My two cents:

Miele and Bosch are much better than the other choices. If it were me I would upgrade to induction. Also, I would go with Miele if budget permitted, Bosch if I needed to be more financially conservative. I would get a Bosch refrigerator though, since I don't think Miele makes the depth you need, though I am not certain.

Of the American brands I would go for KA. No point in paying extra for Jennair brand (it's just rebadge KA). I would avoid black stainless like the plague because I would feat KA would not have that finish around in ten years when I needed to replace something.

Good luck making your selections.

I recommend visiting a showroom where you can handle the appliances; some oven racks, etc feel flimsy and loose. I just got a KA cooktop and wall oven, pleased so far. Cooktop is gas, because for us it works in power outage.

I will strongly second the recommendation to visit a small appliance store to see what is all available. If Miele is mid range - then I can recommend it. And induction for sure! It is the best. And clean up - wipe with a damp cloth!!! bosch makes a very good dishwasher.

I am looking into midrange as well. (I don’t think Miele is mid range. Not from what I have seen.) I thought I was going for Bosch for everything but the fridge … but now I am looking into Samsung. GE is another possibility as well

Induction is a must for us. I am looking forward to cooking with an induction cooktop!

I think Miele is more slightly more expensive than Bosch but Bosch has different price points with Nenchmark being the most expensive. Miele makes a great DW My friend has one and it has a separate water heating system as I recall she also doesn’t have an air gap which is nice in terms of one less obstruction on the counter

Bosch doesn’t allow deviation from SMRP although there are ways a creative salesperson gets around this if you are buying multiple appliances from different brands. Bosch runs rebate programs if you buy multiples.

I have a Bosch DW which is great. It’s so quiet that I have to put my hand on counter to feel slight vibration to tell if is running. I also like that it has no heating element so you can load anything anywhere. It’s about ten years old and has never needed a repair and cleans fine for my pretty basic needs- ie, load dirty stuff and take out clean ones I’ve never bothered with any of the fancy cycles it has

I have been warned that LG or Samsung have expanded too quickly so their repair network isn’t great but I have no first hand knowledge of this and it could depend on your location.

"Bosch Side Opening Wall Oven - anything but a side opening or French door oven defeats the ergonomic advantage of having a wall oven"

Body mechanics are very important to me and I prefer the regular pull down doors. I don't find myself straining or reaching and I am 5' 3" so it might be something each person needs to see for themselves with the ovens they are considering. I do prefer to have the door under my racks as well. It has prevented spills from landing on my toes. Also be you have to be careful with rolling racks when they are new and you haven't used them before.

We are looking to find a center to go look. I didn't think that the black stainless might not be available down the road...but I certainly don't want the stainless that shows finger prints! I had already looked into the Bosch washer/dryer because they are closer to 2ft depth than 3ft. Keep those comments coming, thanks everyone!

We have an 11 1/2 year old Bosch dishwasher that still looks (and performs) like new. In the previous home, we had a 7 year old Thermador (Bosch's more expensive sibling) that was the same. Our next house will have a Bosch/Thermador dishwasher.

For cooking, if you want to stay with the same brand, Bosch cooking appliances would be my choice (or Miele, but those will likely be a bit more expensive; they're in the Thermador and up price-range). There are quite a few folks here who have and love Bosch ovens. I would not go Samsung since they are too "gimmicky" with the electronic features and home appliances aren't the company's primary focus. As an electronics company, they're used to producing things that people replace on a more frequent basis. There's also been reports of difficulty getting service/parts for the Korean brands (Samsung and LG).

Refrigerators is where I get hung up as well. We have had a very unreliable Monogram fridge in this house (we need either a new inverter or a new main control board roughly every 18 months and we do have surge protection on the fridge) and GE appliances are now Haier-owned. Looking at what Haier has done with the Monogram line (lowered quality, thinner oven racks, etc.) I have to think they've done the same with the mid-range lines as well. I *think* we are leaning towards a Kitchenaid/JennAir fridge. I do note those are some of the only ones that warranty the entire sealed system (albeit parts only, not labor) past the 5 year mark (they have a 10 year warranty for parts on the entire sealed system, not just the compressor). We had a Samsung fridge in our motorhome and while I loved the capacity, I had to replace all the shelves due to the plastic frames cracking. Granted, rolling down the road isn't something a fridge is usually designed to do, but the cracking appeared to be the plastic aging out and shrinking, not stress from flexing. One friend with the same fridge had problems with it icing over and dripping on the floor and another had one that kept going into demo mode on its own.

