Consumer reports (a few months ago) noted that "they" think stainless is out. "They" think that the new white metallic (I think they call it white ice)is going to be popular since they noted that the oiled bronze and the deep blues are not holding.
I have decided that I am putting in what I can afford and what I like at this moment. Appliances don't last as long as they used to so the odds of me having to replace them again is a real possibility (hope not, but being realistic).
And to design for a future buyer is useless because we all have such different taste.

The new-to-me house had granite tile for counters. I detest them. I detest tile counters (grout, piece-y looking to me) and I hate the coldness of granite. When I asked a reliable realtor if it was wise to gut and replace, she gasped..."but you have granite..." ...whatever....crappy granite to my mind. We cannot afford to gut the whole kitchen, so we bought an IKEA slab to redo the island at least. If we were forced to sell, the new owners can gut my work and replace it.

The appliances here were the white ice and I like it. I have never been a fan of stainless (I don't hate it I just refuse to pay more for it on principle). If it had stainless, it would not have convinced us either way to buy or not buy since, again, appliances can be easily replaced as they break down (IMHO).

Buy what you like and what speaks to your design voice.
Someone else may be singing your same tune :-)

I would rather have a white Bertazzoni than an entry level $500 stainless range, so the quality of the appliances will have something to do with it.

It depends upon whether the buyer watches House Hunters, and listens to this kind of information. People can be rather influenced by what "experts" and other people say.

I had a client doing a kitchen that said she wanted cherry colored cabinets and black granite countertops. When I got to the bottom of where this was coming from (it sounded unlike her), it was because what her friend who worked at Home Depot said people preferred. I talked her out of it, not because I didn't want to give her what she wanted...but because it was not because I thought she really wanted.

So people will have these ideas of what they think the "touchstones" of a quality kitchen are, and right now these are granite and stainless appliances, irrespective of the actual quality of the kitchen.

I like white appliances and if they will look good in the overall room...why wouldn't someone love it? If they don't appreciate your kitchen, they'll probably not only replace the appliances but rip out the backsplash and countertops, too. Seems to be a favorite thing to do on House Hunters...which has become very boring, so I quit watching it. Occasionally, I still watch House Hunters International, but only if they're in Paris or the English countryside :)

Last week Houzz said that younger buyers will want white cabs and stainless appliances. Frankly, I don't care what the next person wants. I've told the story before about my first condo in the 80's where I put in rosy pink carpeting against well-meant advice. A few years later, that condo sold a week after going on the market, and the new owner specifically liked the pink carpet. You never can tell. Put in what you like. It's too much money to spend just to please someone else, especially someone hypothetical.

I stopped watching House Hunters, too, but it was because all those entitled 20-something couples looking for their first house and sneering at anything other than SS and granite made me sick.

Well, I'll admit that this renovation is being bid *a lot* higher than I expected because, after doing a gut renovation of a building that wasn't designed for residential living, I guess I have different ideas of what things should cost? Granted, I'm "moving utilities", but this is in a raised house with a stand up crawl space. And, moving the sink and gas really aren't optional since their current locations are what make the kitchen entirely non functional. I'd figured I was going to be able to finish the first floor - new kitchen, cosmetic face lift to half bath *and* decor for a budget of $5x,xxx. Apparently, this kitchen is going to run me more than I'd carved out for it.

And I had Shiloh inset cabs before...so that's not where the sticker shock is coming in. I had no idea that a bit of framing and re plumbing a bar sink (because there is a sink where I want the "new" main one) and moving a gas line less than 3 ft (when there is gas running to other places under the house and beyond the new stove location) could be so dear. I will admit that the electrical service in the kitchen needs GFCI outlets.

But I swear they think I'm a sucker because I'm a doctor's wife. I can't believe the "construction costs" are $25k. The cabinet bid and countertop allowance was exactly in line with my expectations. So, honestly, stainless appliances aren't going to fit into my budget since appliances and other fixtures are outside their bids!

Again, maybe I watch too much "Love it or List It!" because I think my budget is more than generous for what I want to do on this floor of the house. Or the Canadian dollar just goes a lot further than the Arkansas one does :-)

Those construction costs seem high to me, too, and I'm in upstate New York.

How much could you save if you ditch the gas and get induction instead? Lots of us love induction, including some former gas users. You'd have to have an electrical line run - maybe 40 or 50 amp. But you could put the range anywhere you want. Viking has a sweet one, as seen in this thread. Bertazzoni makes induction, too, don't they?

