"Is this the end of a 25-year run for stainless steel? Major manufacturers are placing bets on different potential successors to the shiny, upscale appliance finish, whose resilience surprised many."
Maybe avocado? Rocky Road? Meat?
Stainless will be around a while because it holds up well. Paint chips and fades. Stainless is still stainless. Unless someone is going to replace everything in the kitchen, they will want to match what they have.
I have to disagree. "They" are making stainless so cheaply these days that it rusts. I'm sure there are ultra-premium exceptions, but there are plenty of reports of people having trouble with their SS appliances rusting. My own Whirlpool stove is a disaster in this respect.
I just had a new Maytag refrigerator delivered yesterday, and chose black over SS for just this reason.
Art
people paint their walls all sorts of colors and yet the kitchen is supposed to be black, white or stainless?
I've seen kitchen appliances in bright primary colors and they looked sharp. Granted I don't think they will be as timeless as the above, but what the heck
smart appliance makers would just sell appliques to change the appearance of any appliance
Useta be that at least dishwashers you could replace the panel in the front, the maker would give you a couple choices but there was nothing stopping you from buying a sheet of stainless steel and painting it any color you wanted. Or insert a sheet of wood veneer to match your cabinets (haven't seen that done in years though.)
That replaceable front actually seems to be LESS common today...
nate
I don't think it is as much a "cheap" choice as it is using a harder alloy (304) to hold down the scratching problem.
That rust is just a surface thing and it will wipe right off. You see the same thing with stainless "work boat" props and 18-8 stainless bolts.
Any wall covering goes with black, white, or stainless appliances. If you bought a cerise refrigerator it would clash with next year's green paint.
If you want to replace them every time you paint, go ahead.
They do. They make appliance with tracks to add panels to match cabinets. Most don't buy them, so...
Appliance manufacturers are only going to increase the selection of colours or finishes they make their appliances in with reluctance. That's because the more colours you make your appliances in, the more parts you have to keep in stock in your warehouse. And, the more you have to charge for your appliances to cover that increased cost.
Oooo...can we have burnt orange?
Right. They usually offer some models with replaceable cover panels so you can do what you want with them. I think everyone has seen enough harvest gold and avocado appliances (we had one of each in our first house).
Replaceable fronts add about thirty-eight cents to the manufacturing costs.
Thinking on it, I don't see why not. Rustoleum comes in a wide variety of colors...
strange. I can buy a new color and order it in just about any color and neither the factory or a repair shop complain about stocking charges
The whole appeal for stainless was due to the fact that high end remodels were using commercial kitchen equipment. This cost a lot of money, but you got commercial quality.
Eventually this got diluted into the desire for nothing more than stainless as a "look", with the inevitable lowering of the price point, and cheaply-built appliances using cheap "stainless".
Now that people are "discovering" this obvious fact, they would rather have a painted appliance that is made well than a POS in a "stainless" box.
Jon
"Commercial quality" isn't all that useful in a residential setting.
Some. You get what you pay for.
Utter nonsense. We'd have nothing but stainless (and granite, for that matter) in the kitchen. Painted appliances suck.
Yep. All black works. See:
Not only will they not be timeless, they require you to buy all from the same manufacturer if you want them to match. As the color choices will change with the years, if you need to replace one, and you want to keep them matching, you will have to replace all three.
Only black, white and stainless allow you to mix manufacturers and have no problem replacing one later.
Don.
so you are saying that all black appliances are the same black and all white appliances are all the same white no matter who makes them?
Well, the chance of them matching close enough is far greater than trying to match any other color.
Don.
I wonder.
I bet you could take your stove or dishwasher or refrigerator door to an auto painting shop and have a very durable finish put on.
Some shops can even do pin-striping! (Probably costs extra, though.)
Don't think so. You can have the appliances re-painted at an auto paint shop.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.