Whats your Husband's (or your) thoughts about panelling the DW and the Fridge. We had Stainless and they were a bear to keep clean, particularly the DW and water spots. Can't say nuff good things about how easy the Fridge and DW are to keep clean now that both are panelled. Had them bout 5 years now, would never go back to SS. Most of the folks here pick the "Best Appliance for the Job". There is not an appliance manufacturer that excells at all appliances---most are happy with their Miele DW's and many are happy with their KA DW.s But I would suggest you read the post about Ovens (both Miele and KA) before you make any decision as far as ovens go. Myself, I am very happy with my Elux Oven, Speed Oven and induction cooktop, but (from inputs on GW) I certainly would not pick one of their DW's over a Miele or one of their Fridges over my Jenn air--alto to be honest, at the time I bought my appliances 2005-2006 Elux did not make a 48" Fridge (built in and panelled as that is what we wanted). Anyway, scout around GW a bit, perhaps show "Convincing posts" to your Hubby (LOL). Good luck with "The Hunt"! Gary

I myself don't like the "matchy-matchy" look. It says to me that there was more concern for the matching than for the functionality of the appliances. I think there are several reasons to buy non-matching brands in appliances: - The appliance manufacturers all have their strengths and weaknesses, i.e. some make good ovens, but not good dishwashers, and the like. For example, people here rave about the Thermador column fridges - compared to other similar fridges they're winners! Yet the Thermador wallovens are very expensive and have been reported to be problematic. I think there is no consistent brand. - people overly worry about matching the handles. Trust me, no one will notice, including you, whether the handles match or not. - Some brands have more bang for the buck than others. You can see by shopping around, and definitely by checking this forum which brands offer more on an appliance than others; and it varies by appliance, it's not across the board. - Some brands of appliances are just re-badges of more reasonably-priced brands with an upcharge just for the name, but otherwise the same machine. So people who want, e.g., all matching Dacor, will then buy a Dacor microwave for, like, $500, when it's actually just a re-badged Sharp that cost $250. - Builders push the matchy-matchy look. That's because they buy hundreds of appliances in bulk from one manufacturer, so it pays for them to extoll the all-one-brand look. As to your other questions...panelling a fridge. It can be expensive, both for the panels and also there's an upcharge for a "panel-ready" fridge. If you love the look, then it will be worth it for you. That's a personal taste thing. Also, the panels may be easier to keep looking clean than stainless steel doors. Re SxS vs. french door, I would advise you to look through this forum as that decision has been discussed a lot. I find my SxS fridge to have lots of cu. ft. (25), yet I think it's too narrow. If I had to do it again, I'd get a single-door, bottom-freezer fridge, or a 42" or 48" fridge. The french-door fridge is good if you do not have a lot of aisle clearance, but the counter-depth size FD do not have a lot of capacity. Since you will have a 2nd fridge, that won't be an issue. You should go to a good appliance store, and see the various choices in person. Also read this forum thoroughly. Yes, it'll be hours of your time, but the payoff will be worth it in the long run.

For starters I wouldn't get black stainless because of all the issues I have read in terms of the finish just being easily scraped plastic. As a design feature, I would do as another poster suggested and get panel ready appliances for that wall of cabinets so there is a cohesive look.

Does SubZero's refrigerator need a second outlet to operate the push-to-open door? That doesn't sound right. From what I remember, if was a purely mechanical device. Not electricity involved. Besides, it is installed in the fridge; so, there already should be electricity that is readily accessible. Or did I misunderstand, and this is a push-to-open mechanism for some other cabinets. We have that in a couple of places and are very happy with it. Typically, it's just a different type of hinge, an attachment to the hinge, or a spring-loaded pin that gets installed somewhere. But for some of our upper cabinets, we have electrical push-to-open hinges. The cabinet doors open upwards, which is nice because they completely move out of the way. But the downside is that in the open position they are hard to pull down again. They are just too high up. That's where the electrically operated hinges help. And yes, my wife made the same comment. The cabinets are back-painted glass, and she didn't want to see fingerprints from push to open. The solution was pretty straight-forward. I bought some touch-sensitive switches that I mounted underneath the cabinets. They are easy to access but virtually invisible. I then soldered them to the push-to-open sensor. So, now I can open/close the doors with a gently push, or I can do the same thing by touching the buttons on the underside of the cabinet. And you'll never see any fingerprints.