- Bertazzoni 36 Inch Freestanding 4D French Door Refrigerator w/ Handle REF36FDFIXNV (Open Box)Special Price $2,599.00 Regular Price $3,499.00
- Bertazzoni Professional 36 Inch 4-Door French Door Refrigerator REF36X PROHK36FD (Open Box)Special Price $1,599.00 Regular Price $3,299.00
- KitchenAid 36 Inch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator with 22 Cu. Ft. Capacity KRFC302ESSSpecial Price $3,399.00 Regular Price $3,554.00
- KitchenAid 36 Inch Counter Depth Freestanding French Door Refrigerator with 23.8 cu. ft. KRFC704FPS NEWSpecial Price $3,699.00 Regular Price $4,899.00
- KitchenAid 36 Inch Counter Depth Freestanding French Door Refrigerator with 23.8 cu. ft. KRFC704FBSSpecial Price $3,699.00 Regular Price $4,999.00
- JennAir 42 Inch Panel Ready Built-In French Door Refrigerator with 24.17 Cu. Ft. JF42NXFXDESpecial Price $10,299.00 Regular Price $14,999.00
- KitchenAid 42 Inch Built-In French Door Refrigerator with 24.2 cu. ft. Stainless Steel KBFN502ESSSpecial Price $9,069.00 Regular Price $11,199.00
- Samsung BESPOKE 36 Inch Counter Depth Smart 3-Door French Door Refrigerator with 24 cu. ft. Stainless Steel RF24BB6200QLSpecial Price $1,795.00 Regular Price $2,999.00
- LG 36 Inch Counter-Depth MAX™ Smart French Door Refrigerator with 26 cu.ft. Dual Ice Maker Slim Space ADA Compliant LRFXC2606SSpecial Price $2,099.00 Regular Price $2,859.00
- Thermador Freedom Collection 36 Inch Built-In French Door Smart Refrigerator with 19.4 cu. ft. Diamond Ice Maker Professional Handle T36BT925NSSpecial Price $11,999.00 Regular Price $13,999.00
- LG 36 Inch Counter-Depth MAX™ Freestanding French Door Smart Refrigerator with 26 Cu. Ft WiFi Ice Water Dispenser Black Stainless Steel LRYXC2606DSpecial Price $2,595.00 Regular Price $3,629.00
French Door Refrigerators
Most appliances have common widths, such as 24″ for a dishwasher, and 30″ for a standard range. They also have fairly common depths of 24″ – 26″ inch so they fit fairly snug in 24″ – 25″ deep cabinets. Refrigerators have a tendency to stick out several inches more, and that's OK since they have storage in the doors, and need room for the doors to open wide and clear the adjacent countertops.
However, over the years we've seen a tendency for refrigerators to get even deeper to handle the bigger capacity consumers have requested. For example, it's not uncommon for refrigerator brands to top out at a whopping 27 cu.ft. for a 36″ wide freestanding refrigerator. Here's a giant 27.8 cu.ft. refrigerator from GE that is not only 35 1/2 inches wide, it also has a 34 3/4 inch depth (not including handles). That refrigerator will stick out about 10″ beyond most cabinets.
In many kitchens this is not a problem. Indeed, this 27.8 cu.ft. GE refrigerator is a popular model. But, if you have a galley kitchen, with cabinets on both side of a narrow aisle, you may not even be able to open the refrigerator and freezer doors all the way!
Counter-depth refrigerators to the rescue. Unlike the full-depth refrigerators, counter-depth refrigerators are typically only 27″-28″ deep. Of course, since they are slimmer than their bigger full-depth models they have less capacity. If kitchen space is an issue, it's definitely worth the trade-off. (I recently bought a fixer-upper, and the existing appliances included one of these 27 cu.ft behemoth fridges. It was a U-shaped kitchen, and I had to turn sideways to get past the fridge and into the kitchen.)
At Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center, you can order full-depth, counter-depth, or even flush built-in refrigerators. Follow this blog, for upcoming content on counter-depth and built-in refrigerators.
