Owning your own home

I'm going for freestanding white goods.

There's a wider selection, they typically have more max loads and space inside. Most specifications seem to indicate that they're engineered to be quieter (I guess the assumption is that integrated have noise reduction by virtue of the cabinets... but then that depends on the cabinet).

I also think it's just more "honest". As in... I'll make the kitchen a Shaker kitchen, and for me that's less about the "oooh the woodwork is nice" and more "it's honest in it's function first and foremost and then tries to make the form simple and elegant without compromising the function".

I figure that means freestanding not integrated - a fridge looks like a fridge, a washing machine is obviously a washing machine and isn't hidden in a cupboard - and things that excel at their function and that have a simple elegance to them.

Miele won on function across the board - damn the washing machine was silent during the demonstration, and I've never seen induction work so well and silently (yes I know it depends on the pots, but even with that considered the Miele was virtually inaudible).

Quiet, well engineered, and then doesn't attempt to follow fashions in design (the washing machine isn't trying to emulate Samsungs huge bubble smoked plastic doors).

It's just honest appliances doing their job well.

And I'm nuts enough to even replace the Vaillant boiler with something like this Viessmann https://www.viessmann.co.uk/products/gas-boilers/gas-condensing-boilers/vitodens/vitodens-200-w and not hide that in a cabinet just because I'm obsessively going after the quality of engineering and function more than anything else.