In CR's tests, the F&P DD24DTX6I1 / DD24DTX6PX1 didn't perform very well and at ~$2600 is very expensive. If you decide to replace the F&P with a stainless steel dishwasher, the Bosch SHP78CM5N ($1400) would be a better choice.

Why are you so worried about ruining the "custom" kitchen? Are you planning to sell soon?

One person's custom might not be the right type of custom design for the next person. The only person that values a "custom" kitchen is the homeowner that designed it and paid cash for it. Everyone else will find something they don't like about it, but would still buy the house if everything else met their needs.

Do what works for you.

I don't know where your dishwasher drawers are located so I'm not sure if you should keep the panels or not. To lighten the look of the kitchen, a stainless steel refrigerator with certainly help. I would paint the interior of the area above the refrigerator and the pantry in a light colour. For the glass doors on each side of the stove you can either paint the back or install a frosted glass or frosted glass look film.

lisedv: "I don't know where your dishwasher drawers are located"

They're on either side of the sink shown in the second photo.

Here are you two options with a light countertop. Perhpaps if the drawers were one above the other it wouldn't look so choppy.

Honestly I feel like, with the dark cabinets, that the symmetry of the range will will be upset by the dark cabinets on one side and the light stainless steel refrigerator on the other, even though the refrigerator is already not fully integrated but has the stainless frames on the paneled doors. I usually don't do symmetrical range walls in the kitchens I have designed because they are usually small enough that to force symmetry would not make sense for a number of reasons. But since that wall is set up to be symmetrical, I think it should remain symmetrical with another paneled fridge. Also since a free standing refrigerator will not fit the same way is the built in, it's likely that the interior of that fridge surround is not finished because it's meant to have a built in slide into it, so you would have that expense, maybe similar to new panels.

I think stainless units around the sink would be fine.

"lisedv: Perhpaps if the drawers were one above the other it wouldn't look so choppy."

DishDrawers are manufactured/sold as single units or two-drawer units (same concept as a two-drawer filing cabinet). Single units cannot be physically combined into a two-drawer machine, nor can a two-drawer model be split into two separate drawers.

Two single drawers could possibly be installed in a stacked configuration but a support partition would be required between them which likely would require raising the countertop accordingly, and plumbing revisions would also be required.

The illustration gives you an idea of what the drawers would look like if in stainless vs wood.

If you add them in the right places and add symmetry you never know until you try it, something like this samsung refrigerator fits anywhere like an oversized smart phone lol

If you are replacing the counters and splash and keeping your floors please don’t do a bright white - as you can see from the mock ups that lisedv was kind enough to do - you’d want to be in the creamy off white leaning yellow to work with the floors.

@thinkdesignlive

Yes of course not a bright white, a warm white or off-white that works in the room. It's difficult to show precise colours in a sketch.

Mine was not exactly the same, but similar dark cabinets. I posted before and after a few days ago. Here is the current photo (faucet getting installed today).

Love the bright new look!