I believe the appliances we have were chosen because they were a brand we had had good luck with or were very inexpensive on craigs list or deep sale with a brand we had used before. I am not an appliance snob. As long as it works is good enough for me.

Well, it's no different than buying a fancy car, right? Plenty of complaints about Mercedes and Bentleys and Jaguars, LOL.

Frankly, I regret buying a Kenmore stove. My first, a rebadged Frigidaire, was great. This one, a rebadged Whirlpool, has the most terrible glass on gas finish ever. It was made the year they had to take the lead out of paint and it simply cannot be cleaned easily, unlike its predecessor. My DH got so mad at it one evening he actually attacked the crud with a knife, which of course I didn't find out about until he'd ruined the finish completely on the front burners.

I cook enough that I'd actually get good use out of a Bluestar or Capital. I have friends that own BS and old Garlands, and I love cooking on those ranges. Woohoo, real firepower!

Sadly, I can't fit in a full 30" range, so am currently debating whether a 24" BS is worth it. When we finally sell the house I'd probably replace it with a standard range, because this is a starter home neighborhood and they want full-size appliances.

OTOH, my Amana refrig is big and ugly, but far superior to most frigs. It holds an astonishing amount of food, is quiet, energy-saving, and dependable.

We spent on the DW because I do a lot of dishes, about 10 loads a week for two people. I would have bought the Miele but it didn't fit my dishes, so I settled for the KA. Not as well-built but a solid second-level DW.

My kitchen's the most important room in the house to me. I seriously considered buying the Lacanche 27" Rully because I know it would fit in the space I have, give me two ovens and a 3-burner cooktop with sufficient BTUs on the power burner. However, $10K (with shppg, taxes, and labor involved) is too much to spend on a range for a home I don't intend to keep more than another 7 yrs.

$3K I can justify - I'll get enough use out of a BS range to be worth it. I can use the other $7K elsewhere, LOL. We just spent $1K replacing the garbage disposal (died) and master bath toilet (newer Toto).

Hmmm, since when we put the house up for sale, I'll go to all-stainless appliances, that $7K will enable me to replace both stove and frig. I can give the BS to my niece, or put it on Craigslist, if I don't need to reuse it.

PHEW you are way over my head. I have not even heard of but a few of the brands you talk about. We do have a Whirlpool fridge and Kenmore washer and dryer and the stove is Magic Chief from Craigs list at $200. No dishwasher or disposal.

I am not a fan of the fridge It does not hold a lot of food but it is a smaller size and came with the house. Hubby would never replace an appliance until it was forever broke. I do not really care. They are all white well sort of. The stove does have a black door and black glass top with white being the rest of it. I like the white and would not make a change to any new color even if we buy new. The washer and dryer were n=ew ar $450.00 for the pair. I tell you I have never seen such a basic model as these two are. OH well they work.

Here are some more thoughts: Last year on vacation, we rented a tiny cottage with an older (60's?) really basic gas range. Gotta say, (as an avid cook) I could cook anything on that un-level, dinged and dented appliance! I 'get' the desire for pretty and 6 burners and two ovens and hefty knobs, etc. But to pay thousands, and purchase headaches, and no customer service, makes no sense. Seems to me more of the posts should be, "Wow, what a GREAT performer... so glad it was chosen!"

I think maybe even 500.00 would be too much for as little as I cook. I paid 125.00 for an electric coil stove on CL. Just down the road about a mile, it was super clean, bisque and they delivered it. The next yr they replaced the bisque dw and called me... got it for 100.00 and it doesn't look used much. She said they didn't use it. I think they'd just moved in the yr before and were replacing appls w/SS. Both are GE and they're doing fine. I've only used the dw twice. I forget about it. the first time it took me at least a month to figure out what I did with my dishes! My fridge is old - about 16 yrs and still going strong. I think it's an Amana.

If the stove ever dies, I'll buy an induction hot plate and breville oven. That'd suit me fine. It'd be different if I really cooked (like I used to do) and had a big house - but even when I did all that I had a stove like I have now.

I think some brands just aren't as good as they used to be. back in the early 80s I bought a maytag dw - pd 500.00 for it. That was a lot then. But it had a good name. I think my sister had one in recent yrs and replaced it with a GE. She said she'd never buy anything Maytag again. If I were getting one now it'd probably be a KA.

Unless one is a professional chef tho, I can't see the 5,000 and up price. I could put the $s to a lot better use.

