"Our friends have a Kitchen Aid counter depth S X S and love it . LG and Kenmore are the same...LG makes the Kenmore... LG is not American made and it may be hard to get parts if they break...you will have to wait longer. Although Kenmore is made by them you can get those parts sooner. That is what Sears told us" ============================================================== Pretty much every body makes something for Sears. Our Refrigerator is definitely made by Samsung though. It says it right on the model # sticker, made in Korea and the model # starts with "401" which means made by Samsung. Up until this year it used to mean just a Microwave made by Samsung but now they also make Ref. Also just for the sake of saying so "Kichenaid" is made by "Whirlpool". In fact if its an American Made appliance you want then you basically have 2 main choices, either Whirlpool or GE, and I think most Viking stoves are still made in Miss. but many of their Refs, DW and MW are made elsewhere. Whirlpool makes basically everything because they have bought out several other companies. I know they own Admiral, Amana, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef, Maytag and Kichenaid and probably a few others. So when you buy that Kichenaid you are actually buying a Whirlpool. That isn't a bad thing though because if you look at and believe Consumer Reports whirlpool is usually one of if not THE most reliable brand for several appliances. On the flip side though GE is usually one of the worst. Samsung is usually right in the middle or in the top 3 for reliability. I bet there are probably about 25-30 "brands" of appliances out there and all are being made solely are at least in part by about 5-6 actual manufacturers. Most American brands have been bought up and monopolized by Whirlpool. http://www.appliance411.com/purchase/sears.shtml

Thanks, dennisgli. Glad to hear from a happy F-P person. I haven't been able to see the model you have, or the one that replaced it. It doesn't seem to have a FD option any more, which is livable for us. The one in the appliance shop is just a titch bigger, which is actually a downside for us as we want to keep things as low profile as we can. I was impressed with the amount of fridge space, though. Particularly on the door... There were a few GW threads talking about both the freezer and the fridge not being able to get cold enough that scared me off of F-P when we were prepared to purchase. Now, I am rethinking it again and will do more research (ugh). ahoyhere - what people talk about on-line, and it resonates for me, is that when short people with a small arm research (or bad backs) try to bend into freezer drawers and pull large things out of the bottom, it can be difficult (or painful). This resonates with me, as someone with a short reach and bad back. In those cases, it is actually easier to open a bottom door and have full access via squating than having to bend over and reach down and in. I totally get your loathing of squating for the crisper drawers and we are sold on a bottom freezer for that reason. Surely we access the freezer less than the fridge. However, it doesn't negate the point that proper back mechanics (which matter to those of us with back pain) involve using the knees (squatting) versus bending over and using back muscles to lift ourselves and items up. Your Pininterest page is a lot of fun. Appliance eye candy, which I couldn't appreciate until this remodel. I took some repins for my own underused pininterest page. Thank you! By the way, we have one of those single induction burners that we purchased to use during the remodel - it sold us on getting an induction range. Just LOVE it. Ginny20 - I have no idea about whether Samsung's ice maker/water can be shut off. And I really, really do not want water on the door. I'm not loving that the Samsung CD sticks out so far past the cabinets, either. And, apparently the service and repair issues are nightmarish up here in Alaska. The appliance repair folks who used to repair them have dropped them because it is just so bad to work with them. I really don't want to treat a major appliance like a disposable item, which is basically what I'd have to do with Samsung. Take my chances that I get a good one - be prepared to take it to the dump if it breaks... I went out again and did the rounds. Fell in love with the Liebherr's looks again, as I do every time I see it. For sure, it would look the best. It's the thinnest, narrowest and most integrated look. It's also freaking pricey...and the freezer storage seems pretty slim. Thanks for the feedback, folks. I'm still not sure where this boat is going to land.

We moved into our tract house in 1984 when my oldest was 6 months old. Two more by 1988. Daughter was involved in a very expensive sport (figure skating--don't do it!) I was an at home mom for 12 years then went back part time for 8 years (which basically paid for skating)so no $$ to do much with the house. Went full time when daughter (#2) started college. Paid for 3 kids' college and FINALLY have some $$ to remodel. I've lived with builder grade junk for 27 years! I "updated" the kitchen 14 years ago....painted the dark oak cabinets white, "new" white formica counters (lovely!) off the shelf at HD, new white appliances and Pergo floor. Well, after 14 years cabinets can't be wiped clean anymore and floor is splitting at seams. I couldnt stand it anymore! We started with hall bath 3 years ago, last year had master bath redone...we painted all the bedrooms and got new bedding, etc.. This year it is the main floor starting with kitchen....we are in week 3 of remodel. Next is new furniture for other rooms, hardwood in LR/DR (bye blue carpet!)update fireplace, etc...Down the road...new deck(it's 27 years old too) and landscaping in the back and spruce up basement-paint and new carpet at the very least. Don't want debt, so are paying as we go along, but sometimes I wish we had taken out a loan/home eq and done it sooner. I waited a long time for all of this and DH take is "she gets whatever she wants." Hardest decision for me by far was counter...I liked quartz and granite equally and my shopping every stone yard and tile shop in the area before deciding held up the the project at least 2 months. So I would say do all your shopping/researching for cabs, counters, appliances in advance of signing any contract, at least enough to know what's out there and what appeals to you..then let a designer/contractor help with final decisions. Doggroomer---do fill us in on online auctions..how do they work? How would someone find them in their area? Thanks!

Windows on Washington, Thanks for your comments. I've had replacement window Reps in my home who offer Lifetime warranties on their windows, Reading through Angie's List in my area there seems to be many complaints from customers who can't get the company who sold them the windows to honor the warranty or they make the process so difficult customers give up. Nor can some customers get the manufacturing company to send a rep to access the problem. More attention is paid to the selling side than honoring the warranty side after they're installed. And the older the replacement window...the harder it seems to get some companies to come out to inspect it or they come out and find a reason to not replace the replacement. I've read quite a bit of that on Angie's List for my area and online even for companies like Marvin which surprised me. The replacement window companies would have fewer complaints if their Lifetime Warranty side of the business was just as eager to honor the warranties as the sales side is to sell the windows. In addition, the online complaints never disappear. So, even if/when a window company cleans up it's act and starts addressing their Lifetime Warranty promise new prospective customers will run into those negative reviews which cast a bad light on some companies. Marvin seems to have a lot of complaints. We love our house. Our goal is to age in place for as possible. We don't want to go through replacing the replacements! Experts say, vinyl does not last like wood and it will need to be replaced 7 to 10 yrs, or if you're very lucky you may get 15 yrs useage on some of them. I know people who've replaced vinyl windows after 10 yrs due to the clouding problem which they experienced on too many windows. Maybe the reputation of replacing the replacements for various reasons is why some vinyl companies offer the Lifetime Warranty. We have spent countless hours doing the pros and cons. Our biggest concern is our huge cottage picture window and 2 matching large companion windows on each side of the pic window in front of the house. The picture window takes up almost an entire wall in our livingroom. The light is wonderful especially in the winter, it's a southern exposure all day with no obstructions. We use to have trees but they're gone so, we can see why they built the these big windows across the front in '63, all 3 had shade from 2 trees. We also want to replace the small single pane wood grid windows on all with a no grid double pane large window that is designed for full sun on the picture and the 2 companion windows with a double hung double pane with grids only on the top window. All the local window companies are only as good as the sales team, installations team and fulfilling the warranties especially, in a timely manner. Failing to do so in any of those 3 areas means I'd be less likely to buy windows from them.