So most people saying buying all in one brand isn’t good. And in some ways I agree but we bought our kitchen and appliances when it was a buy more pay less deal so we ended up getting them all at a discount. We love our fridge and range and accept our hood fan and dishwasher. The built in microwave is okay. We had trouble with the wall oven hut a lovely local repair person helped us solve an issue.

What brand and model did you go with?

If you want "nice but without breaking our budget wide open" purchase common appliances, not appliances non-standard, low-volume models. E.g., 30" (or 36") range; 30-36" French door or 30" bottom-freezer refrigerator; 24" full-height dishwasher. You'll have far more selection, lower prices, easier installation and (likely) higher quality.

Fisher & Paykel is the only manufacturer of dish drawers. CR tested two; neither earned a recommended rating; both were expensive, scoring lower than other models at a third the price.

The question itself feels very off to me. The items you are looking for ARE big ticket items. You need a decent budget for them. What is your total appliance budget, do you absolutely need these size appliances, and drawer dishwashers?

Do not get a package. No manufacturer is good at making every kind of appliance and many of their appliances are just made by another party and they slap their brand on it.

Drawer dishwashers are also now available via the GE Café brand (F&P bought GE appliances division in 2012).

Someone with a 50K want list shouldn’t be worried about breaking the budget. That’s already broken from the beginning, with that keeping up with the Jonses list.

You can get a "nice but without breaking our budget wide open" set of appliances for less than $10K.

• Bosch B36CT80SNS 36 in. 21 cu. ft. Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
• Frigidaire PCFG3670AF 36 Inch Gas Range
• Bosch SHP78CM5N Dishwasher

$4500 +$3500 + $1350 = $9350

But that pedestrian homeowner stuff isn’t what they *want.* They want the $$$$$ ones at lower than consumer grade pricing. Built in fridge columns and a giant range with even bigger hood. All the Insta trappings of the 250K designer kitchen. Rolls Royce stuff at Schwinn bicycle pricing.

“Looking for Column fridge/freezer, 48” gas range and drawer dish washer.”

what is you budget?

what you are looking for will be expensive.

I’m looking to be smart with my budget. Just because I want nice things does it mean we have to pay absurd prices. I’m not going to pay for a name when the name is all I’m paying for. Not knowing much about appliances brands versus what’s good and what’s bad I’m looking for somebody who’s done it before to give me a list of the good the bad and in between.

This is where consumer reports can really help you.

WestCoast Hopeful: "This is where consumer reports can really help you."

CR doesn't test the low-volume appliances such as column refrigerators and 48" ranges that the OP asked about. CR does test dishwashers.

The least-expensive column set is the Frigidaire Sidekick at $5,400 but going with, say, Bosch Benchmark would cost a whopping $14,500.

The lower end G 5000 series Miele dw is around $1k. I can highly recommend it after getting the same recommendation from the Miele service tech for our area. Less bells equals better longevity in his experience. It does a great job cleaning everything.

A SZ frig in the Designer line is good value over the long run. Short life for compressors and control boards is common for lesser frigs

As mentioned, induction is a good range choice.

"I’m looking to be smart with my budget. Just because I want nice things does it mean we have to pay absurd prices. I’m not going to pay for a name when the name is all I’m paying for. Not knowing much about appliances brands versus what’s good and what’s bad I’m looking for somebody who’s done it before to give me a list of the good the bad and in between."

Time to visit independent appliance dealers, which is what I did. I went back three different times and talked to three different sales people.

What I thought I wanted and what I purchased was very diffent.

I knew I wanted "better" appliances because of the scope of our project and the way I cook (constantly and from scratch).

I wanted a commercial style look - seperate columns, 48" range. I was set on Cafe, which would have run about $25-$30,000.

I ended up with seperate Sub-Zero fridge and freezer columns and a 36" dual fuel Wolf range. I can't remember the brand of wine and beverage center. I think we bought a bosch DW. (we went with the sales person's recommendation)

I can't remember the exact price difference but I think I was "over" budget by $5,000-$7,000 because I thought the quality was worth it. I wanted durable (metal shelving in the fridge/freezer) no fancy control panels (already dealt with those going bad) didn't need multi functions on a DW.

I also had the advice of an appliance repair person, whose advice mirrored the appliance dealer.

SZ Designer will cost more than just about any other brand. It's also worth it, because of the customer service and longevity of the units. That's pretty true with anything SZ/Wolf. People don't just buy them because they are expensive and have a "name". They buy them because the company producing them in the US, manufactures quality, and stands behind that quality. They also make it very easy for designers, cabinet makers, and installers to not be bumfuzzled by conflicting specifications for how to make them work with cabinetry. GE, I'm looking at you. Don't forget that at that level of cooking, you will need a 54" 1800 CFM hood, plus a powered and heated Make Up Air system. Plus the fridge and the DW will all need panels. And installs. This is why this all adds up to 40-60K depending on what you choose. (I suggest NOT choosing a Molteni, as that will be heart attack inducing, and more than the 100K worth of cabinets that are the level of the appliances you are choosing.)

>>> Drawer dishwashers are also now available via the GE Café brand (F&P bought GE appliances division in 2012).<<<

Based on a thread on the F&P and Cafe models about three years ago -- see https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6317129/ge-cafe-dish-drawers-are-by-fisher-paykel -- I think Dadoes meant to say that Haier acquired F&P in 2012 and the GE Appliances division (including Cafe) in 2016. Seems like Haier has its brand offerings sharing technology. The GE example I heard about recently was branded as the GE Profile model PDD415PYYFS. The models offered under the Cafe brand, CDD420P2TS1 and CDD420P3TD1, seem to have been on offer for a bit over three years now. Reviews of the Cafe models seem mixed. Too early to get a good read on the GE Profile version.

jwvideo, thanks for filling in the details. Yes, Haier bought F&P in 2012, and Haier bought GE appliances division in 2016, so GE then became linked to F&P. A brain glitch occurred on combining the details in the reply above.

This is a category that you go big or go home. The lower price imported stuff masquerading as ”pro style” is not. It will cause you a lot of downtime regret unless they are just there as a marketing prop to the aspirational lifestyle you really can’t afford. If you use your appliances, they should actually support that use. Not be shiny decorative baubles.

Along the lines of what @KT Builders says, I pushed back hard at the appliance dealer because I wanted the look and function of the pro style appliance but not the price. The second sales person I talked to was clearly frustrated with me and basically said "listen, those are for the people who don't cook but want their kitchen to look like a magazine" Up to that point, I was trying to get him to tell me what I wanted to hear, that option A was as good as option B at a lower price.