- a fridge - e.g. Miele, Bosch, Blomberg
- a Combi oven - e.g. AEG, Miele
- an induction cooktop - e.g. Ikea $1000
- a dishwasher (ask Miele to match their US pricing now that the Cdn. dollar is so high)

Thanks for the suggestions.

I guess I should say that I'm torn between the three options I listed above.

There is the most variability in outcome in cooking appliances. If you're talking about a budget scenario like you have plenty to spend on average appliances and a bonus to spend on one top quality thing, make it the oven. Your choice whether you want it in a range or wall mounted, but a top quality oven, geared toward cooking rather than statistics, is very hard to find.

I don't know about range ovens, but the best wall ovens, so far as I can tell from people's reports, are Gaggenau, Wolf and Electrolux. The last is also more moderately priced.

There are lots of quality cooktops/rangetops/tops of ranges available, the best being induction or gas powered. For that you can figure out your preferred way to cook, assess your personal power needs (do you want a blast-o-burner for restaurant style wok cooking, or a cool induction unit to keep your kitchen cool in the heat of Summer?). You can also probably get a fairly moderate stovetop that has everything you need.

So...what to spend your bonus value on? Just a little better of everything? Or maybe something really special, like a French range. Most likely, you'll find something you really like, not necessarily for any practical reason, that you'll want to throw your bonus amount at. But start by choosing cooking appliance(s) that suit you the very best.

You need to think about the kind of cooking you do, if any. If you are a big time baker/roaster, look at the Gaggenau/Wolf ovens. If you are more into stovetop cooking, then splurge on the cooktop. For instance, in my kitchen, I do a lot of baking and wanted really good ovens, but I do even more stovetop cooking and wanted something with really good power control and lots of power. My final decision was to get Electrolux ovens, which are excellent quality and do a very, very good job at a more moderate price than the Wolf or Gaggenau. My biggest splurge was on the Miele induction cooktop, which is absolutely awesome. The fridge was the least important to me, so I got one that's not built in and terribly fancy, but does the job well, has a lot of room, and looks nice enough. I am happy with my choices and they work very well for the way I operate in my kitchen.

The question of "how should I best spend my money?" is very subjective and requires some serious thought about how you cook, and what features are important to you in your appliances. I hope outlining my thought process in making my own decision helps to get you on your way to make the decision that works right for you.

In addition, before seriously considering a GE Monogram oven, I would do some serious research on this forum for opinions and experiences. There are some here who have had some terrible experiences with that brand.

Good luck with the new house.

Cj

The ones you can see from the living room.

For me, number one thing is a great range. I love big heavy open burners that put fire in your face and will make a wok sing and a pork loin sear so quickly and beautifully that you dare not turn away for fear of burning. My second love is my built-in coffee and espresso machine. Third is the speed oven.

There is NO fancy fridge on the market that I would buy because I am a peasant who loves to get his huge plastic tumbler, walk up to the door and get ice and water dispensed like magic. Subzero and Liebherr and Miele are all too snooty to do me this simple service, so I bought an LG that does it great, keeps the food really fresh anyway, and costs a bunch less.

LG and Samsung make it onto my list too.

BumpyRoadtoHome now is the time when you fill in the missing details about your lifestyle.

I think fori is giving you the best advise.

The kitchen design is both about functionality and about eye appeal. Most often the anchor of the design is the range or range top, usually because the hood draws your eye right to it. If this is the case with your design, spend money on the range (the 30" Wolf DF you mention is a winner) or the range top plus oven.

The fridge you pick should also be influenced by the kitchen design. A free-standing fridge might look awkward in your design and if so, choose a built-in. We went with a Sub, not because we're snooty, but because it looks great (ours is completely integrated), it's quiet, and its ergonomic. There are many great fridges out there, both built-in and free-standing. Decide what looks best with your design (and your budget) and go from there.

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions.

@Davidro1 - The three items that we use the most are the gas burners, fridge & microwave. We have a 12K budget for all appliances.

Here's the layout of our kitchen: (kind of hard to read), but one side has the range in the center, the other side has the fridge near the door to the walk in pantry in the corner.

{{gwi:1409327}}

Where the fridge is located, means it is flanked by a wall on the right. So if you were to buy an integrated or built-in fridge, to really see the difference from a free-standing, we'd need built-ins on the left side.

The style that we want is similar to this..but need to achieve the look for less because we cannot afford a subzero with a 12K budget!

{{gwi:1409328}}

We're now thinking the
- Electrolux Icon Dual Fuel 30" range OR wolf dual fuel range
- Fisher & Paykel counterdepth French Door OR the Bosch/Thermador 36" built-in
- One of the speedcookers
- Bosch dishwasher
- One of the Samsung or LG washer/dryers.

oh and the reason why we're thinking of going with the Wolf Range DF is because here in Canada, it's $6,000. If we were to get the Wolf range-top, it's $4000...so we'd have to find a wall oven that's decent for $2000. Makes money sense to go for the DF range instead of the range-top.

