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remodelfla

Guess it's official... Stainless appliances are passe

remodelfla
11 years ago

Thought of all you guys when I read this. I'm perfectly at peace with being OH SO 2011.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wall street journal on appliances

Comments (28)

  • weissman
    11 years ago

    Must be part of the plot by the Republican Party to take us back to the 50's :-)

  • aliris19
    11 years ago

    You mean 1850, right?

  • SaraKat
    11 years ago

    I'd love to go back to the 50's! Not that I was alive then but it seems like it would be fun : ) Sign me up!

    I hope SS is not "out" I just got my fridge recently, just my luck.

  • pharaoh
    11 years ago

    Show me an attractive replacement, then we will talk...

  • jgopp
    11 years ago

    But toward the end of the article it says from the head of Viking design that 80% of the sales are still in stainless. I think the article was more saying "there are a lot more options now, and you shouldn't just buy stainless because you've heard it's the best".

    I also think SS is the best bet for some kitchens but not for all. I think with a larger variety of finishes it is just better off for the consumer who has a finish and trim that wouldn't quite fit with the stainless look.

  • deeageaux
    11 years ago

    Guess it's official... Stainless appliances are passe

    Guessed wrong.

    Like article said, most high-end appliance sales continue and will continue to be in SS for the forseeable future.

  • desertsteph
    11 years ago

    what's wrong with 1850?

    the 1950's were good yrs! maybe one of those 50's dishwashers. My MIL had one. the first dw I ever saw in real.

  • eve72
    11 years ago

    Perhaps if Viking and others didn't charge a $500 plus premium on top of their already high prices for color option, they would sell more. I suspect a lot of people settle for SS instead of color as they've already spent more than they wanted. I'd love a racing red range, but I also agree that color isn't for everyone.

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    what's wrong with 1850?

    Do you really want an answer to that? How much time do you have?

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    When I read the title to remodelFla's post, I thought "Oh, jeez, this AGAIN?" But the article was actually pretty good. (Maybe that's because they focused on business instead of fashion?) Anyway, I did enjoy this line from the article: "Black is the new stainless steel."

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    I thought the article was good, but the interviewees were particularly stupid. No wonder the appliance industry is in so much trouble. White doesn't have staying power? Kitchens were the heart of the home before industrialization? You mean when they were in a separate house that frequently burned down, or when a kitchen was a hole in the wall with a fire in it?

  • biochem101
    11 years ago

    This question of "What is timeless?", or "What will easily be dated?" comes up again and again here.

    I suggest anyone pondering check out the Finished Kitchen Blog Starpooh put together. Go through them ALL.
    Pay particular attention to kitchens done in 2004-5-6.

    If it looks like one that could have been submitted last week and would garner praise, it's probably at least somewhat timeless. Surprisingly some already look like "Before" kitchens people would rip out and they are only 7 years old.
    But they were done *HERE*!

    FWIW, IMO the stainless appliances are not the problem.

    Starpooh has done everyone a great service.

    A picture is worth a thousand words.

    (Who said that?)

  • biochem101
    11 years ago

    Should mention you can see the date submitted when you click on a selected photo to get the details.

    Most of the older ones are towards the latter pages so you could also go to page 32 and work backwards.

    Newest ones seem to be on page 1.

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    This is all good, it means that (hopefully) we'll have more choice in appliance colours and finishes soon. It doesn't mean your SS is passe, no one need panic or take it personally. It is a welcome relief that we may have something new on the market though. All SS all the time, just like anything, gets tiresome.

    Change is good.

  • idrive65
    11 years ago

    "I'd love to go back to the 50's! Not that I was alive then but it seems like it would be fun : ) Sign me up!"

    Well-made appliances aside, the 50s are no place I'd like to live. I'll take modern medicine and women's rights any day!

  • nosoccermom
    11 years ago

    My bet is on built-in with cabinet panels, so that appliances blend in seamlessly.