Here is a link that might be useful: Racing Red Induction

If there wasn't already a gas line almost immediately under where I want to put a new range I'd serious consider induction (I have a single burner that I used during both my remodels before the kitchen was back online...) but then I suspect I'd probably have to upgrade my electrical service.

I'm thinking my first job here is going to be project manager. And when these guys ask me what my husband does, I'm just going to say that I'm not at liberty to discuss it! ;-)

That said, I'd also gotten a quote for cabinets from Home Depot (because I'll admit I like the MS line) and that may be where I end up to get this reno in at or under budget.

These bids are simply outrageous - coming in around $185 a sq. ft. for the 270 sq. ft. kitchen which in its current configuration seems painfully small. Actually, the awful space planning makes the whole house seem small and it really, truly isn't. But a few poorly planned aisles and a big room can feel way too cramped. The upstairs bath is 1/4 of the entire floor's square footage and you'd never know it when you're shoving by the poor soul at the vanity with 18" between the counter and edge of the multi level shower surround!

How do they know you are a Dr's wife?

They ask what I do (stay at home) and then they ask what my husband does (he's a doctor). It's the South. I think folks are just chatty that way. I'm thinking I should say he's in sales or something. And as far as the cabinet shop and kitchen designer, my husband was actually there and owned up to his profession.

That said, is $185 sq. ft. crazy for a renovation? I'm fairly certain it is since it's significantly more than I paid for a gut whole house renovation with very, very high end finishes. But this is a new market to me. That said, I don't think this city is particularly dripping with affluence.

I'm a Canadian, and I find the prices on Love it or List it ridiculously low, so don't feel bad - we don't get more value north of the border :)

Regarding your initial post, Sarah Richardson recently redid a kitchen with white appliances from Ikea. I thought they looked fantastic. They have sleek stainless handles, which make them look a little more upscale. I suppose there will always be buyers who prefer granite and stainless, regardless of quality or design, but I optimistically hope that even House Hunters will appreciate modern white appliances in a well designed kitchen. I hope this link works for people in the US - if it doesn't, try doing a Google image search for Sarah Richardson "Baker's Kitchen." It should show up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sarah Richardson's Baker's Kitchen

There's no way to predict what will be popular sometime in the future, so make yourself happy. I prefer white appliances myself, but I can't bring myself to pop for the Viking induction range and am currently debating stainless vs. wall oven installed under a cooktop.

Bertazzoni doesn't sell an induction range in the U.S. The Viking is cool, but it costs $4K more than the E'lux to perform the exact same function.

I agree with above, it's hard to predict. All I know is that I don't think I could ever do white appliances again. Brings back memories of the cheapo white appliances in my college apartment. No style, so bland. I like stainless, colors (blue stoves are cool!) and paneled fridges and dishwashers that blend with the cabinetry. But we're all different, right? If we all prefered the same thing, life would be pretty boring ;-)

I think for where you are, they are trying to seriously rook you. I'd dismiss them and go elsewhere. Maybe GC the project yourself.

Whenever I get bids, it is common for the highest price to be double the lowest price, and often the highest price is from a contractor or firm that is clearly the least competent.

I agree, if you don't work outside the home, then consider saving money by GC-ing yourself.

I don't have any issues doing the project management by myself, but I had secretly hoped that by hiring it done, I would be looking at a short, sweet project. That said, I've hired a GC to do jobs in the past and none impressed with their ability to coordinate trades (plus, I hated paying their markup on stuff I hustled all over town to find at the best price!). About the only time any contractor I've hired has ever shown up on time and as expected was on draw day. Not that I'm bitter. :-)

I went under the house yesterday and there is absolutely no reason why a raised house with a standup crawl space *and* with services exactly where I want the new services should come in at $6500 for plumbing. A plumber charges $75/hr here. They are not supplying fixtures - just some tie in PVC - and I hardly think this job is anywhere in the ballpark of an 86 hour job for a competent plumber! Hell, I'm a crappy plumber and I could do it in less than 86 hours!

Bobby99 - love that Sarah Richardson kitchen! That's basically exactly what I'm seeing in my mind's eye - an updated traditional space. Getting back to a home-y kitchen. Not so much a pseudo professional space. A kitchen where I don't have to have a microfiber rag tucked in the back of my apron or to chase off anyone who dares sully the SS appliances. I'm tired of those days. The heresy is that I might not even put in a BS as we never had one the entire time I was growing up, save the 4" piece. I'd probably put stainless behind the range because of the heat from a top venting range, but I rather liked my 4" backsplash that I installed in my last kitchen in New Orleans.

