apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I agree on waiting and upgrading. Last thing you want is a pealing soft metal and maybe leaving a tacky residue behind.

Why not all white appliances? I find the all stainless steel look tiresome. In 3 years every one will know that you updated the kitichen in the early '00's.

Having driven myself crazy trying to fake stainless steel on miniature kitchen appliances a couple years back... I just don't see this film thing working. At best, with careful application, it's going to bear the same relation to stainless steel as wood-grained Contak paper does to wood.

At worst, you're going to pioneer a new "art" look in which "stainless steel" appliances are wrinkled like elephants.

i agree with mason.

every "luxury" building out there is basing their luxuriousness on stainless steel appliances and marble tiles.

YAWN.

be bold & design-forward & stick with the all-white appliances.

unless it's a sub-zero, you shouldn't be able to call it luxury, lol.

Your solution is here. This company specializes in creating panels where appliances can't take panels for people like you who want to change the color/finish of their appliance. Go to "appliance frame and panels"

http://www.frigodesign.com/php/index.php#

I used some of this on a kid's kitchen set- it looked pretty convincing for about an hour, then the adhesive started delaminating. Please do not use this on a real kitchen.

Stainless used to be an honest look for commercial quality appliances. It represented luxury, in that only people of a certain wealth would (or could) put commercial quality appliances in their home kitchen.

Now EVERYBODY has stainless, or stainless "look". It's no longer a symbol of professional quality... it's just a look now. Like Avocado or Harvest Gold. It's over. Seek out something truly unique and less trendy, or just stick with white. It's classic, and it will always work. And your fridge is already white.

I think it would be cool if you did one of those vinyl decals on your fridge! I like the look of stainless, but it does sound as though this product is going to look really fakey. I can't remember exactly where I saw the decals for appliances, I'll try to dig up a link, but there were some really funky ones that might work, depending on your style!

Maxwell hit it on the head with the statment about it not looking like SS when compared to actual SS on the other appliances. A friend did exactly what you describe (except it was her dishwasher that she tried to make look stainless). She did a really good job with the cuts and everything, but it was one cabinet away from the genuine stainless steel oven and it looked so fake -- it almost looked like one of those fake cardboard appliances that you seen displayed sometimes in Ikea.

I had an art professor back in the '80s (when there WERE no SS appliances etc to be had) who faced his entire kitchen in a similar product and told everyone he had a SS kitchen. Looked AWFUL! You could tell it had been applied onto the surface -- it was immediately obvious. He looked silly too...

While I like ss appliances (and have them), I think that the next thing is to use colour on appliances, like the SMEG refrigerators. Have you thought about taking them to an autobody shop, and having them painted -- fire-engine red or bright turquoise perhaps? I have investigated that before, and if they are not too busy, they are open to the business, and the charge is reasonable. That is what i would do with white appliances...

I agree that it would be better to go with white appliances.

However, this is actually a high-quality, inexpensive product. It is easily removable. If you spend the time to install it properly, it would be a perfectly-acceptable way to delay purchasing a new refrigerator.

It should be pointed out that your fridge is one of the largest energy consumers in the home after hvac and hot water. If your refrigerator is older and energy-inefficient then it would be penny-wise and pound-foolish to delay replacing it.

Don't like WHITE?

Buy black appliances for the same money. You don't NEED stainless steel.

There was a Domino article once where a young decorator wallpapered their fridge. It looked great, although I suspect it will get very dirty over time.

You might try papering over the front of your fridge with a fun white and silver paper - there are tons of great choices at FlavorPaper. Then you won't have to worry about the sides not being covered, and it will make the fridge blend in with the other pieces. Or make a pattern with Blik or some other type of decal in a gray color. Both of these alternatives should be much easier to remove than this stainless paper stuff.

In the interest of saving money AND if you do really, really want a stainless steel-looking appliance, I suggest you try using the stainless steel effect contact paper first. (Okay, I know a lot of people on this board won't agree with me, but I understand what it's like to a) work with a budget and b) really, really want something NOW.) I've used it myself in the past and IF applied correctly, it doesn't wrinkle and it comes off very easily when needed - no sticky residue or peeling off of paint. Hope that helps.

i don't like stainless steal because you get fingerprints all over it - i feel like i'd be cleaning it every time i went to get something out of the fridge.

There's this product that let's you paint on a stainless steel finish. I haven't tried it but you can also order a sample to check out before committing. A kit for a fridge costs $130-150. Maybe someone out there has tried it?


http://www.liquidstainlesssteel.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Stainless steel does get fingerprints all over it - what's the attraction?

I love retro style fridges but I've heard that SMEG is all style low quality. Are there any other companies that do this look?

Or how about putting metal bulletin boards on the fridge, large ones, with stainless accents (metallic frames the mimic stainless, stainless magnets, etc) to disguise some of the overall whiteness of the fridge and tie it into the other appliances?

Weighing in on the stainless kitchens: they're pretty but I finally realized that, with pets, polishing stainless appliances just isn't how I want to spend my life (so yes, I'm embracing white appliances with my kitchen reno, and keeping stainless to an accent... just the range hood and accessories)

I would skip the adhesive product. I am also unsure about stainless looking sharp 5 years from now. If you want stainless for the other appliances, perhaps you could consider painting your fridge with green or black blackboard paint (search on AT for a post about that). Looks great, cheap, and adds some funky variety to your kitchen.

I'm with bluestar on the vinyl decals whatisblik.com or similar place. If you think your white fridge looks really out of place with everything else then maybe you can find a decal that helps camoflage the white, or maybe do something fun, like the space invaders decals.

Dunno if this is even possible, what about blackboard paint?? (you dont say if the fridge is full height or under counter, under counter it may not be practical!)

Friends have a magnetic calendar that covers half their fridge Its functional (track your day as you pour your cereal) and would cover the white if you really dont like it.

My sister went with all stainless a year before I bought my condo. She hates them. She has to clean them all the time. I went with all black, which I love, and she was so jealous.

I was looking at MLS listings on the internet and one kitchen really stood out. It was all stainless except the fridge, which was white. Talk about something that really stood out. I could not believe that somebody was trying to sell an upscale condo with all stainless except the frig. It really looked bad and cheap. So rather than leave it white, maybe do something fun and funky. Go to Ikea and get some stainless note boards and rubber cement them to the frig!

I was looking through the catalogue of a high end bathroom fittings maker and was stunned to realize how dated much of what is in there looks dated already.

The larger lesson here is that good, classic design trumps fashion for anything that you need to live with for a long time - color schemes, stainless... By the time most folks can afford something, it is on its way out. Fashion is fun - but it gets dated fairly quickly, so use it in ways you can update.

I laugh at Chicago real estate listings because they all sound like this, "shows like a model, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances..." Thanks to clever marketing, what constitutes a stainless steel appliance is much different than it used to be. Guess what, unless if it's a luxury property the stainless steel appliances are black GE fridges, micros and dishwashers with stainless steel film on the fronts. Probably the same stuff as this. If you want to try to get that look I would go for it. But measure very, very carefully and cut just as carefully. Then, I would paint the surface you are going to cover with contact cement. But you've got only one chance to lay the film out, once it sticks it's stuck. Of course your appliances will be wearing this film for the rest of their life.

Thank you for all the advice!
Your voice was heard and I have definitively said NO to FAUX!

Mostly, I want all stainless because it will be an open kitchen and the rest of the apartment has an art deco vibe (a curved wall, molding, and hopefully there will be a beautiful stainless steel art deco ceiling fan which I'm in love with.) I want the appliances to set back, and stainless steel seemed like a good way to blend with the rest of the apartment.

I also agree with some of the anti- stainless steel thinking, that it might be overdone and passé 5-10 years from now. I often wonder if I'm just another sucker trying to get a generic condo look on the cheap, or whether I really do believe stainless steel will look better within my overall design of the apartment.

So I'm on the fence. I took MrGreen's advice and compared the energy cost of the current fridge with a new one, and I'd save about 50-60 bucks a year with a new one. I'm thinking, for now, that stainless steel will prevail. Maybe I might even be able to craigslist the old one for a couple of bucks...

Everyone who writes comments here is so friendly and wonderful... thank you so much!

I just brought this stuff and it looks pretty good and cleans up easily. Only problem is it is VERY diffucult to apply; I finally gave up and took it to a window tinting place to have it put on. I did put it over magnetic panels so it I get tired of it or it doesn't hold up I can take it off without any problems.

I have had stainless appliances and they look great if you like high tech (which as a former bistro owner, I DO). They look and ARE very functional for people who really DO cook. They are NOT, however, elegant-looking, so when people put stainless appliances (especially the less expensive typical appliance brands with the black plastic handles)...in elegant kitchens with granite topped mahogany furniture (whoops...I meant to say cabinets)....it's like "what's wrong with this picture? Elegant furniture-quality cabinets should be paired with appliances that are covered with the same wood as the cabinets. Since people don't usually cook in this type of kitchen, a stove is probably not necessary. Have your microwave inside a cabinet. You can do your cooking (which is impossible to do without making at least a little bit of a mess), outside on your gas grill (you DO have one, don't you?). If you have $60K that you don't know what else to do with... and still want an elegant kitchen, serve food from your local deli when the weather won't permit outdoor cooking/entertaining. As for me, I have a very functional kitchen with a 2 foot by 4 foot Boos chopping island, above which hangs my colorful LeCrueset and Chantal cookware. For a refrigerator, I splurged on the JennAir cabinet style with freezer drawer on bottom in the floating white glass with straight stainless handles...no black plastic anywhere. We live in the heart of West LA with lots of well- known eateries but enjoy cooking and dining at home almost all the time except when traveling to other cities to visit loved ones. So, no I would not spend money to make white appliances "look stainless".... or even buy stainless to begin with... anymore.