Can you mix black stainless steel and black appliances

Whether you are renovating your kitchen or it is time to replace one or more of your appliances, you'll need to make a number of decisions about the size, features, energy efficiency, and cost of any new additions, as well as the finishes. Back in the days when harvest gold, avocado green, and burnt orange appliances were the norm, the rest of the kitchen was often color-coordinated with matching countertops, wallpaper, and cabinetry—but if we've learned anything from history it's that you can have too much of a good thing. As kitchens and appliances have evolved there are more color choices than ever before, and fortunately, there is no longer a need to choose just one. Read on to learn everything you need to know about successfully mixing appliance colors from the team of experienced professionals at Mr. Appliance®.

Do Appliances Need to Match?

If you've been asking yourself the question "Are mixed color appliances okay?", the short answer is, yes! Of course, there are exceptions to every rule including this one, and that is when mixing colors that are too similar but don't quite match. While you may read or hear conflicting information from a friend, designer, on the internet, or in print, home design is ultimately up to the homeowner, and mixing appliance colors can be a great way to express your personal style, create a focal point in your kitchen or laundry room, or add a pop of color to a neutral palette.

Kitchen Appliance Trends

While your kitchen appliances are a major investment, unless your home is already up for sale you will most likely only see a high return on your investment if the appliances are of exceptional quality from a high-end manufacturer. Rather than attempting to match colors and brands of the major appliances in your kitchen, focus on purchasing energy-efficient equipment that has the features you need, and the look you love.

Stainless steel, white, and black appliances are here to stay, but as neutrals, these finishes can easily be combined with each other, or one of the fun and dynamic colors available from manufacturers such as Smeg, KitchenAid, Viking, and more. Whether you opt for cobalt blue, apple red, emerald green, pink, purple, orange, or yellow, you can successfully pair any of these colors with your white, stainless, or black appliances for a truly unique look—but avoid mixing white and off-white, or two different shades of black which may leave your kitchen feeling unbalanced.

When planning your kitchen remodel, keep in mind that your cabinetry covers the largest surface area and can be a great starting point for your chosen color scheme. You can read more about how to let your cabinets be your guide when choosing your palette, courtesy of our Neighborly Company partner, Five Star Painting.

Kitchen Appliance Tips

You can maximize your investment and satisfaction with your choice of appliances with these tips!

• Choose appliances from a trusted manufacturer that have the features you desire and the energy efficiency you need, in a finish that you love.
• Have your appliances maintained and repaired by an experienced, licensed professional.
• Tie in your colored appliances by mirroring the color on the backsplash, paint color, or accessories.

Schedule Kitchen Appliance Repair Today!

Mr. Appliance is a trusted name in household appliance repair, with upfront, flat-rate pricing, highly qualified experts, guaranteed parts and workmanship, and courteous, uniformed technicians. When it comes to mixing appliance colors, trust your instincts, but when it comes to appliance repair, trust the team of certified professionals at Mr. Appliance. Call (888) 998-2011 today or contact us online!

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Stainless steel appliances sometimes look like big tin cans in your kitchen. Black stainless steel, on the other hand, is an understated alternative to the traditional glaring silver metal and is a big trend in kitchens these days. It also doesn’t show smudges and fingerprints as readily. I loved everything about black stainless steel appliances until I owned one myself and learned the hard way that they have one huge drawback.

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I first saw black stainless steel in House Beautiful‘s 2015 kitchen of the year, but it didn’t fully hit my radar until my husband and I were shopping for our own kitchen renovation. We looked at a lot of boring appliances until we saw The One.

The sexy, gorgeous, black stainless steel KitchenAid with a slide-away shelf, a self-close custom temperature-controlled pantry drawer, faux wood(!) trim, and a platinum interior. I may have swooned. All the other plain old, all-the-same fridges were now offensive in comparison. We were both smitten.

The bad news: It was over four thousand dollars. Yeah, no. Although we want to love and adore everything in our old Victorian, the math just wasn’t there. So I scoured the internet, and finally found one at a Sears Outlet for a little over $2,000.

That was still a lot of cash but a bargain compared to the regular price. And it was new in the box, despite the scratch and dent discount. We discussed it some more, shaved some expenses elsewhere in the reno budget, and ordered it. I was absolutely giddy at the thought of having such a beautiful appliance.

We christened the new fridge with a bottle of bubbly. (Image credit: Dana McMahan)

While it’s mildly embarrassing to admit how much I loved this fridge, I also don’t mind. Appliances have to be functional, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be beautiful. I (carefully) cleaned it regularly and kept the surface free of anything that would mar its luster.

Then we went on vacation and left a house sitter to care for our two dogs in our home. Arriving back late at night after a long travel day, the first thing I noticed was a note on the kitchen counter. “I’m so sorry about your fridge,” it read. WHAT!?

Yep. On the lefthand door, above the water dispenser, was a big glaring scratch, surrounded by a bunch of smaller scratches. How on earth could this have happened, I wondered, envisioning a knife somehow whirling around and hitting the door. It turns out the house sitter placed a magnet on the fridge to hold a recipe. When they took it off, it gouged the black finish. In an attempt to buff out the original scratch, they created more.

I contacted KitchenAid to see if this could (please, please) be repaired. Here was their one-line response:

We are very sorry; we do not have any recommendations for taking scratches out of black stainless steel.

Maybe this is a lesson against inordinate fondness for any one object, let alone a kitchen appliance. But, in the throes of my infatuation, I didn’t research carefully enough, or I’d have found this thread on Reddit, which just might have steered me to a different choice. Here’s a selection of comments:

• Black “stainless”… is simply a treatment on top of regular stainless. It is very easily scratched, and sticks out like a sore thumb…
• Go check out some store models.
• Wouldn’t recommend.
• Exactly this, check out store display models that have been scratched. They look terrible.

Argh! Take it from me. If you’re considering black stainless steel, either keep all sharp objects away from the appliance forever or maybe go with a different finish… like regular stainless steel.