yes, you can certainly do that. for many fridges, you can even buy a trim kit to put above the fridge to give it even more of that built in look.

building a 'nook' as you describe gives you all the benefits of both built in and freestanding. if it needs to be serviced, it's much easier to just pull it away from the wall.

You still need to account for the increased depth by either pulling you cabinetry foward or making the niche it's goin in deeper into another room/space. You also have to pay careful attention to the hinge door relationship of the whole thing is going to bind up. Most ref. doors open past their side walls. You need to find one that opens on itself.

The other consideration is providing the fridge proper air flow. You notice that built-ins vent out above or below the front of the fridge. If you box in a standard fridge you might be asking for trouble.

BTW, have you looked at cabinet depth fridges?

elakin, can you tell me more about the trim kits above a counterdepth fridge to make it look built in? For instance, brand?

Thanks!

"by just putting the walls around it to fit"

Seems like maybe that needed to be reiterated... ;)

maroqw - if the fridge is not next to any counters (or I assume cabinets) you don't necessarily need to build walls around it since you're not building it into anything - you could just leave it as is. Perhaps if you posted a layout of your kitchen, you might get better suggestions.

thanks so much everyone. i am still working on posting layouts and photos. no need to consider depth or counters as it stands alone and i can play with the island width to accommodate. i only need to provide a box or niche, whatever you want to call it, that makes the fridge look builtin so i guess a cabinet panel for the fridge and finished ends on the box...plus the issue of opening the hinged door mentioned by antss....and ventilation.maybe they've got me there.

My upcoming reno is the same. I only need to conceal two sides.

In Australian and New Zealand web sites I have uncovered a "Concealed Fridge Door Mounting Mechanism" slider, which can be bought separately, and which cabinet makers have there. Not here.

This resolves the issue of opening the hinged door with another door whose hinges are close to it but obviously not on the same point axis of rotation.

Using it one does not have to pay more than normal attention to the "hinge door relationship" because the slider is designed to couple the two doors and allow for some independent movement as the doors slide past each other and this prevents them from binding up. You don't need a fridge door that opens on itself. It can push the door past its side walls when open and this space become a little air space good for the gasket and the right amount of space for the new door panel hinges too.

Ventilation is easy to provide for since it's in a corner so I have room to maneuver.

As for depth, I am strongly in favor of having one counter be extra deep like 28" or 30" or whatever. I can do that by either pulling cabinetry foward or building one or two extra deep cabinets and then putting in a "check" or jog-back to regular depth. Also, I can insert the fridge into a little bit of wall niche without affecting the room behind the wall.

This is what I am looking at before I buy my next fridge. With my kitchen layout, the fridge will be stand alone at the end of a counter. So a regular size fridge (less money) might fit if it's far less than 30" deep and I could make it look like a built-in or integrated by putting a door panel on top and a bit of finishing panel on one side.

The fridges I am considering are all nominally 24" deep but they need air space behind them and they are not sold as built-in. Not being warranteed as built-in, there may be a problem with condensation around the gasket during high humidity summers If there is not enough air around the gasket. So my questions I am asking fridge makers are
-Are there heat pipes behind the metal near the door gaskets?
-Can I install two fridges in side by side configuration without risk of triggering icy condensation on gaskets?
-Can I install this fridge near a wall or finishing panel without risk of triggering icy condensation on gaskets?
-Do gaskets have to be kept visible and uncovered (for air circulation)? How much?

This is a project for DIY who can do a meticulous job by themselves, or those who have money and access to a great handyman who likes to take the time to try things out and get the highest quality no matter how much methodical trial and error is needed. If you are a professional installer or contractor this is not for you because nothing is known in advance except that a slider can be bought or built.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg1216203520931.html - - door on door slider (seen on Fisher & Paykel, Miele, Liebherr, Blomberg but not on US designed fridges)

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg1114122513850.html - - 24 inch deep (small but still full-size) fridge options

David

I would like to see the layout.

Most fridges pass can pass a small amount of electricity through the magnetic part of the gasket which keeps it warm enough to stop condensation.

when you put a 'normal' fridge back into a cabinet-like space, you need to have space for ventilation around the fridge as stated before. the alternative is to provide this ventilation around the bottom sides of the cabinet or out the back, or out the top, or out the bottom. All of this would depend on what is above/below/around your installation.

the door opening restriction also applies to being able to get the drawers open. Sometimes the installation guides will tell you how much space you need to the sides in order to let the door swing wide enough to open the drawers. This is especially important if you have a countertop butting up against your installation.

Glad to see this: "Most fridges pass can pass a small amount of electricity through the magnetic part of the gasket which keeps it warm enough to stop condensation..."

This might explain how Sears, Whirlpool and the like can offer pairs (one Fridge + one Freezer) designed to be installed side by side, at such a low price. I may be overthinking the hurdles, as I haven't seen condensation on any fridge gaskets in the last 20 or 30 years or so... maybe I don't move in those circles anymore... or maybe things have changed...

I'll get around to drawing and posting layout next week. In the meantime, remember it's in a corner and I can remove the sheetrock from a metal stud wall to give lots of air room wherever I want to.

-david

We did the stand alone with the trim kit. Frigidare "Twins". Much lees expense than a built in. Because they are counter depth, less capacity than deeper units of same width. We went with the full freezer and full refer to make up for the depth.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1459633}}

On the Kitchen forum I got my big answer tonight. How to connect a panel door on top of any fridge with a relatively flat door. A slider bracket, a "refrigerator door attachment mechanism"

Now a fridge can use a custom panel door to open its door. The custom panel door swings on its own hinges so it add no weight burden on the fridge.

In may case there will be lots of air behind the fridge because I'll remove a lot of the drywall (or recess the drywall between metal studs) so I'm not worried about suffocating it.

-david

Here is a link that might be useful: Connecting a wood panel door to a fridge door, to open together