They are ugly, but the bigger problem is that the door is balanced to have a panel on it and we couldn't keep our door open until the panel was put on it. And at least mine would not have a handle on it without the panel being installed, so there is opening the darned thing.

I had the same experience as Lascatx. The door would not stay open until the panel was put on.

You can generally adjust the spring tension for situations where the panel is missing. I did not bother, as it was only a few weeks that I had the DW installed, but no panel on the door. Mine was a GE Profile, and it also had a recessed handle for opening. Other than that, it was a plain black, slightly ugly front panel.

Looks like floppy sheetmetal, or at least a FP dishdrawer does. It may lack a handle. The dishdrawer isn't unbalanced without a panel but we got tired of opening ours with magnets and broke down and bought really super cheap doors (a couple bucks each cheap) from IKEA that were a close enough fit and used those until our remodel so that we could open the darn thing.

So a cheap door is an option to hold you over until the remodel.

You're not going to want to buy a panel ready DW and then end up not putting a panel on it. They're ugly. I have a few pictures, not great ones, of my Miele before panels.

You can see the top of it in this pic.

You can see the whole DW on the right side in this pic.

I also needed the DW before the Reno started. The appliance people offered to put a plywood panel on it temporarily, and we would have needed to put the pull on. We decided to buy the one with the controls on front, so the "handle" was on it. We then didn't need to put the plywood on to be able to open it, but if it was any longer than the 5 mos we had, we would have (for the weight) as the door wouldn't stay open and it was a pain!

lascatx and dilly_ny - I never even thought about that problem, but it does make sense, thanks!

AngieDIY- That's a good reason for considering one with a recessed handle, how do you like it with the panel on it and the recessed handle, I guess the panel is everywhere but the top?

Fori- Great Idea! Especially since we always have a holiday party and I know my husband would hate it unpaneled. Even though he won't like the the Ikea panel isn't the same as what our cabs are, it'll be better than the unpaneled piece.

Pooppup - I agree, that would NOT work! Thank you for the pictures, it is very ugly.

Partyof7- Thanks, I know it'll annoy my husband but I do most of the dishwasher stuff anyway.

Another thought: you could hand wash the dishes for a while. Our last dishwasher before the current one only worked for about 18 months before it died. I was so bent out of shape, I refused to pay for another one. We hand washed for a couple of years and didn't replace until we reno'd last year. Extreme, I know, but I was really p*ssed. Hand washing isn't so bad unless you have a large family. At the time it was mostly the two of us and was often a togetherness activity. :-)

Our cabinet guy didn't want to make the panels until the DW was installed so we got to use them for a few weeks after remodel too. That plastic melamine finish cleans up pretty well. :)

That's a good reason for considering one with a recessed handle, how do you like it with the panel on it and the recessed handle, I guess the panel is everywhere but the top?

No, sorry, I didn't make myself clear. The recessed handle was a temporary one (to cover, it would seem, exactly your situation). That recessed handle was covered up by my panel once I installed it. Here is a midconstruction picture: