Stainless Still?

Kitchen designers doubt reports the finish is on its way out
By Rosalie Earle
22 April 2007

It was a news release that brought the bad news. Stainless steel’s dominance as the “in” metal is over.

The list of top 10 trends for 2007 was picked up by newspapers, kitchen and design newsletters and interior decorating Web sites.

“Warm-toned, oil-rubbed bronze and copper will become more prevalent in hardware, plumbing and lighting fixtures, and will also take center stage in both large and small appliances,” proclaimed a big-city architect in the release.

Charleston kitchen designers aren’t buying that.

“Stainless steel is here for a while,” said Darin Fisher of Darin Fisher Kitchen Designs in Kanawha City.

According to Mike Stockett at Warden’s Kitchen and Appliance Gallery in Spring Hill, “In the West Virginia market, normally the trends are slower getting here and in leaving here. I don’t see a slowdown in stainless steel.”

Alice Atkins McCoy of Alice Designs pointed out that as long as stainless steel is used for professional ranges, others will want it.

Still that most venerable of professional ranges, Viking, is adding more colors to its line, a Viking range representative told McCoy.

“Color is making a big comeback with Viking rolling out 10 new colors at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas in May. They have at least eight colors in their current offerings and the new colors are more pastel shades,” e-mailed McCoy, who has a studio in Jacksonville, Fla., as well as Charleston.

For Viking appliances, though, graphite gray and stainless steel are the most popular finishes, McCoy reported.

She did agree with the criticism of stainless steel — it shows fingerprints.

Manufacturers are using an imitation stainless steel, however, that doesn’t show fingerprints, Fisher said, adding, “All appliances have handles.”

“Stainless steel is a neutral; it’s not fighting with anything else,” he said. And it runs the spectrum of pricing. “You can spend $300 on a dishwasher or $1,500 … You don’t have to spend $40,000 to have the look.”

And that’s a good thing. Many homeowners who want to update their kitchens don’t have a budget big enough for wood panels to disguise their appliances.

Besides, what’s wrong with seeing appliances? After all, they are in a kitchen.

It’s personal preference, Fisher said. Because the refrigerator is such a large piece, it’s one of the first things you notice in a kitchen. A homeowner may want to integrate the fridge with a cover to match the cabinetry in order to make a decorative range hood or colorful tile backsplash the focal point.

One South Hills woman went with customized wood panels because she didn’t like the fact that the dishwasher could be seen from the foyer.

Souped-up stoves

Although stoves can’t be disguised, Fisher said there are different models that are more flush with countertops than the typical standalone. Viking and other high-end manufacturers make a designer series that’s sleeker, more curved, a little softer, said Fisher.

“A lot of people are hanging out in their kitchen and they are cooking.”

Viking and other high-end stoves with gas burners are popular for their power, which provides faster and higher heat.

McCoy said some of her younger clients who have never cooked with gas want a Viking stove. “I tell them to cook a meal with gas before they invest $6,000 in a stove.”

In their new house in Teays Valley, homebuilder Jason Steorts and his wife, Sara, have a GE Mangum stove with professional griddle and grill on top. The burners are gas; the oven is electric.

Sara Steorts’ favorite feature is the warming light that keeps the pizza warm. Delivered pizza? She just laughed.

Drawers to heat and to cool

When asked what else was trendy in kitchens, all three local designers mentioned warming drawers.

“People are learning how to use them,” McCoy said.

Fisher said, “They’re great to warm plates up in. You can make dishes ahead of time. I have one and use it all the time.”

Stockett said he’s designing more refrigeration outside of the main work area — smaller ones to hold children’s beverages or as a supplement to a larger refrigerator.

In new construction, additional under-the-counter refrigeration is often necessary, Fisher said, because there isn’t as much wall space as in traditional kitchens. “People are taking down wall space to open up the kitchen … They are using more windows,” he said. “There may be one wall for the stove and the refrigerator.”

So storage for food and dishes is going beneath the counter space and kitchen islands. Even microwaves are being installed below countertops.

Multitasking ovens

As for ovens, McCoy said, “Speed-cook ovens are so neat. They’re like Easy-Bake Ovens on steroids.”

Although they’ve been used for years in commercial kitchens, she said new technology has added the feature to quickly switch the heat quickly to a higher temperature.

“They serve a secondary oven as well as a microwave,” said Fisher, estimating they start at about $1,000.

The GE Wall Oven with Advantium 120 Speedcook Technology boasts that its “Halogen-light system speed cooks your favorite foods to delicious perfection in minutes with no preheating.”

Cooking up to four times faster than a conventional oven, GE says its wall oven is four ovens in one: it speed-cooks, microwaves, warms and is a true European convection oven.

“They’re meant to be a companion with another oven,” said Stockett, who said one version comes with more than 100 programmed recipes.

New technology has also merged the microwave with convection cooking.

Once used mainly in restaurants, the convection oven has a fan that circulates heat from the heating elements above and below.

“You don’t have the hot spots,” explained Fisher, allowing multiple racks of food to be cooked at the same time.

The cooking times and temperatures for a convection oven don’t necessarily correspond to those of a conventional oven. But some models have made the conversion automatically, “so you don’t have to learn a new way to cook,” Stockett said.

One GE convection over-the-range microwave oven sells in the range of $750.

Fridges don’t just

cool anymore

Cutting-edge products for the kitchen were displayed in February at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla., that attracted 1,900 exhibitors.

News reports on the show cited the trend of separating freezers and refrigerators. Bosch has three different widths and styles, including an 18-inch-wide freezer.

Gaggenau has introduced the Lift Oven, whereby the bottom of the oven drops down to counter level for easy removal. The oven will be available in the U.S. this summer for about $3,300.

Whereas the Steortses have a small television attached to the bottom of an upper cabinet, the LG Electronics refrigerator has a 15-inch high-definition LCD TV screen on its door, according to a Chicago Tribune story on the international show.

“The refrigerator also has a 4-inch screen that displays a five-day weather forecast, a recipe bank from the Culinary Institute of America and digital photos uploaded from a USB port. It will be available this spring for about $3,500,” the newspaper said.

A new product by Kitchen Aid is a two-drawer dishwasher that allows for smaller loads to be washed and to save energy. Together, a 10-place setting can be cleaned. Cost is $1,349.

Stockett said Fisher Paykel manufactures the two-drawer dishwasher under its own name and for other brands. Although the Australian company may have revamped its two-drawer dishwasher, Stockett said “out of the first six we sold, we had to take back five.”

The top-of-the-line appliances like the GE Mangum Collection, Viking, Subzero, Wolfe and others aren’t just finding a home in new and upscale houses. A recent survey by the Architect Association of American reports, “Upper end appliances are becoming more popular even for homes that are not in the upper end of the price range.”

Fisher said homeowners “may go upscale because they may want to resell in a couple of years. Kitchens really do sell the house … it’s the wow factor.”

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