i have a whirlpool DW and can't recommend them at all. we needed a temporary DW until our build is finished so we didn't want to spend a lot of money. the idea was to use it later in the basement or after (what we call) "phase II" is completed: pool and pool house. after having used it for the last two years the only place we see it going is the trash. barely cleans and the build quality is just plain poor. rather than select by looks, go over to the appliance boards and do a little research over there. imo, the whirlpool is cheap ...for a reason.

yes, won't finalize brand until we do some research, but I am wondering about the *mixing* finishes, which seems to be taboo for so many people...since we already have the SS fridge but you may get more bang for the buck with non SS appliances.

FWIW, you can get the LG convection range for $899 at best buy and sometimes for less when they have a sale, but you'd still have the problem of the dark+stainless finish.

If the budget is *really* tight, I'd also take a door and compare it to some white appliances, since they're usually a little cheaper than bisque.

Whirlpool makes horrible dishwashers. I speak from experience, here. You'd be better off with a used one off e-bay or something. In fact, I think you could probably get good e-bay deals on on the appliances, and get better ones than what you're looking at.

Bisque I think could hurt resale later--it seems kind of dated to me, and it's hard to get bisque to match other bisques. So I guess my vote is e-bay stainless.

Since you already have the fridge I would keep the rest of the appliances stainless. The bisque might be off from the cabinets, it's hard to match. And I agree that it looks dated.

First off - all my stainless appliances are different brands (ovens, rangetop, dw, fridge, hood) and the very slight difference in finish isn't noticeable, so I wouldn't worry about not matching brands. I do think it is best to stick w/ all stainless (if possible) especially with white/cream cabs - those can be hard to match to bisque or white appliances.
My Bosch dw in stainless is their low end and was about $550 (w/rebate) and it works quite well so I'd recommend it.

Have you checked real estate comps in her new neighborhood? Where I live it seems virtually everyone has all black appliances. It's like the black appliance center of the universe! I happen to feel black and stainless mix okay. But white whould be all white because it's more like a cottage/beach look?

In the area where my husband has been suggesting we move (which does happen to be close to the shore but in another state) I'm finding in my same price range most of the houses have white appliances. It was kind of surprising at first, but it might be a regional thing?

You might want to check that out before going all white or all black? Oh, and I would get an inexpensive Bosch DW at Lowes. Have you checked Sears scratch and dent places? If the dent is against the wall you're good!

IMHO I would stick with stainless and go with scratch and dent, floor models, and lower end Bosch or KA DW. Perhaps you could save in other areas like countertop material. A recent thread showed MW shelves, might this be acceptable and save money on the built in kit? Does your client find it to be too many different whites? Would she be open to black?

Umm, I'd also ask her what she thinks. It doesn't matter how many people here like stainless, white, black, bisque. She's the one who has to look at it every day. :)

I do think that if she's going to have to do budget appliances that I'd think carefully about bisque, though. Five years from now that could be hard to replace, more likely to be a problem to match than any of the other finishes.

Tell her to keep an eye on craigslist. I just picked up two Miele ovens... a 30" convection and the 24" oven for $2700. I also found a Miele induction 36" cooktop for $1500. These are all brand new, never used, warranty cards in tact. I've seen entire suites of appiances in homes that were built on spec, used a vacation homes and barely if used at all for unbelieveable deals. If someone is willing to do diligent research and has the luxury of time; you an find amazing deals.

I'll explain the neighborhood: She bought the house next door to the one she is moving from.

Hers went on the market at $1M. (its not selling for that but thats where it started--its selling in the high 8's)

She bought the house next door for $185K.

There are no comps in the neighborhood: its very mixed. There are beautiful 4000 sq ft, dumpy ranchers and everything in between.

She Wants the kitchen in the million dollar house and we are trying our best to approximate it at 20% of the budget :-)--I am doing this one for free, so she is not getting billed if I look high and low, and I don't get a %age of what she spends.

On one hand there are certain things she is unwilling to give up. (even at HD, with a bunch of discounts, the "hutch" cabinet with mullioned doors and seedy glass was expensive)

She had a Thermador in the other place, but I don't think it was all that important to her...that type of house needed it for resale.

I think she would buy a $400 range at this point, just to get it over with --she does prefer stainless but inexpensive is a key word...I am suggesting she hold off and see how much she has left as the renovation goes on.

My Bosch oven is stainless with black glass: the combination looks great, to me. So, I wouldn't worry about SS and black together.

Is there already a DW? We kept our white DW, because I wanted to save money, and couldn't justify disposing of a perfectly functioning appliance. The rest are SS. I have white cabinets - the dishwasher looks fine. Someone even asked me if it was new too. Furthermore, a dishwasher is pretty much standard in size, and can easily be replaced at a later date without disrupting cabinetry or plumbing. It looks fine in white, with the other appliances SS, because of the white cabinetry.

My personal taste is that SS looks great with white cabinets. And since she already has the SS fridge, why not go with the SS range?

I think if there's a working DW in the house that'd be easiest to go with for now and change out later (when more money/it dies).

i sure hope bisque doesn't go out ... a lot of people don't like black, stainless or even white. I do think the SS has been pushed because people think it looks 'professional' and they can charge more for it - people are willing to pay it. It's not very homey to me tho.

I do think the SS fridge would look fine with the other appliances being bisque. I'm not sure her cabinets would look good with the bisque tho - maybe white would be better? that'd also look ok to me with a SS fridge.

Until July 6, GE is offering free stainless steel upgrade on some of their appliances including DWs, 30" freestanding ranges, and OTR microwaves.

I'm not sure I've understood the question right, but I think that the stainless fridge looks just fine with the white range and MW, and white cabinets. That makes the fridge an accent piece, a focus. The dishwasher is more problematic. It's hard to tell from pictures, but I don't think it looks so great. And custom panel DW's usually are top of the line and cost more. I don't think two stainless and others white would look good, so the DW is key.

Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback:

There is nothing left in the kitchen at all.

erikanh, thanks for the heads up...that may help with the DW and Microwave decision: She had GE Profile Microwave and Dishwasher in the place she's selling.

plllog, I agree that the proportion or number of pieces in the varying finish can be important if they arent all the same.

I just got an email that she found this range for a great discount, so if she gets this, it will definitely be all stainless :-)
{{gwi:1411470}}

I don't usually try to sell particular brands to clients, because they have to live with them. I just give options in various finishes etc.

As it ends up she got a floor model at a large discount of this range, so stainless it is: (on to DW and Micro)

{{gwi:1411468}} {{!gwi}}

If you have had problems with this range, please don't tell me :-) Its purchased.

Thanks for your input.

I LOVE my LG fridge!