I hated a disposal and took it out when I remodeled. Have never regretted that. I hated stuff falling down there, grinding silverware on accident, and the huge amount of space it took up under the sink.
I hate my fridge. It’s at least ten years old. I don’t think it’s ever going to die. Or if it does I won’t find a new one that fits in the built in surround for it.
I compost my vegetable waste so no garbage disposal needed.
My kitchen is not a commercial kitchen…and I didn’t want it to even come close to looking like one. So I don’t have a six burner stove, and I have no stainless steel. Personal preference. If the next owner wants these things…they can have at it.
Odd man out here. We have a garbage disposal…a very powerful garbage disposal. Ours is a batch feed, so there is a lid on it when it is running. If it died tomorrow, I would replace it…immediately. And yes, we have a septic system.
I love my in-sink-erator. Still going strong after 19 years, although the one in the island sink rusted out after years of never being used.
As someone mentioned upthread, my D/W drains through it, so if I forget to clear it before running the D/W, I wake to food particles splattered and stuck to the sink. Minor downside.
Also a fan of large, single bowl S/S sink. I have never tried to polish it, as I saw mentioned earlier. The surface is slightly matte, and very easy to keep clean. Elkay, if that makes any difference. Chicago faucets have started to become pitted, and of course, current model long out of production.
I have always had a disposal. Works for me.
I love my garbage disposal-we had one house without one and I was hatin’ it! Clogged every time I forgot I didn’t have a garbage disposal and got food in the sink-ewww…
When and if the dishwasher finally konks out I’ll have the install guy run the waste line through the disposal like others have mentioned-that seems like a clever solution.
I used to compost our vegetable waste until a family of rats moved into my spiffy Coscto composter bin (they chewed a hole in it). That was a bummer-I couldn’t figure out why the dogs obsessed over it until one of them caught a rat. Another big ewwwww!!! Vegetarian rats; who knew…
We just purchased a new refrigerator and had to have the cabinets modified for it to fit. Our house is 30 years a old.
I couldn’t live without a garbage disposal. Food prep would be much more difficult trying to be sure food waste stays out of the sink.
What are you guys all cooking that generates so much waste? 
I hardly have anything in the sink when I cook - all veggie trimmings go straight into the food waste bin on the counter top (Mr takes it out into yard waste bin that gets picked up by WM weekly). Chop, put in a bowl, dispose of waste. Take the next veggie, chop, put in a bowl, etc. Then cook like those guys on cooking shows where every ingredient magically appears pre-chopped in pretty bowls on the counter So much more efficient!
Our house is 29 years old and we just had to have the cabinets modified too so we could fit in a new fridge. Fortunately fridges are only taller not wider or we would’ve had to move a wall.
Why would you be worried about trimmings in the sink?
We have a disposal too, but the cheapest, smallest one we could get. I like it for those last small bits that get caught in the sink. Everything else goes in our compost bucket (which is a 5 gallon lidded bucket that I keep on the floor next to the sink). I bring my compost to a community garden so no worries about rats. When I had a compost pile in the yard, there was a turtle that would visit it regularly!
We rarely use our garbage disposer. Thhere is a really poor design for the drain pipe - it has too many turns and too little tilt. Service calls cost over $100 and can mean 1/2 day unplanned vacation from work.
I have a sink strainer like this to keep food from going down the drain. If it looks grungy, I throw it into the DW with the dishes.
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/sink-strainer/s644384?b=1&a=1552&campaignid=206595536&adgroupid=13838804936&targetid=aud-83365914776:pla-75701078096&adpos=1o1&creative=44897459696&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAiAws20BRCs-P-ssLbSlg4SJABbVcDptg5dYInLP7W3dw7M_zkYh0tFcjzqjGQ-pZuDhQoDWxoCGSnw_wcB
I am loving reading everyone’s input! We are starting our remodel next week. For the sink, my kitchen designer highly recommended Blanco Silegranite, which has been mentioned earlier. It is lightweight and doesn’t stain at all, ever, according to her. Ours will be a single sink in “Truffle.”
http://www.blanco-germany.com/en_us/en_us/sinks/sinkcollections/silgranit_sink_collections/SILGRANIT.html
Regarding countertop edges, she strongly steered us away from a fully rounded edge - bullnose, I think they are called. She says that water will wick back underneath and affect the cabinets. So we are going to do the one where just the top edge is rounded.
I have 3 garbage disposals in my house. I don’t rinse my dishes, just scrape the solids off, put them in my Miele dishwasher. Comes out sparkling clean every time and I only run it every 3rd day or so since there are only 2 of us.
I am wanting to update my kitchen, too. I have 70’s honey oak cabinets, which I don’t hate, but they are in bad shape. I am going to paint them white like the rest of the woodwork in my house. Only problem is, they are really just barely off-white and white appliances look awful next to it. I don’t really want black either, so I guess it will be stainless. EXCEPT…a year ago, Whirlpool was exhibiting a new sunset bronze color with plans to put it into production in the Fall of 2015, but they must have scrapped that plan. http://refrigerators.reviewed.com/news/whirlpool-unveils-all-new-stainless-steel-finish
There are now black stainless steel appliances. Good luck in a few years when one appliance breaks and you want to match the color.
Honestly, we love our silver stainless steel sinks and countertops. In our view, they “go” with everything and we have had white appliances that look just fine with them.
I worked many years as an anesthesiologist in the operating room setting. The last thing I wanted when I got home was a more stainless steel, industrial looking kitchen. Long retired and having only stainless options in some appliances I wanted I have adjusted to it. Stainless steel counters- practical but reminds me too much of the hospital setting.
I can see why Whirlpool abandoned the bronze look- harder color to go with. Reminds me of harvest gold and avocado of decades past. Not a neutral. I find black too dark and depressing. I like white and wish it was more available in upper end midrange appliances. However- as much as I like white I am happier with counters that do not show every crumb. btw- my kitchen appliances are now all stainless steel but are several brands. There was no way I was going to settle on less quality just to perfectly match.
We are in the habit of rinsing dishes for the dishwasher because it could be four days between runs and milk products smell!
Yes, I can see that if you worked around stainless professionally, it could remind you of it if you had it in your kitchen. We also have corian counters with some marbling that makes it less obvious that there are forgotten crumbs here and there. My relatives have dark counters, some with sparkly mica & similar bits. The problem is you can’t FIND things you are looking for on the counter because it’s so dark and H hates dark–our house is too small and having dark surfaces makes it look even smaller.