Kitchen Appliances Get a Facelift

Consumers are looking to buy appliances that fit well with the rest of their home decor

Long gone are the days when kitchens were simply a place for cooking and eating. Nowadays, the kitchen has become an extension of the family room and as a result the appearance of appliances is more important than ever. Consumers are now looking for appliances that resemble furniture. According to Lou Lenzi, director of industrial design for GE, consumers want it to look less like a workspace and more like a living space. “There’s a trend away from appliances as a piece of industrial equipment,” said Lenzi. “We believe that the notion of the kitchen as a ‘secondary room’ is no longer valid. It’s about a furniture aesthetic now.”

According to Euromonitor International “consumers are remodeling their homes at higher rates than in previous years. This has generated renewed interest in purchasing appliances to furnish their homes”. 

IHS assures that worldwide shipments of home appliances are projected to reach 611 million units by the end of this year, 4.8 percent higher than in 2013.

Appliances have had many looks, who can forget harvest gold and avocado? But since the early 2000s, stainless steel appliances have stolen the show. And even though consumers are starting to consider new colors, stainless steel continues to be a favorite.

What we have learned thru the years is that the color of your appliances should be current and timeless at the same time, no easy task if you ask me, but something that GE has achieved to perfection with their new slate color. Slate appliances have had a very warm welcome since their released in 2012.  Slate appliances are luxurious and warm at the same time. They are designed to blend with other stainless steel, black or white appliances. They hide fingerprints, smudges and dirt much better than black and stainless steel appliances, which make them very easy to maintain.

We are seeing white more and more everyday in interior design and in technology, and thus, it is no surprise that Whirlpool’s Ice Collection is also getting a lot of attention. These appliances have clean lines, silver accents and streamline controls.

It is clear that today consumers are renovating their kitchens with stylish sensible kitchen products as a way to uniquely express themselves.