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I Bought A Counter-Depth Fridge & Here’s What I Honestly Think About It 2 Years Later (Hint: Some Pros & A BIG Con)
Two years ago, right around this time, I revealed my rental kitchen refresh. During the months that preceded that, I chronicled my journey in getting from “before” to “after,” and one of the major overhauls was of my appliances. When my family moved in, we had a partially broken white electric-coil range, a black (and ancient) dishwasher, and a very small, apartment-style fridge, also in white. It was a mishmash of finishes and not a single one of those appliances suited our needs.
It took me nearly a full year to hunt down new-to-me, secondhand kitchen appliances in my budget, but I finally did. The biggest get was my refrigerator, mostly because I had very specific limits, including needing a counter-depth model. Not just that, but the way our countertops were cut with a slight overhang in the area where the fridge lived meant we couldn’t accommodate a standard 36-inch width model either. We needed a counter-depth fridge.
Here’s a little excerpt from my kitchen reveal about this process:
“Let me tell you…finding a 33-inch fridge in counter-depth (this space required that) was near IMPOSSIBLE. I’m not exaggerating when I say they make three models that fit that bill. ON THE ENTIRE MARKET. And then to try to find one of those secondhand, well, Everest territory. BUT I DID IT. And the rush of exhilaration I felt is what I imagine stockbrokers feel when they do stockbroker things that make them a lot of money. I love our fridge…it makes me quite happy every day.”
So, here I am, 700-plus days later…do I still love it? Am I still quite happy every day? Well, mostly, though it’s complicated. And that’s what I’m here to talk about today.
What Is A Counter-Depth Fridge, & Why Does Someone Need (Or Want) One?
A counter-depth refrigerator is exactly what it sounds like: A fridge that is about as deep as a standard kitchen countertop, which typically ranges between 24 and 30 inches, while a standard depth fridge can be anywhere from 30 to 36 inches deep and extend past the countertops. So, why exactly does it matter, and why did I personally choose to go with counter-depth? Glad you asked.
I grew up in homes where there was a built-in cabinet box that accommodated a standard-depth refrigerator. That looks like this:
Our fridges sat nicely inside a frame made for their depth, with upper cabinetry that also extended out further than the rest of the uppers. We had a decent amount of space to move around the fridge, as well. Some people (or mainly, designers) don’t love this because it breaks from having a seamless line. You can see that in the above photo. It certainly doesn’t look bad when done well, in my opinion, but it’s become the norm lately to have a fridge, especially when integrated/panel-ready, that is flush with countertops and lower cabinetry.
A way around this, if you care, is to have your fridge on its own wall built into floor-to-ceiling cupboards without counter space, such as this:
None of these, of course, was my scenario. I was not renovating a custom kitchen. I was merely hoping to get my rental kitchen—where I spend a massive amount of time cooking, eating, or cleaning up—looking less “bargain basement bin” and more “nice family home.” As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I was working around some limitations in terms of width, and after measuring, I realized that a standard-depth would stick out almost 10 inches past my countertops. In a tight U-shaped kitchen such as mine, an appliance that projects that far into the center space is both an eyesore but also cuts off physical and visual flow. I know I would have to be searching for something counter-depth due to the placement of where my fridge was in the floor plan.
I found this great side-by-side comparison on Instagram of the different (note: this is not in my kitchen) to get a sense of how much further a standard-depth sticks out:
My Fridge Specs, Where I Bought It & What I Paid For It
This post isn’t meant to be some kind of ringing endorsement for the refrigerator we ended up getting, but I wanted to include it in case it was useful to anyone, and also because I wanted to show how much of a difference a few inches in depth can make to the interior of a fridge. Here is the model I ended up buying (reminder: I bought mine used on Facebook Marketplace for around $600).
Below is the same fridge, but instead of being 31 inches deep, it’s 37.5 inches deep. (Keep in mind that the fridge itself is 36 inches, but the final dimensions include the handles, as well.) A six-inch difference equates to nearly six cubic feet of difference. That, my friends, is a lot of space inside a fridge. Also, note that the smaller counter-depth model is $100 more expensive than the regular fridge. From what I understand, that increase in price is mostly due in part to supply and demand (they simply make fewer counter-depth fridges than standard depth), but also because the cost to produce them is higher.
