A STEEL OF A DEAL

I'm not a fan of granite. In fact, I think it's the Formica of today and before you know it more and more people will be searching for the next best thing. I feel the same way about stainless steel. In fact, I can't STAND stainless steel. Before you shoot me an email asking why I'm being so cantankerous today, walk up to your stainless steel whatever and tell me how clean it is....I'm waiting....In my humble design opinion it is similar to white paint and white carpet; can be lovely if you don't entertain, don't have children, spouses, animals or any of the above who act like animals. Quite simply, it's a pain in the neck to clean UNTIL NOW. I'd almost given up on ever having lovely, shiny appliances until I stumbled upon yet another product in the aisles of the Home Depot and decided to give it a try. While I love bar keepers for my stainless bar top (it's quite toxic and fume-filled, so be careful when using), MAGIC STAINLESS STEEL CLEANER ($4.99) has no odor, sprays on like Windex and leaves everything in its path looking like it's taken a lovely cleansing bath.
WHAT NEXT, YOU ASK? I know I've just shot down two major components to a kitchen today, so if I don't like granite or stainless steel, what do I think is the next hottest thing? I'm a big fan of Quartz these days as it comes in many colors and tones, is fairly budget-friendly and (for the most part) can take a beating. I also love stainless steel COUNTERTOPS (polar opposite of appliances, as I love the beat-up, used look of stainless countertops) and poured concrete is another favorite. As for appliances, I'm finding more and more clients wanting them hidden behind panels that match their cabinets. My problem with this option is A) they tend to be far more expensive if they're "panel-ready" and B) believe it or not, they can be a tad confusing. I recently spent a chunk of time in a beautiful kitchen with hidden-panel appliances and kept opening the pantry assuming it was the refrigerator, sliding open the drawer microwave thinking it was a drawer, etc. That gets old fast. Speaking of getting old, I'm not getting any younger so need to get back to my stainless steel cleaning before I replace them entirely!