I follow a similar thought pattern. XFCE has been the most stable for me as well. I didn't mind Gnome 2.x, but once Gnome Shell came out I lost interest. I like a traditional desktop layout. Gnome Shell seems more like a mobile layout to me. KDE is definitely geared towards aesthetics and they are good at what they do. My issue has been the odd annoyances or bugs that just won't get squashed and I will always prefer function over form (in anything).
I follow a similar thought pattern. XFCE has been the most stable for me as well. I didn't mind Gnome 2.x, but once Gnome Shell came out I lost interest. I like a traditional desktop layout. Gnome Shell seems more like a mobile layout to me. KDE is definitely geared towards aesthetics and they are good at what they do. My issue has been the odd annoyances or bugs that just won't get squashed and I will always prefer function over form (in anything).