I agree. Whirlpool coming back out with a fresh new look at white is clever. I think the SS and White will continue to be the favorite selections long term for kitchens.

The appliances look much better and brighter in person.

I want to see them in person, but I know my husband would love if we switched to white appliances. Having had white appliances in our home as a child, the color never appealed to me, but I am getting tired of our black appliances, so....

Too bad that fridge is only available in a SXS configuration.

GE is coming out with a line in Fall 2013. Black or White with metal handles, Bottom Mount Freezer.

It looks like a Door on the bottom though, not drawers.

It was designed by a 26 year old, for the under 35 demographic. It is an inexpensive line, they probably don't want to commit to it at higher price points yet. Amana or Whirlpool did this a few years back with small refrigerators available in Red and Navy, but I don't think they were big sellers.

These are nice looking but I don't know how full-featured they are.

Here is a link that might be useful: GE Artistry.

Is this to go along with the "retro" trend? I remember our glossy white fridge in the early 60s...

There were mentions in the articles about the GE Artistry line of the target demographic watching old TV shows on channels like Nick at Night and TVLand.

Whirlpool also offers Ice White in a French Door configuration. It sure is pretty, and without the problematic exposed 5" black sides that are on the only Panel Ready FD that I can find in a 36" width, the Kitchenaid Panel Ready.

Unfortunately, performance reviews for the Whirlpool French Door are not so good...

26 year olds designing refrigerators? That's fresh thinking (pun intended) but my money would be on the refrigerator designed by the Gardenweb gurus. Any chance appliance CEO's are aware of this forum? It should be mandatory reading for design teams...

Here is a link that might be useful: White Ice FD

I would snap up another bottom freezer with a door, not a drawer, in a heartbeat. But I'm not sure about the center- dividing, angled front thingy on the GE Artistry.

Fortunately my old Amana BF/ door is still chugging along at more than 20 years..

L.

I am sure the 26 year old only designed the skin, not the guts. It's probably one of their other models underneath.

Hm... If I went with an all-white kitchen, a white fridge would sure stand out less. I wonder if that could work with a stainless stove and DW?

Steph, sorry but if you have to sell your home, buyers will use the mis-matched appliance finish selection to get you down on your price. It's better to have all the same finish.

whirlpool will save us from stainless steel.

It's funny to see how many people don't care for stainless.

When we were making our appliance choices I DID NOT want stainless. I am so sick of seeing it everywhere. However we ended up with stainless because my KD and I didn't think a big expanse of white or black would look particularly good.

I would love to see a warm white or Bisque come back. I really do like the look of a bright white also. Why don't appliance manufacturers see how lovely a clear coat pearl white would look?

Jenn Air introduced a beautiful bronze a few years ago but that didn't catch on, perhaps because of the old coppertone appliances. I saw a washer/dryer set at Sears several years ago that was a beautiful bronze color and it was a touch more expensive than the white counterpart but it really was a gorgeous finish.

There are many beautiful metallic finishes that could be used but perhaps the expense would be cost prohibitive but I do wish there were more options. In this day and age of customization I think appliance manufacturers are missing the boat with their limited options.

Holly-kay I couldn't agree with you more!

Beverly27, don't you think the stainless steel handles and water dispenser will tie it to other stainless appliances?

I love that this White Ice doesn't have those plastic trims that always yellow and look awful.

The panel ready option for white kitchens is limited due to the black exposed sides. If that could be addressed, maybe the white option wouldn't be so tempting.

CrazyBusyToo, I take your point, but after watching all those HG House Hunting shows, I can imagine the DH walking into the kitchen and saying 'no sale' if all the appliances don't match, and someone trying to mention that the 'handles finish' ties into the SS on the other appliances will be lost of 98% of the buyers. I'm not willing to spend a couple of grand to test the market.

Whirlpool is pretty clever because their white ice is so unique, no other company's appliances match their new white color. I imagine that if you buy one piece, you'll buy a complete suite of appliances to match..

What a huge improvement on the old style finishes. I never understood the appeal of that alligator-hide on white refrigerators. We had one, and dirt loved to cake up in the crevices. I HATED that.

Although I went with a built in/panel in my kitchen, I'd definitely be tempted by a new smooth white fridge for any future remodels.