I have to agree with you on the Breville oven, Steph. I have the Breville Convection Smart Oven, and it is a real humdinger. At this time I have NO range in my kitchen (actually just the fridge is functioning), but the electric griddle and the Breville and the Sharp microwave about do it for us until this remodel is over. Plus the outdoor gas grill, of course.

One thing I consider a real treat is the 24 inch Bertazzoni gas range. It's been in my Teahouse for the last two years, right beside the 70 boxes of flooring, waiting for my remodel. I'm not cooking for a large family, just the two of us. My cooking side of the new kitchen has the range in the middle, with a 3 foot countertop to left and to right of the 24 inch range. Those counters are in stainless steel. I have stainless steel shelves on the wall left and right of the range. A small 42" high bar is to the left of this, and a regular counterheight peninsula is to the right, with cabinets outside the cooking side. Although the cabinets are white painted wood, with the stainless flanking the smaller size range, I think it will "read" as a full size cook's kitchen. The oven is smaller than a larger range, but I'm not cooking 20 pound turkeys or baking for a big family either.

As we get older, I'm looking at things which offer convenience and safety. Like the Sharp microwave drawer, much safer than the turntable model which is impossible to remove hot bowls. DH removed a Pyrex bowl with spaghetti sauce in it, what a yucky mess when it broke, and dangerous for diabetic feet.

Our GE french door fridge (which I'd purchased a few years back when I began planning the house remodel) simply blew a compressor and it was a faulty model to begin with, no surprise, so we got a new fridge, a Whirlpool, which works fine. My Kenmore Elite dish washer has a stainless interior and I like it, this one is 4 years old and no problems. I have purchased 4 of this model for 4 different houses, and I know it works great. I have a stacking laundry with electric dryer, Frigidaire I think. I haven't seen it since late October when this remodel started...oh woe is me at the laundromat....but I look forward to using it again in the comfort of my own home. It will be in the kitchen too. I would not require a separate laundry room in a smaller home....maybe a mud room or a space lock if I had kids and snowy cold weather or ran a farm where they slopped the hogs before school.....:)

ml - I think I first heard of the Breville from you. I spent some time looking at them online since at the time I wasn't sure if I'd get a regular stove/oven or a cooktop and small oven. You'll be fine with the smaller oven in your new stove - my oven when the kids were all home growing up was only 24" wide. I've seen mws larger than it was - and I cooked and baked a lot. Could only fit a maybe 15lb turkey in it - but even that gave us leftovers (with all the other stuff).

Making things easier and safer is what I look for too. lever door knobs, 1 handle faucets... everything I can thing of - if it's something I have to change/replace I look for ease of use with my hands.

I think going SS on either side of your stove was a smart move too.

Can't wait to see some updates of your remodel! post soon?!

We've always used basic model appliances, usually with good results. We rarely cook for more than the two of us, and when we do, it is still only 10 at the most. I'm very skilled with our Weber gas grille and my smoker, so we extend the kitchen outdoors a lot, year-round. We're both good cooks, but I've never had a problem cooking anything with our simple appliances.

We're currently using a very cheap 14 cu/ft fridge which was intended as a place-holder until our house is finished, but the darn thing works so well I'm hesitant to spend the money on a better fridge that may or may not be better.

We are going to splurge a bit on the DW, as low-end ones get very poor reviews. We had a Bosch at our old house, and we'll be getting another one for the new house. It is very high in the ratings, competing well with brands costing twice as much.

I live in a high-cost labor, high-end market. That's why I keep up on the more upscale brands. Out here, a starter home in good shape, decent gentrifying neighborhood (like ours) goes for $500+K.

I cook a lot and we also dine out often. In the San Francisco Bay Area being a foodie is serious business, LOL!

Everything we put into the house must be considered from a resale standpoint. Buyers don't want/can't afford to immediately remodel the kitchens and bathrooms, so those rooms need to be up-to-date and reasonably stylish.

We never intended to live forever in this house; it isn't possible to make it universal access. We always knew we would eventually sell it. "Turn-key condition" is important in resale.

When we bought this house 25 yrs ago, we gutted it and remodeled it completely. It was my first and only opportunity to design a kitchen after 30 yrs of living in poorly lit, horribly designed apartment kitchens.

A lot of hard work, and I made some errors of course. But overall, it's a good logical layout that works well

. Every day I walk into my kitchen, I look out at a gorgeous 180-degree hillside view and love it. The natural light is amazing inside.

