The range (or cooktop and ovens). These will make a difference in how you cook. For the most part, a fridge is a fridge and a DW is a DW.

Depends on your lifestyle. We cook a lot, and have small children. We've been blown away by the convenience of the GE Advantium oven when it comes to quickly preparing foods for our kids. It was worth the splurge.

The other item we've come to depend on is our Miele Optima dishwasher. It has a short cycle (24 minutes) that cleans incredibly well. Again, very convenient when we need to get sippy cups and baby bottles clean but can't wait out a 2hr cycle. And the cutlery tray has made a world of difference.... if you take just a little time to put the same size forks next to each other when you load it, then unloading it and putting them away takes all of two seconds (they are somewhat nested so you just quickly swipe all 12, for ex, with one hand and throw them into the cabinet drawer). Same thing with knives, spoons, etc etc. No more endless sorting when putting these items away. I had no idea when we purchased it how convenient it would turn out to be. The Miele also uses such little water and electricity that you don't mind running it when it isn't full, especially on the short cycle.

We splurged on a lot of high end appliances (Wolf range, SubZero refrig), and these 2 appliances are far and away what we rave about the most. We love all of our choices, but the speed cook oven and Miele dw have really impressed us.

I agree with Weissman: the range/cooktop/oven. If you use the stove a lot, I'd prioritize that over the oven. But with all of these things, you should think about what you are getting for that extra money. Is it a different look, different features, more BTU, a particular brand, etc.?

Agree with weissman. When I started my remodel, I sort of assumed I would just get some appliances- likely Kitchenaid/middle of the road. After reading the wisdom of GW, I realized I needed to prioritize. Love my GE Monogram cooktop, that it has a great power burner, and all burners go all the way to simmer. DH who cooks bread was picky about Thermidor oven (found on clearance at local appliance company) Also love my Advantium, especially with teenagers- brownies, cookies, pizza, etc cook perfectly and quickly. It is easy to get carried away with appliances as I am sure you have seen. After hanging here, another frustration you might find is that you will be teaching the salesmen all the finer details!! Don't stress too much as if you are like most of us, anything you get will be better than what you had!

Im having a hard time with this. I already have my fridge. I have a newer dishwasher that I want to replace with a fully integrated one. that will have to wait because it isnt "necessary" (men! sheesh!).. I do need a stove BUT what I really want isnt in the budget. I am ok using my old stove for a year or so... but will that cause me problems down the line? It is 30 wide - but it is freestanding - if i end up getting a slide in - will that cause problems with my countertop and whatnot?? ugh.

Order of importance (if a range, then 1 and 2 in that order in choosing the range):

1. Oven (main)
2. Cooktop
3. More ovens
4. Refrigeration/freezers
5. Dishwasher
6. Toys: Warming drawer, deep fryer, espresso maker, etc.

joyjoyjoy - if an integrated DW is more important to you than a full-featured range then that's your priority. Nothing on this thread or on this forum for that matter should be taken as gospel - they're just people's individual opinions. If you do replace a free-standing range with a slide-in, you will need a strip of countertop behind the range - some ranges supply this for you but many people have a strip of their granite or whatever back there.

By the way, your sexist comment is uncalled for!

weissman - sorry about that. Is this better... (my tight wad husband! sheesh!) What I will probably end up having to do is buy the dishwasher, install it, and sell the old one when he isn't looking!!!

If you have the 20A circuits, #1Priority, by me, is
1. Induction cooktop. I have read that they can now be had for $1000.
2. Ovens. Two small ones.

then, since it's a budget question:
drawer DW
low-cost all-fridge
chest freezer
inline fan, homemade canopy+vent

hth

Definitely getting the sense that the cooking appliances are the ones to make sure to prioritize with our appliance budget. Thank you for the input. Guess I need to head back to the appliance store and really focus in on the oven and cooktop to make sure we get what we want, and then go back to the other items...boy, this really is a lot of work! At least there are all of you on GW to help along the way:)

Joy, we crossposted earlier.

Since you're willing to spread this out, and since I'm pretty sure you're doing new cabinets as well, I'd prioritize differently. Good cabinets and counters should last decades. Some appliances do as well, but most, especailly in the electronics age, don't. So make your cabinetry such that changing out an appliance is no big deal. Dishwashers and ranges come in pretty standard sizes anyway. Just leave a little wiggle room, rather than making them tight to the specs of exactly what you have. Keep some extra cabinet panelling for making a little filler out of if there are unacceptable gaps in the future.

Since you want an integrated dishwasher, buy the panel now to go with your cabinetry. Use your old one until at least everything else is finished. See if you can get a great deal on a few things that will pay for it.

Choose your number 1, 2, and 3 choice range now, and make sure they all fit. When you're ready to buy, shop again and see what's new. You should find either one of the ones you chose previously, a new version, or a whole new model that fits.

That way, your number one priority is practicality and your marriage, and in the end you get everything you wanted.

Do you cook,bake, or broil more often? Or all three? Prioritze these choices in order of importance to how you cook. That may mean you splurge on a cooktop, or an oven, or both. 2nd ovens are important but not a prioritzed choice. Unless you feel you will use it all the time, then make it a priority.
Although not a priority in the grand scheme of a kitchen, ventilation is an absolute priority during initial planning and should be addressed first, with your cooking options. This is the hardest piece to change after the fact. There is a litany of posts on GW from people asking "Can I do this/Can I do that?" and the common theme is they are all trying to modify their hood to match code, perform better, be quieter, not be so obtrusive and so on after the fact. Address if first and get it out of the way.

Where I may differ from previous respondents is in the DW. If quiet is important to you, purchase accordingly. This applies to your hood also. Some DW's integrate better than others.

Then refer.

Aprince is so right about the ventilation!!! I didn't put it on my list because it's structural, but it's definitely the most important!