Stainless is always better just because you don’t have to worry about a color being discontinued when you need to replace something and whites are always hard to work with and please change that lighting

I plan to change the light :)

I have had both and I prefer white. I have gray cabinets in my present house with SS. The SS was here when we moved in and wished I had white. It seems that the first thing you notice when you walk into the kitchen is these big hunks of steel. If you have to wipe your cabinets every day you aren't going to like cleaning fingerprint of the SS every day. Mine don't get too bad since there is just the two of us, but my kids SS is always a mess because of multiple little finger.

I have always preferred white appliances but to each their own. The stainless looks very pretty in Parade Homes, but not so much in many open houses. They say some of the newer has less trouble with fingerprints. I have known some with white kitchens to use a white fridge but stainless range.

I really dislike stainless steel and prefer white, but the range I wanted didn't come in white. So I got my dishwasher and fridge in stainless too. It's not the end of the world, and I'd rather get the features I want than the colour I want.

I've also had both and spent more time wiping/cleaning the white appliances. Go with stainless.

As is, the kitchen on the photo looks way too stark white for my taste. I actually like the counter tops, as they are the only bit of contrast. I also find the white stove/hood are really jarring, as the shades of white don't match.

All of this might be less of an issue, once the lower cabinets are repainted in a different shade. Hard to say.

But as is, I would strongly opt for contrasting appliance colors. Stainless steel, black&brass, any custom color, ... You need to do something to break up all the homogeneous white. This is a great color when selling the home, as it doesn't overwhelm potential buyers with a more personalized style that they might object to. But it's a really ugly blank slate until you do customize it.

Thanks Nancy that really helps! I think stainless will work better in the long run as I change things over time. I am getting the Range and Fridge right away. I will be ordering the Dishwasher in a couple months.

I was going to suggest white ice until I see Nancy’s mock ups. Stainless all the way!

Victoria,

I don't mean to be offensive but in my mind when I see your picture, the cabinets are fine but all I see is the hardware, and I see lot of it. It's such a high contrast between what appears to be stark white cabinets that the hardware sticks out as the focal point. I guess I would soften the look and change the hardware if possible. On the other hand, it could just be the way a picture makes it appear and in reality it looks different??

Inga

Hi, Victoria--

I think the SS will look really great in your space since you know you're going to adjust your base cabinets to a grey tone. From your picture, it also looks like your current counter surface would work with a warm grey choice, too. I'd pop off that 4" base splash and just add a white subway tile up as a full splash with a warm grey sealed grout.

To my eye, the biggest change in there would be adding more lighting to task zones and also compliment the shape and orientation of your island. Know you mentioned swapping out the central fixture, but think you may want to consider additional cans and/or undercab LED strips (all dimmable) to help evenly distribute the light and keep it as shadowless as possible when it's not a bright, sunny midday. Cheers!

You need to upgrade to stainless.

We think stainless steel for appliances will work best, however for the cabinets painting the grey on the bottom shouldn't be an issue as long as you can paint the actual cabinets. Also if you are changing the countertops make sure you go with something light and bright since your kitchen seems dark. Maybe install under cabinet lighting when you put in the new lighting.

Luxury Home Design: Kitchen · More Info

"You need to upgrade to stainless."

An interesting phrase......why do you think stainless is an upgrade?

Definitely go stainless! Not the darker variety but the lighter. Even though your cabinets are older, they are classic, they would love great painted gray or a deep navy on the lowers. I think one day you could change the counters and do a backsplash if you want to make update it, but for now it's a really cute kitchen with great natural light.

Lots of Memorial Day sales on appliances! Great time to buy.

Glad to see you decided on the stainless options, excited to see how the new appliances and the paint job on the lower cabinets turns out!

A viewpoint that I don't think has been discussed yet: Stainless is kind of the big boy on the block ... mostly the only game in town. As a result, when you go out to Lowes or Sears, the vast majority of what you're going to see is going to be Stainless. If you want something else, you're going to find your choices are greatly diminished; you'll be able to special order something else, but you'll wait a few weeks for it to arrive.

How do I know? I have black appliances, and when my dishwasher broke, I went all over town and found exactly four models in black from which to choose (without ordering /waiting weeks).

Will this continue to be true? I wouldn't venture a guess.