dt1234,

Just to address your issue of putting GE in a multi-million dollar home; my sister moved into a new, 2 million dollar home a few years ago in Calif. and all of her appliances are GE Monogram and I think they look great. Good luck.

better looking is VERY subjective and what you like may not please my mother or a future buyer. Are you still playing "property ladder" and putting in something that you think will excite a prospective buyer? If this is you're personal residence, you plan to be there a while, get what you like and feel comfortable with. In my experience with kitchens in $$$$ homes there are 2 camps. 1 - people mentally check off that you have 2 ovens, 2 sinks 2 DW's, multiple fridges and wine/drink storage and they are highline brands or you don't. They don't really adjust their price upward because you have a Wolf or Miele. They usually adjust their price downward if at 2.5 million they see a Kenmore fridge and a White GEneric oven. the 2nd camp comprises the folks that recognize the really nice stuff but aren't really atune to exactly what it is (Gaggenau or Thermador) but can tell it's not Frigidaire - AND they love what you did. The flip side of this group hates that you picked a Thermador range and glazed vanilla cabinets with the Viking fridge. They'll rip it all out, dispose of it on Craigslist, and bring in their own designers to get what they think is good looking.

Bottom line is you don't know which buyer is going to show up! It's all moot if you're going to be there for 10 + years as the stuff will all need remodeling anyway at that time. So, might as well get what YOU like and forget the masses. That said I think the Viking Designer series ovens are very clean looking (though I'm not a fan of them or their products)

http://www.vikingrange.com/consumer/products/category_microcategory.jsp?id=cat30045

Miele's ovens + speed oven is a very clean look too, and has a great company backing them up.

http://www.miele.com/products/benefits.asp?nav=21&cat=3&subcat=7&benefit=17 ***** middle of page ***

Hi, and thanks for the great posts.

Mominthedubc: From what I have seen, 2 million does not go nearly as far in California as it does in Texas. When all said and done, this may cost us mid 3 - 4 million in Texas. Price adjusted, do you still think its okay to go GE Monogram?

antss: I am not so concerned about 'wowing' prospective buyers as much as turning them off [i do not want a 'deal breaker' esp when considering the few homebuyers in that price range]. A home that we know is being built the lady has 4 ovens, and 3 full size fridges and freezers in her kitchen (not counting utility room fridge). I think thats a bit over the top - but apparently she has a large family and a number of get togethers so whatever works for her. This IS our home [and so needs to suit OUR lifestyle] -but at a certain price point, I think it is prudent for a homeowner to also think of it as an investment. I have not heard good things about Viking unfortunately, so I kind of ruled them out a while back. I do, however think the Miele combination is well paired, but it is very modern looking with the touch keypad (the Monogram we were looking at had knobs).

Any more suggestions?

I am not that familiar with the GE Monogram combination but I know concern has been expressed that GE's appliance division may be sold off in the near future if not already.

The Gaggenau equipment looks great and and I have heard great things about their performance. The WOLF "tower" (MW/Oven/WD) combo is very attractive as well but I am not sure how the Wolf MW compares to others. We put in the Wolf oven and warming drawer combo w/o MW because the triple combo had the WD at almost floor level. The only family member voting yes for this option was our little spaniel house dog who had future visions of rack of lamb for dinner instead of Purina One. Anyway, we love the oven and warming drawer both. The oven does a great job on everything, (more functionality than we've had the opportunity to use yet) and so does the WD - very soft heat that keeps things warm and fresh for quite some time.

As for the MW, we did the undercounter Sharp MW drawer. It works great for us but we are not big microwavers... popcorn/defrost/reheat/certain frozen foods and that's about it. We wanted a MW that was out of the way and sort of out of sight so to speak. we had cabinet space to spare and it accomplished exactly what we were looking for. That said, it is, in and of itself, very attactive too. We poisitioned the MW at the far end of the main cooking area near the eat-in bar and exit to the family room so it would be easily accessible for the quick heat and serve items without people having to get in the middle of the main cooking area but it is still very accessible to the main cooking area when needed.

Dt _ I re -read my post and though I did give you the answer you seek, it was too well hidden.

Best to REALLY consider what your timeframe for staying is. If it's 10+ years get what ever you want- it'll be obsolete and out of fashion anyway when you go to sell the place.

If less, better consult a few savy realtors in your area and ask them what is safe for high end appliances. The general standbys today are Viking and Wolf. Thermador was "it" during the 70's & 80's Miele/Gaggenau are impressive but are niche players to the masses. GE Monogram is a tossup. Some people will be imnpressed, just as many will turn up their noses.

Thanks Breezy and Antss.

Breezy, do you happen to have any pictures of what your M/W looks like? I did not think of a drawer M/W. I wonder if I still like the location of the MW above the wall oven, but wonder if I can install a drawer MW there, or panel an existing MW. Is the Sharp a MW convection Oven like the Advantium, or a normal MW? My best bet may be to get a Wolf built in Wall oven to match the range across the island and keep brand consistency, and then to get a MW that I can hide.

Antss: I did catch your point of timeframe the problem is I am not sure. Definitely at least 7-8 years I would think. I have business in Texas and overseas so the possibility of moving overseas is there, but not now. What do you think of concealing the MW?

I will try to take a pic or 2 but look on Sharp's website, its a feature item for them right now (or was). No, I don't think its convection or anything like that. Just a good MW for standard uses. I am not much of a fast cooker type. I never learned how and am old school that slower baking/roasting, in most cases, is better all things considered. That said, I know there are those who can easily prove me wrong. It was only a few years ago I thought digital cameras could never out perform standard emulsion based photography. BOY was I wrong! Anyway, the Wolf wall oven is full convection, and 50 or so other functions I see on the control panel but have yet to use. It sure as h3ll fixes the best batch of corn bread and muffins I ever cooked though! All in all, the Wolf electric oven outperfoms my gas ovens on all breads/cookies/more delicate items etc. Gas ovens seem to cook meat better. That is why I love having both!

dt - Look at Sharp/appliances/microwave drawer. If you look under microwave ovens, they are not there. The drawers have a section all to themselves and the site has some really good pictures of actual placements in varying situations. As to hiding the MW, that's what I did.

Concealing micros is for folks that don't use them much. You have 2 operations in order to use - open the concealing door and then opening the micro door. Kind of like having rollouts behind doors. You have to open the door first, then pullout stuff. Why not just get a drawer? It really boils down to pure astetics. If you like it great, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.