What does the rest of the kitchen look like? Which would look best with the cabinets and other finishes?

We have painted white cabinets and butcherblock looking formica countertops. Our walls are papered (white background with ivy). Of course, I'd like to remodel, but that won't be possible for quite a while, so I'd like to be content with the appliances I choose. The almond appliances blend nicely, and they all have black trim.

We have had a black smooth front refrigerator for a month, replacing a textured white 15 year old frig. I am exchanging the black for a stainless one (stainless one hasn't come in yet).

While I like the look of the black, it is a PITA to keep clean. Worse then stainless! There are smudges all over it, especially the handles (obviously) and it is not that easy to keep clean. Maybe I am just anal because it's new, but I feel like I am constantly trying to keep it clean. I have 2 kids (one is a 7 year old boy) and I am trying not to constantly be on his case about putting hand prints everywhere.

We are exchanging it for the stainless, partly because of the upkeep issue (yes, I know stainless is a pain but I don't think anything can be worse then this black frig!) but also because in our kitchen having this black frig seems to make that part of the kitchen very dark (we have dark chocolate birch cabinets), especially going from a white frig.

There are textured black refrigerators out there, but IMO I thought they looked kind of cheap. I don't know what kind of upkeep there would be on a white smooth front frig, but I would imagine they would show less smudges than the black.

Chocolatebunny, I'm guessing the problem with keeping your fridge clean isn't that it's black but that it's smooth-front. Any hint of gloss on a smooth, solid-color surface (and fridges are usually more glossy than matte) is an instant PITA to clean. I don't think a smooth white would be any better. Stainless is a PITA but at least there are some fridges available with anti-fingerprint coating, and also stainless by nature has a bit of variation in the color, unlike solid white or solid black.

So my vote would be a textured fridge. Couldn't say which color without seeing a picture of the kitchen.

The contrast of black against white would be harsh. It woulf force you to look at the fridge. White would blend in so I vote white. We have had almond, black, and now, stainless. I would say they are about the same to keep clean and I have 5 little kids. I am NOT a cleaning fanatic. I wipe it down, as needed, with lavender spic and span in a spray bottle, diluted.

In the old kitchen we had a textured black fridge with white stove and dishwasher. It was much easier to keep clean than the previous almond/bisque fridge, but it made the kitchen much darker. Keep that in mind if you don't have a lot of natural light.

Here is my "cheap looking" "harsh contrast against white" over 12 year old, black textured fridge in my not quite finished kitchen. I spent the last 5 months thinking I would hate it and it would look awful with my new everything else in the kitchen based on what people have said on here, but once it was put back in I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it. Now I'm in no hurry to get a SS one. In fact, I would probably go with another black or a white one instead. I think once we have the crown molding, toe kicks, and backsplash in it will look even better.

I vote for white....it is timeless....and for me, it much easier to keep clean than either stainless or black. If I build again, I know I might be "dating" my kitchen, but I am using white....I am getting rather tired of the thinking that if you don't have a granite and stainless kitchen, you are not in "style"~~~

Maybe you can take down that wallpaper and put on a coat of colorful paint...that would give you a "lift", for not too much cash.

White would blend, black would contrast. Have you considered a stainless look refrigerator? There are many that are made not to show fingerprints.

Slush, I like the look of your kitchen with the black fridge! It doesn't call attention to itself--it seems to recede and thus highlight the range area next to it.

The problem with a white fridge in a white kitchen is that the shades of white are unlikely to match.

It depends. Knee-jerk says white. Size matters, as in a big white thing or big black thing will now be in your kitchen. Mine looks fine with a white fridge because the room is dark to start with. My Mom chose black for every appliance (with oak cabinets and black granite) and the place looks dark.

Take off a cabinet door and take it shopping with you.

I have a textured black kenmore trio and I don't wipe it down enough because I never see the dirt.

slush - I think your black fridge fits nicely in with what you have. It's balanced out by the dark cabinetry in the island - like it was planned. Your oven is the 'middle' tone surrounded by white. I think it works! :)

Slush, your kitchen looks great with the black frig! Yours look nicer than the ones I saw (maybe because it's bigger?) I agree that it works because of the black island and stools.

Yes, mine was probably hard to keep clean because it was a smooth front. I also didn't like it in our kitchen because there really wasn't anything to balance it out.

I have a black whirlpool smooth front fridge, however it is not shiny. It is more of a matte finish and I love it. I have 2 boys and have no issue with smudges or prints.

I forgot to add that your countertops are a great additional 'middle tone' that ties in with the stove & hood. I'm no expert but I can see just looking at it without thinking of the object...the 3 tones really balance out. Great job! :)

Had the textured black fridge. Yeah, I did think it was cheap looking. But it rarely looked dirty, unless you spilled yogurt on it. Then you were in for it.

We are adding on to our lake cottage. the cabinets are more of an almond color with beading on the doors that have gray in the lines. I have an almond refrigerator and a black dishwasher.The sink is almond which goes with the countertop .The counter will be a granite with gray, black, almond in it. I need a stove and microwave. What color should I go with?

I had the textured black and I liked it. It matched my stove & dishwasher & micro. So I liked the consistent look. Black textured hid dirt - I liked that a lot. Now we are going with the "stainless look" to avoid fingerprints but it will be stainless & match the range. But we are keeping our black dishwasher because I just replaced it 6 months ago and it's not right next to the other appliances.

White

Our new fridge is glossy white, located opposite the window. No problem with smudges/fingerprints, and I have the worst record when it comes to regular cleaning. You have to get very close, or shine a light on it from a narrow angle to see the fingerprints. I do *feel* grubby or sticky spots in the top corner (it has no handle, but a groove along the top) often before I see them.
Our old white textured frigde on the other hand, while being relatively immune to fingerprints, seemed to attract other dirt like a magnet, and I won't even mention the plastic handles. And our old shiny black glass-top stove was a forensic scientist's dream. The tiniest touch left a print. Every nanoparticle of dust stood out. Nah, not missing that one at all.

But perhaps you've made a choice by now?

I think I'm one of those rare people that don't like stainless steel except when it's paired with white cabinets like yours. We painted our cabinets white and had to continue using our white frig - never liked it. The SS IMHO gives it a light accent w/o being overwelming. I've never had SS to comment on the upkeep.