I am bored at work as you may be able to tell...My husband and I are avid House Hunters fans. We are amazed at how pretty much every episode sets up stainless steel appliances in the kitchen as superior. It's like the producers have told the people on the show "Make sure you oooooh and aaaaaah over the stainless steel appliances!" Are we the only people in American who don't care that much for stainless steel? When we redid our kitchen, there was about a $100 premium attached to stainless steel vs. black, which is what we got. Attention House Hunters: No matter what the finish, the oven will still cook things and the fridge will still keep them cold!
Stainless steel : Love it or leave it?
Thanks all for your opinons. Glad to know we are not alone! And thanks to Riley for letting me know that expensive appliances may be nicer than cheap ones. I had no idea.
LOVE it. When it's kept clean, I think it makes everything look so...well, clean! But, we're a techie household so we have lots of stainless steel/aluminum/nickel type stuff around anyway. :)
To most people, me included, the stainless just looks better. But you have to have what looks good to YOU so if you don't like it don't get it. I also have to strongly disagree with this as a fad-I believe that it will be timeless and classic.
The only reason I would opt for stainless is resale value of the house. Potential buyers may choose one house over another because they get to say - and it has all stainless steel appliances.
We have all ss appliances... I HATE them. Do they look pretty when I clean them, sure. But they never stay that way! They always have fingerprints and dog nose prints all over them! I prefer black much more. They only reason we got ss was for resale value.
I think it's useful, but there are no stainless steel appliances in my kitchen.
What's very likely to happen is that stainless will become dated in a decade or so.They'll call it the 'millennial look' and it will be to the future as avocado green and harvest gold are to the present. Dated, retro, and either embraced or reviled as 'fashion'. I agree-- I care more about the quality of the appliance than what it looks like.
Wouldn't mind a few more stainless steel pans in the kitchen however. That's where I find it most useful.
And you know what I really want? An old vintage fridge, like a Norge or something. I just love old stuff.
Love it! Just looks more upscale.
I'm not a fan of stainless refrigerators, so we always go with black. Our other appliances are stainless though. They look the nicest and if you may possibly sell your home in the near future, stainless appliances are a big selling point. The only ones I like better are the insanely expensive retro porcelain colors, but they cost thousands!
Timeless and classic...I so miss ours! When we moved we left all stainless in the house...except our fridge! Still love that fridge!
We re-did our kitchen a couple of years ago and went the granite/stainless route (island is different color than the wall cabinets - also another trend). I love the look of stainless but it can be a pain to keep finger-print and streak free.
I'm not a fan of black appliances, and white *can* date a kitchen, though I think white is coming back a bit.
Maybe we'll go back to the "eggshell" or green of the 70's. :P
Leave it. They are beautiful when they're fingerprint/smudge free. My parents have all SS and they drive my mom nuts trying to keep clean. Big downer in my book. I have all black, and that's hard enough. Like someone else said, they're the rage now, and do add value to your home, but they will peak out and people will go back to the classics of white and black. Just like brass did about 8 years ago. It's out now, but I just read on a design blog that it's coming back now and brushed nickel and chrome are out. Guess it keeps things interesting...
Well as someone who still to this day has avacado green flooring and a harvest gold stove in my kitchen, I'm not in a place to judge :-) Our other appliances are white, but they're all between 15 and 30 years old and came with the house.
If we were to replace them, I like the look of stainless steel but everyone I know says it's a pain to clean so I don't know what we would get.
I like SS and have it. But I too get annoyed by those people. Are they really going to say no to an awesome house just because of the appliance finishes? It's the same as when they turn their noses up at paint colors. Painting is not that difficult! Though I think that's half the reason I'm addicted to that show.
I keep waiting for SS to go the way of avocado and biscuit. I know it's gonna happen! Mark my words!
I HATE MY STAINLESS STEEL FRIDGY!!!!!!! Yes I am screaming that from the top of my lungs.
It is not magnetic, so in every other house I was able to keep permission slips and important messages on the fridge, no more. And it does NOT have the room my fridge is NC had.
The surface is hard to keep clean, as are the dishwasher's and microwave's.
I also have a flattop stove which I hate. Give me gas anyday!! haha That doesn't sound too good does it?
