Slate is a painted finish vs. being just the integral metal of the stainless. I also find it flat in appearance. Due to GE's past history of discontinuing a close to slate color finish that they did for one retailer, I would be leery of ever finding longevity with the choice. Appliance lifespans are much shorter these days. When you have to replace that 7 year old refrigerator, I will bet that stainless, white, and black, are still available. Some form of bisque/ivory is likely to be as well, but that's been much more sporadic and never really matches well. I would not take bets on slate being available beyond a year or two. The rainy day all things gray look is close to saturation.

We just purchased all new appliances for our new kitchen and I was considering the black stainless. However, the sales guy advised me against it for all the reasons listed above. He explained how the "finish" is really just a film over stainless steel and showed an example of how it scratches on a floor model. It was enough to steer me away and go for the more traditional stainless. I have had the fridge for about 6 months and it cleans up really well with little to no fingerprint marks. The microwave, dishwasher and stove are being delivered on Saturday. All of my appliances for the past 9 years have been Whirlpool and I have been pretty happy with them.

Thank you all for your comments. hollybar, I wanted to powder coat the stove because I think a mint green stove would look cute in a 1950s kitchen, and because it's not very expensive. I hope that my current tenants (who have lived there for less than a month) enjoy living in the house and stay for several years. My husband wasn't very excited about mint green, and it sounds like nobody here is either, so I'll probably stick with the more universally appealing white. I hadn't considered burn marks, but the tables were a DIY project meant to last 5-10 years until we get around to changing the window and adding cabinets on that side of the kitchen. The hickory for the butcher block tops only cost $50, and hopefully I can turn them over or plane them between tenants if they are burnt. I agree with you that table height looks wrong next to the window, but it's done now and there is no way my husband could be prevailed upon to change it!

OK I have been there and I can relate. So take my advice in the spirit in which it's intended, which is kind. Get over it and embrace stainless for the neutral material that it is. Honestly. I belabored it and put off replacing appliances, or insisted on white, only to realize it's no big deal. Get good looking stainless and you will forget about it in no time, I promise you! The thing with white is that it's not going to match your other whites anyway. And even if it does, guess what--it's going to change in a few years and you'll be like me staring at white cabinets next to a white dishwasher and wondering in my head "which one of you discolored?" The SS bothered me at first, especially fingerprints. But if you choose attractive ones, I almost guarantee you'll be happier than if you went through all the trouble to go with white. Panels are nice, if you can afford them, but really the lower-end brands that advertise "panel ready" products are disappointing at best. A cabinetmaker that I know tells me they're simply not designed for a good-looking panel installation. Share some pics of what you've got, and maybe people can help you out. In a small kitchen, I'd choose appliances (especially the fridge) with the fewest bells and whistles on the surface. Ice dispensers and curved fronts are really distracting. Go for low-profile, streamlined stainless and you'll be surprised how much it just disappears. I do totally understand your dilemma, but I think you'll be just fine ;-)