Stainless Steel Appliances - Like 'Em or Hate 'Em?

[Antonia]

For our new house we are buying new appliances. Considering stainless steel, but have never had this before. Do they hold up well, get too many fingerprints? Hard to keep clean and shiny? Any other pros or cons?

 

[Aimeedyan]

Love 'em - but we bought brushed stainless so we have no fingerprints. I won't buy "regular" stainless finish.

 

[Antonia]

My kitchen countertops are a creamy white. There is an oak floor and cabinets. Will stainless look alright in this setting?

 

[Silent1CB]

I have oak cabinets & a beige floor. Counters are a medium toned stone with black, brown, garnet, beige & other colors. Our metals are oil rubbed bronze.

I picked black. I just could not picture stainless appliances with our oak. I know people do it, it just didn't work in our kitchen & our house. Brushed stainless sink & faucet was about all the stainless I could picture.

If our house had more of a modern or contemporary feel, it might have worked. Its more updated country / natural. Not that aweful 1980's country though with ducks and stuff. ROFL.

 

[Silent1CB]

Use this website.
http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/
On the right, click Finished Kitchen Slideshow. Click next through the kitchens. If you see one you like, click the photo for info about the kitchen and sometimes you'll get another link to more photos of same kitchen.

It has tons of peoples finished kitchen projects. What I did was find a kitchen that had cabinets & floor like mine. Then look at their other choices.

Maybe you'll find one in there you can copy ideas from for color choices.

Also, on the right you could click Categories, and filter down to oak cabinets for starters.

 

[minniecarousel]

We've had our stainless appliances since August and we like it. We have Oak cabinets, hardwood floors, granite countertops with a sand-swept look, tan tile backsplash.

We have no kids in the house, so I don't know if fingerprints would be an issue. I'm not obsessive about wiping things down, but I did get a few different stainless cleaners. They shine quite nicely.

We're glad we went with it. We didn't really feel that we had a choice. We plan on selling this house in a few years and stainless is rather expected in this neighborhood.

 

[Antonia]

I think stainless is the way to go. Thanks for the link to all the kitchen pictures!!!

The oak cabinets have gold cabinet hardware right now. I am thinking it would probably be best to replace this with a stainless or nickel type hardware to better blend with the stainless appliances.

 

[mamajoan]

I am so glad somebody else asked this question. We would like to sell our home.. hopefully in 2011 .. as we want to downsize. Even tho our home was built in 2000, we purchased in 2005, it is full.. with brass fixtures.. even faucets and showerheads. So I am pretty sure that all needs to go right?

Our kitchen has white appliances and oak cabinets and brass drawer pulls...

I have been going back and forth about introducing stainless appliances because the wall oven and dishwasher need to be replaced. Not a fan of stainless for myself.

So you all really think that Stainless is the way to go? That means all the brass fixtures gotta go too right?

My daughter told me this "mom you are not buying the appliances for you, remember that it is just to update to sell the house"

Thank you OP for this thread!!

 

[barkley]

I am so glad somebody else asked this question. We would like to sell our home.. hopefully in 2011 .. as we want to downsize. Even tho our home was built in 2000, we purchased in 2005, it is full.. with brass fixtures.. even faucets and showerheads. So I am pretty sure that all needs to go right?

Our kitchen has white appliances and oak cabinets and brass drawer pulls...

I have been going back and forth about introducing stainless appliances because the wall oven and dishwasher need to be replaced. Not a fan of stainless for myself.

So you all really think that Stainless is the way to go? That means all the brass fixtures gotta go too right?

My daughter told me this "mom you are not buying the appliances for you, remember that it is just to update to sell the house"

Thank you OP for this thread!!

ask a realtor in your area what the norm is for this, but-i'de consider just giving a credit towards new appliances and possibly fixtures.

reason being is it's such an individual taste thing-and you could spend allot of money doing what you think is upgraded but absolutly turns potential buyers off.

our house is 3 years old, and we bought it new. i would have killed to have gotten a credit vs. the new appliances. then i would'nt have felt so bad a few months ago when i finaly got so fed up with my perfectly operating dishwasher that i hated b/c it did'nt match the fridge i brought into the home (i know in some regions the fridge is a standard appliance that stays-not the norm here or where we sold) AND it was'nt the whisper quiet model i realy wanted.

