Kitchen appliances - white or stainless steel?

[joules]

This turned out to be longer than I thought it would. Basically I have 2 questions:
1. Would it be weird to have all white appliances and a stainless steel dishwasher?
2. Refrigerator - side by side or french door? We might be selling in the next few years. We would probably be losing money on the house...is it worth it to spend more on a french door?

Here's the long version:
Our townhouse was built in '94. We are the second owners. The kitchen appliances are on their way out. Our dishwasher totally died on us. We were in the stages of just poking around and researching new dishwashers when we went to Fry's the other day and found a killer deal we couldn't pass up. So we bought a stainless steel one (searches on the net price it at $1300, we got it for about $380).

Then I came home and read up on stainless steel and found out about how easily it scratches and the fingerprints and stuff. So the only other choice I'm left with is white. Our current appliances are white. I can't do black because the kitchen is the only room in the house that doesn't get much sunlight, black would make everything too dark. Would it be weird if only the dishwasher was SS and the others were white?

Another thing - we are thinking about selling maybe in the next few years? We've been looking at refrigerators. Since we are moving I kind of wanted to save some money and maybe stick with a side by side. But would that be appealing when the time comes to sell? Since we'll most likely be losing some money when we sell, I don't know if we're just sinking more money by getting a French door or will it make our place more sellable? Or does it even make a difference?

In case this makes a difference: it's 1200 sq feet, purchased around $450K, latest appraisal at $385K. We don't have granite countertops (just white tile).

[katydid1971]

I personally prefer white appliances BUT I saw something about selling your house and they said the #1 thing you should do is buy a stainless frig, even if its a total cheap one. If you are thinking you want to sell in the next few years I would get the stainless appliances. I don't think it would look to terrible having a mix of colors and you can change other appliances to stainless later.

[liz]

I would go with all stainless steel. I think it would be one of the first things a potential buyer would see. I personally don't mind white, but since you already took the plunge with SS, then I would continue with it.

[mytwosons]

I would go stainless. I don't think you need to get french doors, but at least get the freezer on the bottom - not side-by-side.

[bandgsmama]

my vote is for stainless steel too (or at least the look). they have some that have the stainless look, but are "fingerprintless". we have a built in stainless steel refrigerator & i love it. but, the fingerprints can be a pain with little ones.

[overcome]

All I know is on House Hunters, the buyers are almost always looking for stainless steel.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We have white appliances and recently replaced our dishwasher. We opted for stainless for resale. Looks really good and it works b//c the dishwasher is not on the same line of sight as the other appliances. Even if it were it would be ok though. eta- fridge? I hate our side by side one that lives in our basement and came with the house. You can't fit a frozen pizza very easily in the freezer b/c it's too wide. So, check things like that as it could be limiting and annoying. I'd go with just one big door vs french doors too.

Beth

[sunshine873]

The white appliances & stainless dishwasher probably won't look awful together, but for resale - I'd really stick with all stainless. They don't have to be top of the line, but for some reason stainless appliances seem to make people feel like the kitchen is higher-end (even if you don't have granite.)

[Edensmum]

I will never buy stainless steel again. HATE it. Seriously, it's not stainless and any kid who walks in there touches it and leaves marks all over it. It's soy high maintenance it sucks. Personally I'd go with black. Though I do hear that stainless is a good selling point if you plan to do that soon. I don't get the appeal at all though.

[MSWR0319]

We have a stainless look alike. Looks just like stainless but doesn't fingerprint,etc. Mind you it still gets dirty, but very easy to wipe down with a wet rag. Our fridge has stainless handles and the "fake" stainless on th doors. I seriously cannot stand how dirty just the handles get and they are harder to clean.

[american_mama]

I personally don't go ga-ga about stainless steel, but most other people do. I just last week was investigating a new front panel in almond for our old dishwasher to match our old almond appliances. It's not current, but almond isn't ugly either. For our old one, buying a new cover in a range of colors costs only about $40 and was possible from an appliance repair/part store or even from ebay or online. Your model number is probably printed on a label on the inside bottom around the door.

Also, not sure if this is true for a new stainless steel dishwasher, but I read that most dishwashers come with a different color on the other side of the exisitng panel. Sometimes there are two panels back-to-back, so four color options. I easily removed four screws around our front panel trim and slid out our black panel to discover.... goldenrod underneath. I was hoping for almond, so it was a bust for me, but ask at your appliance store if your front panel comes with another option. And there are after-market covers to make a dishwasher white (see below). One way or another, if you want the dishwasher to be white for now, that should be easy and inexpensive from what I learned.