These are important things to keep in mind if you are considering something counter-depth, but more on my personal experience with the diminished space, in particular, below. Keep reading!
My Honest Thoughts, 2 Years Later.
There are a lot of pros about our fridge, but also some cons. Let’s start with the positives, because I’m an optimist.
Pros:
- It fits! Above and beyond, that was my number one priority, obviously.
- It doesn’t stick out an additional six inches into my already tight kitchen!
- Aside from the aesthetics of its size, by far the most convenient part about a counter-depth fridge is that, because it isn’t as deep, food doesn’t get lost in the caverns of your chiller. Playing jar Jenga is wildly overstimulating to me, pulling pickles, pasta sauce, and relish out of the way just to get to the kalamata olives alllll the way in the back. My fridge has the capacity to nest things only two to three times before you hit the back wall. To some, this might be a con, because it limits storage, but to someone like me, who often has containers of leftovers to contend with (and needs constant reminders that yes, I have food at home), it limits food waste significantly.
From where I was coming (the basic top-freezer model loved by landlords for its price tag), the fridge is a huge upgrade, whether it was counter depth or not. A lot of what I loved about it to begin with can be attributed to this, as well as the French-door design. I loved having easy access to all the space on the interior side of the door, the wide deli drawer, and adjustable shelves.
Cons:
- Fewer model options to choose from. This was one of my biggest challenges, especially because I needed both a counter depth as well as only 33 inches in width (36 inches in width and depth is standard). These are becoming more popular, thankfully, so supply increases as does demand.
- They are more expensive, as I already mentioned.
- Decreased cubic storage. You can also expect a counter-depth refrigerator to have a capacity of anywhere from 17 to 25 cubic feet (LG makes some with really maximized interiors), with an average of around 22 cubic feet. A standard refrigerator houses around 20 to 30 cubic feet, depending on style, model, and width.
Now that I’ve lived with this fridge in this size for over two years, I can say that I have been frustrated at times with simply not having enough room. We are a family of two adults and one young child, and it’s barely enough room for all my groceries. I usually go shopping for the week and shove things in with a hope and a prayer. Granted, I buy enough groceries to cover breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for at least six days’ worth of eating. Plus, we keep our large water pitcher in there because there is no water line to that side of the kitchen, so the water dispenser doesn’t work, and I need cold water to survive. If you’re the type of person who only buys groceries for a few meals a week, there’s only one or two of you, or you’re more minimal than I am in terms of your condiments, milks/drinks, or produce, it may be just fine for you.
In a future kitchen of my choosing, this size will simply not cut it for my cooking style. I’m sure it would feel better in a full 36-inch width, but even then, even with the “pro” of not losing food in the back of the fridge and having things more accessible, I’d probably choose the largest fridge I could find as long as it made sense for the footprint of my space.
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That is my assessment, but this is a community where all of your opinions are so valued (and varied), so please chime in in the comments below with your own experiences related to a counter-depth fridge, for better or for worse.
Until next time, friends…
Opening Image Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Mountain House Kitchen Reveal
Tiny fridge hole in a rental kitchen here. It’s so hard buying a fridge to meet the size needs! But one thing that changed our organizational needs- a second fridge in basement. One of the classic white, top freezer types. Jenga War no more. I keep all the things down there that I don’t need regular access too.
This is us, too. I love having a counter depth fridge in the kitchen because nothing gets lost. (My parents’ fridge still scares me. What is IN there?!) But we also have a backup fridge in the basement, so it’s the best of both worlds.
Yes! So we have a deep freezer down in my husband’s office (slash storage room which is what it really is), and our old fridge is in the garage. EXCEPT OUR GARAGE DOESN’T HAVE AN OUTLET! Well, technically it has one on the ceiling right by the garage door opener, but we’ve read you’re not supposed to plug a major appliance into an extension cord, so it’s just there…unusable. It’s so sad.
Arlyn – paying an electrician to install a dedicated outlet for the fridge shouldn’t cost much and would be an excellent upgrade for your garage. We had an outlet installed for a standing freezer and it was life-changing in terms of food storage.
