Hey, rednecksmama, we should be comparing notes! I also have a small galley kitchen and a relatively low budget. Agonized over appliance selection for some time, but finally pulled the trigger yesterday and ordered everything. (Yay! One more thing crossed off the list!) For a 30" bottom freezer fridge, I was *going* to go with the GE Profile - it seemed the nicest quality. To cut a few hundred dollars, the Maytag seemed good also. If you have 31" and want counter-depth, Fisher & Paykel make a beauty for about the same price as the GE Profile. (I didn't have the extra inch!) When it came down to it, though, I went for the Frigidaire Professional top freezer. I'm used to a top freezer, was afraid the bottom freezer drawer would seem too clunky, plus the Frigidaire was half the price of the GE Profile (and is still quite a nice refrigerator!). I bought a gas range, so can't help you with electric, but brand-wise I decided on GE over Frigidaire. The Frigidaire I was considering would have given me a lot more features for the money (convection, 5th burner), but that actually worried me that they would have cut on quality to shove all that extra stuff in. (And the cheaper Frigidaire range without the fancy features didn't have SS handles, which was a deal-breaker for me. ;-)) I also got a fairly simple GE OTR microwave to go with the GE stove. Heard not-great things about Frigidaire microwave noisiness and reliability. If I'd had room for a 24" dishwasher, I was going to go with KitchenAid. Seems to be great quality and features, only a little bit of a splurge. The Sears web site is great for looking at user reviews of appliances, btw. They have a good comparison engine, too. I had decided not to consider Kenmore appliances since I've heard complaints about Sears' repair dept. I think your budget is perfectly reasonable.

Jrueter, my fridge and ovens are arranged exactly as your plan. And what a timely question since the ice maker on my 4 ½ yo 36” KitchenAid SxS CD was replaced today. I didn’t pay enough attention to the selection of a refrigerator during my remodel. I was working 55 hrs/week at a start-up at the time and didn’t devote much time to the search. I originally wanted to keep my previous refrigerator… it had a drop-down “deli shelf” that meant drinks could be removed without opening the door. Cavernous interior. But I allowed our GC to talk me into a CD model so it would present a sleek profile with the rest of the kitchen. We were moving walls and I should have opted for a recess into the adjacent room where I could have built bookcases around it. Oh, well, he was a great GC (good friend of DH) and highly recommended the KitchenAid CD refrigerator… had the same one in his own home. I finished my kitchen in 2005 and have hated the fridge ever since. Let me count the ways: *Fridge shelves are necessarily narrow due to the SxS design. Constantly shuffling things around to accommodate any large item. *All interior space is cut into little chunks, especially in the freezer. *One door shelf is actually only 1 3/8” deep and 8” from the floor. Deep knee bend required and the only thing I have found to store there is butter. Not exactly a bad thing, I suppose, if I remember to look there. Very limited possibilities with shelf adjustment since everything has to mesh with the door shelves. *Freezer is 13” wide. And only 9.5” deep on one shelf. I have to think twice about buying frozen anything or storing a load of chicken stock. *Ice maker frequently spits out the last cube onto my wood floor, but I think this is common with all ice-on-the-door styles. *Ice maker died over 4th of July weekend… replaced today for $245. That’s 4.5 years of service prior to its death. I do like the three bins at the bottom of the freezer. They hold a lot and glide well and it’s easy to sort items for finding them later. I see you have 42" devoted to the refrigerator. Maybe you'll avoid the negatives I have experienced. Our kids are grown and only DH and I have to contend with this refrigerator. Otherwise I would have admitted my mistake, returned or sold it and replaced it with something else within a few months of purchase. I didn't give a second thought to the oven door handle matching the fridge's. I chose a side-swing oven door and LOVE that. To address your interest in the French door freezer-on-bottom style �" if you don’t choose ice-on-the-door you will need to pull out a heavy drawer to get to the ice that is toward the back of that drawer. An LG I looked at had another shelf that had to be slid back to access the ice. Way to complicated for an ice cube. I am into the ice all day and don’t want to do that. Guess I am hard to please! But you said you were into the ice all day… think about getting ice from below knee level each time. I am over 60 and this was not a good option for me. I see you have 42" devoted to the refrigerator. Maybe you'll avoid the negatives I have experienced. Since DH plays golf frequently with the GC, I get to rib him about the fridge all the time. Small satisfaction there. Live and learn. Here is a link that might be useful: Ovens adjacent to fridge

The difference between closed and open burners actually has to do with cleaning. The closed have a more or less continuous top that traps stuff -- you pick up the grates and the burner ring and clean way. Open burners have a tray below the burner assembly that slides out -- stuff falls through and you pull the tray out to clean. The difference in performance has to do with the way the burners are shaped, how many individual gas jets are in them, and the btu output and how efficiently the gas delivery system works. The open burner marketers would have you believe (and state it as fact) that sealed are inferior or less powerful but that's not true. It depends on the stove. Also, the grate style is very important and often overlooked. For me, it's far more important to have burners that adjust well high to low -- i.e. control. The appliance cowboys like the high-powered ranges (Blue Star and the new Capital which isn't off the assembly line yet.) These have upwards of 20,000 btus. Wolf's higest is 16 or 17000 It depends on how you cook and what you want in a stove. But there are many, many more choices than Wolf, Blue Star and Capital. There is the AGA Pro with dual fuel -- the largest electric oven on the market at an all-gas price. There is American Range which owners love. Then there is Viking, Dacor, Thermador and GE Monogram gas ranges and the Euro brands with a different styling plus more conventional Bosch and Electrolux. The appliance forum favors open ranges and heaven help someone who doesn't want more power. That's fine if you're a hobby cook or there's no Chinese take out within 50 miles but it's really not essential. It's also wise to check out the reputation on certain brands as some are notoriously repair prone with problematic service. Researching and understanding all the variations and brands is like getting a Masters if you go all out. But some people just want a nice stove.

I did a lot of research before purchasing and ended up with the list below. I was also able to find all of them on sale or with a big discount. Each appliance got great reviews. Some lack bells a whistles, like the fridge that doesn't have a water or ice dispenser just ice in the freezer but they all have been very enjoyable to use so far. Most importantly they do their jobs well. The washer and dryer are under a counter and fit well. Electrolux was my first choice in that department but they were a little deeper than I wanted. Range - Samsung Slide-In Gas Range with True Convection - NX58H9500WS Venthood - Xtreme Air UL14-U36 Refrigerator - LG Large Capacity Bottom Freezer Refrigerator with Ice Maker - LDC24370ST Dishwasher - Bosch 500 Series 44-Decibel Built-In Dishwasher - SHP65T55UC Washer - Frigidaire 3.8 Cu.Ft. Front Load Washer featuring Ready Steam FFFS5115PW Dryer - Frigidaire 7.0 Cu.Ft Electric Dryer featuring Ready Steam FFSE5115PW Microwave Panasonic