Ready, I hated stainless because we have it at our other home and it never looks good. Always one big, hot, streaky mess.

When we gutted our kitchen about 4 months ago now we did all new appliances. Appliance finish choices are about non existent. black, white, and ss. I didn't want white (though if I was doing a white kitchen I would have used it), I didn't want a wall of black, so I went with ss but not happily. Fortunately the ss on my appliances is great. It isn't streaky and doesn't readily show fingerprints. I am glad I went with it.

I still wish that I had more options to choose from but had to go with what was available. I think that as soon as the appliance manufacturers have glutted the market with ss they will finally start offering more choices and then try to convince us all that our ss is hopelessly dated and we must change out our appliances or have a kitchen as out of date as dinosaurs.

No matter what the marketing experts push I am keeping my ss unless an appliance dies. Fortunately I only have a fridge and double oven in stainless as my cooktop is induction and the dw is paneled.

It's not at all difficult to clean or live with if you use the correct products. I'm continually mystified as to why people think it is. I used to maintain an entire showroom full of stainless appliances, using only Pledge in the yellow and brown can, and had zero problems with any of it. It's what I have in my own home, and have had for 20 years with no problems.

As for stainless being "out", it's been in since the 50's and has only increased in popularity from there. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. The only thing that may overtake it's popularity is if makers create more budget alternatives that are easily changed out. And they won't do that, because they'd rather sell you a whole other fridge than just a panel for a fridge.

But, you are free to put in your own home any color or style of appliance that you like, regardless of popularity.

I too have had no problems keeping my SS clean. But I am a bit fussy about keeping my hands clean when cooking, and everything wiped down while I'm cooking.

Any appliances that don't get frequent cleaning will look yucky. It takes very little time to give the front of my DW or fridge a swipe with a damp cloth.

Part of it will be driven by what wood finishes are trending in kitchens. White kitchen cabinets don't always look that great with white appliances unless the cabinets are dead white. Very dark stains with black appliances could get kind of dark, and white might be too much contrast. That kind of leaves stainless as a mid-toned neutral that works with the two current trends.

I think part of the problem is that most people aren't very adventurous. They produce a number of colors for washers and dryers but most people have a fear of commitment when it comes to buying anything else in a real color.

I think manufacturers also realize that there is a trend away from buying an entire package of appliances from the same manufacturer at the same price point across the board. It would be a kind of unreasonable expectation that Bosch's baby blue matched Kitchenaid's baby blue. White, black and stainless are a bit easier to match or closely blend across manufacturers.

>It would be a kind of unreasonable expectation that Bosch's baby blue matched Kitchenaid's baby blue.

That doesn't stop colors in Europe. Look at the Bosch booth at IFA this year:

They just know it's easy to manipulate taste in the US and so be able to limit your line to a couple of finishes.

European tastes and European kitchens don't have a whole lot to do with their American counterparts.

Marketing is an interactive relationship, not a dictatorial one. The American marketing machine could push something all it wanted but if it had nothing to do with what people wanted, it wouldn't sell. If Americans *really wanted a particular color choice in kitchen appliances, it would be available.

On the plus side, appliances are no longer built to last, so it's likely we will all be forced to upgrade to whatever happens to be "in" sooner rather than later.

I've been seeing more and more enameled pieces. Although they look pricey at this point. I hope it continues.

I think ineffable space has the answer. Add to it the fear of not being able to sell the house if you don't have the holy trinity of hardwoods-granite-stainless.

I personally would shy away from bold color because, as someone else commented, appliances don't have that long a lifespan anymore, and I would be unhappy if I had a great red refrigerator and range that I loved . . . But I couldn't get a replacement dishwasher in the same red.

We have had stainless for nine years. It was fine (but not great), until we had kids. Now no matter what I do there are streaks, fingerprints, splatters, and tons if tiny scratches. I hate it. We went with black in the house we are remodeling. However, the black Samsung fridge is a high gloss black plastic that seems to show a lot of prints. So far I'm not loving that either. Maybe the solution is to ditch the kids? ;)

I still like bisque; I will miss my frige. I have friend with bisque appliances (SS ovens) and the cabinets match.

with my future maple cabinets and honey maple floors, bisque would have blended. If I had known I was doing a full kitchen, rather than just replacing range and d/w, I would have hunted for an off-white frige, a d/w that could be panelled, and maybe the range.

Stainless has been major for 20 years now and isn't going anywhere IMO. We saw the color thing in 50s kitchens. Perhaps someone wants pink or aqua back but not many.

I went through the black glass phase for appliances and found it worse than the stainless. I use a spritz of green counter cleaner and a microfiber cloth for everything including my ss counters and fridge handle.

As far as kids are concerned, I'd take stainless over most anything else during flu season -- you can literally wash all the surfaces down with alcohol.

Also, think about what most realtors say about staging a house for sale: go neutral. Most Americans don't love color the way Europeans do and if you've ever been in France or Germany during the winter, you'll know why.

I find panels help a lot, especially on fridges and dishwashers that tend to look dated more quickly than a range.

But they've tried charcoal and titanium and bronze finishes as well as black and white. Stainless has outlived them all.

If your stainless isn't looking so good, a company called Maas makes really good stainless cleaners and protectors. I use that stuff, and it makes all my stainless look like new with less effort after use.

My stainless sink, with the protector on, water just beads up. It's cool! We have really hard water, and I'll just die if that company ever goes under. I actually have hoarded some... in case!

I hate when I find a product that works, and then it's no longer available! I have a 30 year old tub of dried up Amway stainless cleaner, and it works too, but I can no longer find it so I went to Maas and found happiness there.

On topic, trends are trends. But practically speaking, colors will date your kitchen. I think Stainless and Black and White appliances are forever (until they break). JMHO, but I prefer a neutral background on which to paint my colorful accessories which I can change with no hit to my pocket!
Suzi

Why are there still so many stainless appliances in stores? Because stainless steel is still popular. I like stainless. It suits my aesthetic preferences and I don't find it difficult to care for. I'm happy that stainless steel is still available in stores because it means that if I have to replace a single appliance, I don't have to worry about matching an entire suite in a single color. I don't see why stainless has to "die" just for you to be able to replace your appliances with one of the other options out there.

Also, you ripped out and replaced your landscaping because your neighbors didn't like it? Wow.

What does it matter what is popular or trendy? Buy what you want. No one is going to stop you. And if your neighbors turn your nose up at it, why let it bother you? They're not the ones caring for the appliances or enjoying them on a daily basis.

This post was edited by pricklypearcactus on Mon, Oct 7, 13 at 10:16

I was just going to post some of what pricklypearcactus said. Why care what your neighbors or anyone else thinks? Decorate with what works for you.

It seems like americans are too interested in resale value and what the neighbors think to decorate as they wish. And that is sad.

A couple of years ago I had my pointless lawn taken out and replaced with drought-tolerant perennials, berms and a dry creek bed. And my city water utility paid me $300! Slowly, gradually, the neighbors are doing the same, mostly, I think, because it looks better.

A guy across the street decorates garishly at Christmas. It's his thing.