Pergraniteel... what's better?

So this phrase from the old IHB kind of mocked people who had their homes "upgraded" with:

Pergo flooring
Granite countertops
Stainless steel appliances

My question is, wouldn't you rather have that than lintilewhite?

I can understand the issue with Pergo or laminate flooring (having had it ourselves at one point in time), but some people who can't afford stone or wood have no other choice. I think ceramic/porcelain tile is probably the same costwise (and easier maintenance) but it's a different look.

As for countertops, the cheapest upscale material you can get is granite and I would much prefer a cheap granite countertop over Formica, Corian, wood butcher block or ceramic tile with hard to clean grout lines. Currently, I prefer the planite (fake granite) products like quartzite or Silestone but that's mainly from a maintenance and color choice position (and green depending one what materials are used).

And c'mon... while it may be trendy, stainless steel appliances look good. Although our other appliances are builder white, just having our stainless fridge in the kitchen makes it look better. What other kind of appliance would you use? Black? Red?

I don't mind pergraniteel, I would prefer stoneplaniteel or woodplaniteel but I would settle for tilegraniteel. Or can you guys live with carpformblack?

The problem is not the choice of materials, the problem was that everyone during the bubble slavishly adhered to the same trio of pergranisteel even when they would toss in the cheapest possible of those options and it would look like...cheap.    Every kitchen looked like it was copied out of the same magazine picture but without any particular style or taste involved on the part of the chooser.    They also frequently didn't pay much attention to the cabinetry which I personally think is REALLY important.

Like I noticed that EVERY cheap appliance out there came in 'stainless steel' but sometimes it was just a cheap finish or veneer kind of slapped on the front of the appliance.   

It was basically that people (especially flippers - and most people buying were thinking of themselves as flippers anyway, not planning to stay more than a few years) treated it like the height of design  that should be to everyones taste because its so darn classy- wheras I for example might not choose that color granite, or would expect quality appliances over appliances that are a certain color.    A lot of laminate looks really cheap too, I'd rather have easily replacable cheap carpet than cheap looking laminate.     

But thats me and I choose to save my money and buy quality than have a facade of quality but have it now.

To me, interior decoration is a highly subjective matter.  What I like may not suit you, and vise versa.  Of course, at any given time, a popular trend tends to overextend their popularity and some like to make fun of it because it is everywhere .  But, does a house with a granite countertop really hurt resale?  I don't think so.  I know that granite countertop is everywhere now days, but having white tile hurts resale price more than having granite in your kitchen.

I used to work in a business that deals with a lot of appliances.  For MANY years, almond was THE color.  Anyone who did not go ALMOND was "not in with the times".  Then came the black.  Black was the only way to go and the black appliances actually costed a quite a bit more even though it was just different color of paint.  Then the stainless steel came.

It is very hard for any person to know what will be in fashion 5-10 years from now.  Personally, I would just go with whatever I feel like today.  If that's is what is popular at present time, then go for it.  There are way too many things in life to worry about than what the interior decoration trend will be 5-10 years from now.  Besides, whatever you guess, it will probably be wrong.

For some reason, I can't see steel going out of style, it may not be the prevalent trend, but I think it will always look good... just like in restaurants.

Just like wood or stone floors, as long as they are fairly neutral, they are timeless.

Granite on the other hand... I could see phasing in and out depending on color and style but nowadays, what is better than natural stone as a countertop material (other than faux stone)?

The restaurants are REQUIRED to have stainless steel for health reasons.  So for that fact alone, the stainless steel will always have the "industrial" look.

But, nobody really knows what will be in fashion 5-10 years from now.  Rather than worrying about the future, just pick the stuff you want today.

I notice at the lowest base end of appliances, white is it. 

Actually if you think about it, the whole idea of decorating your kitchen is pretty ridiculous by most of history's standards.  It's only been since like, the 50s(?) that people ever expected guests to see their kitchens in the first place**, and now the kitchen and your decor in there are kind of a big deal.  The more open layouts kind of display your kitchen to the living room but older and smaller places have it pretty walled off.

(** unless you were of a class that lived in tiny one or two room shacks in which case you still didn't care if people thought your cooking area wasn't decorated nicely)

I've always personally LIKED the industrial look but I know plenty of people that don't.  My mom was still hunting down white everything during the "OMG WHY AREN'T ALL YOUR ELECTRONICS BLACK" 80s  (I remember an argument about buying a stereo because it didn't come in white)  and my bf's sister has this bizzarre "Country" fetish that some people have (WEIRD people) where she wants ceramic roosters all over the place -- Can't imagine she's all that excited about stainless steel and granite.

