Since the appliances were not placed in service as a rental asset in the same tax year they were purchased, your only option is to depreciate them. Understand this is an *option* and not a requirement. If you elect to depreciate, then your depreciation basis will not be what you paid for those appliances most likely, since they are over 1 year old. Your cost basis for depreciation is the *lesser* of what you paid for them, or their FMV on the date they were placed in service.
Personally, I would not waste my time with depreciating appliances with a total cost of less than $2500-3000. Appliances are depreciated over 5 years and depreciating something such as a washer/dryer set over 5 years will most likely not make one penny of difference in your tax liability over those 5 years. If it does, you're talking maybe $2 a year at best. Then add to that when you have to replace the appliance (and you most likely will after 5 years) you now have the additional time and paperwork of disposing of the old and acounting for the new. So were I in your shoes, I'd just "blow it off" for that one particular unit.
It's not an issue in the other unit since you can expense them (and did) under safe harbot.
