My counter depth french-door refrigerator is much more spacious than my old standard depth side-by-side, even though the difference in square footage is minimal (side-by-side was 21.8 and French door is 22). There must be more actual useable space in the french door model. I always hated the way my old refrigerator stuck out from the cabinets and couldn't wait to get one that didn't. I would have been willing to sacrifice space for a refrigerator with a built-in look.

We are in the process of a kitchen remodel right now. Not being a fan of any built-in refrigerators and also wanting more storage space than a counter-depth frig, we went a different route. We chose a very large, free-standing, standard-depth frig. This frig will be set back into a cavity in the wall to appear to be counter depth. We are doing a lot of construction, so this solution worked well for us. It may not for you, but wanted to voice it "just in case."

We went from a standard depth fridge to counter depth. I think the switch was from 25 or 26 cu ft to 22. I haven't found the difference to be a bother, mostly because everything is accessible in the CD fridge. In a standard depth, food tends to be overlooked once it's pushed far back. With the CD, you can see everything so all of the space is used sensibly.

Hope that helps,
Cheryl