One problem with pergranisteel was that they put it in every flipped house for a few years  even though they didn't intend to live in it and enjoy it and in a down market if it matters to people then its a 'tear it out kitchen', not an 'upgraded kitchen'.      We are only looking at places in the 250k range and I saw a LOT of condos (apartments!) with trashed carpet, cheap paint badly slapped out, gigantic crown molding half done (do NOT put crown molding in small condos) around the living room and a pergranisteel kitchen.  No matter what else they did they slapped in a pergranisteel kitchen.  It looks freaking ridiculous and it forces you to either redo the whole place in the same tone and style or rip out the kitchen.    And the granite is an ugly bargain color (and probably radioactive) and sometimes clashes with the cabinetry.  and then they mark up the price because its upgraded.

That was RIGHT after the bust when I was out looking at stuff - I haven't been looking actively for over a year and I'm guessing a lot of those places were reabsorbed by investors and banks.     

I think that "industrial" stainless, like Viking, will always look good.

What looks like crap is the run of the mill Kenmore with a cheap, thin surface coating of stainless. 

Not only does it look cheap, I bet that in 10 years it will all rust out, like a Yugo on  Detroit's salty streets in winter.

Viking and the like have a nice, thick layer of steel.  Kenmore's have a paper wisp of a coating.

Irvine2Irvine said:

But, nobody really knows what will be in fashion 5-10 years from now.  Rather than worrying about the future, just pick the stuff you want today.

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I'm not posting this regarding my own choices... for sure if I were to buy a new home... I would definitely go stainless steel... if for anything to match the fridge we have.

I'm just saying that all those harps on "pergraniteel" seem a bit unfounded to me. When I'm looking for a home to buy, I would much rather have "pergraniteel" than the alternatives. Pergo is easy to replace... appliances not so much... and granite can be redone just like tile/wood/formica... but I can live with "pergraniteel" in the meantime more than "tilecoralmond".

irvinehomeowner said:

Irvine2Irvine said:

But, nobody really knows what will be in fashion 5-10 years from now.  Rather than worrying about the future, just pick the stuff you want today.

Click to expand...

I'm not posting this regarding my own choices... for sure if I were to buy a new home... I would definitely go stainless steel... if for anything to match the fridge we have.

I'm just saying that all those harps on "pergraniteel" seem a bit unfounded to me. When I'm looking for a home to buy, I would much rather have "pergraniteel" than the alternatives. Pergo is easy to replace... appliances not so much... and granite can be redone just like tile/wood/formica... but I can live with "pergraniteel" in the meantime more than "tilecoralmond".

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Completely agree with unfounded criticism on stainless steel appliances.  What is the alternative?  Maybe white which will look cheap but won't completely go out of style? 

I can't see white working on anything but white cabinets... on any type of wood tone other than some bleached birch... it just sticks out to me.

jumpcut said:

Steel appliances were the cat's meow in the 1930's.  By the 50's they were considered old-fashioned and dated, white was the color that was made-in-the-shade for the modern home.  By the late 60's white was considered square, and Brady Bunch Vomit Green was the only color if you wanted groovy appliances.  The 70's discoed to the almond beat, the 80's were Wall Street Power Black, and the 90's back to white.  Retro was in for the 00's, so it was back to the '30's and steel appliances...but in 5 more years they'll be considered industrial and old fashioned.

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You missed a few...

The history of colored appliances

Circa 1950
International Harvester and Caloric start offering different colored handles on their Fridges and ranges respectively to give the woman of the house a choice with which to harmonize with the color of her kitchen.

Late 1953-1954
Frigidaire introduces the first appliances in colors. You had a choice of Stratford Yellow or Sherwood Green in addition to plain white.

January 1955
GE introduces 5 new colors for their appliances, Woodtone Brown (the color of light chocolate milk), Turquoise Green, Cadet Blue, Petal Pink, and Canary Yellow. Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue are not very popular colors and are gone by the late 50's

1955-1956
Frigidaire adds Mayfair Pink to its color palette for the 1956 line of appliances/ Maytag washers and dryers become available in Pasteltone Pink, Green, and Yellow, Kelvinator produces a plethora of colors including such beautiful shades of blue known as Lagoon Blue none of which are all that popular. The majority of these colors were dropped sometime around 1960 and replaced with the standard pink, turquoise, and yellow colors. It is also around this time that stainless steel appliances start to make their debut...especially in the new field of built in appliances range, oven fridge etc.).

