another picture

Marble slab

I would go for stainless just for a little contrast...and you didn't mention it but I would get rid of the arches if possible...and if you love the arches, just ignore that!

Ditto :)

Double ditto.

Say that five times fast!

I think stainless would be nice for contrast. You have a gorgeous kitchen and dining area. Love, love, love the arches!

Drooling over the marble...

We were in a similar situation except our cabinets are more off-white. We are switching over to SS-the white cabinets and white appliances were just too, well, white!

At first I thought dcward was out of her mind for suggesting removing the arches! But it would make a fantastic flow if you did.

Really hard to think about taking character out of a house, though. I have seen worse. But what is that second set of cabs right under the middle arch? Just for storage? Even taking those out would add a lot to the way that dining room and kitchen flow and feel.

Thank you so much for the replies. I was leaning towards stainless too so that really helps. We thought about removing the arches but I think we have decided to keep them. The cabinet in the center of the arches is storage but on the family room side the previous owner had 2 small saddle stools which we may do or we may put in a bookshelf. We are redoing the wood floors too and staining bit darker more brown less orange.

If you did a bookshelf there it would look a lot more deliberate and structural rather than something that is just in the way.

Oops, I did leave out my vote for stainless, but just for the contrast! I hate my stainless appliances for the grungy, hard-to-clean look of them. DH made me do it!

Just to throw a different opinion in, I have white appliances in a smaller kitchen with an open floor plan. I like the way my appliances blend in and don't jump out . It really just depends on the look you are going for.

carolmka, what color white are your cabinets such that they go well with white appliances/don't stand out? Just curious - thanks! (I don't mean to hijack - just quick question!)

Here is a pic , but not great. The cabinets are white, but not white white. I plan to remodel ( of course) , but if I end up with white cabinets. I think I might stick with white, I am not into having my appliances be in my face. Or to sit in my family room and stare at stainless. I am thinking of doing a stainless hood with white appliances.

I can see the way the white microwave kind of pops out of the cabinets. But that is not the same kitchen, is it?

If it is, and the cab color is true, I think I would go with stainless instead. White appliance will make those cabs look dingy.

So these are my old cabinets, we have not remodeled. If I did I would lose the soffits, microwave , and maybe go with a stainless hood. However on my main appliance wall, I am not a fan of stainless. Keep in mind this is my current kitchen, but we have several neighbors who have remodeled and they don't seem to change the floorplan in a big way. I just feel like I am trading a wall of white for a wall of stainless.

Aha ha, I was totally confused, lol! I somehow thought that you (carolmka) was the OP! I wouldn't want a wall of stainless, either.

Sheesh, I need to go to bed!

I'm voting stainless . . . but not for design reasons. I'm voting that way because stainless is essentially all that's available these days, and if you want to have any choice in the machines you choose, you kind of have to go that way.

My story, which influences my opinion:

A couple months ago my dishwasher died. I have black appliances in my current house, and since the other items are all in good condition, I needed to stick with the same color scheme -- so I set off to buy a black dishwasher. Lowe's Home Improvement, where I ended up buying, had exactly FOUR from which to choose. All of them offering the "silverware in the door" arrangement, which I dislike. On the other hand, if I'd been looking for a stainless dishwasher, I would've had a much wider selection of brands and features.

Though, admittedly, I did not look at white -- it might have had wider availability, and I was not willing to order and wait. You should check to see whether my story is true for you or not, but the moral is that I fear you're essentially going to be "bullied into stainless" by lack of other choices.

I like white, and I think the white looks nice in the kitchen in your new house. However, MrsPete is right. Appliance choices are extremely limited unless you go stainless. I hate stainless, but we are slowly replacing our white appliances with stainless just because of the fact that finding the appliance features we wanted was impossible in white. So, I made the choice of function over form (color).

If you want contrast then go biscuit, otherwise stick with white.

So circling back to your original question... If you have good cabinets, consider changing out the counter tops and back splash first, Since you have the huge island, you could pick a different color. I really don't think its a big deal to have a different cook top from the rest of the appliances. On a side note, I have white high end Kitchenaid appliances, so it can be an option. On the flipside if your appliances are working and you love them, that's another consideration, In this day and age, new is not always better, Good luck, I wish I has your kitchen layout.