We Bought Appliances!

We weren't going to buy appliances until after the cabinets were delivered, but Tyler found a one day "Friends & Family" sale on Sears' website.  We got 15% off the appliances for a grand total of $2100 for everything including sales tax.  All the appliances will be ready for pickup the first week of April, conveniently coinciding with the cabinet pickup date.  Tyler researched all the appliances for us and chose what he thought were the best options for our admittedly limited appliance budget.  Here's what we purchased:

Stove:

Kenmore 30" Freestanding Gas Range 70403

Kenmore's cheapest gas range that comes in stainless steel (so low end, in fact, that Consumer Reports does not even test it).  We're not really forgoing any features that our old range had.  This range does not self-clean (we never used this feature on the existing range), has a broil drawer instead of a storage drawer (with the new cabinets we are planning on putting the contents of our old range's storage drawer under the sink), and four 9,000 BTU open burners instead of the typical sealed burners of various sizes.  Tyler says the open burners may actually be easier to clean since the entire burner can go in the dishwasher with the broil pan, the range top lifts up for removing them and servicing the drip trays.  He also said the open burners are in theory more efficient than their more expensive sealed counterparts.  The stove is OE'd by Frigidaire (Kenmore/Sears don't actually make any of their appliances), and both models/brands got stellar reviews, surprising given the cost.  An interesting fact Tyler pointed out is that Frigidaire doesn't make a stainless model of their own in this range series, this works out to our benefit as it means this model has a larger oven window and better broil drawer taken from their higher end models.

Microwave:

Frigidaire 1.6 cu. ft. "Micro-hood" FFMV164LS

Despite all our other appliances being Kenmore, we opted for the microwave/exhaust hood combo ("micro-hood") as we felt it would match the range better (the Kenmore matched microwave had more curvy lines, none of the other Kenmore appliances we purchased have these curves).  This microwave also got rave reviews, and it has the ability to be vented outside.  Tyler also pointed out the controls and power level for this are almost identical to our old GE meaning the learning curve should be minimal.

Refrigerator/Freezer:

Kenmore 26.5 cu. ft. Side-by-side w/ Icemaker 51023

This was a tough decision, this fridge got very mixed reviews and is OE'd by LG (who had the highest failure rate of fridges last year).  Strangely, Consumer Reports noted that the reliability for the Kenmore model was significantly better than it's home-brand cousin with better customer support, and recent reviews indicated the ice maker had been revised to the point of reliability (the ability to cool food was never indicated as a problem, the ice maker seemed to be the only trouble spot).  There was one other stainless fridge in our budget, also a Kenmore (OE'd by Whirlpool) however it had a lower capacity, had a non-digital thermostat, and looked significantly cheaper (the handles were black and the hinges were not hidden).  We will wait to pass judgement on this and review it after it has been installed for a few months.

Dishwasher:

Kenmore Dishwasher w/ Disposer 15263

Another tough decision, this is a soon to be discontinued model (it doesn't meet looming Energy Star mandates, not a big deal for us as it still offers an "Eco Wash" option) that was severely marked down.  OE'd by Frigidaire, who had the highest failure rate for dishwashers last year, we hope it turns out to be reliable.  Reviews indicated that it was either hit or miss, and again Consumers Report noted that the Kenmore model was significantly more reliable than it's name brand cousin.  We debated getting a newer generation Kenmore dishwasher OE'd by Whirlpool/Maytag, but Tyler pointed out that it had multiple food filters that would require regular cleaning and would most likely be forgotten about as well as one less wash arm.  Consumer Reports claims the cleaning ability of the two to is extremely similar (very good or 4 out of 5).  This older model is (ironically enough) quieter than the newer generation even though it possesses a hard food disposer (eliminating the need for filters), theoretically this should boost cleaning performance and remove the need to pre-rinse.  Like the fridge, we will review this after a few months.