This is super helpful to me, both the pros and the cons. We’re a family of two adults and two kids, but we don’t cook as much as we should and in Europe in general it’s more normal to have smaller kitchens/fridges, as well as to get online or in-person shopping more frequently as opposed to big supermarket trips, so it’s not quite the same as in an American kitchen. (I’m based in London now but from the US.) A few times I’ve wanted to get a smaller fridge model (bigger than what a UK person would consider “small” but way smaller than an American would consider “normal”) and my (also American) husband always pushes back about it. Realistically, I get it. When our next-door neighbours come over, they sometimes comment on how DEEP our fridge seems – they have a similar width but counter-depth fridge themselves. (And yet, they cook all the time and never seem to battle space issues there; I can’t figure out why!) I want to get counter depth bc the placement of our fridge is right at the entrance to our kitchen, and making it easier to scoot around someone when the doors are open… Read more »
I think it’s easier in Europe to buy less. At least that was my experience. Shops are closer to home and there’s no need to buy a lot or in Costco size bags . Going to a farmers market is more fun and more accessible. It’s easier to be inspired by food that is available seasonally. I find Farmers market to be more expensive in America. It’s usually “artisan” and chic (at least in terms of what’s available near me)as opposed to just a normal and affordable. That’s my experience when I go back and have to buy things and cook. I also want to mention unheated basements in condos or storage rooms in houses. Some people would buy 1 cubic meter of potatoes and store it in the basement.If people make jams and compotes, and pickles, they would keep it there. So there ar things they always have access to that don’t need to bein the fridge. Anyway. Ask how your neighbors buy and store things, or how others do it there. As for is in America, we have a standard fridge. We hate that it sticks out, but we never got to changing it and it wouldn’t make… Read more »
One small Europe-USA difference is that eggs do not need to be refrigerated in most European countries because they are not prewashed, as they are in USA, which leaves a protective coat that allows for room temp storage. Another small thing to save space would be to keep the butter that is being used on the counter instead of fridge (I leave the stick we are using out for weeks at a time and it is fine!).
YES! I prefer refrigerated butter, but YES there are so many things that do not need refrigeration.
And, of course, lots of (mad 😉😆) Americans insist on storing their breads in the fridge! Uses up heaps of space; is utterly pointless and, in fact, speeds up staling.
Ah, I should have added that a lot od people who buy and process bigger chunks of meat (from a farm) might have additional free standing counter depth freezers in their kitchens or in their store rooms. So for sure they cheat a little when needed.
Haha! Yes, European here, family of three with frequent house guests, we do a big grocery haul once per week and cook a lot, and marvel at the size of “your” fridges. I think our current fridge is roughly the size of your old one, and we are considering downsizing to a fridge that fits under the counter (but with a separate freezer elsewhere) to streamline the kitchen. We do have storage space elsewhere though, as described by someone below, for everything that does not absolutely need to go in the fridge. And in the winter our favourite hack is storing food (in a tightly closed and secured container) right outside the kitchen, it’s as cold as in the fridge – a cooling system that costs zero money and zero energy 🙂
European here too and when you mentioned the ‘apartment’ sized fridge at first, Arlyn, I thought you meant one of those tiny ones that sit on or under a counter in an Airbnb! I actually don’t know anyone, including large families, whose fridge is not flush with the counter! I think we must not refrigerate a lot of what you do. For starters, we only refrigerate water in summer and are not overly into iced drinks on a daily basis. Also, eggs, as someone else said above.
Also, to say that everything you write is so readable, Arlyn, that I find myself reading about stuff like fridge sizes that I am not in the market for!
