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madeline616_gw

Should my appliance brand names match?

Madeline616
12 years ago

Hi GW friends-

I'm doing a kitchen project that will involve replacing my cooktop with a Wolf or Viking range. I'm very happy with my other appliances, but this will leave me with a Kenmore Elite wall oven and dishwasher, a Jenn-Air fridge, and the Wolf or Viking stove.

Is it a "don't" or a "no no" to have non-matching appliance brands? Am I violating some important kitchen design rule?

I don't mind personally, but I'm always keeping re-sale in mind.

Thank you!!

Comments (17)

  • muskokascp
    12 years ago

    Not an issue. I think you will find that many(most) on the members here have appliances from several different companies. The standing recommendation is to buy the best appliance you can for the job. There is no one company that excels in all areas.

  • Madeline616
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks so much for the reply. And I'm not pushing the envelope by having a Wolf range and Kenmore wall oven, right? (Meaning 2 "clashing" cooking appliances.)

  • brickeyee
    12 years ago

    Why would you care?

    But the appliances you want.

  • weedmeister
    12 years ago

    Don't worry. I don't think the Wolf will be insulted being near a Kenmore.

  • colin3
    12 years ago

    If the question is about re-sale, a nearby real estate agent is probably a better source of advice. But remember you can always swap out an appliance later.

    (From my own experience house-hunting, I'd much rather make my own appliance choices than have some random suite of spiffy appliances included in the purchase price of a house. Keep the Kenmore!)

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    I would get the appliance that most met your needs from different manufacturers.

    Brickeye, prior the the "all stainless" orthodoxy there was another real estate orthodoxy regarding appliances that matched ( were from the same company or the same age) so it's not an invalid question.

  • remodelfla
    12 years ago

    In a word... No.

  • breezygirl
    12 years ago

    I have a KA fridge, Sharp drawer MW, KA warming drawer (paneled so you really can't tell what brand it is), Kenmore DW (hoping it dies in a year so I can replace it with something better), Wolf ovens, and a Capital rangetop.

    I was concerned about them matching for a few minutes very early in my planning. Then I realized that its best to buy the appliance within each type that best suits your budget and needs. To heck with matching.

  • susanlynn2012
    12 years ago

    Madeline616, I bought kitchen appliances that suited my needs and as long as they were all stainless, I stopped caring about the handles and stainless steel matching. At the end of November 2006, I bought my French Door LG Refrigerator. In October 2009, I bought the KitchenAid Dishwasher with the top drawer and the heated dry that I wanted that is so quiet. At first it bothered me that it was a different stainless steel but when I added in December 2009 the GE Caf� Range (Matches the LG Refrigerator) and the Zephyr Range Hood (matches both the LG Refrigerator and GE Caf� Gas Range so well), they all came together and it does not bother me anymore that the KitchenAid dishwasher has a different stainless steel coating. All the stainless steel appliances are so easy to keep clean but the KitchenAid dishwasher. I wish they would have used the same stainless steel as the GE Caf� Gas Range. I bought the appliances that had the features I wanted and they together well enough.

  • Madeline616
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks so much for the replies.

    I love all of my appliances and don't want to change anything except for adding the range. I'm happy to hear that future buyers most likely won't be totally turned off by my non-matching collection :-)

  • annac54
    12 years ago

    Lynn, that's funny, because I also have an LG FD refridgerator, Kitchen Aid dishwasher, and GE Cafe range. The hood is a Wolf. They aren't right next to each other, so you really don't notice, and they are not horribly different in style. Haven't unpacked the microwave yet, but it's going to be in a corner where you don't really see it much.

    If you think the different brands work together, go for it.

  • TominLA
    12 years ago

    If I'm going to buy a house and not be able to afford to change out the appliances, I'd much rather see mismatched quality items at each station, than a matching set of lower level items. And since no one mfg. is great at everything, I would never expect to see the same brand everywhere. That said, I do think they should all be in the same color family, and if possible, all in the same or very similar style.

  • susanlynn2012
    12 years ago

    AnnC54, We both made choices on our appliances by the features and that is funny that we chose the same appliances! For my hood, I had to choose one that allowed recirculation so that is why I went with one of the nicer Zephyr fans that allow two carbon filters and it really has worked great at removing odors and giving light and I have not had any fire alarms go off since I bought it.

    TominLa, I also like the appliances to be all in the same color or if possible go well together.

  • Emily
    12 years ago

    I agree with most people here. My DH and I have a Dacor range, a Samsung fridge and a Bosch dishwasher with a GE Advantium microwave/oven. They are all stainless and we just picked what we wanted. They all look good together too IMHO. I was worried about the different handles styles but like Lynn said the handles on my fridge and dishwasher match and the handles on my range and microwave match really well so it all coordinates.

    For resale people won't care if they are all the same brand if they are nice appliances!

  • francoise47
    12 years ago

    No they don't have to match. The GW wisdom is to get the appliance that you want in each category. I think that is good advice.

    That said, and full disclosure: in designing our new kitchen I was a sucker for the look of my new fridge pro handles matching my Wolf range handles. Call me matchy-matchy!

  • liriodendron
    12 years ago

    Only do that if your primary goal in the reno is to make some marketing strategist feel triumphant. If, on the other hand, you want to make your kitchen work for you, then choose accordingly.

    As others have said, no one brand makes the best everything. And many appliances are made for different brands by the same manufacturer, so there's no big plus in having an all-anything kitchen (except for the above-mentioned marketer's satisfaction). Usually that results in at least some appliances being of lesser quality than the others but simply with the same brand name.

    L.