You're likely to get universal advice to pick by individual appliances, not a suite of appliances by manufacturer/line. I agree with this, but would also caution to be aware of the differences in stainless. My Bosch dishwasher is whitish, almost more like aluminum, the Bosch range is almost yellow-goldish. My Samsung fridge, Monogram MW and Kobe hood are what I'd consider "normal" stainless. With the exception of the hood and range, these are all placed far enough apart to where it doesn't bother me, but if they were all close together it would. Just something to consider.

Various appliance sales people have told me that nearly all fridges are made by Amana. We had good luck with one purchased in 1993. It died 3 days after the warranty because a screw had been overtorqued in the factory. The repair man gave me the screw and I sent it with a copy of my receipt and a letter to the president of Amana. They sent me a check to cover the repair and extended the factory warranty for another year. Never had another problem with it and sold it with the house in 2005.

You GO, @Kathy Linn! I resolved early-on in our kitchen design to adopt a "no-stainless" policy (more for the looks than the upkeep), and so set out to find an antique, enameled stove (for cleanability in addition to looks) and even went with copper sinks to avoid SS. My first kitchen was all-white when we bought the house, and not really in a good way - laminate countertops and mdf cabinets in addition to white appliances. It was more work keeping the countertops white than the fridge (although the door handle did yellow with time) but I was done with white by the time we moved. For our build I settled on a 1929 Glenwood, restored at a shop outside Boston. It was a splurge but like yours (which is also very handsome) one we'll never need to replace. I'd like to think if consumers start throwing the SS junk back in appliance companies' (and designers') faces and going with restored antiques or otherwise reliable, easy-to-clean appliances with actual color options that we don't have to replace after 5-10 years, maybe they'll stop telling us what we should want and start producing quality again.

@artemis, I did not love the Liberty at first since the patterns are oh so limited, but that was based on looking at the pictures on line. But once they are in your hand, they just feel so nice. @Kendrah, I am not trying to steer you away from European or American brands, but I would say that if you find a nice set that is manufactured in South Korea, you might be surprised at the quality. They have producing quality stainless for many, many years. Many of the mid-century patterns are gorgeous. If you have antique shops or resale stores in your area, you could at least hold the pieces in your hand. Lastly, if you get a vintage set off of Ebay or in a local shop and any pieces are missing, you could possibly find missing ones on Replacements.com (albeit expensive).