There are also after market appliance covers, films, and stainless steel paint you can buy, with the fridge probably being the hardest of these to do. But people have mixed results with it and it's not a cinch to apply, so I wouldn't buy a white fridge with the intention of making it look stainless steel later. I think it's more a choice when you can't afford to replace to existing fridge.

Here's some stainless steel info. I believe there are also youtube videos, including one from HGTV or the like.
http://www.applianceart.com/product_p/10062.htm
http://www.finishing.com/218/94.shtml
http://reviews.ebay.com/Soft-Metal-Stainless-Steel-Film-Application-Tips_W0QQugidZ10000000002398658

Here's some options for covering the dishwasher in either white or something decorative. Code eerieart40 is good for 40% off anything until Oct 31.
http://www.applianceart.com/White_Dishwasher_Covers_p/10004-7.htm

http://www.collectionsetc.com/dishwasher-cover/search.aspx/_/No-0

[twowhat?]

For resale value, you need SS.

[scrooks]

For resale value, you need SS.

:yeahthat: i am always surprised how many people on house hunters freak out if the appliances arent stainless steel. I personally dont think something that changeable is a "make it or break it" item for a house.....especially when the people are buying a $$$$$ house.. I always think " you can afford this $$$$$ house but cant afford (even if over time) to replace the applicances????"

[twowhat?]

:yeahthat: i am always surprised how many people on house hunters freak out if the appliances arent stainless steel. I personally dont think something that changeable is a "make it or break it" item for a house.....especially when the people are buying a $$$$$ house.. I always think " you can afford this $$$$$ house but cant afford (even if over time) to replace the applicances????"

We bought an "expensive" house with white appliances...but only because we know that it's not "make it or break it" and that we can replace them with what WE really want in the future and because we could look past the dated appliances in choosing the right house for us. The white appliances probably also helped keep this house on the market for months so that we could make a bid on it:) Our agent always tells us "MOST home buyers do NOT think like you guys." This statement is probably true, and ESPECIALLY true for first-time homebuyers.

Having said all that, we are actually loving our white appliances hahaha - they are dated, but such high quality! The ovens are so nice I don't miss our SS convection oven that we had in our old house! Perfectly roasted pan of brussels sprouts in 45 min with no stirring! Roasts 2 chickens at once! The dishwasher is smaller and dated and old but cleans like a DREAM! The dated white electric cooktop - heats up faster than I can keep up with it! But I still stand by the "get SS if you have a choice because it will help you sell your house down the road if you want/need to".

[scrooks]

We bought an "expensive" house with white appliances...but only because we know that it's not "make it or break it" and that we can replace them with what WE really want in the future and because we could look past the dated appliances in choosing the right house for us. The white appliances probably also helped keep this house on the market for months so that we could make a bid on it:) Our agent always tells us "MOST home buyers do NOT think like you guys." This statement is probably true, and ESPECIALLY true for first-time homebuyers.

Im glad you guys were able to get a great house seeing past the appliances! I completely agree this your realtor. Most people can see past easy cosmetic changes. Paint color is another one that really gets me on house hunters...seriously ....if you cant repaint a room, maybe you shouldnt be buying a house!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Seriously though re. resale and everyone wanting stainless...how long before that is out of style? I can imagine many of the current kitchen trends going away and being replaced with yet another "must have." I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Beth

[twowhat?]

Seriously though re. resale and everyone wanting stainless...how long before that is out of style? I can imagine many of the current kitchen trends going away and being replaced with yet another "must have." I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Beth

I actually think SS is here to stay:)

[AnnieW625]

All I know is on House Hunters, the buyers are almost always looking for stainless steel.

:yeahthat: I don't know why people get so fixated on SS appliances, but if you plan on selling that's the best way to go. I personally prefer white, but that's just me.

[joules]

Thanks! I figured SS or the look alike would be the way to go. And I guess we might go for the freezer bottom (either french door or single door) instead of side by side. Now I feel the urge to update the rest of the kitchen to match our new "fancy" appliances. haha.

Me too, I can totally see past the appliances and paint and carpet and what not. I would actually rather upgrade those myself. We are most concerned with the layout.

[essnce629]

I'd go with stainless. I don't think having part stainless, part white is a dealbreaker though. We bought our house 11 months ago and it had a white microwave, fridge, and stove, but the dishwasher was stainless. It wasn't a problem, but we knew eventually we'd replace the white appliances with stainless. It was nice to know that we wouldn't need to replace the dishwasher.