And by the way, Canadians pay way too much for their appliances! I wish I could risk going down to the States to buy my items.

I'm with mojavean on both priorities (although I cannot identify the peasant culture in which people are able to get ice and filtered ice water from the doors of their fridges -- but maybe that's because I'm in the thick of it). With us . . . well, three school-aged kids and no thanks, we don't want them pulling open the fridge and/or freezer and rummaging around every time somebody wants a drink. I guess the other thing about a super-fancy fridge is that there's a big up-charge to get something truly integrated. There's nothing wrong with spending the money if that's a key priority of yours, but I didn't really see the performance advantage.

For me, the range was the key priority, with adequate ventilation for the range. My wife was really keen to get excellent ventilation.

But our choices reflected our priorities -- identify your own and work from there.

Did you look at the Frigidaire all refrigerator and all freezer units? I have not seen them nor do I know anything about their reliability but they would certainly give you the look you are trying to achieve.

I'm still in decision mode myself. We went from going to build to purchasing an already built house that now needs a kitchen remodel on a budget.

Since you are building from scratch, you can "indent" walls or build cabinets/counters that are deeper to make a "normal" fridge appear integrated and save money when the time comes to replace them...and they always need replacing.

Here is the frigidaire I liked and if our current house had not had a fridge in it already, I would have gotten an all fridge and then a chest freezer to put in the laundry.

There is a thread about these units (all fridge/all freezer) you can search to see if anything posted there is worrisome.

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/FPRH19D7LF.html

Here is a link that might be useful: All refrigerator Frigidaire

BumbyRoadtoHome, your inspiration photo is great! Good luck with your project.

I am in Canada too (Vancouver) and just finished helping my brother with his appliances purchases for his house and my own for my condo. $12K budget is very challenging - hopefully this amount does not include tax.

What I did learn shopping for appliances in our area is this:

- there are a lot of appliances that look like what you want (stainless, clean, modern looking) but reliability can be an issue

- the best brands are expensive in Canada (usually between 20% to 40% more than in the US) plus we have to pay 12% tax and discounts are minimal. The retailers here tend to not double up deals - i.e. give you a discount on top of a manufacturer's rebate. It's usually one or the other. Don't bother buying large appliances from the US - there will be service and warranty issues.

- if you want high end appliances, it might be worth it for you to visit some show rooms for demo unit sales or the clearance centres of medium to high-end retailers (you would be amazed at the prices they are selling some of these units...but they might be scratch and dent as well)

- you can get a good deal on the previous year's model. For example, retailers are selling their DCS inventory for the new designs coming in.

- you can typically ask for discounts on Liebherr, DCS, Samung, LG, etc. but not Miele, Wolf, Subzero.

- appliance sales people can do more for you when you buy a bunch of appliances together, but make sure you do your homework on prices so you know if you are truly getting a deal

From your list of appliances:

1) Gas Range - why do you want dual fuel? If you want a good range with high BTU output, you might want to consider Capital and BlueStar. BlueStar sells a lower end unit for under $2K and you can hot rod it per mojavean's instructions (search the forum). If you go for Capital manual clean, it costs $5K and the RNB version of BlueStar is about the same.
You might also want to check out Bertazzoni (I believe also has dual fuel) and DCS.

2) Fridge - Fisher Paykel fridges look great (modern and clean) and you can store a ton of food inside. Biggest issue with this line appears to be random noises (not that there is anything technically wrong) and that the steel dents very easily (either before it gets to you or when you start using it). You might also consider Liebherr or Miele. Built-in = more money, perhaps you should consider free-standing.

3) Speed cooking appliance - you had mentioned wanting one of these. There are only a few available in the market with GE Advantium and Miele Speed Oven dominating discussions. I have never seen the Advantium (couldn't find it). The Miele Speed Oven is superb but will cost you between $2900 to $3900 depending on the model you buy. Make sure you have the proper electrical connections (wattage and amps) to run a speed oven.

Have you considered getting a microwave + a Breville Toaster Oven instead if you had the space?

4) Dishwasher - have you thought about Miele and Kitchen Aid in addition to Bosch? It surprised me that all 3 appliance brands had very similar prices for the mid-range dishwashers with stainless steel inside.

5) Hood - don't forget to add this to your budget!

6) Washer and Dryer - both samsung and LG are good mid-range brands and sales are plentiful. Steam cleaning and drying seems to be the big thing now so you'll get pushed into that direction. You might want to check out the Laundry Forum at GW for more info. Funny enough, the biggest sales for Washer and Dryers happen when new models are about to arrive and Boxing Day (Dec 26).

If you are in Ontario, you might want to check out Miele Unboxed for some really great deals.