1957
Frigidaire introduces Charcoal Gray to its new Sheer Look line of appliances. This color is not at all popular and is discontinued after 1960

1959
Frigidaire introduces Aztec Copper to its line of appliances and this color will eventually become know as Coppertone or Copper Brown and be offered all the way into the early 1980's Also about this time Frigidaire drops Stratford yellow and replaces it with Sunny Yellow.

1963-1964
The number of companies offering pink, mint green and yellow appliances have dwindled while the hot colors of the early 1960s are copper brown and turquoise. About this time Frigidaire offers a color called Honey Beige which is lighter than Aztec Copper.

1966
GE introduces the first new appliance color since 1959.... Just in time to go with the Danish modern look of the late 1960s.....Avocado. Maytag offers turquoise for the last time on its redesigned Washpower automatics.

1967
GE introduces a second new color ....Harvest (never officially known as harvest gold). This color along with Avocado catches on like wild fire and is offered until circa 1984. Also about this time Whirlpool offers a very rare version of GE's Woodtone Brown and Cadet Blue on their washers and dryers (that is my guess as I have seen a Woodtone Brown dryer and a Cadet Blue washer) Maytag appliances are offered in Cordoba Copper Spanish avocado and Castilian Yellow. Castilian Yellow is replaced circa 1970 with California gold (aka Harvest Gold).

Circa 1970
Frigidaire introduces the color poppy on its appliances

1971-1976
No major changes are made in colors during this period

1977
GE gets rid of all its shaded colors and introduces a new line of colors called the New Naturals. These colors are named, Onyx, Coffee, Harvest Wheat, Fresh Avocado, and a brand new color called Almond these colors are more vivid then their predecessors and they are advertised in a huge campaign in all the "home magazines" of the day.

Early to late 1980's
Copper Brown and Avocado start to fall by the wayside as the favorite color of the early 80s seems to be Almond and what is now known as Harvest Gold. During this time Whirlpool experiments with a light brown/beige color they call toast. Kenmore offers toast as well as a light gray color called platinum starting around 1987. Both of these colors prove not to be too popular and they are dropped after a few years.

Yeah... I believe the appliance color we had during my childhood was brown... to match the cabinets. At one point in time I think my parents when almond because they brought the nut-colored fridge from their LA suburb home to their OC home and it stuck out like sore thumb.

You know at one time I thought a stainless steel countertop/table was neat? No wonder BK hates my sense of style.

For me, I'd redo a kitchen in Ceasarstone tops, stainless appliances (I like the look) and more modern looking cabinets.  I can't stand the standard raised panel cabinet doors that haven't changed in 50 years (other than wood species and stain).

Is poppy like a bright orange color?  I would totally own bright orange appliances.    Bright orange >>>> stainless steel any day.

  I think I'd get shot down though, my bf hates orange and yellow. *sigh*

I saw this place that had done their kitchen (the tiniest kitchen in the WORLD by the way, considering what a big place it was otherwise) in Teal, Red, and Yellow.  As in the wood frames of the cabinetry was like, yellow, wall awas painted red, another wall was teal, and all the cabinets were painted in a mix and match of those colors, with the decorative trim on the cabinet always painted a different color.    It was horrendous in the picture but strangely charming in real life (mostly it distracted you from the fact that the kitchen was exactly the right size to open a fridge door and NOTHING ELSE AT ALL EVER).  And they slapped a black fridge in there for good luck I guess.    It was REALLY bizarre.  But I mean, it did do a great job of confusing your eye so that the seizures prevented you from remembering how small it was.

Talyssa said:

Is poppy like a bright orange color?

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Here?s an example?... (link)

My parents had that orange/yellowish washing machine... so funny.

I didn't know Frigidaire was part of GM... is KitchenAid a Ford?

*shiver* that "wood" paneling thats always like a big sticker printed with "REAL WOOD GRAIN STYLE (tm)" is so creepy.  But I bet if you peel it off its metal underneath.  Giving you the opportunity to combine BOTH poppy and the stainless steel look (until it rusts anyway) together.