[nfceagles]

I HATE my stainless steel appliances, but for whatever reason they seem to be a deal breaker for resale purposes. We bought our house new, but already built so I didn't pick them and they're too new to justify changing anytime soon. If I were remodeling I'd probably check out the ones that don't get fingerprints, but still be annoyed that I felt it necessary to go with a SS look.

If I were shopping for a home now I would prefer dated appliances so that I could feel justified replacing them with colors/brands/features that I wanted.

[ellies mom]

We have a "Satina" fridge. It looks like stainless but fingerprints and other marks don't show as much and you can use magnets. Right now all of our appliances except the disherwasher are stainless or satina. We really need to replace the dishwasher and we will be going with stainless.

I really like the look of stainless but it wouldn't be a deal breaker to me to have different appliances. Our current house was only a year or so old when we bought it but the owners went really cheap on the appliances. So we replaced the fridge and stove when we moved in, added a microwave a few years later and now five years later, we are going to replace the dishwasher.

[BabyH]

I really love the look of my stainless appliances. But everytime I'm cleaning them I always cuss them out and yell at how overrated they are. Yet I believe I'd still want stainless over white.........

[eno0609]

We just replaced the cheap white appliances that came with our 6 yr old townhouse. We went with stainless and I prefer the look of them over white...fingerprints and all. We're also planning to sell in a few years so we also went with SS for resale value. We don't have granite countertops either, or even a backsplash yet so I feel like at least the appliances look nice...I think that our place is likely to attract first time homeowners (like we were) and that's usually what they care about.
We went with a french door fridge and I love it! It's great that you don't always need to open both doors, the doors take up less space when open and the most used items are at eye level. I'm happy that we get to enjoy it ourselves until we sell. After waiting for a good deal, we found a Whirlpool Gold for $1,150.00

[bandgsmama]

I actually think SS is here to stay:)

i agree.. it's a nice, classic look. when i worked in the appliance industry ~6 years ago, the stainless was the way to go (or wood panels that matched your cabinet for the fridge). i think the look will be around for awhile, but that's just me.

off topic- but my favorite way to rid our appliances of all the smears is wd-40 (i know it's not a very "green" cleaning product, but man it makes them shine!)

& another off topic - so far, all of our appliances besides the fridge should be (broken microwave door, touch pad on stove works 1/2 the time) or have been replaced & we purchased them all 7 years ago.. appliances sure don't seem to be built like they used to!

[kijip]

I actually think SS is here to stay:)

I am sure someone said this about wood paneling, wall to wall carpeting, mustard yellow and avocado green finishes in baths and kitchens too at some point.

Trends change.

Marketers will find a way to make all the stainless people are buying now seem passe and thus in "urgent" need of replacing. Candy colored appliances are starting to become hipper here already. Give it time. It will happen. Especially with things breaking and needing replacing in a short time frame compared to before. My dad's low end apartment oven is 20 years old at least and works great. My 4 year old stainless builder's grade low end oven? Well, it is still going for now but I would assume that it won't be in my house inside of 5 years from now.

Get what you like/can afford/will use. I don't think stainless will make that big of a difference one way or the other unless you are selling this year.

[hellokitty]

If you a buying appliances from a soon-to-be seller's POV, I'd go with stainless steel. That is what ppl want. I have some friends whose houses are on the market and the #1 comment of shoppers is that they want an updated kitchen with SS appliances. Also, for the fridge, please keep in mind that if your house is older, that a lot of the newer fridges will NOT fit into your fridge space if you have cabinetry around it. So, instead of buying a certain type of fridge, I'd first make sure that you measure your fridge space and shop using what will actually fit. Our house was built in 1991, the past two fridges we had did NOT fit, we have had to have someone trim off parts of our cabinet trim. Our neighbors have all complained of the same issue, so I know it is not just us. Appliances keep getting bigger and bigger. We've had similar problems with dishwashers as well.

[KrisM]

I personally dislike the stainless look. I would have a hard time buying it for resale because if I bought a house with stainless, I'd be looking to change it to white.

[khm]

A few years back, the mags were touting copper color appliances as the "new stainless", that didn't seem to last!! Stainless is still here and copper died fast.

I think stainless will stay for awhile as kind of a default "ok" color, like white and black. I think black will be the next hot thing, but it'll be like a high gloss space age black or something.

