Shopping for new appliances

[SneakyPete]

You had asked upthread if stainless is "dated"...I think it's not so much dated as ubiquitous. Personally, while I think a very nice stove is the centerpiece of a kitchen and I wouldn't mind it looking impressively front-and-center (highlighted by color or with stainless or looking "commercial"), I really don't want anyone looking at my fridge or dishwasher. I like black or white for those appliances instead of stainless. We have white cabinets, blackish countertops, white fridge and a black dishwasher. The white fridge melds with our white, vintage-style cabinets, and our black dishwasher melds with the black countertop and dark slate floor. You notice the stove as an applicance, but the others just kind of disappear.

My dream is a vintage gas stove to REALLY make a statement in our kitchen.

 

[Beach Runner]

I heard on CNN this week that a Cash-for-Clunkers-type program is being proposed for appliances.

New refrigerator - check
New double oven - check
New dishwasher - check
New washer - check
New dryer - check

 

[Wekick]

My experience with appliances. We just finished a complete kitchen renovation. These forums were very helpful.

Appliances Forum - GardenWeb

Laundry Room Forum - GardenWeb

FWIW I think stainless is classic like diamonds. My mother had a stainless kitchen in the 1950s. I looked into using an old refurbished stove stove like a Western Holly with portal(round) windows but I wanted the convection and function of a new oven. There are some great options for color but for what I wanted function wise it only came in stainless. I bought a Dacor range and single oven initially but they never could get the ovens to work and bought them back. Now I have a Wolf range and Electrolux oven. Love them both. The oven had some issues with the blue enamel chipping but they replaced it immediately. The oven preheats quickly and holds temperature very well. I use the convection all the time.
I love my Bosch dishwasher but because it is european, there is no food grinder so a couple times a week I rinse the filter.
My frig is a 48" built in KA. It works well and I like the layout of it, but the doors are uneven and they can't fix that because the gaskets are manufactured in two different depths. I think wolf/Subzero has much better service. We have a built in because the old frig stuck out into the doorway and we had the width to have a 48" frig.
I would almost say if your appliances work, like your oven, keep them. The new appliances are built with a much shorter life span in mind. My mother still has her frig of 50+ years running and working perfectly.

I am trying to decide about a washing machine now.

 

[Beach Runner]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely check out your links.

You are right about the old appliances. Only problem is that I'm afraid that the ovens or the fridge might die on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve/Day. Then we've got a huge problem.

 

[Beach Runner]

Okay, the double-oven is sick.

Thankfully I remembered that I had started an appliance thread two years ago. I will re-read your suggestions.

I love sowal.com.

 

[Beach Runner]

Biting the bullet due to our failboat lower oven to avoid a Thanksgiving cooking disaster. Buying a new double oven and, because it and the flakey Sub-Zero are next to each other, we're buying a new refrigerator so that the handles on the hardware will match. Have narrowed it down to Thermador or Jenn-Air. Our contractor can have it installed by Thanksgiving. Nothing like procrastinating (one of my middle names).

BTW we're doing stainless steel for the oven because the Wolf cooktop and Vent-a-Hood are stainless. But we are putting panels on the front of the refrigerator to match our cabinetry because our house is so traditional.

Any thoughts?

 

[scooterbug44]

I am a big fan of panels - not only do I dislike the overly stainless steel kitchen, the stainless often shows dings and fingerprints very easily.

Mama Scooterbug is NOT happy with her stainless refrigerator for those reasons.

 

[Rita]

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I'm of no help BR, but am interested in what buyers might want or better yet NOT want. Our microwave has gone kupput and we will be selling within a couple years so need to replace built-in oven along with it. I don't even know what people want now. White Jenn-Air is what we have from the 1990s. I'll be interested in others thoughts too.

 

[scooterbug44]

What I am seeing in most model homes these days is stainless/black for ovens, microwaves, and stoves, and panels on fridges. Dishwashers go either way.

The all stainless kitchen seems to have gone by the wayside - a good thing IMO. That was a lot of metal.

People are still wasting a crapton of money on "professional" stoves, though more I am seeing the kitchen appliances are usually a combo of brands instead of just one.

Also see Sharp microwave drawers, but I am not liking the usability of those in most locations. (Yes, I do test the appliances to see how they would work and open all the drawers and cupboards to see if they hit anything).

 

[Beach Runner]

Woo-hoo! We finally bit the bullet and bought a new double oven. The self-clean on the old one didn't work, the broiler on the lower oven didn't work, and the temperature wasn't accurate on the lower oven. I donated it to Habitat for Humanity because the upper oven works perfectly.

Bought a KitchenAid Architect II Convection Double Oven. The interior is blue. It's so beautiful.

Also bought a Wolf range (with red knobs of course) for our new house because I love my Wolf cooktop. It's the only one with true simmer on every burner.

We cheaped out on the washer and dryer in GA. Actually our daughter and son-in-law moved into a larger apartment after they got married. When they moved in, the previous residents had left their relatively new washer and dryer behind. The management said they could keep them. So we inherited our daughter's white GE washer and dryer. For the beach we're gonna cheap out on the washer and dryer and get the Maytag top load washer and dryer in silver instead of getting those platform things.

Here's a photo of my pretty new oven with the blue interior. Yes, I am replacing the brass cabinet knobs (59 of them) with oil-rubbed bronze.

Now we're just keeping our fingers crossed that the Sub-Zero will last a few more years.