A consumer appliance with a soft open door mechanism includes a cabinet having top and a bottom and defining an opening along a front side. A door has a top and a bottom and is attached by a hinge to the front side of the cabinet. The hinge is at a bottom of the door so that the door is movable between an upright position closing the opening and a substantially horizontal position opening the opening. A spring is mounted in the cabinet so as to oppose movement of the door toward the horizontal position. A damping device is mounted within the cabinet activatable by an opening movement of the door toward the horizontal position to slow the door motion. The damping device is not active until the door has moved a distance from the upright position toward the horizontal position. Again, various options and modifications are possible.