I'll have to be the odd one out and say first that quality SS appliances are very rich -- it's a natural material. It's an expensive material. It picks up light in a way that adds something to the room without being glary. I'm looking at my georgeous GE Monogram SS fridge right now and love it as much as I did when I bought it five years ago. It really addds to the room. In this house I have cherry cabinets and it looks great. In the last house I had white cabinets with a cocoa glaze (i.e., beige cabinets) and it looked fabulous. You cannot go wrong with SS. White with white is good. But you said your cabinets are going to be CREAM, not white. The stark white of appliances is not going to go well if you're having anything but pure white cabinets. If you're getting warm rich creamy ones, stark white will not be good. Rabbit house had the best idea of having the cabinet panels over the appliances. If it's in the budget you could do this with fridge and dw, it would be so beautiful. Then get rest of appliances in same-brand bisque to avoid the problem marciagaye mentioned, or stainless steel. Or just get them all in same brand bisque. I agree about black not going well in a white or cream kitchen. Last idea is wait till you have a cabinet door, then go shopping for appliances with it.

Whether you go with white or dark cabinets (personally, I prefer the dark, even with white appliances) is your choice. However, keep in mind that if your cabinets are in good shape, they will outlive your appliances. You're not enamored of white cabinets, do you want to commit yourself to them "forever"? Unless you plan to redo your kitchen when the appliances die, you will have a similar decision to make when you need new appliances...and they won't die all at once, so you'll be re-committing to the color over and over again. If the cabinets are in good shape and painting is intended to be your only redo of them in the foreseeable future, then paint them the color you want, not to match your appliances. As Rosie mentioned, you can paint the appliances if they really bother you (using, I think, appliance or auto paint or a paint meant for metal). The bottom line is this: If the cabinets are not going to be replaced when your appliances die, paint them to please you, not the appliances. Then, for your appliances....(1) patiently wait for them to die and replace them with black or stainless, (2) sell them on Craigslist and then buy new, or (3) paint them now. I would wait b/f I decided what to do w/the appliances until you've painted your cabinets...then make the decision based on how you think they look! (If it were me and I didn't like them, I would probably go with option (2) or (3).) (If your cabinets are in only fair or poor condition, then you may be replacing them sooner than you think/plan! So, if you're willing to live with white for a couple of years, then it might not be so bad. Oh, and if they are in only fair or poor condition, don't put an expensive countertop on them now...it would be a waste of money b/c existing countertops very, very rarely fit new cabinets...even w/the same layout...and if you end up replacing cabinets, I recommend looking closely at your layout and changing it to be more functional if it's not ideal now.) Good luck!

Here are some pictures of cream and white together. I also included a link to painting oak cabinets. Want to paint oak cabinets white-pictures included please help me http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0413060914819.html Painted Oak transformation http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0501403227095.html Here is a link that might be useful: painted oak

Perhaps posting some photos of your cabinets and current kitchen would be helpful. Of course, your counters, backsplash, flooring and adjacent rooms will influence what colors would look good.