text: Asked by afghanhound (150 ) February 9th, 2017
  Are you currently (or have you recently) remodeled your kitchen or built a new house?
  I'm interested in how you chose your "built-in" kitchen appliances (stove, fridge, dishwasher, microwave):
  1. What was the most important appliance to you?
  2. What level of influence did your contractor/builder have over your decision, if any?
  3. How did price, look, brand or other factors affect your decision?
  4. What brands did you choose?
  5. Is there anything that was frustrating or fun about the experience?
  Shopping for appliances can be stressful, because it all totals up to a lot of dollars and most likely you'll live with the choices for years.
  A few things I was extremely happy with in the last kitchen I picked from scratch. I put in two dishwashers, if you will only be putting in one, I highly recommend the third rack at the top where you can put additional flatwear. Usually, this type of dishwasher is much more expensive than a base model, but it usually has better racks for holding more dishes and more water jets for cleaning. I recommend bringing a few of your dinner dishes and a bowl when you go to the appliance store. In my current dishwasher I cannot put two large plates side by side, in the house where I picked everything I could. I also cared about having an adjustable top rack (the rack where glasses go) and being able to fold down the prongs on a row for large bowls and odd shaped pans. I was really happy with the upgraded dishwasher. I really really like having a handle on my dishwasher. It's a convenient place to keep your kitchen towels.
  If you have a gas stove, the better stoves really are better. They heat up faster and you have more control over the flame. I had a monogram, and one big negative was all burners were the same size. Possibly, now, that's different. I am really interested in trying a Thermadore next time.
  If you love to bake and cook you might want to consider getting an all gas stove and oven unit, and a separate electric oven for the wall. You can do a really pretty oven and microwave combination built in on a cabinet wall if you want a fancy hood above the stove.
  As far as refrigerators, this is tough for me. I tried a French door fridge in the kitchen I planned from scratch, because I'm always frustrated with how narrow the freezer is on a side by side. I have mixed feelings about both styles. I bought a Samsung and definitely would not recommend it. I currently have a basic builders model Whirlpool and it's awful. One thing I really liked was I planned the kitchen so the wall went back a few inches where the fridge went so it looked counter depth even though it was a regular depth.
  My husband really likes the advantium oven by GE, but from what I understand there are other high speed ovens. The advantium definitely had some negatives, which I can tell you more about if you are interested.
  My advice is go to at least two appliance stores. Don't decide anything the first day you go looking. Give yourself time to think about it.