http://www.5050.gr/product/WHIRLPOOL-ARC-4198-IX
Sadly, I wasn’t able to find the same technique for the other appliances (in an affordable price, that is)
If I had white kitchen cabinets I’d go for the white appliances that I like equally. not to mention that they are super easy to maintain.
Smeg has also some really really great designs (every colour under the sun) but…they are soooo overpriced for what they offer!
I’m an interior designer who always gets asked these questions with regards to finishes, styles, etc.
Finish: I like the IDEA of stainless. Its really modern looking. I don’t like the FUNCTION of stainless. It is a metal; metal doesn’t have a soft, family look to it. (I say ‘family’ because that’s where everyone always gathers, in the kitchen.) As a general preference I share with my peeps (clients) white or black. Most choose white.
Style: bottom freezers, while they might look cool seem to give the most headaches. They make loosing frozen goodies a guarantee. If you can’t afford a side by side, there is nothing wrong with a top freezer model. You’d save lots of moo-lah!!
I love stainless!! We have a small galley kitchen, so to maximize space we bought a counter-depth fridge, which by it’s nature, isn’t as deep as normal fridges. Saying that, it is INCREDIBLE. It is a Samsung side by side and we LOVE it. Very neat, space-like blue lighting…hehe it’s the little things. Fingerprints are annoying, but we use the handles and we close it by pulling the inside drawer (plastic) to get it to close, not hard of course. I really don’t like the fridges that have the bottom drawer fridge because it would hurt my back bending over for that ice cream every night! HA…love Burger’s new website–such a hunk.
Gotta go with white. Stainless steel is going to look dated in a short amount of time. Besides, why pay more just for the finish? As for black – well, my inlaws recently bought a new fridge in black. It is nice, but it is just huge and BLACK. My husband and his little brother have nicknamed it ‘Darth Vader’.