I think there are two types of people with regards to panels - those who like appliances to look like appliances, and those who want to disguise appliances to look like cabinetry. So it's kinda personal taste sort of thing. I myself am in the former camp, since I feel that it IS a kitchen after a all, and one would expect appliances to be there. Also, fridge panels are quite expensive, as are "panel-ready" fridges, if you have any budget constraints. And, it sounds like your kitchen will be more on the contemporary side given the quartz counter, so a SS fridge will look sleek.

Will your SxS fridge have ice/water in the door? If so, then I really wouldn't do panels, cause the ice/water in the door will defeat the whole purpose of using the panels to mimic cabinetry.

These thoughts are just MHO. I am sure you'll get responses from people who love paneled fridges. There are proponents of both styles, and you have to decide what YOU like.

I think Shannon is right....there are people on both sides of this...I am in the panel camp! I have a SZ that does have ice/water in the door but wanted it paneled because of where it is located. Mine is on a full wall of cabinets and can be seen from another room. I wanted it to look more like cabinets for the visual continuity. I am paneling all of my appliances except my oven...fridge, DW, and WD.
I think big fridges can look a little "industrial" in some cases. Some people like that look, too. It's such an individual thing!

We have a 48" Jenn-air. Didn't want stainless, too freakin hard to keep clean, --been there done that.
We very rarely even have to wipe off the panel. Our Miele DW is also panneled. Hard to beat the easy care.

Gary

It is a personal preference but friges and appliances in general look so good these days, why bother to cover it up? Just my opinion anyway!
A nice modern fridge with its stylish design will only add to the appearence and make it look good.

Here is a link that might be useful: A very small fridge: table top fridge

There are two more kinds of people with regards to fridge (and other appliance) panels. There are the people who want them to look like cabinetry. Those who want them just to match the cabinetry but still be identifiable as appliances, and those who want them to stand out, but look different.

There aren't many of the last one, but I've seen gorgeous custom panelled fridges with hand painted art on the panels. Also chalkboard. And solid color metal done at the autobody shop to go with the Blue Star range, or whatever.

I'm the middle one. I panelled everything except the ovens, but no fake drawers or anything and big appliance pulls so one could tell that they were machines behind the panels.

If you have a large-ish kitchen with long cabinet runs it'll look fine either way. If you think the position of your fridge will chop up the line of the cabinetry, go for the panels. But just get what you like. Your opinion counts the most.

Ah, thanks so much for your replies. This is so helpful.

I also fall in your category pillog, I had no desire to hide the DW or the Fridge, and as ya know the older Jen-airs are not "fully integrated" and our DW stills shows it controls. We like the look, but even more important to us is the ease of keeping them clean and looking good.
We had a SS KA DW, and boy was that a job to try to keep spotless---I'd rather be out "Detailing My Cars" than despotting appliances!

Gary

If you are already think that it will look off in the design, you should trust your instinct.

I am in the camp that large vertical stainless surfaces do not look very good at all. It looks too institutional to me. I am not sure why SS appliances are so popular, particulary in kitchens that try to emulate older traditional flavor. I think they look out of place.

For my new kitchen, everything will be paneled. My first SS appliance was 10 years ago. That DW always looked pretty good. Then I replaced that with another SS DW, and boy did it look terrible with all the streaks.

No more SS for me. Been there and done that. I moved on.

I have seen some stunning armoirs-look paneled refrigerators that stood out from the rest of the kitchen. They were GORGEOUS... So so much better looking than SS, IMHO.

I am in both camps -- put panels on the 2 DWs to avoid constant drips on stainless and to avoid a choppy run with small drawers, stainless DW, sink, stainless DW, small drawers. I'm very happy with that decision. I also did a panel on my warming drawer which is right across the aisle from my micro drawer so that wouldn't look choppy. I'm happy with that decision too.

My 48" fridge, on the other hand, is stainless. My cabinets had already been ordered when the Thermador columns came out and we made a switch in our plans. We considered panels because they are so seamless on the Freedom series, but we were considering the water/ice dispenser on the freezer nad we were told that might pose a problem with drips on the wood over time. The break on the fridge and freezer would not line up with the break in the cabinets above them, so that was another reason to not do panels. I have a 48" span of stainless right near the center of my 8 ft wall of blue cabinets and I love it. I don't mind a gorgeous fridge looking quite at home in a working kitchen.

For me, if you are going to do panels, I want the appliance to be hidden -- seamless with the cabinetry. If the appliance panel is going to be rimmed in metal or you will have a grill overhead, etc., why bother? I want all or nothing and did some of each.

I half agree with Lascatx: If you're doing shaped cabinetry panelling, it doesn't look good with a rim. Old style SubZeros, however, with the stainless frame and a thin wood panel stained to match the cabinetry looks good. Like any other fridge with a stainless rim, only with pretty wood inside. And I prefer the look of the stainless grill to panelled grills unless they're very cleverly done. The ones that usually don't look good to me are heavy raised panel or shaker style doors with the stainless frame.

I also agree with what lascatx said:

"For me, if you are going to do panels, I want the appliance to be hidden -- seamless with the cabinetry. If the appliance panel is going to be rimmed in metal or you will have a grill overhead, etc., why bother?"

My one small exception is that I am considering the Liebherr "almost" fully integrated fridge/freezer that has the exposed toekick area. :)

Anyway, as others have previously noted...panels are indeed a matter of personal preference!

Toekicks are allowed to be anything that doesn't scream obscenities at you. ;-)

ROTFLOL!!!!!

Lascatx, I haven't seen that, but I'm sure there's some guy somewhere who's done it. Wired sensors into the toe kicks so they'll scream obscenities when you kick them. :D

Do they make integrated fridges that don't have the toe kick vent?

BTW, since most panel ready DW's have black plastic toe kicks, my GC's solution is to paint it to match the rest of the toe kick. Not a good idea to do that with the fridges (also black, but working parts of the appliances), but clever nonetheless. :D