"Soft" steel or white appliances?
Answers:
I think stainless steel is great, but that is not the way I would go. Contrary to what believe and what the manufacturer says, stainless, even soft stainless, is a major pain in the *** to keep clean. You will find out really quick that you will be seeing fingerprints and you will have streaking when you clean it. They are much nicer than white, but white definitely does not look bad. The white will be easier to keep clean, dirt just wipes off, and they will compliment your kitchen the way it is. Stainless really looks best with granite counter tops and nice cabinets with a reddish or dark stain.
Other answers:
steel for sure, it's way more classy
steel for sure, it's way more classy
I say soft steel. They make your kitchen look modern and it's much easier to keep clean. If you go with the white you'll just want to remodel pretty soon.
First, I would lightly sand the cabinets. Second, paint the cabinets a color between dark chocolate and black using a high gloss enamel paint. Third, I would go with the "soft" steel appliances. They will complement each other nicely.
I would go with a black or the soft touch stainless. Black the cost will be the same as the white but with a more modern look and everyone still likes the stainless.
Go with the "soft steel" over the white, it will look more modern. I've heard even the new appliances that say "no finger prints" still get them. If you have kids, think hard about this, constantly wiping them off. I think black appliance would look awesome with your new counter tops. We've had black appliance in our last three houses and love 'em. One house had oak cabinets with a natural finish and black, cream, and tan counter tops, then we had maple cabinets with the black and tan granite, and now we have cherry cabinets. The black really looks rich. I love the look of stainless, but with kids the fingerprints drive me nuts. As for your cabinets, do you plan on replacing them? Have you considered painting the fronts or the entire cabinets for now. The dark chocolate or black with the edges rubbed off would look good. Paint your walls then a terracotta color or a rich golden color to pull the look together. Check our Lowe's Earth Elements line of paint, it is awesome. Good Luck!!
Soft steel. You will get sick of white. We have steel in our house ( the dishwasher) and it looks very nice.
Black Appliances get my vote! White is really out-dated. Steel is more modern, but the "FINGER-PRINTS...not fun. I bought all of my appliances in black and I love the look! Since you can't afford new cabinetry, my suggestion would be to cut-out the white fronts and replace it with some type of mesh. I've seen it done with something as simple as "Chicken-Wire", although I would personally chose a small mesh. Or, you could put some textured plexi-glass or plain glass with a great stenciled design and spray this product that frosts the glass everywhere accept the stenciled design. Good Luck and be creative!
Steel