The powerful gas burners and large oven, Grohe pull-out faucet, 16' cathedral ceilings, range hood (best invention EVER), massive single Swanstone sink and counterspace of over 25', semi-custom frameless cabs with corner Lazy Susans and freestanding 8' tall pantry with pullout shelves, are as useful to me as they will be to the next buyer.

It's a small 2bd 2ba house - a mere 1400 sq. ft. - but as one of my friends said, "Your house really lives 'large.' It's a very comfortable space." That was nice to hear, because that was the goal we were aiming for. Small, but with just enough upscale touches to make an impact.

Jakkom,

Very pretty kitchen. Light and bright. Love the large windows in kitchen following across the whole space into your dinning room, I assume, with the table. Love the tall pantry as room divider. I would much rather have a pantry like yours than our built in corner one. It is always a pain to keep organized. Weird shelves. One of my projects today is to deal with the huge shop and drop of Thursday in the pantry.

I forget about resale value because our house has been put into a trust to go to the Best Friends Animal Shelter. Let them deal with it. I do cook most everything from scratch and I cook meals three times a day. We only eat out maybe once every week or two. Usually when we make the trip to town. The cafe here is not very friendly and way too expensive and always the same old greasy crap. UGH

I guess it really would be more important to have higher end appliances in a more upscale area. Honestly we live in po-dunk-ville in the middle of nowhere and if we were to try to sell this place it would be hard to get the money we paid for it back out. Our upgrades do not show other then the added pitch to the house roof so the snow will slide easier and the white metal roof on house and shop. The added support in the weight bearing roof snow load does not really show but means so much in safety and no longer having to worry about getting up on the roof to shovel the snow off. The taller stronger foundation does not really show either but we know it is there and sound. This house is not going anywhere. Instead of a pole barn building for the shop it is a real building with stud walls. And again added snow load specs to the roof for it too. This house was made for aging in place from the get go so we are good there. We might have to add a short low ramp to get up the two low steps to the front porch if either of us could not manage that slight step up.

I guess all in all it really does depend on where you live as to the upgrades you need to make. Especially when considering resale. We bought this house as our forever home. I guess age difference also falls into consideration.Hubby is almost 75 and I am 65. We are also a 2 bedroom two bath with a den which could be a third bedroom if a closet were added. I had them leave the closet out of that room because I wanted the space for furniture. So it is a little longer than usual but I prefer the length and open space and did not need the closet. It would be simple to add a closet on the end as it was designed. Also saves on house taxes since it is not an an official bedroom. We do use it as a guest room when needed. We are 1375 SQ FT.

Actually, a RE agent told me it was good to spend the money on systems/structure - they said "that's where it counts!" So I think you made the right decisions!

It's great you thought ahead with a house that will work for you as you age. Unfortunately, we didn't have that choice (we bought this in partnership and at first were not going to live in it, but rent it out instead).

Still, we've enjoyed our 25 yrs here and expect a few more. Biggest issue is actually the large amount of garden. It's a small 2-story cottage on a large urban lot, with a very big garden on all four sides to take care of. Will be too much someday to manage, and that's when we'll sell and move.

I would have preferred a smaller yard to. We have a half acre. I had to landscape the yard from scratch and even though we have been here going on 7 years I am not done with the landscaping. I did one big flower bed with all my favorite plants along one long side of the house and on the other side I have lemon balm taking over and that is fine with me. I just mow it down in the fall or spring. I harvest a lot of it for tea and making salve. I have another wild but pretty flower growing along the other end of that side of the house and then big containers. The rest is lawn. I can mow it in half an hour including mower check pre mow and mower wash up after mowing. So it really is not bad. It is far from professionally landscaped.

Most people come in and change everything anyway. We all have our own ideas. We flipped houses for as many years as you have lived in your house so we had a pretty good idea on what WE wanted for US when we did this place. Good to know the structural part was a good idea. It was important to us so we do not have to worry about the snow load. Another ageing in place thing.

We wound up getting a great deal on our dishwasher, although we had to make a concession. The Bosch we planned to get is the 4th highest rated DW on Consumer's Report, and is half the price of the other top-rated units. When I went to order it recently- it was discontinued! I panicked, wondering what our Plan B would be. Upon further investigation, though, it was still available in black- on sale! The one we planned on was $625; now it was down to $540. We decided we could live with black (I can always paint it if we really are bothered by it). When I put in the order through AJ Madison, a rebate popped up. Another $75 off! All in all, we got the DW we wanted, even if the color was our second choice, for $465, delivered to our door, no sales tax. The same unit is $700 locally. I installed it yesterday, and it purrs like a kitten. The black color is fine as it isn't too shiny, so it doesn't show fingerprints. Our counters are going to be sort of black anyway (soapstone), so it all ties together.