One thing I love about this site is how y’all revisit things you’ve done and update us all on how it’s working out. Thank you! I’m a counter-depth-fridge ride or die. We’re a family of 2 and I’ve put one in my last 3 kitchens and loved each one. They can really help with space constraints, but mostly there are few kitchen-related things I hate more than losing food in the back of my fridge and (re)discovering it weeks later, lol. I find my cooking-related stress goes down when I can open my fridge and see everything in it in one glance. Our current fridge is counter depth and ~33″ wide; I shop weekly and food-prep lunches and dinners and the counter-depth size has been fine. I’ve also twice hosted 50-75 people in my home with just that fridge, and while it was tight, it worked out OK. My current kitchen is comfortable but not large, and the fridge is located in the short end of a U-shape created by counters on one side and a peninsula on the other. The previous owners had a normal-depth fridge in there, and it stuck out so far that it prevented cabinet drawers… Read more »
I have to figure out what my issue is! I mean, I could probably guess that I simply have too many condiments and jars of odds and ends taking up ALL my door space. I should probably start by whittling that down and opening up room for myself. I do wish that our produce drawers were bigger because I buy A LOT of fresh produce. I have two giant bowls on my counter tops with all the produce I don’t refrigerate as well as a two-tiered basket type thing for potatoes, onions, garlic, etc.
I hadn’t thought about that! On reflection, I guess my fridge isn’t overwhelmed with produce because on food-prep day I wash & chop all the veggies so they’re ready to eat (and take up less space), and because I tend not to refrigerate produce if I can get away with it. I fully support all of us finding the system that works for us! 🙂
I saw once that someone switched their condiments and produce.. so they had all the door space for produce and packed their condiments in the drawers! I wonder if that could be a solution for you?
If you look up “ADHD Fridge” you’ll get tons of ideas—I love keeping condiments in a produce drawer because I’ll always go looking for, like, mustard or soy sauce if I need them, so it doesn’t matter if I can’t see them!
In general even in a counter-depth fridge I like to keep all the bottles and jars that don’t go in a drawer onto lazy susans; I use fridge-specific ones that are rectangular and have suction cups so the base doesn’t move when you pull it forward to rotate it. This was particularly key when we had a deep fridge but anything to avoid moving twelve bottles to get to the things I need!
We have a standard counter depth fridge. I can attest to how few there are on the market – we had a hard time finding the finish we wanted when we replaced the appliances in our previous kitchen. We are a family of 2 adults and 2 kids and cook mostly at home. I find the counter depth to be the perfect size for us, but…. 1. The Tupperware you use for leftovers has to stack! It’s the only way there is enough room! And 2. We upgraded ourselves and bought a small fridge for the garage that we use to store drinks and stuff for parties (like our turkey for Thanksgiving!). I realize that is a huge privilege but it works well for us!
We are hosting Thanksgiving, and I have NO CLUE where my turkey is going to go. Like, I legitimately do not have room for something that large. I’m hoping to eat through all the food in our fridge this week so that I can open up some space soon for it. I’ve even thought to ask a friend who is traveling to borrow her fridge. It’s a struggle!
A cold chest with ice!!
A large cooler works great to hold a frozen turkey while its thawing or even a fresh turkey on ice
We host thanksgiving and live in a rental with a terrible side by side fridge that I detest. BUT to fit our giant turkey, I make this coming weekend the Annual Massive Cleanout weekend! I only buy groceries that I need to cook the feast and pledge to feed our family of five from the pantry, freezer, and remaining veggies and fruit from fridge. We always have SO MUCH more than I think we do. Then I rearrange the shelves to allow more room between one and that’s where the 30 pound turkey goes! It might work for you, Arlyn, without the schlepp to your friends. And if not, a cooler could work too. I’ve also stored mine in the tub surrounded by ice before!
Good luck!
Not to encourage unsafe behavior but couldn’t you get an appliance-specific extension cord to hook up the garage fridge just for the week? (I agree that getting an outlet added won’t be that expensive and is totally worth it but you can’t do that before next week!) Just get the fridge plugged in a few days in advance so it can cool down! (Or if it’s staying in the 30s-40s where you are, I wonder if it would act as an icebox even unplugged, if your garage isn’t heated. You could add a bag or two of ice?)
Downsized from 2 refrigerators to a beverage fridge (counter height) and French door LG fridge. Considered counter depth but found regular one with 4 shelves on both doors instead of 3. Game changer as my husband has 10+ kinds of hot sauce, and with the “penthouse “ for the butter and all my international condiments the extra shelves help. We also started a landing place for food about to expire, leftovers etc that need to be used quickly front and center. It has really helped us reduce food waste.Oh and did not get the water and ice station on the door-I find them space hogs and they often look messy here in Utah with our hard water.
