My fridge has always been in a corner. I currently have a sidexside and yes, the door does not open all the way. We are remodeling and getting a French door and I think they have put in a 3" filler. It may not be as much of an issue with a French door since you can open both doors for access.

Depends on the fridge. You can find detailed specs in PDF form for the model you are interested in. Some have to open 110 degrees for interior bins to pull out properly. This can require a varying number of inches. Some people will use a narrow pantry in the corner and then the fridge so at least you are using your inches for something other than a filler.

Ajmadison dot com is great for providing installation guides for appliances

My old kitchen had a ref in the corner and I hated it because I couldn't pull the bins all the way out.

I agree that you want more than 2.5", that you need to look at the specs for the fridge, and that you should make that space work for you!

Here's something to consider: this pullout is narrow (just 4" or so) but puts the space to work:

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I think you might want more than 4" (unless you have a door there like in the picture above), but in any case you can make sure it works for you if you have something like the pullout above. (It's from IKEA fans website; there are great pullouts at Rev-A-Shelf too.)

HTH

We put a 12" utility closet between the refrigerator and the corner. There is also a 1" filler between the closet and the wall so that door will open properly. The closet part is in the upper part of the cabinet with 2 deep drawers below. This works well for us and I love finally having a place to put the broom, dustmop, dustpan, etc.

If you have the room to do so, I would suggest the narrow cabinet option as discussed above.

If not, since you don't have the fridge, I would carefully consider the type of bins or drawers each one has. A full width bin or drawer in a FD may be impossible to open very far if the doorswing does not get the door out of the way enough.

If the drawers are split, it may not be as much of a problem. I have sometimes put a refrigerator 4-6" from the wall but only if the fridge has those types of bins that are split and had a bit of wiggle to them.

This shows the problem using two different manufacturers pictures. Look at that door position - both pics show the doors open at least 8 inches over 90 degrees. In both, you STILL can't open the center drawers or the higher split drawers. Both didn't have documentation at the ready about how far the doors needed to be open to freely use the drawers.

Another relative got a Maytag FD in a corner location - out from the corner a couple of inches, but not much. All you hear at their house in the kitchen is the constant apologies the door hitting the wall.

Thank you all for your help. I will move away from the wall with a narrow cabinet. I'm sure I would have had regrets leaving it so close to the wall.

TB

Chigagoans---if you read this...can you link the Ikea pictures above of the 4" pullout. I could not find them on the Ikea fans website and as far as I can tell Ikea does not sell 4" filler pullouts. I'd like to get more information from the fans website if possible. Thank you!

I do support the use of the tall cabinet to the hinge side since you have the room. Its really the best idea.

But some of the smarter-designed fridges are eliminating the interference of the door bins to the drawers in the carcass. Liebherr has drawers that stick out more in the carcass and the door is flat with no bins in that area, in many models. They need to start designing more fridges that don't need the door swing of a Cadillac. I have to eliminate a large majority of the refrigerators in projects I do, because the kitchens--or houses-- are too small.

The KitchenAid above has removable door bins so the bins can be removed if the big drawer has to be removed all the way. The GE with the ridiculously deep bins, does not. I don't like the deep bins anyway because if the containers aren't huge they tip around when you open and close the door.

Joaniepoanie, I'm not Chicagoans, but here's a link to an older GW thread with links to the ikeafans site. It's not something you buy, it's something you make.

Here is a link that might be useful: broom closet pullout mods

@pal. The kitchenaid has the two center drawers that can't be opened for everyday use without the door opened wider. All french doors aren't as silly as the three I mentioned, but a lot of them are.

Thanks writersblock....greatly appreciated!

Gotcha, but that's why more manufacturers need to start thinking like this:
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