With many of the DWs, there is a cover panel available to slide across the front. As long as it is only color, not features, it is an easy fix. Heck, I have a pink food processor (Susan B Komen model) which was $100 less because of the color. It is going to be on the countertop only when I use it, but I like the girly color.... :)

I'm loving this thread! I need a dishwasher but it seems as if "over there" is focused on all high end appliances. Although I want a quiet DW, I don't want to pay for Miele or even Bosch if I can avoid it. Paying a few hundred extra for super quiet doesn't appeal to me. The Bosch interior layout makes me feel claustrophobic and I don't want to have to fight to try to stack things in the small tine spaces. Most important to me is reliability. Even appearance doesn't seem that important - to me all DW look about the same. Can anyone suggest something other than Bosch or Miele that is reasonably quiet and reliable?

Well, I'm the OP and my DW is a GE (whispered, to avoid the gasps of horror). It is a tall tub model #GDWT368. I've had it for two years... and happily had the same model at my last house. What can I say: It does an excellent job of cleaning and is quiet. It is middle of the road, price point.

You don't have a filter to clean. You don't have to periodically use a special DW cleaning product. It does not have a stink problem. We scrape dishes of solids, but do scrub a bit with eggs, cheese, etc. before loading. We do not load with baked on food from casseroles, and such, or wash pots and pans (good stainless steel ones). Simple common sense stuff. We do not 'overload' the machine. We use Cascade Pods and store-brand generic Rinse Agent. It works!!!

Thanks, kitykat. That's the kind of information I'm looking for. Your model is discontinued but I'm going to look into other GE models. Even if I had one of those super duper DW that are supposed to clean hard crusty burned on stuff - and eggs - I do not think I could train myself to stop pre-cleaning as you do (and I'm not sure I believe that the super duper DW clean all that stuff with no pre-cleaning, at least the kind of stuff I create).

Totally agree with kitykat- we have a GE Cafe and do the same with ours and it cleans well and is quiet. Not high end at all...But I have been VERY happy with my GE Cafe series appliances- I have the cooktop, double ovens and dishwasher and ALL work great. The only thing I avoided was their fridge. I heard way too many negatives and LOVED the Kitchen aid model we got. Funny enough, my family member who wanted all high end got a Viking set and ended up with my Kitchenaid fridge. Exact model with a different name on the door! But I assume it was hundreds more...

It seems this forum is the reverse of the other forum in terms of reverse snobbery. Here you're all trying to justify how wonderful you are for using the least expensive appliances and thumbing your noses at those who choose for whatever reason to buy more expensive appliances. It doesn't make you better and it doesn't make those who choose the top brands better.

@cpartist... None of this is about snobbery or feeling better than others!!!!!
As the OP, I simply feel that a lot of pressure, real or implied, comes from reading here and in print (and seeing on TV) about certain high dollar brands with certain looks and features. The repeated message becomes, "This is what you need." If the performance met or exceeded the claims, then there would not be the 'problem' postings I regularly see.

If someone is a frequent reader of many of these forums, it is obvious there are often loudly proclaimed biases that preclude someone praising, for example, the benefits of laminate counters, or vinyl flooring, or top load washers. This is not about least or most expensive... or top brands, or being better. The issue becomes (think the popular term, sheeple) a case of following the crowd.

Mommies lament over fingerprints on the stainless fridge. The dishwasher and front-load washers stink... or leave clothes less than clean. The expensive range hood needs expensive 'make-up' air to cook on the very expensive range. The list goes on and on. My original thoughts pondered on the choices made, and whether there were regrets.....

If you read anywhere on the net you can find both positives and negatives for everything. A better idea is to find the rankings in terms of how things perform over time as in which appliances require the most service calls overall. For example, Bosch on many items comes up with the least repairs for their ovens, LG comes up with the least repairs on their washer dryers. Does that mean there are people who will hate them? You bet.

Many times there are options in higher end products that will help the items last longer. Sometimes it's just hype. If you do your research you can figure it out. You can buy a DW for 500 and have all plastic interiors or you can buy one with a steel interior that costs about $300 more to start.