I had gone to Lowes/Home Depot and picked out the KA fridge as the one I liked best out of all I saw there. I just have to "get over" not being matchy.. ;-/

Considering a built-in coffee maker but so expensive! ....although we have an expensive Saeco that would cost about the same to replace, it would be nice to have one hard-plumbed for the water.

I'm happy with my decision to build a nook to fit a standard fridge. I had counter depth and it's just too small and going to built-in is just crazy to pay 10k. I just hope the carpenter can trim it out nicely as I haven't seen many that have done this.

Body mechanics are very important to me and I prefer the regular pull down doors. I don't find myself straining or reaching and I am 5' 3" so it might be something each person needs to see for themselves with the ovens they are considering. I do prefer to have the door under my racks as well. It has prevented spills from landing on my toes. Also be you have to be careful with rolling racks when they are new and you haven't used them before.

Which is exactly why one should try to test appliances in person.

I am also short and the advantage with a side opening oven was apparent to me in terms of how I access an oven.

I went to a high end appliance store and no matter how how or low a bottom opening oven was placed, I had to access it from the side versus my ability to access a side opening or French door opening oven from the front. In terms of putting in and taking out heavy - or even not so heavy items - there was no comparison versus taking things from the side and having to stretch one arm OVER to the other side to grab.

As for dripping on toes, again I guess that's a personal thing, but I don't know what would be dripping especially since I would be able to better ensure that all items were level but I always cook and prep with closed shoes - generally I wear comfortable clog type shoes in the house which slip on or off easily.

So in terms of ergonomics, really try to test out the stuff - you may or may not find a side opening or French door wall oven to be more comfortable for you.

Looking at the Bosch combo wall ovens, I don't see the side hinge, so maybe have to order the micro and oven separately?

If you want that combination, you need to purchase separately.

As I posted, I am going with a side opening Bosch Benchmark single oven at the exact height I want which the salesmen said would be waist level.

I am then getting the Sharp microwave drawer to go underneath it. Bosch doesn't make a microwave drawer and all microwave drawers are made by Sharp and it's the least expensive option so no reason not to get a Sharp.

Bosch does make a double side opening oven version if you want to regular side opening ovens.

I probably go with the Bosch 2-in-1 Microwave and Convection Oven underneath ;-)

But wait, I just looked at the Sharp...pretty slick! Does it's SS match the Bosch's?

Michelle, (ha - almost like talking to myself!)

Think seriously before designing for/purchasing a micro/oven combination unit. Over the years there have been a number of queries here where someone needed to replace the microwave in such a combo, only to find out the cost to do so was either prohibitive or not easy to do since the the physical size of the newer microwaves didn't work with the original trim kit.

Even in a built in microwave situation you can run into the trim kit issue. We did with a previous house and the cost of the new trim kit was as much as the microwave.

Our preference is to have an open cabinet shelf that a standard countertop microwave can sit in. It can be above or below counter. True, not as integrated-looking as a built in, but when the microwave dies (and they do), it's a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to be able to select another countertop model.

As for the microwave drawers, yes, they are all made by Sharp, and if you read the reviews/ratings, they aren't as good as a countertop model.

I also would avoid "black" stainless. Not because it might not be available in the future (likely), but because it's just a thin polymer film of "black" applied over stainless. It scratches easily. The "black" stainless appliances we have seen in stores all have all kinds of silver scratches on them because it's just not durable.

Michelle

I don't know if the Sharp matches the Bosch exactly but I don't particularly care - they are both black and stainless steel and provide the functionality that I want and there is very little in the way of their "faces" that seems wildly discordant to me. I doubt anyone is going to notice it other than there are black and stainless appliances there.

In the best of all possible worlds, I would not be getting an expensive microwave drawer. However, I don't have any place to put a microwave other than below or above the wall oven. When I place the wall oven at the optimal position for me, the microwave would then be too low or too high for comfort.

