I'm not sure about the free standing vs under counter.

We have a GE Monogram, and it has two wine racks on the bottom.There is one shelf that folds back, but most of the shelves are more suited to hold cans. Not really thinking about that before,(duh) but my husband likes bottled beer, and we both like snapple and other bottled fruit drinks.. they don't fit as well in there. So make sure what ever you get holds what you want to store.

We bought a free standing Magic Chef from Costco for $400 that has dual temperature zones. It keeps everything nicely chilled. It has a vent at the bottom and just slides into a 24" diameter hole in our island. The unit has 5 shelves (2 glass shelves and 2 black coated metal shelves for bottles). We use the top for white wine and the bottom for soft drinks, beer, water and juice boxes. It holds a lot. It also has an interior light, more mood lighting than anything, that can be turned on or off.

Sorry the picture is not more close up of the fridge.

{{!gwi}}

The bargain solution is a undercounter 'dorm' refrigerator for a couple hundred down at Walmart. Check the manual before you buy, but I'm pretty certain they can all be used with cabs on either side. Not panel ready [like buildinables], but usually available in white, black or ss.

Because I have a couple family members with bad backs, I used the Monogram refrigerator drawers for about $1k. Great option if you want to refrigerate a couple gallons of milk on occasion, in addition to drinks etc.

Got my $1300 Kitchenaid built in mini stainless fridge for $298 a couple of weeks ago. Go to www.searsoutlet.com - you have to watch it weekly since they refresh the website with new stock weekly. The first week I called the fridge was $480 and out of stock, the 2nd week it was $319 plus I found a $30 coupon on the website by clicking on the "Buy at Store" button on the product page. I paid only $298 for it brand new!! It's going to look great on the other side of my new sink.

thanks for all the advice.
dreamywhite...great tip, I'm going to try sears outlet!

I was going to get one and did some research. I found there are beverage coolers and there are undercounter refrigerators and they do not perform the same. Most beverage coolers can't be set low enough to beverages REALLY cold. They are fine for wine, but not really good enough for beer. They are coolers, not true refrigerators. Undercounter refrigerators can be set really low, just like a full sized refrig. They are also nearly as expensive as a full sized refrigerator, which is why I decided to not get one. You can't use a dorm refrig under the counter unless you are willing to leave a fairly large gap all around it because they vent and cool out the back and will overheat if they have cabinetry close on the sides. True undercabinet refrigerators vent and cool out of the bottom front, just like a large refrig.

Before you buy, check the mfg specs....they will tell you about venting requirements and also the low temperature.