White or Black Kitchen Appliances?

[Jim Straz]

OK, I'm a single guy and have to pick out the color of my new Cottage home kitchen appliances. It's white, black or stainless. I will never do stainless again. I'd like to hear from some of the ladies about black vs white. I saw a model with black appliances and darker walnut cabinets and it seemed too dark. Help?

[graciegirl]

I was gonna say stainless, because that is the most resellable. (I am told)

But...who cares about that?? Stainless is such a PIA to take care of. Dark cabinets? I'd vote for white.

Tony is NEVER gonna give us a Decorator Forum....:(

[Uptown Girl]

You can't go wrong with white.... your wood trim in the house is white, toilets and sinks white, right? It will all look coordinated.

Black can be striking.... I've used it with light cabs and dark... and even white woodwork like I mentioned above. Trick is, you must take everything into account when using it..... and color balance it to countertops, hardware, flooring, etc. to make it wonderful.
MORE than most guys want to bother with. I mean... it's a refrigerator, right!

Bottom line, white is the easiest to keep clean. Does that do it? :smiley:

[jblum315]

Black shows every finger mark and it takes real work to keep it shiny

[asianthree]

white cabinets or light use black...the new fronts have a texture to keep finger prints at bay...White with any other color ..stainless have them now and every morning i look at the finger prints i just cleaned last night and wonder who comes in at night and smears them again and it takes forever to get them clean..best bet have your rep take you to models with different colors and narrow it down to not only what looks best but what statement you want to make

[Freeda]

White. Your home will look lighter and brighter.

[pooh]

Had white cabinets with white appliances in CA. I loved it. Here the house came with black appliances, black patterned granite and medium cherry colored cabinets. I don't mind the black appliances, they coordinate well with the countertops, but it does make the kitchen a bit on the dark side. Since I'm not going to change the granite for quite a while, when appliances will be replaced, they will be black. Stainless is a pain to care for.

Did you say what color your cabinets are? Do you get lots of light in the kitchen? Do you prefer light and bright or dark and warm? Either way, there are textured fronts for fridges that help hide fingerprints, but a squirt of Windex on a paper towel does a good job of cleaning dirt, smears, smudges from stoves, dishwashers, fridges.

[Pturner]

Hi Jim,
You're right that stainless isn't painless. Don't think you can go wrong with white.

[uujudy]

Ditto White.

[2BNTV]

Ditto Ditto White. Just one man's opinion but what do i know?

[TednRobin]

White, black appliances are also PIA to keep looking clean.

[sandybill2]

Our house was build in 2004 -- all bisque appliances in kitchen. We bought in 2007---dishwasher died---we replaced with white----refrigerator just died---we replaced with white. The bisque at stores now seemed to be much darker than what we had ---our kitchen is small (we have Jasmine home) the white appliances makes it brighter. The only bisque appliance we have left is stove/microwave and we will replace that with white when it dies---and from our experience it probably won't be long. The GE appliances that were put in this house have not lasted very long.

[momesu]

Our house was build in 2004 -- all bisque appliances in kitchen. We bought in 2007---dishwasher died---we replaced with white----refrigerator just died---we replaced with white. The bisque at stores now seemed to be much darker than what we had ---our kitchen is small (we have Jasmine home) the white appliances makes it brighter. The only bisque appliance we have left is stove/microwave and we will replace that with white when it dies---and from our experience it probably won't be long. The GE appliances that were put in this house have not lasted very long.

So sorry to hear this. I have GE stove and GE washer and dryer in current home that have lasted 28 years. I guess they just don;t make things the way they used to.
Suzanne

[lincap]

OK, I'm a single guy and have to pick out the color of my new Cottage home kitchen appliances. It's white, black or stainless. I will never do stainless again. I'd like to hear from some of the ladies about black vs white. I saw a model with black appliances and darker walnut cabinets and it seemed too dark. Help?

I have had the black textured refrigerator before and loved it. Thinking of stainless but I have also heard they are hard to keep up. Speaking of refrigerators...does anyone have any feedback on the newer french door refrigerator with the freezer at the bottom. If you have one do you like it or wish you had gone with a side by side?

[ssmith]

to Lincap, I am not in TV but I do have a frenchdoor fridge and love love it! Hubs has arthritis and it was so hard to get in the fridge in the old model so we bought the french door fridge and it is soooooo handy!

[raynan]

I have a GE Profile french door ref. in black installed here last Sept. and love it. I had a Kenmore Black french door back in MA and loved it. Before that I had 2 side/sides and though I liked them at the time, once I got the french door and realized how easy it is to store large turkeys, deli platters, pizzas etc and that the fresh food items are now at eye level and only have to bend over for freezer items occasionally (talk about lazy) I prefer french-door. Also the freezer has a top level in the drawer that pulls out within the freezer and makes searching very easy. The Kenmore had a textured front, the GE is shiny. Both very easy to clean with paper towel and windex.

