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Having trouble deciding what finish your appliances should be? Sometimes it may seem as though stainless steel is the only option designers ever use, but there are actually many options, all with their own uses for different design situations. To help you make the right choice to work with your cabinets, floors, lighting and more, here are the top five most popular appliance finishes and when you should use them.
When to choose stainless steel
Love it or leave it, stainless steel is certainly a popular appliance finish — and for many good reasons. As a metal in a midtone between light and dark, stainless steel is a safe-bet neutral option to match nearly any color palette. The material has a look of quality, and this often comes with a heftier price tag than other finishes, so whether the splurge is worthwhile is a matter of personal budget and priorities.
Although it’s hard to go wrong with this option, here are a few situations where stainless steel is an especially strong choice.
Although it’s hard to go wrong with this option, here are a few situations where stainless steel is an especially strong choice.
When your home is ultramodern
Crisp metallic finishes are often associated with modern and even futuristic spaces, and for a glossy minimalist kitchen, in fact, there are few better options for achieving such a clean, streamlined aesthetic. In this case, select all your other metals (faucet, handles, furniture) to be close to your appliance finish to keep the whole design as sleek as possible.
Note: Polished metal finishes look brighter but will show fingerprints more. If you want that polished shine, just be prepared for a little more upkeep to maintain that spotless brilliance.
Note: Polished metal finishes look brighter but will show fingerprints more. If you want that polished shine, just be prepared for a little more upkeep to maintain that spotless brilliance.
When your cabinets are wood
Think only glossy white cabinets work with cool steel? Think again. Wood and metal are quite opposite, but this contrast makes them work beautifully together. In a kitchen with lots of wood cabinetry, stainless steel appliances give a visual break, and they help bring out the richness of the wood’s organic patterning.
This is another case where including a similar metallic finish elsewhere, such as in the cabinet handles, will help keep the whole room looking tied together.
This is another case where including a similar metallic finish elsewhere, such as in the cabinet handles, will help keep the whole room looking tied together.
When you covet transitional style
Transitional kitchen style — halfway between traditional and contemporary — is one of the most coveted looks, and it usually sticks to a palette of white, gray, metallics and the previously mentioned wood.
Here, the interest often comes from mixing different neutrals and textures, like combining wood and white cabinetry, so feel free to contrast your steely appliances with warmer metals like brass or bronze.
Brushed brass is an especially strong choice to pair with stainless steel because it has a subtle warmth that doesn’t contrast the steel so obviously.
Bring in lots of texture — with rattan seats and placemats, for example — and you’ll have a rich mix-matched palette.
When you’ve got the blues
Bored with neutral cabinetry? Bold blue is a great cabinet color choice for those who want a little drama while still staying semineutral, and stainless steel is an excellent complement to this tried-and-true hue. As mentioned, steel, as a midtone, is actually more neutral than stark white or black, so it won’t look harsh against even the boldest colors.
When to choose black
Black, the absence of any actual hue, is simultaneously a neutral color and a bold one, due to being so dramatically dark. For this reason, it can be a risky or safe choice for appliances, depending on what you’re pairing it with. Here’s when to choose it.
Black and white is a classic color scheme for a reason — and not just because it makes your photos look instantly artistic. This combination is vivid and dramatic, all without any trendy colors that might clash when viewed a few years down the road.
Black appliances paired with white cabinetry achieve this look with just enough black to be bold but not overbearing. Warning: Your appliances should be spread out enough so that the look isn’t too heavy or lopsided. In a compact kitchen without much cabinetry, this look is extra risky, so designer beware.
Black appliances paired with white cabinetry achieve this look with just enough black to be bold but not overbearing. Warning: Your appliances should be spread out enough so that the look isn’t too heavy or lopsided. In a compact kitchen without much cabinetry, this look is extra risky, so designer beware.
When your cabinetry is very dark
While black appliances can be bold punctuation marks against white millwork, with dark painted or espresso wood cabinetry, they blend in for a much subtler effect. Dark cabinets will always visually shrink a space to some degree, but pairing them with noncontrasting black appliances will help minimize this shrinking effect, as will some clever inclusions of white and wood to create long lines.
When your cabinetry is a moody gray
Your cabinets don’t need to be equally dark to work smoothly with black appliances. Black will also complement a rich smoky gray. Top off the cabinetry with a dark stone feature counter, and you’ll have a deeply sophisticated palette. Just be sure to include some undercabinet LEDs to make up for all the light being absorbed by the surfaces.
When your kitchen is spacious
If your kitchen is large and well-lit (lucky you!), the best design move may actually be to break up your long wall planes a bit with some dark appliances to keep the space from feeling too vast. A few bits of black, or appliances like these that combine black and steel, will bring in the walls a little and make the space feel more intimate and relaxed.
When to choose paneled
Panel-ready appliances are designed to accommodate a custom door front that matches your surrounding cabinetry, rather than having their own front finish. This essentially camouflages the appliances.
Besides letting you match the cabinet material, this also allows you to match the door profile (such as Shaker style) and even the hardware for total consistency.