I love our counter depth! We had the same situation in our old kitchen, where our opening was not a standard width. We found a small Frigidaire that worked for our space. When we demoed and remodeled the whole kitchen a year later, we had our contractor create a standard 36in fridge space but add cabinet board to the edges so our narrow fridge looked normal in the space. It looks great and I love seeing all our food!
The only con for us has been repair is more difficult since parts are jammed inside and we also had to send away for a part we could not get locally when we had a drip!
I’m in a temporary arrangement with three adults (all family). My aunt does the shopping and there is so much food but also an unbelievable amount of waste. It truly makes me anxious to think of it but she’s not changing at this stage of her life. It’s true fridge Jenga but honestly we don’t even need half of it. There are condiments that I’ve never seen used and she loves cooking but cooks huge amounts and we don’t come close to eating all the leftovers. I’m not saying this is everyone but our fridge is likely considered small by some standards and is always jammed full yet we could easily do with a smaller fridge (and still have plenty of room) just buy only buying what we need, rather than the quantities the supermarket packages up. And yes, I have put on weight living in a household where there is far more food cooked by my aunt who loves cooking, than is needed or can be consumed.
I have and love a counter depth fridge. It is 28 inches deep and 36 inches wide. We are a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids.) I cook most meals at home and pack school lunches for 3 kids every day. We shop at Costco and BJ’s on a regular basis so the fridge gets packed to the brim each week. With the counter depth I love that it pushes us to see and eat the fresh food we have. You have to play fridge Jenga every night but it makes you aware of your inventory and you have to regularly edit out things either by eating them for lunch, incorporating them into your dinner plan, or tossing them if they are starting to turn rotten. I agree with a previous comment that Tupperware containers that STACK are a must. Also, casserole dishes with flat lids so if you make lasagna or enchiladas you can stack things on top of it in the fridge. We do have a bonus deep freezer in the garage, but honestly, we don’t really use it that much. It was purchased to accommodate my husband’s annual fishing trips of 50-100 lbs of frozen… Read more »
I definitely think if I had a garage fridge and a standard 36″ wide kitchen fridge, counter depth would work well for us. Something about losing those 3 inches in width that really makes it hard to fit our whole grocery haul in every week. And another problem I forgot to mention is that when I stuff it to the brim, the food tends to block the vent at the back and then everything in the back of the fridge freezes!! I once lost my ENTIRE produce haul I had bought two days prior due to this. 🙁
I just bought a new condo and I cannot wait to replace the existing fridge with a counter depth model. There’s two things about fridges I will not live with: freezer on top (even the cheap apartment fridges come with a bottom freezer option albeit more $$) and one that sticks out. At my last condo I had a counter depth 24” wide model. I could find everything, nothing got lost in the back, and it didn’t protrude into the space. I even hosted Thanksgiving with that fridge. Now I have a giant fridge and it’s less thoughtful in its design and you smack right into it.
Biggest con of counter-depth (which I’ve had for 19 years now): Pizza boxes don’t fit! No takeout pizza from Costco for us!
OHH Yes this is very true. We have always taken our leftover pizza out to store in a bag or container, but my husband was the “shove the leftover box in the fridge” type and he’s had to change his ways. haha!
Maybe this is terrible but … I don’t refrigerate leftover takeout pizza? I always eat it within 24 hours and it’s always fine? My pizza-storing limitation is my cat, who will haul the entire box off the counter if I don’t put it somewhere high up and out of his reach. 🙂
Frozen pizzas don’t fit as well, either. 🙁
No need to shove a pizza box in a fridge. We always layer it in a bag once its cool. Zero issue
Thanks for sharing your experience with the counter depth fridge. We are refrigerator shopping right now and also have a 33″ space. I kind of want to replace two cabinets just so I can get a 36″ wide fridge. Seems like the best of both worlds since things won’t get lost in the back, but you get extra square footage. Fingers crossed our old 30″ hand-me-down fridge hangs on long enough to figure out (it’s slowly dying).