  • segbrown
    11 years ago

    That article has received almost 3,500 comments in less than 24 hr!

  • pricklypearcactus
    11 years ago

    My interpretation of the article was along the lines of deeageaux. Stainless still is and is expected to continue to be the top purchased appliance finish. However, the appliance companies realize that stainless has been "in" for so long that perhaps the industry is ready for another favorite finish, so they're each competing to come up with the latest and greatest. But there does not seem to be consensus on what exactly is the new "it" finish, so each manufacturer is developing and debuting something new and different. But from what I'm reading, there has been little success and stainless continues to dominate the market.

  • ginny20
    11 years ago

    I don't care if my SS appliances become passe, I like them. But I wish someone would bring back little hats and white gloves. Talk about passe! I'd say good riddance to lots about the 50's, but ladies' clothes were pretty. And a man would wear a suit and tie to take a woman out to a movie and dinner. [sigh]

  • lavender_lass
    11 years ago

    I think stainless steel is finally saturating the market. It doesn't mean it won't be popular, but some people are looking for a change. AGA and Viking sell a lot of their colorful choices...and I think people would buy these, if they were more available and affordable. Just like backsplashes and countertops...people like having more choices! :)

    As for the 50s, I live in the 50s in our small town (or so my in-laws tease me) but with all the modern medicine, women's rights, etc. It's just nice that people still say 'hi' on the street and you have to be nicer when driving...because everyone knows your vehicle! LOL

  • beekeeperswife
    11 years ago

    but...but....I've seen it on HGTV, stainless appliances are "Professional"

  • Locrian
    11 years ago

    Good article from the business/marketing end. I, too, wish appliances were offered in more colours than white/black/stainless without a premium price tag.

    Yes, I remember the days of Harvest Gold, Avacado Green, and whatever it was Brown. Oh gracious me! What fanfare & hoopla-de-da that created. Why on earth would you want an old-fashioned looking kitchen with furniture-style appliances or that ugly Candy Apple Red or even havens forbid Industrial-era stainless steel or carbon black?!?!?

    What goes around comes around. Wonder what the marketing departments are cooking up ;-)

  • eandhl
    11 years ago

    Actually weissman , in the mid 50's my inlaws put in SS cook-top and built in oven. Cook-top still going strong. They also did a SS tile backsplash that is still up and looks really good.

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    That article has received almost 3,500 comments in less than 24 hr!

    And this thread has produced a lot more intelligent insight in only 23 comments.

  • mrspete
    11 years ago

    I was out at Lowe's this week, and almost everything was Stainless Steel. I noticed that most of the items had signs saying "also available in black and white -- 14 day delivery", which tells me that they don't sell enough to keep them on hand.

    I agree with the person who says that the market has become "saturated" with Stainless Steel. It's been "a thing" long enough that it's kind of peaked. It's been wildly popular, and like all wildly popular items, it'll still be available even after the trend has turned -- kind of like Avacado Green and Harvest Gold were available after they'd become something of a joke: First, most of us can't afford to switch out our appliances just because of color; second, even if we need to replace one item, we're probably going to choose something to match the other appliances.

    My prediction: Stainless Steel has been SUCH a popular thing. I think it has at least ten years before it is really "passe", but I do suspect that we're going to go back to black and white appliances being "acceptable" again.

    Speaking only for myself, I find Stainless Steel rather cold, and I'm going with either black (which I have now and like) or white in our new house.

    I've heard about a new thing called Arctic White, which is uber-white and shiney (whereas the white I had in my old house was a bit "soft" and had a pattern to hide fingerprints). However, proving that some people have more money than sense, I've seen pictures of this new where-are-my-sunglasses-color paired with cream-colored cabinets. What could they be thinking?

  • drbeanie2000
    11 years ago

    I appreciated the code term "Dorian Gray" for "Slate." Especially if "Slate" is the new "timeless."

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    lol drbeanie2000, brilliant.

  • beth
    11 years ago

    My parents had a ss fridge in 1955.