It is not necessary to match appliance brands in a kitchen, just finishes. I also like to match handles. Since you are buying all stainless, the finishes will match. We buy appliances for their function and not every maker, makes the best everything. Bosch is known for their dishwashers, but Kitchen Aids are good as well. Sharp makes a decent micro drawer. As for the induction, I'd totally get the Cafe - It looks like a professional appliance, and has very good reviews. Since you mentioned Cafe, have you looked at their fridge. It is gorgeous and very well rated. It's the closest thing in looks to a high end Subzero or Wolf. Since I like to match handles, and I love the look of the Cafe, I'd get the Cafe induction and fridge. I'd get the Sharp Microwave drawer (as there is no handle) and then I'd get a Bosch dishwasher (the model without the handle) or I would panel it because I like all the handles to match.

Its fine to have different brands. I have stainless appliances. Bluestar range, Electrolux warming drawer, Bosch dishwasher and LG fridge. All with different handles. I don't think I have ever walked into someones kitchen and noticed the handles on appliances didn’t match.

Designers notice handles. Some are modern, some classic, etc. It is a much nicer aesthetic for them to coordinate.

I spent months agonizing where to find a reasonably priced refrigerator handle for out SubZero. I didn't realize that paneled appliances don't even ship with a handle and you need to buy it separately. Turns out, Miele sells their appliance handles as a separate product and it isn't even that expensive. Our SubZero now has a great Miele handle. I am sure nobody notices, but it does go well with our Miele wall ovens (CSO and SpeedOven).

By the same token, nobody notices that the Bluestar range that is located in between these two appliances has a completely different handle. We did color-coordinate it with the Miele ovens though. I changed the stainless oven door for a black one.

So, yes, please mix and match. Only "contractor-special" priced packages come with all the same brand -- and that's usually one of the biggest headaches, as none of the appliances excel at what they do.

Also, I strongly second the recommendation for a Bosch or Miele dishwasher. We have a Kitchenaid in the in-law unit. It's fine for a reasonably-priced low-use dishwasher. It is a far cry from the better brands though and I wouldn't want to put up with is on a daily basis.

No need to match but should blend. Get an applied front for the dishwasher (poof! It’s gone) and the microwave drawer doesn’t have a handle. At that point you only need to consider the stove and fridge.

Different appliance companies produce superior products for ranges, fridges, dishwashers. Functionality is what matters most of all. Buy the appliance from the company that does the best job for each particular appliance. After all, when your dishwasher has flooded the floor or your fridge has died causing you to lose hundreds of dollars worth of food, will you really be so concerned about whether the handles match?

I wouldstrongly advise a Bosch DW as for matching appliances I have never found one company that makes all appliance well. In my kitchen I have a Bertazzoni 36’" all gas range, KA double electric wall ovens, Fridgadaire all fridge all freezer columns with builtin kit Bosch DW Panasonoc MW All the majors are plain ols stainless and the MW is black with stainless front. Every appliance you buy should fit your style of cooking. That is why plain old satinless is IMO still the choice of finish. As for handles I am a designer and have never had the handles be an issue unless a client is doing intergrated appliances where we need to order handles.

Thank you all for the sound advice. I’ll go with the appliance which most fits my wants and needs. I am curious about the KA dishwasher comments - I currently have one with bottle wash, 3 trays, and extra large silverware holder- I love it! In the new house, it was the one appliance I was sure about - I used to have two fisher pay keel drawers and replaced them with the KA. Is there a reason everyone goes for Bosch over KA ?

Designers notice handles. Some are modern, some classic, etc. It is a much nicer aesthetic for them to coordinate.

I have a design background and NO, I've never walked into anyone's house and noticed if the handles on the appliances matched.

As for appliances, I'm not sure of the Bosch fridge unless you're getting the integrated one. I have the integrated Bosch fridge and it's great. It's basically a Thermador with the Bosch brand on it and a bit less expensive.

I LOVE my Bosch induction cooktop and the Bosch induction stove gets generally great reviews. I especially love that each hob has its own timer so if you're making something like rice, you can set the timer and once it's done, the hob shuts off. My rice has been perfect since getting the Bosch induction.

I had the top of the line KA DW in my last place and I hated it. Cheap plastic pieces that continually didn't work as they were supposed to work. I now have a Miele DW and love it. For me it was between the Miele and Bosch.

Sharp makes all the microwave drawers so there's no reason to spend more on a name brand just to have them slap their name on it. I use my Sharp drawer daily

I will say I have had Bosch DWs in my last 2 homes the one in my old house is still going strong 17 yrs later the one in my new house is 13 yrs old not one service call and I have run catering biz from these homes. I sometimes do 8 or more loads using the quick wash cycle that I would look for all the time 23 mins. load done I use it probably 80% of the time. Love it for dinner parties just the right timing between courses so at the end of the night barely any dishes. I use mine for all but my copper pots too the pot cycle is fabulous for getting pots clean and the bonus they always look new.

We have a Miele dishwasher that is now more than 8 years old, and still works as if it was brand new. The only part that needed replacement at one point was the backflow gasket. It is user-replaceable and at ~$40 not horribly expensive as far as appliance parts go (still too much money for what it is though).

We run it at least once a day. So, we must have used it for around 3000 cycles by now. Interior organization is amazing. I can cram it so full. And even when I do that, everything comes out sparkling clean. I occasionally use the 30min Express wash option, and generally most things are cleaned even with the short cycle length. I have also, accidentally, run a full cycle without any detergent. And amazingly, things still came out clean.

On the other hand, the Kitchenaid in the in-law unit struggles with perfect cleaning. About every second cycle, there are two or three items that never get 100% clean. Easy to fix manually when emptying the dishwasher. But having to do so does get old. The Kitchenaid cleans worse on its multi-hour cycle than the Miele does on a 30min cycle. That's just unacceptable.

Also, don't even think about packing the Kitchenaid densely. First of all, the interior organization makes it much harder to load as full as the Miele, but secondly, any attempt to fill it to capacity will result in lots of unwashed dishes coming. At that point, you are better of running two daily cycles.

We use the Kitchenaid very sparingly, as the in-law kitchen isn't used year round. I'd guess it has less than 500 cycles by now. But we already had to replace several plastic parts. In fact, we had to replace the same parts several times already. The biggest problem are the wheels that hold the top basket. They are made from inferior plastic that ages with every wash cycle. And eventually, the top basket comes crashing down. The good news is that Kitchenaid parts are cheaper than the Miele parts. Each time the basket crashes, I only need to spend ~$20 and I am back in business. And by now, I have gotten good at this and it only takes me less than 30min to do the full repair.

For our in-law kitchen, that might actually have been the right purchase decision. The Kitchenaid was much cheaper than the Miele. But for daily use, I am glad we went with Miele. At this point I expect it'll last another 8 years. And amortized over 16 years, the premium cost of the Miele is negligible. We have a busy four person household and use the kitchen a lot; I need appliances that I can trust to work each and every time.

No need to match your appliances. I love my Sharp micro drawer. I don't know anything about the other appliances mentioned. I have a Miele dw and have read wonderful reviews about Bosch DW but have never owned one.

Best dishwasher I ever had was an Asko, but that was installed in 1995. 11 years without one single issue and whisper whisper quiet. No idea what has happened to the brand since. I've had a KitchenAid dishwasher and it was very good but currently have a Bosch, which I've had in other houses and recommend highly. I would pick a Bosch over KitchenAid.

I also currently have the Bosch fully integrated refrigerator with no complaints other than a motor's need to whine a bit around 11:00 pm every night.