Beyond Stainless

For years, aspirational appliance shoppers have coveted stainless steel, seeing in its cool gleam a definitive statement of fine taste and culinary supremacy. And now?

“They’re tired of it,” laughed Meg Mikula, a custom consultant at Reno’s Appliance in Fairfield, N.J. Mikula is no stranger to the whims of the American consumer. She’s spent over a decade helping customers upgrade their once dream-kitchens to the next dream. Walking the carpet at the Kitchen Bath Industry Show (K/BIS), held last month at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Mikula had her eye out for a new look in refrigerators, ranges, ventilation hoods, dishwashers and wine coolers. And to her delight, she was finding it.

“Everything is going to a European look, from almost every manufacturer,” she said. “It’s very modern, very clean, flush...and look at all the color!”