There's nothing wrong with white. It was extremely popular for decades; that many people can't be wrong. But sadly, bafflingly, wildly out of fashion right now.

Have you thought about linoleum (the real stuff, like Marmoleum) for the floor? Like white appliances, it was used in kitchens for decades.

Check out the Design Around This thread for Golden oak. Not many white appliances (lots of colored ranges, a bit of stainless), but Palimpsest posted a nice oak and white kitchen about halfway down (see link).

Here is a link that might be useful: Design Around 9: Keeping the Golden Oak

The current problem is that they are so unpopular in the midrange market that it's hard to find ones with good features, especially ranges

If you're only doing your kitchen in order to sell the house, I wouldn't bother. Just price it accordingly. Odds are very great that you won't come anywhere near recouping the money you put into it. If you price it right, it will sell.

I thought one of the problems with white appliances is that white appliances are hard to match- each manufacturer has their own shade of white so you'd need to get all the appliances from the same manufacturer.

Whereas, that isn't supposed to be an issue for stainless steel appliances.

I like white appliances but wish they weren't so stark. Bisque works better for some cabinetry colors.

What is your current flooring?

Sounds like you should wait until you're in a longer term home to invest in updating a kitchen to your liking.

White appliances show everything - at least that's my experience - dirty fingerprints, spills, etc. Our old kitchen had white appliances and...

Range - had a mottled gray top that didn't show anything...but handle on oven door did...

Refrigerator - everything showed. The handle was a textured material that yellowed a bit with age. More importantly, it showed dirt & spots all the time - we were constantly wiping it down.

DW- showed drips, etc. but wasn't as bad.

Our SS appliances show less than our white appliances did. Personally, I like gray in appliances b/c it's a wonderful neutral that goes with anything. Color, accents, etc. are for decorative items, not the workhorses in the kitchen (unless it's a cobalt blue range...now that I wouldn't mind having!)

Thanks, cawaps, for the 'design around this' link; interesting to see what can be done, even if most of it does not appeal to me. (I saw pamp's white+oak, but it was hard to envision the whole kitchen.) Still so much depressing gray everywhere.

We have considered linoleum, but the contractors who sell it are not rated well, if at all, on checkbook.org, so we're sort of skeptical for that reason. There were a couple of patterns that I really liked.

From the other replies to my post, it does seem that we should just live with what we've got and, when we do eventually sell, let the new owners remodel to their liking. The environmentalist in me says that's the right thing to do, too. Thanks for your opinions.

The fact that this is the third house we've owned over the years, and not one I ever really fell in love with (like the custom-built one we moved from 6 yrs ago), makes it even harder for me to justify updating to my tastes. We chose it mainly cuz of the location--close to the Metro--and with that we are very happy. Unfortunately, my husband's office will be moving in a few yrs and he'll have a much longer commute and, hence, he'll be much more miserable to live with if we stay here. Just hope we can at least break even when we sell...not easy to do these days.

Golden oak cabinets, white appliances and vinyl floors scream 1975-1990.

I don't see the point if selling soon.

People will think it is an old kitchen that is just really clean.

White appliances like this is a different story.

Or something like this with a white paneled fridge and dishwasher but

with a white range instead of the SS one.

If white kitchens and white cabinets are all the rage, certainly there would be nothing wrong with white appliances.

I'm planning on white refrigerator and dishwasher in my new kitchen (keeping the SS induction range). I think they key may be to get a smooth white finish instead of the pebbled one, as the smooth white will look more modern and (hopefully) not get yellowed with age. I can't imagine the fingerprints will show up any more than they do on SS.

I like my white appliances. *shrug* I guess to each his own. I would not, could not, deal with the fingerprints on stainless steel. I like the look, but with little ones running around, I would lose my mind wiping down the fridge all the time! Hahaha

I suppose our appliances are slightly different colors, but I don't notice and I can't imagine anyone else would either - they aren't right next to each other, after all.

So I take it you have existing white appliances? How old are they? Do they look fairly good? Maybe you could post a picture - there might be some things you can do to freshen up the kitchen without having to buy a bunch of new appliances. Or are they in bad shape and need replacing?