KittyKat I was talking to my friend the other day about her front loading washer. Just passing this information on. I do not even know the brand she had. Her comment was she did not like the front load washer because you could not soak clothes in it. I was clueless on this fact. Maybe it is her brand only. I do not have one.

Another thing my hubby bought our washer and dryer on line on sale and it is the cheapest of the cheapest a person can get. I was shocked. I think there are three wash cycles and no bleach dispenser. The dryer does not matter I only use one setting on it, when I use it which is not often. I do not really feel we need a dryer. I am a clothes line person. So 7 years later both machines are still chugging along. In no way do I feel better than some one that might have bought the top of the line. I thought I needed more washing machine settings. Apparently not. The only thing I do miss is the bleach dispenser.

Amen Shades! It would be most interesting to conduct a survey regarding how many people actually use all or most of the many 'settings' on laundry appliances, dishwasher, microwave, range electronic options. I have what I consider useless microwave settings... popcorn, baked potato, reheat by serving size. I manually adjust time and power as needed, period.

On my 13 yo mechanical top-load washer, I find the water level dial most useful. All my wash loads are either hot or warm... don't need other combinations and options. For the DW, I only use 'auto' setting. Otherwise I hand wash specialty items. It annoys me that one needs to buy option rich models to get some of the most basic conveniences. (And I do not refer to premium brands here.)

I think it's similar to kitchen gadgets. The prices on all these single use, space taking items is mind boggling! From avocado peeler to pineapple corer to different colored veggie scrubbers and cutting boards... what silliness. And let's not forget the chocolate fountain! Guess the brides need something to put on their must-have lists... "a fool and his money."

"useless microwave settings... popcorn, baked potato, reheat by serving size. I manually adjust time and power as needed, period."

same here! and the same for the dw. I use 'normal' - of course, I seldom even use it... on washer, the size and then hot, warm, cold are fine for me.

my sister's front load washer even has a setting to wash the washer...

Our washer does have water lever setting of high ,med and low. And a gentle cycle and a long cycle but the long cycle gives you HOT water with no choice not to have it. So if I need a long setting on cold I just keep an eye or ear and when it goes to change I come back and turn the dial around and start the wash setting again. LOL Works for me. Some times I do soak things and skip the long setting.

Are you telling me there are more settings on a microwave. Who knew. Hehehe I know how many minutes I need to do what. I do use the defrost setting often and it works great with out cooking the meat. Or whatever I am defrosting.

No dishwasher so clueless on them.

" So if I need a long setting on cold I just keep an eye or ear and when it goes to change I come back and turn the dial around and start the wash setting again."

lol! can't tell you how many times I did that yrs ago when the kids were home. I'd do it now too - if I had a washer!

"useless microwave settings... popcorn, baked potato, reheat by serving size. I manually adjust time and power as needed, period."

And yet, I've been shopping for a very basic microwave, and the one I think I'm going to buy gets dinged all the time in reviews because you set the time by just pressing the button repeatedly (for 30 second increments) till you reach the length of time you want (which is what I've always done on the old one). People are never satisfied.

And yeah, the problem with soaking is with all the front load washers I've ever seen, not just that model. If I were in the market for a new washer I'd just get a Speed Queen top loader (the pre-electronic version if I could find one) and have done with it.

My front load has a soak setting... I don't have greasy clothes too often so I haven't tried that but it does the trick on cloth diapers :) But I did get my front load washer and matching dryer for free... not sure I would pay much more for it.

Ack! I was reading this thread, and I realize I have a load of whites soaking right now (old top loader) that I completely forgot! So, thank you for talking about soaking clothes. ;)

I have to admit that I didn't set out to buy the DW that we did. Our DW died (5 years old), and we needed to replace it, as parts were near impossible to find. The problem I had was the space we have for a DW requires a European made model. We had only a few options, one of them being Miele. We purchased the Miele Futura Classic, which is the bottom tier of the Futura line, and I am absolutely thrilled with this dishwasher.

I really didn't think there was that much differences in dishwashers, and I see that I was wrong. Even though the DW we had- when it worked- did a fine job with the dishes, this Miele blows it out of the water. This was- without a doubt- worth every penny. I don't pre-rinse my dishes at all, and I can put anything anywhere in the DW, and it comes out spotless. I love the cutlery tray, and I have yet to empty a dirty utensil, even though I don't pre-rinse it. This is supposedly the "loudest" of the Futuras, and we can't hear it at all. I totally understand all the Miele DW love now. :)

Now to get those whites... :D