I love my paneled sub zero. It will match the rest of your cabinets.
I have a very small L-shaped kitchen. I did not want a big block of silver. Because the fridge will blend in with the cabinetry, the kitchen seems bigger and your eyes just keep going around rather than stopping at the stainless.
I also have my DW paneled.

We are going to panel the Liebherr 36" French door, because it will be next to our ovens and I don't want it to be a big wall of stainless and appliances.

We decided not to panel the fridge because our appliance salesperson said if we had to replace the fridge we would have to have new panels made because the hole locations change from manufacturer to manufacturer and even in the same manufacturer it can differ. Maybe he was blowing smoke but he really had no skin in the game so I think he was being honest. I didn't want to have to replace the panels so we did stainless. I considered black but didn't want a wall of black to darken our kitchen and white just wasn't a fit with my cabinets.

I do think with your pretty vintage goods that white would be a great choice for you. I think a paneled fridge would look great also.

Your choice for marmoleum is so pretty!

I also love my paneled subzero. It blends nicely with the rest of the cabinets. Holly-Kay, I think you're right...if you need to change your fridge, you would need to replace your panels.

I do think white would be fine in your kitchen.

Love your yellow mixer, by the way!

Getting a custom white metal type panel created for the fridge would probably cost more than doing a cabinet panel. You could take the opportunity to make the fridge blend in entirely and disappear if you chose the fully integrated model. It would just look like a tall pantry. Or, you could have the cabinet maker create an "icebox" look for you and do it out of something like quartersawn oak. That would make it a feature, but make it blend in.

Or, you could just do the "larder fridge" look model, and keep the honesty of the exposed appliances, much like the original kitchens did. Their fridges were proudly on display, showing off the fact that they had the latest technology in their home. They weren't ashamed of them to try to minimize and hide them.

I would have hppily done all appliances in bisque, if it were still available. I think white would fit in your kitchen.

I've never seen that side by side frig, with open side. Who makes that?

Perhaps taking the refrigerator panels to an autobody shop to have them painted in white enamel would work. There's a small article at apartmenttherapy dot com that talks about this; see the link below.

Also, if you're okay with choosing another brand of refrigerator over Subzero; Big Chill, Smeg and Elmira Stove Works make retro styles that would work with the vintage vibe in your kitchen.

Love the direction you're going!

Here is a link that might be useful: hey, martha does it, maybe you could too

Thanks everyone for your input! I do definitely admire everyone's paneled fridges.

Holly-Kay, thanks for the Marmoleum color validation. It seems like most of the folks on the forum who have done Marmoleum have gone with gray. I wanted a little color for my kitchen floor but am still a little nervous about my choice. Hope I don't chicken out!

GreenDesigns, love those old SZ ads! I suppose if nobody wants a white Sub-zero anymore, then it probably makes sense that it would be more expensive to get a custom metal panel than wood cabinetry. Hmm, maybe I should take a second look at the white SZ I found on Craigslist yesterday for $900...

Bookworm4321, I think that fridge that GreenDesigns posted was a Sub-zero. Gorgeous, but while I don't want to hide the fridge, I think I still want to hide the *inside* of the fridge! As for bisque, we actually have bisque appliances right now in our kitchen. There are lots of colorful ranges out there but fridge-wise it seems like there aren't a whole lot of options.

Pentimento, that is amazing! I had heard of doing that to cabinets but would never have thought of it for a refrigerator. That's definitely worth investigating.

Here's a pic of a white SZ I found. (I also love that it's magnetic--I have a two year old who makes a lot of refrigerator art!)

Wow Hvhay! That is a neat sub zero. Did they say if it is still in working order? That is quite a score for $900 if it runs!

I so hope that you go with the lovely green marmoleum. It would make me smile every time I walked into the room.

I am so excited to see your project as it moves along. I love the vintage feel that you are going for. It will be absolutely lovely! Good luck and I hope to see a lot of pics!

Thanks Holly-Kay, I promise to post pix! By the way, that picture is not the fridge that is for sale. I have included a link to the Craigslist ad below. I'm probably not actually brave enough to buy a used SZ from a stranger online although the price is tempting!

Here is a link that might be useful: SUB-ZERO BOTTOM FREEZER WHITE

Well, I can't believe it's 6 months later and we're only now placing our appliance order, but such is life in remodel-land. I just wanted to record for posterity, in case there's anyone else out there facing this dilemma, that you can, in fact, still order a white Sub-Zero! The white enamel overlay panels are still stocked by Sub-Zero and it actually came out a little cheaper in the end. My salesperson obviously thought I was insane which gave me a moment of panic but now I'm happy I didn't give in to the peer pressure.

Good for you! I love your vision for your kitchen. Can't wait for your reveal!

Just did one with magnetic whit board. It is an older model. To do a current one would just have to trim the edges. Pretty inexpensive actually, source the whiteboard on line.

I know this is an old discussion, but I am interested in the final picture. I am going through the exact same dilemma about a SZ refrigerator. We have white shaker cabinets and we don't care for the stainless steel look. You said you ordered the SZ with white panels. Can we see a picture? Thanks, Linda

Hi Linda, just noticed that there was an update on this thread! Sure, here are 2 pictures of the fridge in the kitchen. It looks just like the picture of the other one up above in this thread! I love it and am so glad we did not go stainless. Let me know if you have any questions.

Hello, Thank you so much for the pictures. It's good to see the real, finished frig. SZ has a picture but it's hard to imagine in a kitchen. I have found a cabinet maker who has experience with making/ordering panels for the frig or I will order the white panels like you did. SS is not for us. Again, thank you. It looks great!

Such a charming kitchen, and perfect for the 1914 house. Did you do a reveal thread; if not can we impose on you for more photos? I can't tell with my monitor, but did you stick with the Relaxing Lagoon marmoleum?