Yes, I think you are smart to just live with it for a few years and then price the house accordingly when you sell. Someone will love the opportunity to redo the kitchen to their taste.

I had white appliances and liked them...white may not be the trend right now, but I don't see them as ever going out of style--they make a kitchen bright and go with anything.

My cabinets are white. The plan is to gradually replace my white appliances with stainless. Everything's done except the stove, which is a low-end white Kenmore. I discovered I'm fond of its look, the chubby riser in the back, it's homey and unpretentious. I like the enameled surface. Unlike buehl, I find it easy to clean and shows virtually no fingerprints or grease. The problem? It's blindingly polar white and my cabs are creamy white. I'm kind of over stainless and would love a stove in a soft yellow, but they're out of my price range.

I do not regret getting stainless fridge, hood and DW, but I love gray as a neutral.

We have all white appliances. Our cabinets are not painted--maple with maple floors going in now. The white looks great, IMO and pops. I think the key is getting the more modern styled white appliances. We stuck with white because we had a Bosch dishwasher that we loved already in white and then found a floor model white Electrolux duel fuel propane range (which is what we needed to have gas). We then found a fantastic deal on a white Samsung french door fridge for about $800. It is a smooth finish and worlds different in looks than our old standard white fridge.

In my opinion, white appliances can be fantastic in the right kitchen. However, in the wrong kitchen, the brightness and eye-catching factor of the white appliances can draw the eye in a bad way. I think if the white does not tie in with any other elements, it can seem out of place. I love stainless, but then I also love grey. Personally, if I had a kitchen with golden oak and really wanted to go with white appliances, I would probably choose crisp white countertops (maybe quartz) to give the white appliances something to relate to. I would also choose a mid to high end line (or mixture of lines) so that the appliances do not look like they were chosen just because they were cheap.

Several manufacturers have or are coming out with lines that do Not have the white plastic handles on them that turn yellow so quickly. The apartment grade fridge in my new house is white with no handles, just a recessed pull on the edge, and it is completely inoffensive design-wise because it is just two white rectangles. But the bits and pieces of plastic that show are each a different shade of yellow. Annoying.

GE is introducing a line this fall in white (or black) with metal handles. It's targeted at a young demographic, though, so they may not have top-of-the-line features.

If I could get a full featured range and refrigerator in white with metal handles without going to Viking or Bertazzoni, I would do so myself.

I think each finish has it's problems with cleaning, but in my experience black seems to show even finger prints from clean hands, and water drips, stainless is marginally better, and white shows mostly only dirty marks, not fingerprints from clean hands. My kitchen has a mix of white and black, as does one of my clients and my previous tenants and this client are not particularly clean. With the exception of obvious grease under the burners from my tenants, and with my client, the black seems to show more than the white. My, and my clients black dishwasher looked much less clean on front than the white refrigerator even though the same hands and people were touching and cleaning or not cleaning things in the same kitchens.

"I thought one of the problems with white appliances is that white appliances are hard to match- each manufacturer has their own shade of white so you'd need to get all the appliances from the same manufacturer.

Whereas, that isn't supposed to be an issue for stainless steel appliances."

This may be somewhat true of white appliances (although appliances are rarely adjacent so I can't say I've ever been bothered). But the part about it not being an issue for stainless is untrue. Go into an appliance store and everyone's stainless is a bit different. This one's darker, this one's shinier, this one has some kind of coating and doesn't show fingerprints like the others.

Now the part about having trouble matching white appliances to white cabinets (linelle's problem) makes sense. Maybe one of the reasons white appliances are out is because white cabinets are in?

Pal,
Whirlpool White Ice has a fridge with metal handles and gas range.
IKEA, too, has a white fridge with a more modern metal handle.

Here is a link that might be useful: white fridge

IKEA usually has their finger on the pulse of something, too.

True counter depth of 24"-25.5" is going to be an absolute necessity in my new kitchen: it is a bit over 7 feet wide with no possibility of expansion in that dimension. So I am probably going to go with a paneled Liebherr. I could be obtuse and get white Metal panels made for it, though.

