Quote Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
Hey Kex, I can't help you yet but I'm in the same boat so I'm happy to share anything that I learn. We don't need a washer/dryer right now, but we're shopping around for a new kitchen and will be purchasing all new kitchen appliances sometime this summer (after the kitchen design is finalized).

We'll probably also be shopping for a new furnace before the weather gets cool again, so I can share that research with you as well if you need a furnace.

There is a Consumer Reports Kitchen book on the shelves right now that has some interesting appliance reviews and info. I'm in the process of reading it now. What I find very interesting is that CR seems to like Kenmore (Sears) appliances and rates them quite highly in all categories. The thing is that Sears doesn't make their own appliances, they are white labeled. But I guess the lower price makes them good buys.

Just from looking around at fridges, I can tell you that we've decided on a bottom freezer. The side by side fridges don't have a lot of room. If you wanted to store a turkey, for example, in the freezer or slide a pizza box into the fridge, you can't. The bottom freezers don't have as much space as the top freezers, but not having to bend down as much to reach the lower fridge shelves makes it a good trade-off IMO.

We saw a really cool stove in a kitchen showroom that we're going to price. It's called a "slide-in". It's a flat top with controls on the front (no backsplash) and the stove top is designed to slide into your counter top for a smooth, unbroken look. It was very cool...not sure of price yet though.

We had a Whirlpool washer/dryer in our old house that worked really well and never gave us any problems. They were both pretty low-end appliances, but they got the job done.
Those are very nice! I love the way they blend into the counters. A little pricy though. The ovens and the stove tops come separately and add up to about 2x the cost of a comparable over/stove range. Still, if it's in the budget, they look fantastic.