We've had stainless in the last two houses we've had. I do like it. The kids are finally old enough that they can keep their grubby mits off! :) That day does come!

I don't like white and I don't think I'd like black in our particular kitchen. It'd be too light-sucking. I appreciate the reflectivity of the SS.

I do think HGTV skews perceptions. I mean, I just don't think every buyer is as silly as they appear on that network. (Not knocking it, I'm a total addict.) But, they seem to play up the 1st buyer stereotypes. I've worked with a lot of buyers and most aren't that..... hyper-focused re: granite, SS, entertaining, etc. Most real buyers CAN see past a crummy paint choice and can appreciate a great backyard far above a pretty fridge.

And, man, "we like to entertain" needs to be the magic phrase for a drinking game!

[joules]

Also, for the fridge, please keep in mind that if your house is older, that a lot of the newer fridges will NOT fit into your fridge space if you have cabinetry around it. So, instead of buying a certain type of fridge, I'd first make sure that you measure your fridge space and shop using what will actually fit. Our house was built in 1991, the past two fridges we had did NOT fit, we have had to have someone trim off parts of our cabinet trim. Our neighbors have all complained of the same issue, so I know it is not just us. Appliances keep getting bigger and bigger. We've had similar problems with dishwashers as well.

Thanks for this reminder. I'll be sure to measure...I'm hoping we'll be ok since there is extra space between the current fridge and the cabinets. The dishwasher on the other hand.....UGH. The previous owner put slate tile ON TOP of the existing tile. It's caused a few problems for us over the years. This time it meant the existing dishwasher was trapped in there!! DH had to cut off bits and pieces of the existing one to get it out. Good thing the new one fits in nicely and we're able to get it out fairly easily if needed.

Last time we were trying to replace the toilet. The previous owner grouted around the toilet. The new one didn't have the same footprint so there was a gap around it. We had to add more slate tile around it. Oh and when we wanted to replace the molding (can't think of the term right now! but the molding that goes where the floor meets the wall), previous owner had grouted the tile to the molding. We had to cut the existing molding flush to the tiles and then add the new molding on top.


I personally dislike the stainless look. I would have a hard time buying it for resale because if I bought a house with stainless, I'd be looking to change it to white.

I'm still on the fence. When we first moved in I hated our white appliances...but I think part of that is because they are kind of crappy - they were clean but quality was obviously not good. I think I got used to it though. It looks clean and brightens up the kitchen and it's so easy to maintain. But our new SS dishwasher is so sleek and modern looking. Not sure how I'll feel when/if we replace everything else with SS.

[AustenFan]

I loathe stainless steel. We've had it in three of the kitchens we've lived in, and it is so impractical, shows everything, is a pain to clean, and isn't magnetic. Why anyone with small children would want it is beyond me. So for myself, SS in a kitchen would be a huge turn-off. In fact, if we ever do buy, I would get rid of SS and put in old fashioned white.

I know people always talk big on tv about SS appliances and granite countertops, but I wonder how much of a difference it makes for resale value. I was just reading this series of posts (http://realrva.com/2011/10/17/top-project-to-increase-your-homes-value/) about increasing your home's value, and sounds like there are several projects that might make an equal or bigger difference. Interesting and surprising.

[LexyLou]

I HATE HATE HATE our stainless steel appliances. I mean, I don't have enough things on my plate that I need to clean the outside of my appliances MULTIPLE times a day or just live with finger prints and streaks on it?!

I love the way they look when clean but it's a PITA to keep clean! Plus my kids have dented my fridge when pushing their step stools up to get something out.

I know they are popular and I have them because of that but gah! I hate them.


As for the fridge, we have a french door fridge and we LOVE it (besides the stainless part.)

[amldaley]

I have not read all the responses but I will say that I will never get stainless appliances ever again. I find them impossible to keep clean, I hate having to buy special cleaning products for them and I don't like that I can't stick stuff to the fridge with magnets.

[roseyloxs]

I would go stainless. I don't think you need to get french doors, but at least get the freezer on the bottom - not side-by-side.

:yeahthat: I personally like the new smooth white options available but if stainless steel is still popular then I guess you should get that. I also HATE side by side fridges so I would at least get the freezer on the bottom but you don't necessarily have to spring for the french doors since I am pretty sure they are crazy expensive in comparison.

[liz]

And, man, "we like to entertain" needs to be the magic phrase for a drinking game!

haha, House Hunters is one of my favorite shows, and DH cannot stand it when buyers use the word "entertain" in any form- he just hates it :)