Yes honestly, I would rather lose two cabinets and gain fridge space, but everyone has different needs!
We’re just a couple, now that kids are grown. We do cook frequently though, and like a very varied menu. We have two lazy Susan’s on different shelfs. Sure helps not to have to pull all of the smaller jars and containers out to get to the one back! We also only have two kinds of storage containers, so they can stack and store easily. We like an inexpensive stack of 16oz deli containers with lids. They seem to be infinitely reusable. We make homemade broth, cook pounds of beans, and make big batches of bolognese. They stack up easily in the freezer, and are the perfect size for meals and recipes for two. We just write the contents on the lid with a sharpie. The writing comes off easily with dish soap and a scrubby kitchen sponge – no need to write on tape to label. The other containers we like are Rubbermade Brilliance. They don’t retain any color or odor, stack well for storage, or in the fridge. You can easily glance at them, and tell what is in them. We have a couple of extra large ones in rotation. When we make a full recipe of a… Read more »
Ha, it truly is all what you’re used to. We have an under the counter fridge for a family of four (and a separate under the counter freezer) and it’s… fine. I do enjoy these glimpses into USAmerican life though 🙂
Do you shop often? I grew up in a home where my father went to the store every single day. And when I lived by myself, I would often do that same thing, so I had to store only what I was using that day or for the next few days. Now I do a large shop once a week or every 10 days just due to my schedule and inability to make it to the store every day.
I have a counter-depth French door fridge with the freezer on the bottom and I love it. One thing that really helps organization is grouping “like” items together. I like to take a bagel to work, so I keep bagels, quick-pickled red onions, and cream cheese in the same drawer (capers in the door bc I’m not a monster). I also use trays when necessary to corral ingredients, and they help keep the fridge cleaner. If you keep any canned drinks in the fridge, a can dispenser storage tray is a must. My fave thing about my refrigerator is that the water dispenser is on the inside!
I’m realizing while reading these comments that I’m infinitely fascinated by how people organize their fridges. I wish everyone would share and take a photo ha!
Please could you do a post on this?! I am also embarrassingly curious about how people organize their fridges haha
Around this time last year, we had to replace our 18-year-old Kenmore Elite (Amana) bottom freezer fridge that stuck out about 7 inches. Our problem was finding fridges that were 68” or shorter and didn’t suck up more depth since our U-shaped kitchen is 10×10. Ultimately we had to go expensive because the few Amanas, Whirlpools, Kitchenaids, etc. were made cheaply compared to our old workhorse. Mostly I love our Fisher Paykel counter depth with bottom freezer. I’m short, so now I can reach into the upper cabinet plus not lose food in the fridge. The shelves are really simple, and we can store a lot more in the refrigerator compartment. The drawers glide easily. We gave up the ice machine (always a problem in the old fridges, but unfortunately, still I feel we lost freezer space.
Our freezer has an ice maker, but because there is no water line that runs to this side of the kitchen, it can’t be used. But it did free up space in the freezer drawers, which I also very much need!
I love my smaller counter depth fridge- I clean it every time I grocery shop and organize everything so it is seen and utilized. There are things that North Americans refrigerate unnecessarily- if you eat eggs every day, put them on the counter in a pretty bowl for example! I will never go back to a big fridge- a smaller one helps me spend time prepping and organizing our groceries, which helps me take my time to respect and care for the produce and ingredients. We also try to use up every fresh piece of food every week— keeps us on track as a busy little family and it feels great to us.
Kathryn, Americans absolutely must refrigerate eggs! The US Department of Agriculture requires that eggs be washed and refrigerated from farm to store. Once you start the refrigeration process, eggs MUST stay refrigerated.
I would like a counter depth fridge, but it’s not a deal breaker in my current kitchen setup. We’re a family of 4, all of us home all day (work and school both done at home) so there’s frequent cooking, but except for 2-3 days after my monthly Costco run, our standard depth fridge rarely feels full. What I really wish is that the shelves had some adjustability! The main shelf has too much room above it, and the middle shelf doesn’t have enough head room. It gets annoying to maneuver things out of the back area of that one, so I tend to just use the front half of both that one and the top shelf which my short height makes hard to reach the back of.
