White or Stainless appliances

[redheadk]

Well, the day has come sooner than we expected. Our house is 22 years old and has the original appliances. Our ovens are on the decline but the top (primary) oven works fine so long as I don't attempt the self-clean so we are just KOKO with those for now. But our dishwasher is dying a fast death so we are shopping today for a new one since lead times are 6-21 weeks on a dishwasher. Goal is to have a new one actually installed before the holidays.

Kitchen cabinets are white, we will be having them repainted white soon. Current appliances are white. I like that they blend in.

I do prefer that all of the appliances match so all stainless or all white.

I'm torn.

What's your preference in a white kitchen? White or Stainless appliances?

[pierogigirl]

Stainless

[dr.girlfriend]

I have stainless in a white kitchen and really like it.  I kind of feel like white appliances are so out of fashion that they might look outdated even when new, if you know what I mean?  Unless they come back in a big way!  I would also worry about them getting scuffed or yellowing over time, but I have no idea if they make them from better stuff now.  The fridge that was here when we moved in is in our laundry room now as a spare fridge and has definitely yellowed over time.

[divanerd]

We have stainlesa steel

[redheadk]

Aug 15, 2021 11:40:45 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I have stainless in a white kitchen and really like it.  I kind of feel like white appliances are so out of fashion that they might look outdated even when new, if you know what I mean?  Unless they come back in a big way!  I would also worry about them getting scuffed or yellowing over time, but I have no idea if they make them from better stuff now.  The fridge that was here when we moved in is in our laundry room now as a spare fridge and has definitely yellowed over time.

The ones we have now actually look fine; they haven't yellowed. 

This is what it looks like: 

My other concern is that we'd kind of put ourselves on a timeline for replacing so that everything would match. The stove, double-ovens, microwave, and fridge are all in a row, essentially. The dishwasher can't really be seen unless you are standing in front of it. (The handles can be switched out for stainless.)

[pierogigirl]

I think stainless will look more timeless and updated. The white in the appliance and the white in the cabinet might not match and that would bother me. If your appliances are all 22 years old, you'll be replacing them soon anyway. When we bought our house the appliances were all 40 years old. The fridge went in our first year here and our wall oven and countertop stove are in need of replacement. Old stuff lasts a long time, but once they start to go they go fast, in my experience. Unfortunately, the new appliances seem to have a 10 year lifespan.

I'd do stainless because I like it. I don't think I've seen a white kitchen appliance in real life in many years. I agree with dr.girlfriend that even new they will look dated.

[nicolewi]

This is tough. White is not out. White is coming back in!!! Google it and you'll see. We just went on the tour of homes and they had some white appliances with, like, copper-is colored handles that looked really sleek.

I'm guessing that the "new" type of white is maybe more expensive than stainless, so if you're just getting new appliances and not doing some kind of total re-do. I'd probably stick with stainless for now.

People are also doing more of a matte/dark stainless look. Often called graphite, I think? That is less finger-print-y.

[laterz]

I like the look of the white with the accent handles. I don't think i'd like it if it was just standard white appliance handles.

[libbygrl109]

I think stainless is industrial and timeless, but from what I’ve seen, white is making a comeback. The only thing I would worry about with the white is how well the shade of the appliances and that of the cabinets go together, but since you plan to paint your cabinets, that shouldn’t be an issue.

[Susie]

White looks dated to me, unless it's high end designer-y finishes with fancy handles/etc.  I like nice appliances, but not like crazy high end, so I am happy to stick with stainless.  Stainless seems to vary less than some other options from brand to brand, so I can mix brands without it looking mismatched.  Bosch for the dishwasher, something else for the range, etc.

[origami]

I like the look of high end fancy white appliances. But I’d be worried about finding replacements later if 1 died after the trend was over

[definitelyO]

I like stainless - but when I think white I'm thinking 1990s white. The white fridge you show looks trendy and modern to me. So - it's your kitchen do what you'll love. you'll be the one looking at it all the time

[clairebear]

So as a real estate agent/appraiser I say stainless. I love the look of the white with accent handles but feel like that will be dated very quickly. I've walked into houses and asked, oh is that a new fridge? And it turns out it's a 15 year old stainless steel one. SS is classic and to me, isn't going out of style anytime soon. However, you should get what you want! You have to live with it and be happy with it.

[wildrice]

Now, my home is not fancy. But we have white appliances with white cabinets. It's how the house was when we bought it, but I think I kind of like it. We got a new fridge last year and I went with white, because our other appliances are currently fine and I didn't want to have to replace them unnecessarily or have mismatched appliances.

One thing I like about them is that they don't look as dirty. I've had stainless steel and the fingerprints are a huge pain. Unless you touch your white appliances with truly dirty hands, you don't see all the smudges.

As a bonus, white appliances also tend to be cheaper!

[heygrey]

I hate that our SS always look dirty. We had old, old white appliances in our apartment and they never looked as bad. Unfortunately for me, all our SS is less than 2 years old so it will probably be a while before I get to consider something different. I see some that claim to be smudge free. Maybe I'd try something like that?

[clairebear]

Aug 16, 2021 20:02:02 GMT -5 heygrey said:

I hate that our SS always look dirty. We had old, old white appliances in our apartment and they never looked as bad. Unfortunately for me, all our SS is less than 2 years old so it will probably be a while before I get to consider something different. I see some that claim to be smudge free. Maybe I'd try something like that?

I have the Whirlpool fingerprint resistent ones and they are legit smudge free. It takes about a month for them to look dirty but that's typically food residue from dirty hands, not fingerprints. A quick wipedown and they are good to go. I really like them. 

[jinkies]

Aug 16, 2021 20:02:02 GMT -5 heygrey said:

I hate that our SS always look dirty. We had old, old white appliances in our apartment and they never looked as bad. Unfortunately for me, all our SS is less than 2 years old so it will probably be a while before I get to consider something different. I see some that claim to be smudge free. Maybe I'd try something like that?

We got "smudge free" but they lied. You definitely see fingerprints, especially on the fridge. 

[mrspez07]

You’ll likely have to pay an up charge for white. It was once the standard color, but my parents bought a fridge last year and wanted to replace the white one with white and it was going to be extra.
I think stainless looks fine in a white kitchen.
ETA: I’m guessing the upcharge is either for the now-fancy white, or even the old-school once standard white.

[ssmjlm]

I think if I was doing appliances now I would go with the darker stainless or bronze it might be called. The one that doesn't show smudges.

[dr.girlfriend]

Do people worry that different white appliances will be noticeably different shades of white?

[pierogigirl]

Aug 19, 2021 16:25:45 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Do people worry that different white appliances will be noticeably different shades of white?

I would worry that they would be different from white cabinets. It would bother me if my cabinets were a creamy white and the appliances were a bright or cool white, or vice versa. I have had different brands of stainless in a kitchen and never noticed a big difference between them, but they were never right next to each other. Maybe white is the same?

[redheadk]

Update: I prefer the look of the white ge cafe appliances and like the shade of white HOWEVER I far prefer the comparable kitchen aid appliance quality and features. KA doesn’t have a white option that i can actually purchase so SS it is.

I don’t love how choppy SS makes a white kitchen look but I can live with it. I’d rather have still-nice appliances that function best in the end.