[pooh]

I had a french door fridge in CA and enjoyed it, though it was difficult to reach the back of the top shelf for me....I'm not very tall. Hubby loved it, especially having the freezer on the bottom. It didn't have water/ice in the door, but the ice cube maker was easily reachable when you opened the freezer. I didn't care for the freezer because you stacked things on top of each other...same for top freezers. Here we have a side by side and solved the narrow freezer issue by buying a small chest freezer that fits in my laundry room. Hubby is the one who "hunts" for whatever it is that we need out of the freezer...and that food item generally has worked its way to the very bottom of the freezer. I didn't know food could migrate!... :)

French door fridge/freezers are very good looking and have LOTS of fridge space in my estimation, but personally, I prefer the side by side I have right now.

[Jim Straz]

Thanks very much all of you who contributed, and it gave me many good ideas to think about. White is the safer way and a Florida kitchen should look bright because after all we were all bright for moving there right?

[Gerald]

white

[ssmith]

I love the classic look of black but I guess white never goes out of style. Of course it may depend on your other choices. Have you been through the model options to see what some of them would look like?

[Jim Straz]

I love the classic look of black but I guess white never goes out of style. Of course it may depend on your other choices. Have you been through the model options to see what some of them would look like?
Thank you for the input, and yes I have seen the new Sand Dollar model on Carriage Way in the 'Grove'. This will be my last home and I can decorate myself, but a females input is important to me as well because I may share this kitchen one day.
One of the Clubs I played at, I believe it was the Mallory had a cottage theme to it. I'm thinking of the white appliance with a light shade of gray cabinets to give a bright cottage like look to the kitchen. The black may be described as too masculine to a future mate and I have to consider that as well. Thanks again, Jim

[BeeGee]

we love the look. I don't think the stainless is that difficult to keep shiny. There are a lot of products out there that are easy to use and the results are great. But I like multi-taskers for cleaning, so I use Pledge, sprayed on a micro-fiber cloth - it's quick and the shine is amazing, plus it just seems to stay clean longer than if I used the "made-for-stainless" cleaners. Plan on eventually replacing the appliances (when we finally get there) with stainless. Just my thoughts, for what they're worth:shrug:

[marennorge]

White never goes out of style. The green, yellow,and reddish brown appliance colors of the past passed by as fads as will black and stainless steel someday. Having said that, We have bisque in our TV home and figure we will live with them until they require replacing as they are only 4 years old. Replacements will be white.

[novie2]

I find stainless too cold, black too dark prefer white and love white cabinets and cottage look.

[momesu]

White I think looks so fresh and Florida like. Keep things light and airy. That would be my opinion.
Suzanne

[Jim Straz]

Thanks Suzanne, and all of you for the help. I'm going to do the white. One day we 'Grovers" will have a big block party and invite you all over to check us out. It is such a good feeling to be sitting in my home here in NC and able to interact with such nice people as we all plan our eventual final trip to TV.

[rubicon]

We have white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. White cabinets were an upgrade thankfully and easy to keep clean. Appliances are also easy with Pledge Specialty Surface. It's one of my responsibilities when we do our housecleaning on Fridays and ther Pledge makes it easy. I also do windows:D
My wife still works so we still have weekends:(

[D&Lsunfun]

really white??
do you want to live in an operating room?
make a statement, go with warm wood and black appliances.
look at models with the combination and see what you like.
stainless has a cold look, just an opinon. it is a fad.
don't you remember harvest gold and pea green from the 60's.
how bad did that look in the 80's.

[chachacha]

no need to worry about that...today's appliances are not made to last twenty years like they were in those days...

[momesu]

With white cabinets and white appliances you add color with counter tops and your decorative accents. Even can put a little pale color on the walls....I think that would not be operating roomish at all. I admit with stainless steel it might be, but I've never been a fan of SS major appliances.....JMHO. The reason we have so many choices is that it gives something for every taste.
Suzanne

[Barefoot]

I don't like stainless steel appliances at all. But they sure are popular with new home owners. (Perhaps they don't know about wiping off finger prints).

[Schaumburger]

really white??
do you want to live in an operating room?
make a statement, go with warm wood and black appliances.
look at models with the combination and see what you like.
stainless has a cold look, just an opinon. it is a fad.
don't you remember harvest gold and pea green from the 60's.
how bad did that look in the 80's.

My parents got married in 1957. They only owned 2 houses during their marriage. The house they built in 1964 is the one my dad still lives in today. The last appliance from 1964 is still in the house -- that would be the coppertone electric stove. Betty Draper from "Mad Men" would love that stove! Don't know how I feel about stainless steel. The appliances in my townhouse are from the mid-1980's and still going strong.

