I checked out applianceadvisor.com. I like the site. First my off topic comment: Why is this site discussing personal information? From this site under October 2007 news I see that Frank Dragone bought a new car. Oh that's just great. Poor Neil Gooler postponed his wedding until November NEXT year...I guess he has issues. I wonder what they are? Hmm what's the skinny...what's the dirt? Is something wrong with this woman? Is something wrong with him? Is he a slob? Is she a slob? Are they fighting? In-law problems already? I wonder if he will ever get married at all? None of this is any of my business and makes me and perhaps others think the thoughts I expressed above, and I would really be beyond upset if I found my personal business blasted all over the global Internet like this. The dishwasher advisory was informative and funny. I was am interested in the advice not to do rinse/holds. This is funny because I never pre rinse, and sometimes hold the dishes 2 or 3 days if I don't have a load. Yeah the insides smelled if you opened the door, but that is always cleared up after the cycle. Recently I started doing rinse/holds and found that it caused the cycle time on my DW's sensor cycle to decrease. Water changes were skipped, after rinse times reduced, and low wash temperatures where used. One wash period only lasted 19 minutes so I thought all of this was good. The information doesn't say why they say not to do rinse/ holds, so why do you think this recommendation was made?

I have the KA French door with no water or ice on door as we just didn't ever use it and on our last ancient fridge it was the first thing to break although after many years. I don't mind going into the drawer for the ice at all because they provide a nice scoop and you can just quickly scoop a big amount of ice and be done with it. There is ice water spout inside the fridge on the side wall. I didn't want to sacrifice fridge space to have it on the door but everyone has different needs and wants. I have been happy with my KA and have had it for about two years plus. It's stainless and once I got the hang of how to keep it looking good I love it. I have stayed in condos on vacation that have all GE and I was very impressed with the appliances. The dishwashers did a great job and I liked the washer and dryer so much I sold my Bravos Maytag set that I loathed and got a GE front load that I love : ) My sister did a huge kitchen reno and has the GE ovens and she is happy with them. I have to tell you there really isn't that much difference in appliances unless you get up in the stratosphere of price and even then they all keep food cold, freeze ice, cook food. If you have a limited budget just stay in a price range that works for you and don't get too caught up in worrying about this that and the other thing. I admire you for trying to keep it in the 3K range but I don't see how you are going to be able to do that with the number of appliances you need and the brands you are looking at. I am wishing you all the best and absolutely YES I would say that the counter depth is definitely worth it. It made such a difference in my kitchen with not sticking out in the pathway and gave us so much more room and utility. We have a small fridge in the basement for overflow and still since our family is small I have plenty of room. Sometimes the freezer can be a problem but with the extra space in the other fridge it's workable.

Don't worry about mixing appliances from different manufacturers. It's not something noticeable when the project is done. Choose appliances that have the features you want (and don't have the features you don't need); have control panels that are easy to use; and are well organized for how you plan to use them. When I was shopping for refrigerators and dishwashers we noticed there are a lot of variations in how interior space is partitioned and several appliances we thought were strong contenders were crossed off the list because the interior spaces weren't well laid out.

Armchair experts shouldn’t pontificate on industry practices that they really don’t know anything about. We in the industry know about shipping cabinets, and what does, and does not work. Individual shipping for doors or other parts had a very very high damage incidence since 2020 and the labor shortage issue. This is why the majority of major cabinet companies have ceased to do that in 2021. Cabinet company logistics have trucks traveling all over the country with full orders, and that’s how those parts orders also arrive. Via cabinet company freight, to the dealer’s address. Not Ground. Not LTL. Nothing careless 3rd party. I still have ”lost” items from 5 different replacement orders that we’re still fighting for credit about. That's not the damaged ones. That’s WAY more. A ”white paint” is not a white paint is not a white paint. Even ”the same” color, in a different gallon, from the same tint machine, in the same order, will be slightly different. It’s why pros box their paint. Because if you don’t, you have to change gallons in a corner instead of the middle of the wall, where you will see the subtle differences in ”the same” paint. All pros know this. It is a fact. Multiply that difference by the completely different chemistries in different coating types, and different sources, and different ages. Ordering anything already finished, even if it is from ”the same” manufacturer as the original cabinets, WILL NOT MATCH. Not unless the cabinet installation is still very young in age, and hasn’t had time for light and dirt and wear to change it. This is why touch up paint you have in the closet doesn’t match the walls when you try to patch and paint the holes before you move. And you have to paint the whole wall. What's the cure for things not matching? Accepting a patchwork quilt of different whites. Or having it all recoated by a cabinet refinishing professional, so it all matches.