I have SS now, after having white and almond for years. I can honestly say I like both white and stainless and could go with either next go-round.

I don't know that matching is absolutely necessary either, as much as perhaps a systematic choice.

I see a lot of stainless ranges here with appliances in various other finishes. But I've seen a lot of real estate with stainless ranges and hood (or copper/other metal hoods) that predate the current trend of all matching stainless/stainless look: old commercial or early commercial style ranges of a period when a matching stainless fridge meant Subzero, True or Traulsen, and there was still no such thing as a stainless DW. Both houses I've looked at recently had 30-40 year old kitchens with mixed appliances. ($500K price range).

I'm with Pal: I personally would go with a ss gas range and hood, a DW with panel and a white glossy fridge with my white glossy cabinets.
My only problem is that I live in a pseudo Victorian, so how can I make this work? Wood floors? Wood counters? Beadboard backsplash?

Holly-kay - you mentioned you would love to see a pearlized clear coat white - that sound exactly like what I want.

I have not seen the White Ice, but had been seeing them mentioned occasionally. I was imagining that they would have the look you just described - perhaps not???

For those of you who have seen the White Ice - how does it compare/contrast with plain old white? I had it in my head that perhaps they had a slight shimmer/frosty look. Tell me about them.

I will be in the market for new appliances in the next year or so.

No, I don't think there's anything shimmery or pearlized about them. They are just very glossy white; however, they look more like lacquer than white metal. If you've seen the IKEA Abstrakt high gloss cabinets, that's what they remind me of.

Here is a link that might be useful: white ice fridge

I would love appliances with a finish like that, but preferably not whirlpool. I hope this catches on.

Just watched Kitchen Crashers on DIY. They had white ice appliances with white uppers and gray base cabinets. I loved the look.

I was going to purchase white ice appliances for our new build. But, the buyers of our current house do not want the appliances so we are bring them with us so it will be a while before we get them.

I have the white ice microwave and am getting the range today. I really like the look with white cabinets!

Both LG and Samsung have had white appliances that weren't textured and didn't have plastic handles, and they've done that for at least 10 years that I know of in LG's case. So did Maytag, before Whirlpool acquired them. The only difference between those appliances and Whirlpool's is marketing, with the catchy "white ice" description. And, well, the fact that Whirlpool has a pretty poor reputation in the appliance world, which is why they may have resorted to making the old seem "new" with that marketing.

Even so, we did choose the side by side in the white ice for our Dynasty kitchen because stainless would have provided too much contrast. We wanted the focus on the cabinets and counters, which we sell, not the appliances, which we don't.

I have seen the LG and Samsung white and it's just...white. So are you saying that the previous poster who described the white ice as glossier is incorrect?

When Maytag came out with the Ice2O around 9-10 years ago, they had the same glossy surface finish on their white and black models. The only difference was that the handles were body color and not stainless. So no, I don't think that it's especially innovative to have stainless handles with that. And the surface certainly isn't anything different or special either.

Go to Lowes and look at them side by side. If you can happen to find a Lowes that has anything but rows of stainless. Some only stock white units in the cheap pebbled texture in the top freezer units. Some have a couple others displayed as well. Depends on the demographics of the store. I do know that they have at least one kitchen display with the white ice and I couldn't tell any difference between that and their regular non textured white.

Maybe it's barely a hair whiter so they can play "keep away" and force people who buy one to buy the rest of the suite. But, on different walls, I seriously doubt that you could even tell that there was even a smidge of difference in the colors.

I have seen the line in person and its a nice, cool toned white. In contrast, I thought the Kitchenaid white was very stark and unappealing. So much so, that I would rather have the Stainless finish and I"m not a fan of stainless.

The fact that it is whirlpool is a problem for me. Is my perception of longevity and repair history correct? For some reason I have a negative association with the brand now. I'm not sure why other than what I've read here and maybe consumer reports?

Since my main gripe with white (and to a lesser extent, black) appliances was the cheap plastic parts that all yellowed to different colors, I don't care too much about the depth or luster of the white, just that is is smooth white and doesn't have the plastic handles. and bits and pieces.

But until someone makes a smooth white fridge with metal handles that is counterdepth, full featured, non-French door and has a good repair record, for me it's a moot point anyway.

Thanks, hollysprings. I looked in both our local Lowes stores and they don't have anything but a very few stainless appliances from whirlpool.

swhtech, beautiful kitchen! I just bought all SS appliances for our kitchen redo. I would love to have had white, but they just were not available with the features I wanted. I don't like SS, but the manufacturers didn't leave me much choice. I see nothing wrong with mixing the SS trimmed white appliances with all SS appliances. In fact, that seems much more visually appealing to me.
Diane

I am amazed at what companies will do to make people "think" they are getting something new. White is white & the different colored handle just makes me think of the appliances with brown "wood look" handles of the 70s & 80s. Just a ploy to make you buy all new appliances to match. Give me a one tone appliance & let that be bisque, almond etc. I especially don't like smooth tops with dark tops. Bought my stove expressly for the bisque top. To each his own, just don't see the attraction for this line.

Here is the picture of the white ice microwave- still waiting for the range to arrive.

swhtech,

Great looking kitchen. Like the way the SS on the appliances was carried through with your selection of SS handles on the cabinets. I like white kitchens!

I find it interesting how many posters are saying they don't like SS, but feel they have no choice but to buy it because of the lack of choices and features in other colors.

We recently bought a new dishwasher, and we found the model we really liked. Then we asked for it in black. No. It only comes in SS. But, they were quick to point out that they did have a similar model in black. Yes, it was similar, but it didn't have the third cutlery rack which is what we really wanted.

We had a heck of a time finding a black dishwasher with the features we wanted, but we finally found one online. None of our local appliance stores had it on the floor, so we bought it sight unseen and love it. But it really drove the point home that if you want the top of the line appliance, you have to buy it in SS. And as long as the vast majority do, we won't get many other choices.

I was speaking with a coworker about the white ice appliances. She told me she used Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel paint to paint her white appliances. I am looking at this just to paint the handles of the appliances. Another possibility for those that want to update the handles of their perfectly fine white appliances.

Link: http://liquidstainlesssteel.com/products.html

I was speaking with a coworker about the white ice appliances. She told me she used Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel paint to paint her white appliances. I am looking at this just to paint the handles of the appliances. Another possibility for those that want to update the handles of their perfectly fine white appliances.

Link: http://liquidstainlesssteel.com/products.html

I was speaking with a coworker about the white ice appliances. She told me she used Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel paint to paint her white appliances. I am looking at this just to paint the handles of the appliances. Another possibility for those that want to update the handles of their perfectly fine white appliances.

Link: http://liquidstainlesssteel.com/products.html

I was speaking with a coworker about the white ice appliances. She told me she used Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel paint to paint her white appliances. I am looking at this just to paint the handles of the appliances. Another possibility for those that want to update the handles of their perfectly fine white appliances.

For those who chose the White Ice appliances, how do you like them after having them awhile? Are they easy to keep clean? Also, what paint color did you go with on your white cabinets to make a good match to the appliances? Thanks for any feedback you can share?

I really like them! Easy to keep clean!

I have to say, I was very impressed with the look of the White Ice Collection when we remodeled our home three years ago - so we bought the whole kitchen suite. Since purchasing them, we have had to make multiple service calls (of course the warranty was up after one year) before the second year of owning them was up. The dishwasher pump has already been replaced since it stopped working, the knobs on the gas range get stuck, creating a seriously dangerous situation where you cannot turn off the gas. I have two knobs out of the five knobs already replaced and one of the replaced knobs already got stuck after only 6 months. I had 3 service calls on the microwave as it quit functioning all together. I have contacted Whirlpool only to get the "we are so sorry you are disappointed but want you to know you are a valued customer". It is only my husband and I using these products. I maintain and gently use all my appliances, not to mention keeping them very clean - I can't tell you how disappointing these products are to us, as this was finally a dream kitchen re-do that I have waited for many years to get - now that we are on our own after raising a family. I hope nobody else that bought/buys them has the same bad luck as we did.

I realize this thread is pretty old, but I have a question for swhtech, can you please tell me more about your pulls. They match the appliances beautifuly and are just what I'm looking for. Thanks

Jodi, it's been a month since you posted and you may not need this, but she has info and a link about pulls in this thread: Pulls info

Our white ice stove has just died..only 5 years old!