[D&Lsunfun]

white really????? with white walls, light floor and the lights.
do you like the look of operating rooms?
live on the edge, make a statement, chose some warm wood colors and go with the black.
stainless, remember what the olive green and harvest gold looked like in the 60's and then what they looked like in the 80's. yuck!!
check out the models and see what the professionals have chosen.

[Jim Straz]

white really????? with white walls, light floor and the lights.
do you like the look of operating rooms?
live on the edge, make a statement, chose some warm wood colors and go with the black.
stainless, remember what the olive green and harvest gold looked like in the 60's and then what they looked like in the 80's. yuck!!
check out the models and see what the professionals have chosen.
The place will have a Hayseed paint, light Beige, so White with light Gray wood might work. I have not ruled out the Black as yet. I thank you.

Thought the White and brightness might make ME look younger in there too!

[harbor53]

I hear that Avocado is making a strong comeback in appliance colors to go along with deep pile shag carpetting and knotty pine wallboard for the living room. :22yikes:

[Uptown Girl]

I hear that Avocado is making a strong comeback in appliance colors to go along with deep pile shag carpetting and knotty pine wallboard for the living room. :22yikes:

OH NOOO!.... Where'd I put my rug rake!

[pzjay]

white cabinets or light use black...the new fronts have a texture to keep finger prints at bay...White with any other color ..stainless have them now and every morning i look at the finger prints i just cleaned last night and wonder who comes in at night and smears them again and it takes forever to get them clean..best bet have your rep take you to models with different colors and narrow it down to not only what looks best but what statement you want to make

Hubby has solution to this problem...his and her mittens!:thumbup:

[natickdan]

OK, I'm a single guy and have to pick out the color of my new Cottage home kitchen appliances. It's white, black or stainless. I will never do stainless again. I'd like to hear from some of the ladies about black vs white. I saw a model with black appliances and darker walnut cabinets and it seemed too dark. Help?

This is very clearly a subjective question and the answers you get may not, ultimately, be what you find appealing. Having said that, when my wife and I were looking at both new and pre-owned homes, we were very clear that we did not want to see any properties that had black kitchen appliances. It just seemed odd to us, mostly because we never owned black appliances. Well, we attended an open house in TV before we met with our TV agent and we really liked the kitchen and, truth be told, the kitchen had all black appliances. We were sold and then narrowed our search of new homes to those homes that only have black appliances and we are thrilled with the look.

We are closing on our current home in two days and we have high end stainless steel appliances and we love the way our kitchen looks.

My point is to be open minded and to take in to consideration how your kitchen will flow with the rest of your home. I've owned properties that had white, stainless steel and black appliances and for each occasion, the color worked for that specific house.

Good luck with your decision.

[JenAjd]

I've been the gamut with colors over the year. Up north, before we moved here had black and would have to say it shows dust and fingerprints even if you're fastidious about keeping them wiped down and clean. I like that the builder's went with white...though so far we've upgraded the fridge and will be the dishwasher. White goes with everything and can look classy. I agree with the posts here that stainless is hard to keep clean.

Wonder in a few years what folks will say about granite and stainless...will the comments be "oh that's so the early century!" Think about when avocado and gold became passe..people would laugh and say that they were so the 60's and 70's!!! I think the fads "date" themselves alot quicker!!!

[Jim Straz]

I've been the gamut with colors over the year. Up north, before we moved here had black and would have to say it shows dust and fingerprints even if you're fastidious about keeping them wiped down and clean. I like that the builder's went with white...though so far we've upgraded the fridge and will be the dishwasher. White goes with everything and can look classy. I agree with the posts here that stainless is hard to keep clean.

Wonder in a few years what folks will say about granite and stainless...will the comments be "oh that's so the early century!" Think about when avocado and gold became passe..people would laugh and say that they were so the 60's and 70's!!! I think the fads "date" themselves alot quicker!!!
Thanks again to all for the very helpful ideas. I'm old enough to remember Coppertone and Yellow as well. I'm coming from a Mountain Chalet with wood everywhere so the lighter look ( white ) to the kitchen will be a nice change. The Black is not bad, but I'm due for some brighter feel in that room as I'm leaving Hickory, Pine, and wormy Maple. Thanks again.

[getdul981]

Congratulations on your decision. I understand that you want to brighten up your kitchen with white appliances. We have stainless and so far really like them. The keeping clean/fingerprint problem is not a problem at all. All you have to do is spray a paper towel with WD40 and wipe the front and everyting looks like new. We don't have many fingerprints, but do have nose prints from our 2 dachshunds. And those nose prints only come up about a foot from the floor.

[novie2]

I hear that Avocado is making a strong comeback in appliance colors to go along with deep pile shag carpetting and knotty pine wallboard for the living room. :22yikes:

Oh no.....where are the decorating :police: