I would go with white and bring color in with accessories.

I think either would look very nice.

Check out the white kitchens in AtticMag's Kitchens We Love

Check out Bosch's line of SS. My white stove and fridge were pretty new so I went with the Bosch SS microwave which has a white trim. When the stove or fridge needs to be replaced, I'll make the transition over to SS.

I think the SS with white would look great in an all white Kitchen.

If you use your refrigerator as a bulletin board (with magnets) you won't want SS.

DonnaR/CA

i'm doing white with white shaker cabinets. i'll bring in a little ss via sink, microwave, cabinet pulls, light fixture.

Our kitchen cabinets are white, our countertops are green, our backsplash is white tile and our appliances are SS.

When we moved into the house, the appliances were white and needed replacing. So we went with SS and have no complaints. Looks great!

I would go with SS to break up the all white look. JMHO.

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT

Personally, I would probably go with white, to blend in with the cabinets, but do some colour with the counter (I think a soapstone with white veins would look really classic and lovely!).

If you are having difficulty picturing it, you could see if you find something similar to what you're doing on the Finished Kitchens Blog, to see the final effect.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog

Years ago I got advice -- and I'm so glad I took it -- to go with white kitchen appliances (and bathroom fixtures) because, aside from old colors and finishes making still-good things look dated, different units have different life expectancies. No-longer-popular finishes disappear from manufacturers' lines. Manufacturers have extra incentive to drop stainless because of costs.

What are the odds of needing to replace all appliances at the same time? What choices do the owners of avocado green appliances -- and harvest gold and coppertone too (and no doubt other finishes that came and went when I wasn't looking) -- have when they want to replace only one of their appliances? And those were just paint colors, not an entirely different material.

hi there
i have white appliances and like them. in your proposed kitchen i would say either. i would also consider black!! but definitely not bisque.
about harvest gold....my mom could not stand the idea of getting rid of her harvest gold kenmore fridge, so she called the autobody shop, they picked it up took it to the shop, painted it white and it looked great for many years after that! don 't know quite where she got that idea, since she never had a car painted....only the fridge.

Hi Elizabeth96: I live in a house even older than yours and I did go with SS appliances but my cabinets are stained (not white) and my countertops are kind of silver grey. If I were in your position, a 1942 house with white cabinets, I would go with white appliances. They are probably more in keeping with the period of the house and will be classic for years. As others have said, you can add color with accessories or even consider a different countertop (someone suggested soapstone above and that would be great too). -Kim

My worry about SS is that it will eventually look dated, like the avocado of the 1970s.

I worry more about that with the white appliances that are available now. The whites of today are not the same whites that my mother had in the 50s, and in ten years the whites will be different again. Stainless has always been around in industrial kitchens; I suspect that it will always be available for the domestic market as well, although of course my crystal ball may be on the blink!

I personally don't care for white appliances. I have stainless and I like them very much. They seem more neutral than white appliances would, at least to me!

Thank you very much for all of your feedback, it is all very valuable. One thing I didn't mention is that the kitchen is fairly small. If we did SS, there would be almost as much of it as white cabinets! I saw a kitchen like that in person and it looked nice though.

I took to heart the comments about soapstone and using white to keep with the period of the home (olga_d and kimkitchy). We'll definitely think on this some more...!

Something else to consider -- use white for things like the DW and fridge where the surface carries the impact of a cabinet panel and stainless for the range or cooktop/oven where you have horizontal surfaces or glass windows to break them up. It also showcases your cooking tools. You have more options than all white or all stainless.

You could also consider some of the newer appliance colors -- like the bronze....

I don't think I'm helping you too much. ;)