I'm glad it's not just me! I really dislike stainless steel.

I hope there's a move to mixing stainless with the white and bisque appliances. Love the fancy range above! My refrigerator has stainless handles and looks pretty good. I like the bisque color of my range, better than a ss in my kitchen, but it's not very stylish. It could look a whole lot better if they mixed in some stainless.

White kitchen may not be all the rage but they are more the rage than golden oak kitchens with white appliances and vinyl floors.

In honor of your design situation, leakinohno, I put together an addition to the DAT: Golden Oak thread with white appliances, golden oak cabinets, and Marmoleum flooring. It's at the very bottom. I wasn't certain of your style or color preferences, so I went with a transitional style and beige flooring (not gray, which might be my personal inclination) and green tile and paint.

pricklypearcactus, thank you so much! This post and your design are very timely for me, as I have almost the same problem as the OP. (However we would like wood or laminate in the kitchen & extending into the great room to make it seem larger) I even registered for this site just so I could say thanks. I have been lurking here for weeks trying to come up with ideas, and I had found the DAT: Golden Oak thread. Between yours and the similar green one by mtnfever, I have lots of good ideas now without having to consider painting or staining my cabinets. Yay!

I opted for high end white appliances as I dislike stainless steel. I feel it's so overrated. White has been around for decades and it's not going away. I also happen to like golden oak. They are pushing white cabinets these days. Fixer Upper shows are dictating to us what we should have or not have. I think you should have whatever pleases you and not what the media dictates. Good luck!

If you still have good knees, you can put down a cork floor yourself. My 58 year old husband is getting a might creaky, but he put down high end glue down cork in kitchen, laundry room, powder room, and hall before I decided to give him a break. Hired a talented guy who refinishes furniture for the House of Representatives and does general construction stuff on the side to do the bedrooms with thinner, cheaper, Lumber Liquidators cork glue down tile. Husband showed him how. Wear knee pads. Start from the center and work your way to the walls. Cut with a linoleum knife or box cutter, using a large hardwood board as a cutting board and a large metal ruler, long and wide and heavy. Paint one tiles worth of floor with DAP Weldwood glue, green can, water soluble, NOT red (flammable). Paint one row of tiles. Use cheap disposable brushes. Wait for the glue to turn opaque. Press down. Roll it flat with a big, heavy rolling pin. Repeat until done. One dozen foot square or half dozen 12x24 at a time works best. Put glue on tiles first, because rough wood of subfloor soaks up glue and turns opaque sooner than the tiles. For high traffic areas, seal all over with urethane, tile manufacturer will have recommendations. Make sure the sub floor is WELL prepped, any imperfections WILL eventually make a dent or a bulge. I LOVE cork floors. Grew up in a house that was built by an architect who was a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, and put cork in his own house. Soft, warm, impervious to water and stains, fire retardant. Drop stuff, it bounces, not breaks. If you want it, do it. You won't regret it. Only down side is the joints, plan carefully so they keep out dirt. And dog toenails do leave marks.

Do you have photos of the Lumber Liquidator's cork you put down? How does it compare to the more expensive version in terms of looks and wear?

In this case I agree with those above who recommend living with what you have for appliances because you're keeping the golden oak cabinets and will be selling in 3-5 years. Anyone seeing those cabs will figure a complete remodel into their offer. But putting down your own cork floor shouldn't be too bad with just the materials cost.

I can tell you one very practical thing that's "wrong" with all appliances other than stainless steel: They're difficult to find.

When I needed to replace my black dishwasher three years ago, I never considered anything but another black dishwasher. After all, my refrigerator, range, and range hood are black, and I didn't want/need to replace them -- but I did want everything to match.

I found row upon row of stainless steel dishwashers -- high end, low end, this and that feature -- however, in the realm of black, I found only 3-4 choices. I didn't really love the one I chose, but it does match my other appliances.

I do sort of think that's coming to an end. GE has put out some pale blue and bright red appliances, though I've only seen them online. I wonder if color is "coming back". Regardless, it isn't here yet, so if you want to choose features, you may find yourself -- for today -- stuck choosing among the stainless options.