Arlyn, I have always kept my veggies on any shelf I like and not limit them to the produce drawer. They seem to fare just fine!
20 years ago I walked into Sears on Black Friday and said, “I need a counter-depth, side by side with 1 ice and water in the door in stainless steel.” The response was, “we have two choices”. Crazy that things really haven’t changed that much!
Wish I had known of your experience two years ago. Amen to all you say. Refrigerator makers must believe all homes are brand new like their products. I had to have an overhead cabinet above removed in order to put either type of new frig in the space. The salesmen are liars. I bought a frig that was white and was supposed to have stainless steel on side. The “stainless steel” turned out to be BLACK or such a dark gray that I couldn’t tell it was steel colored at all. I insisted on a white frig and only available was counter depth. It is SO SMALL inside you can’t put any size pizza other than an individual 5″ into the freezer. I had to ADD lazy susans from Amazon in order to maximize viewable items in back of frig. It’s just the two of us elder citizens and I hate this frig but I exerted so much energy and money into replacing it that I have given up and just glare at it and hate it all the more. I can’t possibly spend the energy or the money to have a tailor made refrigerator. I had to buy an… Read more »
American 30+ grown woman here 👋 I have one fridge shelf to store all my food. Yes I live in nyc with roommates. Not all Americans are living with giant fridges commenters. We exists! And we have produce not in the fridge.
Disgruntled late night comment. Perhaps I should store more healthy food 😉
Counter depth for life! The problem in our rental is that the fridge is RIGHT next to a full wall in the corner of the kitchen. So even if I was interested in a counter depth for our home, I couldn’t actually change the location which would make the biggest difference.
But in our small beach condo, we put in a counter depth narrow (24 inch I think), fridge and it saved the galley kitchen and whole small space from getting eaten up. It was such a delight to get just what we needed that still looked good.
Thanks for your insight, Arlyn!
We also have a small space where we absolutely need counter depth and while we have standard width we have a short height so we are also limited to three models. Generally though, I love our fridge! Like you, it’s a pro for me to not have too much depth. I also get really anxious about waste, especially food waste, so it’s nice to be able to see everything easily. My parents come visit a couple times a year and they drive so they bring their entire kitchen (I swear) so those weeks are a bit tougher but we plan for it and use our drawers to capacity to make it work. Mine is actually a side-by-side which I thought I wouldn’t like but I’ve grown to love it and I won’t go back.
We also have a small space where we absolutely need counter depth and while we have standard width we have a short height so we are also limited to three models. Generally though, I love our fridge! Like you, it’s a pro for me to not have too much depth. I also get really anxious about waste, especially food waste, so it’s nice to be able to see everything easily. My parents come visit a couple times a year and they drive so they bring their entire kitchen (I swear) so those weeks are a bit tougher but we plan for it and use our drawers to capacity to make it work. Mine is actually a side-by-side which I thought I wouldn’t like but I’ve grown to love it and I won’t go back.
Oh I should add we have a drink fridge in our butler’s pantry and a full-size freezer in our garage for extra storage that makes it work.
Our house was built in 1948. The fridge is on an 8-foot wall between a door and a run of cabinets and can’t get wider than 30”. The door goes to the laundry and is our main path of travel into and out of the house. The previous owners cut through the wall and built back into the laundry making the path even tighter. When we remodel, we are planning on moving the fridge and making it counter depth. I would have gone 33” counter depth too, as pinch points are silent mental and physical energy drains. Are you able to do a stand-alone beverage fridge as part of a bar elsewhere in the house?
Funny, we have a family of 5 with teens and tweens and do fine with our counter depth size! However, if we don’t have drinks outside or in a basement fridge then it’s a problem. If you can take drinks and water out there is plenty of room!
OK, I have had this same issue over several years in several older homes or apartments where we wanted to preserve the existing kitchen but also wanted counter depth. Counter depth fridges look SO MUCH BETTER in a smaller older kitchen, it really helps. Fisher & Paykel has a 32″w counter depth fridge. It comes in stainless steel or white (I usually do white for a more vintage look).