 

[Planogirl]

I like stainless but hate that it costs more! It's the in thing now but who knows if it will be down the road? I think that stainless looks good in any kitchen while white or black look good in only certain kitchens.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am so glad somebody else asked this question. We would like to sell our home.. hopefully in 2011 .. as we want to downsize. Even tho our home was built in 2000, we purchased in 2005, it is full.. with brass fixtures.. even faucets and showerheads. So I am pretty sure that all needs to go right?

Our kitchen has white appliances and oak cabinets and brass drawer pulls...

I have been going back and forth about introducing stainless appliances because the wall oven and dishwasher need to be replaced. Not a fan of stainless for myself.

So you all really think that Stainless is the way to go? That means all the brass fixtures gotta go too right?

My daughter told me this "mom you are not buying the appliances for you, remember that it is just to update to sell the house"

Thank you OP for this thread!!

If you have to remodel to sell then do the upgrade and put in the stainless.

 

[luvmy3]

I am so glad somebody else asked this question. We would like to sell our home.. hopefully in 2011 .. as we want to downsize. Even tho our home was built in 2000, we purchased in 2005, it is full.. with brass fixtures.. even faucets and showerheads. So I am pretty sure that all needs to go right?

Our kitchen has white appliances and oak cabinets and brass drawer pulls...

I have been going back and forth about introducing stainless appliances because the wall oven and dishwasher need to be replaced. Not a fan of stainless for myself.

So you all really think that Stainless is the way to go? That means all the brass fixtures gotta go too right?

My daughter told me this "mom you are not buying the appliances for you, remember that it is just to update to sell the house"

Thank you OP for this thread!!

The brass defnitely needs to go, even if you do not put in stailnless.

 

[RadioNate]

Hate them! Mine are always fingerprinted up and a nightmare to keep clean.

Everyone wants them because they are trendy but I don't think they will make or break a house sale.

We've had no one even look at our house in the week it's been for sale. In Oct, our friends sold their house in 59 days, for full asking price ... They had old, crummy, white appliances.

 

[antmaril]

I've had new appliances since July. My refrigerator is a platinum finish and I love it. My stove is stainless steel and I don't like it at all -- shows EVERYTHING.

 

[antmaril]

The brass defnitely needs to go, even if you do not put in stailnless.

I agree - the brass has got to go!

 

[descovy]

ask a realtor in your area what the norm is for this, but-i'de consider just giving a credit towards new appliances and possibly fixtures.

reason being is it's such an individual taste thing-and you could spend allot of money doing what you think is upgraded but absolutly turns potential buyers off.

our house is 3 years old, and we bought it new. i would have killed to have gotten a credit vs. the new appliances. then i would'nt have felt so bad a few months ago when i finaly got so fed up with my perfectly operating dishwasher that i hated b/c it did'nt match the fridge i brought into the home (i know in some regions the fridge is a standard appliance that stays-not the norm here or where we sold) AND it was'nt the whisper quiet model i realy wanted.

I agree, talk to a realtor before you put money into things for resale. If your appliance breaks and you need to replace it anyway, go ahead and do stainless. But it seems so wasteful to get rid of perfectly good appliances, just for resale. I think it is one of those things that might sell the house faster, but not really for more... you'd never recoup that money.

We sold our 25 year old home a couple years ago. Gosh, I could find a million things that needed to be updated. But there were things that my realtor told us not to do... not worth the money.

I suppose there are some new homeowners that can not see beyond appliances when buying a home. I hope not, because that doesn't sound too bright. I am all for staging and cleaning (sometimes even I can't see beyond crazy wall paper, cat pee carpet, and clutter everywhere. But a clean kitchen with white appliances and gold fixtures, even if not my taste, I can *see* how I can change it for me.

As a house shopper, I'd feel like a fool asking for money to replace your appliances... your roof, a/c, or old carpet, yeah, I'll ask for a bit off the price. But not appliances. Reversly, I'm not paying more for your house just because of a stainless frdge in the kitchen.

 

[MrsSpratt]

The trick to cleaning stainless? WD-40. Seriously. Easy-peasy.

 

[kimmar067]

I agree - the brass has got to go!

...while ITA, I am definitely NOT a fan of the SS....perhaps another color?? JMHO...

 

[Lindsay22]

I am of the opinion that stainless is the next avocado

 

[CapeMayMommy]

I am of the opinion that stainless is the next avocado

I was going to say the same thing---except I was going to say "butterscotch".

I just renovated my kitchen and I love, love, love my crisp white appliances and gold pulls with my warm wooden cabinets