We had white appliances in our last kitchen and had white cabs so the appliances "disappeared" and other elements had more prominence. I felt it gave the kitchen a unified look -

Oh my million dollar question also that I am wrestling with.

I happen to LOVE white appliances also...too old for all of that up-keep of SS or black, but also worry that I will "date" my brand new kitchen.

I am leaning toward white cabinets and and white appliances. Like lauran, I think they will "disappear" just the way the ones do who put on the expensive panels.

I hope lauran will post pics of her kitchen and look forward to reading other replies to your question.

Read the current thread about the things people hate about their new kitchens, the cleaning aspects. Black and stainless are right up there.

I have white appliances and would not like anything else. They never are "out" because they are never "in" - they have always been the default color (although it seems that stainless may becoming that now). Through all the copper, the harvest gold, the avocado, the bisque, the black, the stainless, white is always there in the background ready to step up to the plate as a pinch hitter. (Can you tell that DH has got me watching the playoffs with him?)

A nice yellowy paint looks great with white, like a french vanilla color. Any light color will look great - any blues, a light spring green (check out the Pratt and Larson tiles that would look so great with light colored cabs).
Click Here Enjoy the Pratt and Larson site by clicking on the gray boxes below the pictures and you will see they have many styles. I kind of wish we had found the site before we planned out our kitchen, it is so warm and welcoming.

My kitchen is not done yet, I have 8 cabinet doors left to sand and stain, DH still has others to poly and hang. The cabs were bought used, they were a white-washed oak. I cleaned off 23 years of grime, sanded and stained them the same color again. New kitchen in progress

My previous new kitchen was in 2003 and it was light colored maple with white cabs. That look is dated now, I guess. I always liked maple and white.

Here is a link that might be useful: My maple kitchen from 2003

This innovative use of color -- with white confined to the appliances, sink, tile, and counters -- knocks my socks off. If you are going to have sufficient space and natural light, it would be adaptable to almost any light but muted solid color in lieu of the beige.
{{!gwi}}From Drop Box

Knowing that there is always examples of things you don't think will work but then when you see them they look good I am going to still say white cabinetry and white appliances isn't always the best combo. It's hard to match the whites and often it looks like you cut costs on the appliances or you can get that white out effect of too much white if your not careful. I like white appliances and think they work great with colour cabinetry. I have seen a few kitchens pairing gray cabinetry and white appliances which is a great combo. I also think white appliances and lighter wood finishes can look great.

We're putting green and yellow cabs with our existing white appliances.

I love that kitchen, honorbiltkit! It's one of the photos in my inspiration file. I'm just not sure I can pull off that look for a kitchen in my circa '94 (as in 1994, not 1894) home. We're upgrading the trim throughout our house from the standard skimpy builder trim and that will help but will it be enough? I just don't know but I know what I hope.

tmcgrath, we replaced our almost 20 year old white fridge with another white fridge about 2 years ago. I figured our old fridge was on borrowed time since my SIL's 18 year old fridge and my MIL's 17 year old fridge had both just kicked the buckets (they both lost hundreds of dollars of food - ouch). We went with white because we like white and because our white DW was only 5 years old at the time. What I didn't know then is how limiting white is when it comes to appliance shopping. We may end up with SS cooktop and ovens (still about a year away from remodeling).

At first, I fretted over how to tie white and SS appliances together. Then a designer suggested adding accent tiles in white and pewter into our BS of cream tiles that we chose to coordinate with the cream colored cabinets we had settled on (very similar in color to those in the photo above). It would be subtle but it would still coordinate the white throughout the kitchen.

We considered white cabinets for a brief bit of time but both hubby and I like color so a huge field of white cabinets didn't seem like a good fit for us. In addition, finding a white for the cabinets that looked good with our white appliances and with our white painted trim was nigh impossible. All of these are labeled white but in reality, appliance white is a bright white while our trim white is a creamy white. Match one and the other looks dingy. It was easier to choose a color that complimented not matched.

If your new home will have white trim, don't forget to add this in the mix of your kitchen's color scheme.

If you search for white appliances in the FKB, you'll see more ideas, too.

My first ever appliances were that coppertone. What was it called? But every appliance since then has been white. I like white. It goes with everything I would choose and it's easy to keep clean. Colored appliances would make me stick with a color pallet I might not like in 2 or 10 years.

If your white appliances don't do the trick for you, you can change them later. Wait and see how they look in place. Your backsplash sounds ideal. I'll be anxious to see that with your appliances. Sounds like a perfect solution.

Do you plan on always having white appliances? Yes, white and stainless steel are probably the finishes that have been around the longest and both will probably always be "in" or "classic", so don't worry about either going out of "style".

However, the reason I asked if you will always have white is that your appliances will die long before your cabinets and countertop will need to be replaced...and they cost more than any single appliance (and, in the vast majority of cases, all your appliances combined). So, don't just plan for "now", plan for the future as well. You may not want to lock yourself into one "color". Stainless will go with just about everything ("period" to "modern") b/c it's so neutral. [BTW...did you know that gray is the only color that "goes" with everything? So, when buying clothing, keep that in mind!] Stainless steel is the "gray" of appliances (literally!)]

White is also pretty timeless and will go with most woods & finishes.

Check the Finished Kitchens Blog (FKB) for kitchens with white appliances; you may be surprised at how versatile they are.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

We've put unstained red oak cabinets and floor in new kitchen with old white appliances and new white range hood and sinks. Have treated white as a color in the palette--there are other white and near-white items in the room. Looks good to us!

White appliances don't show dust, fingerprints, etc. very well. They're generally cheaper by about $100 per large item. Greatest problem with white is that I can't find a new white induction range on the market at this time. Hope this changes before my 1980s range dies.

In photo, ignore front of peninsula--this will be painted same red-brown as the walls; walls will be repainted properly. These cupboards only have a lacquer finish, no stain. Hope you find good solution for your situation.

Here is a link that might be useful: installing cabs and appliances in F's kitchen

I just bought a house and purchased white appiances which I love.The cuboards are basically plywood stained Early American.I put in a tan countertop with specks of white.Then I got this idea to paint the cuboards two toned.Light brown background and a lighter tanish brown on the doors and drawers and put antique copper handles.I am so happy with this as I knew white appliances are nuetral but I just needed to pull it together.Not using just one color on the cupboards really sets it off.