I would go with black to blend with the lower cabinets if your choices are all available in black. Or I would go with stainless because everything is available in stainless and it will always be easy to match.

Stainless

Black stainless

Black stainless would look nice, just locks you in to limited selection and difficult replacement.

None of the manufacturers' black stainlesses match right now. But it might look pretty cool.

Black or black stainless. Can you get a counter depth refrigerator?

How long do you anticipate living in this house? How long do you expect your appliances to last? And when is the next time you expect to fully remodel your kitchen.

There really aren't too many options, if you think you might have to replace one or more of the appliances before you fully replace everything.

Stainless steel is the safe bet. It has been around for ages, and it is likely to stay for much longer. Black (or white) is probably also going to be available in some form or shape, but it has a smaller selection of (mostly) lower-end appliances. Black stainless could very well become a thing of the past, once the current fad passes.

Of course, the other safe option is to install panels infront of all your appliances. If you have painted cabinets, it is presumably relatively easy to build additional matching panels. Worst case, you might have to pay for a custom-knife so that your cabinet maker can match the profile of any elaborate molding details. But according to my cabinet maker, that shouldn't be too expensive either -- and you can always negotiate with the insurance company.

They are already getting off cheaply anyway. They might as well pay for matching cabinet panels.

To answer questions: I do have the option of counter depth fridge, if I would like one. I anticipate living in my house for at least 3 more years. I would not like to do any major remodeling after this before I move in 3 years, because my house is down to the studs and subfloors/slab, so is essentially being fully rebuilt. I'd like whatever I choose to not be dated in the next 3 to 5 years, or, if it is trendy now, not be horribly expensive to update, like, replacing the brass knobs for something else.

Thanks all for the help!

We have the same colour scheme (except our island is white) and we have a black range and dishwasher (dw is actually panelled) and stainless steel fridge. I wanted to make sure the run with the dw and range wasn't broken up too much because there are already two colours.

ETA: Good luck with your restoration. We went through a whole house restoration a couple of years ago after a house fire. We still appreciate all the upgrades and changes we were able to make to the home we love, but it's not a process I'd wish on my worst enemy.

My friend who knows said they are about to come out with a cold blackening process for stainless. Like by the gallon.