You can panel multiple appliances or just ones in particular areas. Fridges are a popular choice to panel since they are generally very tall, wide and visually dominating.
This approach, while almost always more of an investment than standard appliances, can solve lots of little design dilemmas, such as the following.
When your kitchen is super compact
In very small kitchens, such as those often found in apartments and condominiums, there can sometimes be very little actual cabinetry, with much of the visual real estate being taken up by the fridge, microwave, oven, range hood and possibly a dishwasher. This can often leave the kitchen looking busy or lopsided, especially if the appliances are crowded to one end.
Paneled appliances (especially a fridge) help create a much more streamlined look, which can make the kitchen seem much larger and more put-together.
Paneled appliances (especially a fridge) help create a much more streamlined look, which can make the kitchen seem much larger and more put-together.
When you love wood, wood and more wood
If you love the look of all-wood, why let your appliances break up this earthy elegance? With paneled appliances, you can keep your modern conveniences hidden from sight, and enjoy your natural vibe uninterrupted.
When your look is already high-drama
Have all these looks so far been too low-key for you? A dramatic color combination like green with red doesn’t need bold appliances fighting for the spotlight. Using paneled appliances will eliminate one visual element to help keep an edgy look from going all the way over the edge.
When to choose white
White appliances are less common in designer kitchens, perhaps because the classic white fridge many of us grew up with seems so ordinary today. However, there are actually many situations where underrated white deserves a little consideration. Here are a few.
When your cabinetry is a pale tone
Kitchens can be light and breezy without the cabinetry being strictly white. Pale neutrals, a bit darker than off-white, make for a welcoming atmosphere, and white appliances help set off their subtle undertones.
Note: For white refrigerators, you can easily notice the difference in texture between different models. For a more elegant look, I recommend choosing a quality white fridge with a flat, easily wiped surface rather than the ripple-textured models that can catch grime more easily. Fingerprints may show a bit more in the short term, but over time, the appliances will be easier to keep looking new.
Note: For white refrigerators, you can easily notice the difference in texture between different models. For a more elegant look, I recommend choosing a quality white fridge with a flat, easily wiped surface rather than the ripple-textured models that can catch grime more easily. Fingerprints may show a bit more in the short term, but over time, the appliances will be easier to keep looking new.
When your ceiling is dark
Wood beams on the ceiling bring a lot of cottage appeal, whether your kitchen is actually in a rustic farmhouse or an urban abode. However, a dark ceiling like this can weigh down your space somewhat, which is where white appliances come to the rescue. Keeping everything along the walls light and breezy will let your rich dark ceiling be a feature without the whole room feeling like a cave.
This is also a good approach if your kitchen has no windows or if it’s a bit darker than you’d like for any other reason.
When you want to mix and match
Sure, a golden-hued range hood makes a statement, but are you really going to select all your other appliances in brass to match? When paneling isn’t an option, try white appliances where you want to blend into white cabinets, and then let other appliances be the breakout stars in more daring materials.
When you have light counters
The cabinetry isn’t the only material your appliances need to coordinate with. When you have light counters, in, say, a luxe marble or hardy quartz, light appliances can bring the tones from these horizontal surfaces to your vertical surfaces, so your color scheme feels more tied together.
Notice here how the counters pick up on the white of the glossy fridge, and also pick up the gray of the cabinets (via the rich veining), with silvery handles added to tie the latter two to each other. All the colors are repeated somewhere for a truly cohesive palette — subtle genius at work.
Notice here how the counters pick up on the white of the glossy fridge, and also pick up the gray of the cabinets (via the rich veining), with silvery handles added to tie the latter two to each other. All the colors are repeated somewhere for a truly cohesive palette — subtle genius at work.
When to choose color
So far we’ve mostly looked at appliances that can blend into your color palette, but sometimes appliances can actually define your color palette. If you love the idea of true statement appliances, or you just think your kitchen needs a special touch, maybe you should consider color. Here are a few situations when colored appliances work.
When you love retro diner charm
The pastel hues and checkerboard floors of the local shake shack don’t have to stay in the past. They’ll always look fresh and fun in a home kitchen. Pair a pale blue retro fridge with classic diner-inspired decor, contemporary furnishings or a blend of both to bring your own unique twist.
When you’re ahead of the curve
While stainless steel appliances have been the top of the trends for quite some time, some experts are predicting that colored-metallic “black stainless steel” will be the next big thing. This finish is almost as neutral as the classic silvery stainless, but tinted to a soft charcoal black for more drama and better smudge-proofing. If you have a busy family kitchen, or simply like to be ahead of the curve on trends, black stainless might be just the right option for you.
When your kitchen needs a little something special
If you have classic white cabinets, demure hardware, subtle sophisticated tile and hidden, perfectly functional lighting, you may have everything you need — except a little oomph. A fiery red oven or a cheerful blue fridge can add a lot of pizazz to an otherwise humble kitchen.
To keep it classic, try an Italian kitchen-inspired red oven in a bold firetruck-approved shade. While trends may change, this look will stand the test of time — and always be a great conversation starter.
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