We bought a Bertazzoni range (all gas) and went with stainless because it was LESS money than the enameled ones. If you have a SS dishwasher that you are reusing, and are on a budget, why not go with the SS Bertazzoni? Between the black grates, black knobs, and black oven window (when the light isn't on inside) it might be less contrasty to go SS than white ... At least with all that black.

That said, I actually prefer white appliances but couldn't bring myself to spend an extra $1400 on the range just to change e color of the front panel. I mean, for that much money we could have replaced the dishwasher we have (which works, so it lives on...)

Good luck either way, I know it's tough to find good GCs in the world. I'd send you ours, but I'm not done with him yet (and we're a few thousand miles from you).

"all those entitled 20-something couples looking for their first house and sneering at anything other than SS and granite made me sick."

i'm glad more people think like this - I sure do! I also think 'What the H, we always had to live with a house the way it was and make the best of it! Being grateful to have a roof over our head.'

When I moved into the last place I lived (at age 48), my thinking was "It has walls, doors and some windows - even tho most of the windows didn't close and the doors were rather sketchy on doing that. AND I could have a dog. It was to be temporary. That lasted 14 yrs!

As for being the wife of a doctor. Don't tell 'em. If they ask what he does, say 'he works'. Or act as if they are insulting you by insinuating that they need 'the man of the house' to deal with. Say 'I stand alone on this job'. You could always throw out the old saying 'He does his thing and I do mine. This is mine.'

I can just see the 'register' going up, up, up when they hear he's a doctor. I'd ditch those with the skyhigh prices and check out others - not telling that dh is a doctor.

What are you getting for $185/sq ft? I did the calculation, and I paid about $108/sq ft to the GC for labor and miscellaneous stuff like wires and PVC. He did not do the the cab and counter install. He did the demo, rough in, painting, new trim, new electric, installed appliances and lights, plumbed in sink and DW, tiled floor. That number doesn't include the cost of tile, sink, appliances, pendant lights, switches, cutting board, disposal, faucet. But there are some fixed costs that are not dependent on size of the space(appliance install, faucet install) and some variable costs that do depend on the size(rough in, painting, electric lines, tiling), so I'm not sure if /sq ft is a fair comparison. I guess since the fixed costs in my small kitchen would be spread over a smaller space, my cost /sq ft should actually be higher than yours. Anyway, depending on what is included, it does sound high to me. My GC worked for about 4 weeks.

$6500 to move plumbing sounds nuts. What are the pipes made of, gold?

Get more quotes. While 50K for a semi upscale kitchen isn't completely out of line pricewise for a even a rural Southern location, $6500 for plumbing is completely wack unless you are replacing every single bit of kitchen plumbing and having to tie into a cast iron stack or some other tricky and delicate maneuver.

I would expect an older home's electrical quote to come in around that though, simply because it most likely will involve updating to a 200 amp service panel and possibly even running a new service drop from the main power pole. And surprisingly, sometimes rural areas are not cheaper than urban ones when it comes to contracting simply because some contractors have much further to travel to the job sites and that has to be factored in as far as time and gas. I do have some contacts in the Memphis are that will travel to a bit of eastern AR if you aren't too far. If you are located central or west, then you might do a post for any further trades recommendations.

I've started making other calls to tradespeople who have done small jobs around here. I'm in Little Rock, so 2 hours outside of Memphis.

I'm starting to think that we should have just bought a house that needed to be gutted completely to be renovated. Remodeling is far more complicated that I remember it being from when I remodeled a house in Virginia.

I have a structural engineer coming in to determine if all this crazy "new floor and ceiling joists" that are in one quote and not the other are legitimate or what. If it is legitimate, I'd suck up paying it (obviously) if I wanted to do the renovation, but...removing those costs would equalize both my quotes. Or close to that. Plus, if it really is an issue, the engineer will give me a solution to give anyone else who bids the job.

If this helps, we live in one of the more expensive parts of the country in a town that contractors notoriously "up the price" just because of the town's name. We went with a competitive bid - there were more expensive bids but most were in line with what we paid. So we paid 8K for plumbing and 6K for electric...small space but the entire space was gutted, moving walls and putting in all new electric and plumbing for a kitchen, powder room, mudroom, hallway and hall pantry. Your quote for plumbing does sound crazy, considering where you live and the job you're describing. Yes, contractors may have to drive longer distances to get to you, but here they're wasting gas sitting in traffic, plus possibly paying big tolls!