Therefore the microwave drawer with a tilt up control panel provides me with a compromise that works for my relatively small kitchen. If I had a larger kitchen, I would place a non-built in model in a cubby that was at the ergonomically correct height.

If the microwave drawer breaks down in a few years, so be it - I will replace it. Since it is going into a 30" wide standard tall wall oven cabinet, I doubt I will have any problems retrofitting it as it will more or less slide into the cubby. Replacing an appliance that is relatively easy to replace isn't a significant concern. The Sharp microwave drawers have pretty good reviews - I am not getting the one with the wave opening function though as I am not tempting the gods in terms of whether that particular function would be its Achilles heel :-)

It seems I need to keep researching! Do the Bosch wall units require a trim kit?

My old Frigidaire Pro Series SS had the coat of polymer? and the range and dw started to peel on some edges, resulting in rust spots. I do NOT want that on my new appliances! (Our Frigidaire W/D also started to fall apart at 5 years)

If you are asking about the Bosch Benchmark Side Opening oven, it requires no trim as it is meant to fit into a standard 30" wide tall oven cabinet. As with all appliances, you provide the specs to the cabinet maker or KD.

I have a Bosch SS dishwasher for over 10 years and nothing has peeled or flaked. I doubt very much their ovens are constructed that way.

FWIW, Frigidaire is pretty much at the bottom of the appliance food chain and there might have been some kind of poor material used for the handles which wasn't stainless steel.

Good to know! I want to go look at the Sharp...

Everyone seems to love the induction but planning on going with gas. We are coastal so the power outage point makes sense. I had the glass top range and it scratched and was hard to clean (husband not-so-careful) It always looked bad.

Helen "As for dripping on toes, again I guess that's a personal thing, but I don't know what would be dripping especially since I would be able to better ensure that all items were level "

It's a safety thing. I am not talking about a little drip but an accidental sloshing of a water bath, roasting pan with fat or unexpected bubbling of sphagetti sauce out of a pan onto your foot, ankle or leg. It can run in your shoe. This is also why I mentioned about the rolling racks here. They are a relatively new thing and some come out much more quickly and you can slosh liquids right out of the pan and burn yourself. I know people who have had bakeware shatter when taking it out of the oven because you exceed the thermal tolerances of the dish taking it out of the oven. You might have an unexpected child or animal come out of nowhere. You can teach and warn them to stay away from the stove and no matter how carefully you watch them, accidents happen. In my line of work I have seen people wind up with skin grafts with kitchen spills and resulting burns so I am more aware of these things than most people. No one intends for these things to happen and being a kitchen, you can't eliminate all risks but it is a good thing to be aware of them.

I know you said you can only access all the wall ovens from the side so while a consideration for you, I have no trouble at 5'3", standing in front, as my oven door (Electrolux) is only about 20" tall (Bosch is 22 3/8) and I can reach the racks with my back straight and my arms bent, so not everyone loses "all ergonomic advantage" by choosing a pull down door and the protection of the door providing a barrier may be important.

The great thing about this forum is that there are often many sides to a coin. You consider pull down oven door a hinderance while I consider it a benefit. Some people are strictly concerned with the design for its aesthetic value so make their choice based on that. Each person has to balance the benefits and risks of each configuration for themselves and their situation and the more information you can gather, the better the decision.

Wekick - thanks for posting your thoughts on the side swing oven doors. I have been planning on them as we design the next house, but it's worth considering the spill aspects you mention. I hadn't thought of that potential issue. It gives me pause, given we're a household with a couple of "helpful" cocker spaniels.

I've had drop-down double ovens for about 20 years now and also at 5'3" never felt them to have an issue with access (had non-glide racks in my Dacor, have them in my current Monogram) - the key being the height the ovens are mounted at (the top of the control panel is at 5'6", making the top of the lower oven door just about at counter level.

My husband bakes a lot of pizza using a peel so I thought the side hinge would be convenient. Also, I would rather drip on the tile floor than on the inside of the oven door. We've dripped into the vents of the door in the past and have had unsightly drips between the glass. It will be nice not having a counter above or a range top!