Leave it. A friend got stainless for this exact reason: it was the thing to do. She hates it. Every mark shows up and she wipes them down throughout the day. My husband once helped out a friend of his delivering appliances. Those things are h-e-a-v-y! Personally, I think black appliances or the ones that are woodgrain finished look awesome, clean cut. Stainless steel reminds me of the lunchroom kitchen from grammar school.
Leave it. The look of stainless is cold and unlived in for me. When it finally goes out, I don't want to be stuck with someone else's great idea of what looks fab. Then again I am not terribly worried about resale since we have no intention of moving any time soon (the mere thought makes my stomach hurt because we love, love our house) and furthermore, my husband installed a set of turquoise blue appliances (stove, oven, sink) from the fifties in our kitchen. I *heart* my funky appliances and they get the job done.
Take it OR leave it. We currently have all black. I guess it really depends on what matches the way the kitchen is designed. Colors, finishes etc.
I don't dislike stainless, but black seems more classic.
I don't think they are anything special. I think if a kitchen has matching newer appliances that is fine. I do think if a home is extremely valuable then that would be one of the things that would be expected.
Overrated! We just got a SS stove and dishwasher and I love the look but hate trying to keep them clean. Our black fridge on the other hand always looks clean. We have little ones so the finger prints on the SS are non-stop. I don't think SS will go the way of avocado. SS seems more of a neutral to me. Although my Mom had a Harvest Gold stove from the 70's that kept cookin' for 40 years. I guess one advantage to things being made cheaply these days is that it'll probably break before it goes out of style!
We did a major downstairs remodel last year, including the entire kitchen.
The SS appliances were installed last May, so they've not even been in a full year, and already there are scratches on some of the surfaces.
While they do look nice when they are polished, they only stay that way for a brief time. As soon as the kids and my husband get home and start opening the refrigerator or heating anything in the oven, there are prints everywhere. Similar thing with the dishwasher.
Why they're called "Stainless," is a mystery to me. The very bottom of my refrigerator has some stains, probably from ice falling when we use the ice maker, and no matter what I do, I cannot make them fully disappear.
Bottom line, unless you absolutely love SS or feel you need it for resale (if you're intending to sell), stick with what you love!
I loved stainless before it was fashionable..WAY before. Its an industrial/contemporary look to me and I have always preferred that above all else. When I was still young, and dreamed of an industrial loft space as my ideal home, thats what would be in it (big dreams for suburban lower middle class MN girl...LOL). To me its a streamlined look ideal.
I now have a stainless and black oven, a stainless microwave and dishwasher (all new in the last 18 mos and inepxensive as per my budget). Our refrig is a stainless look, but only the finish as magnets do stick to it. Magic! But we hate it (its a side by side and just does not suit us anylonger..we got it second hand at an outlet store years ago when our previous fridge died suddenly...it was in our budget and readily available).
I even added a stainless top to my IKEA butcher block freestanding center island and hubby has a 12 foot long stainless counter top in the garage. We love stainless! LOL But it is not for everyone. I know my in laws HATE the looks in our home. Not just the SS (we have tubular black metal horizontal railings we made ourselves, with simple wood banisters...no fancy scrolled wood, etc...we had to make those too...and my MIL always seems to have her nose curled up when she sees changes we have made...LOL!)
To each his own! Actually makes me mad that its so normal now. We are always ahead of our time. LOL! ;-)
"Epitome of awesomeness!"
I love stainless steel appliances. I used to work at a restaurant with all stainless steel. The cleaning agent they purchased from Lowe's was awesome to get everything all shiny. I even had a customer right after the lunch rush comment on how clean everything was.."scarey clean" were his exact words...lol.
I am not big on SS appliances. I prefer black. But I do have a small thing for granite counter tops (not a deal-breaker though).
When I design my kitchen, all appliances, counter tops, paints will follow the design I have in mind. The kitchen design will not revolve around SS appliances.
I personally love them. I think it makes them look less appliance like and WAY more appealing.
Granted usually have water stains dripping down them, but when I do clean them they look awesome. I think it makes a HUGE difference.
Leave it. I used to work in this large restaurant and all day my boss would tell me to clean those things cause they kept getting dirty. I hated it! They are such a pain to keep clean, and with kids it clearly isn't going to stay clean!
I prefer black, I think it looks nicer and I'm just not into the look of SS. My husband on the other hand... Lol, that will be interesting when we need to get new appliances.
when we redid our kitchen I refused to get stainless steel. I worked in a hospital coffee shop with stainless everything including the countertops. Impossible to keep looking clean. I spent LOTS of time polishing. Besides I really don't like the look anyway. Too institutional.
I LOVE my stainless kitchen. Mostly I LOVE my stainless steel counter. It is original to the house (1953) and we kept it when we renovated. It has a bit of a patina, you can put hot pots on it and it is gorgeous. I love my oven but mostly because it has an incredible broiler and the range has 6 LARGE burners. It only came in stainless and that was fine. I don't like the fingerprints that show on the refrigerator and dishwasher but I hear they have fixed this problem in newer models. I do LOVE that my refrigerator is NOT magnetic. Hence, it is not cluttered up with all sorts of things stuck on magnets.
The rest of the kitchen is wood, so I do not think it looks cold or clinical in any way. I personally cannot stand granite countertops (at least the polished ones - I could live with the honed ones but I don't prefer them)
We gutted and remodeled our kitchen a little over a year ago and this was a major battle between my husband and I. Ultimately, I won and we got black. We had a stainless fridge before the remodel and I HATED all the finger prints and smudges. I am very happy with black and would choose it over again.
we are renting and have s.s. I think it looks nice, but it's not a big deal to me. Before we had white and I also thought it looked very nice. S.S. for us, shows every single finger print, smudge, streak, and water marks. I am constantly having to wipe them down so they look clean.
I got Clean-Steel appliances. Look like stainless but does not show finger prints. I like the way it looks. It blends in. I felt in my kitchen white would
have stood out.
It cooks the same UNLESS it's Viking, CommGrade, or custom vintage...and then you're cooking with a Lotus/Ferrari/etc. instead of with a Ford Taurus.
The finish is emulating appliances that in general cost 5x-10x as much as.
It's also not a color choice like avocado or beige which dates a kitchen... because SS appliances have been around since one chucked coal into them to make them function.
The new house came with stainless steel appliances.
They show everything and I'm constantly wiping them down.
I'd be happier with black but we don't replace things until they need to be replaced and the major appliances should be good for another 10 or so years.
I love the sleek look of stainless. I am too cheap to replace my white refridge since it still works but, but if it goes out right now, I won't be sad. I can then buy stainless!
Leave it. My first introduction to stainless steel appliances was at my sister's house. They had tile on the floor and all stainless steal appliances. It seemed so cold - not welcoming at all.
Since then, my impression has not changed. Besides being cold, it also shows fingerprints like crazy.
We also redid our kitchen a couple of years ago and did not go with stainless steel. We have white and I love it!
Well, most of what you're seeing isn't probably stainless steel. True stainless steel is quite expensive. Most people have what the industry calls Clean Steel (I think). That's what we have. It's just a little more expensive than black. Easy way to tell the difference...magnets stick to clean steel and not stainless steel. Personally, I think white looks cheap and black is too dark. I prefer it!
I like black, personally.
The #1 thing that irritates me on House Hunters, is the obsession with granite counter tops. There are people where that's a deal breaker for the house!!! I think granite is so overrated, and rarely do I think it looks pretty. (Just a personal opinion.) There are so many awesome types of counter tops out there, and on top of that they could just replace the freaking thing with granite!! Oh, and paint. They aren't buying the paint color, they are buying the house!!
We have stainless steel appliances (dishwasher and fridge) in the kitchen now because they came with the house when we bought it. When the time comes to replace them, unless I get a really good deal, I will not get stainless steel again. Every mark, drip, and streak shows up, no matter what we use to clean them. If the choice is stainless or black, I would go with the black in the coating that hides fingerprints every time (my 2nd fridge and my freezer have this, but are white). Even regular black (my gas oven/stove, and both microwaves) would be easier to keep looking clean than stainless steel.
I think it's overrated personally. I love my white appliances. I hate the people (read: women) on that show who act like not having stainless steel appliances is a total deal breaker!
Stainless Steel = finger prints!
My patents had a stainless steel refrig and freezer in the early '60's thinking it would be easier to keep clean. But every finger print showed up like a neon light on a very dark night. And we had to clean them by wiping with the grain or they scratched.
