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plants4

Refrigerators -- what's best, side gaps or projecting doors?

plants4
14 years ago

I've seen discussions and pictures of refrigerator doors -- how much they project past the cabinetry, whether they open all the way, etc. but I never thought "wow, I'm going to have to decide!" Now I'm about to order cabinets and realize that I have to make a decision: do I leave a larger empty space on the sides of the (French door) refrigerator and have the doors flush with the cabinets or do I have a tighter fit on the sides but have the doors projecting past the cabinets? Or something in between?

I'd really appreciate thoughts on this choice and what it looks like and whether something in between the doors being totally past or totally flush with the cabinets would work.

Thank you!

Comments (14)

  • palimpsest
    14 years ago

    I think it depends on what the more important sightlines are.

    I don't like to see the sides of the refrigerator extending out past the cabinetry, and if its a deep refrigerator I will try to "bury" the depth beyond the 24" depth of base or deep cabinets.

    Sometimes this involves placing the fridge in its own drywall column, with a cabinet pulled all the way to the front face. Sometimes this means leaving a gap of several inches on the hinge side. I have either left it if it wasn't that noticeable or used a piece of trim that covered the gap that was placed in a position that did not interfere with the doors.

    If the main view is full on front, I have also had the doors stick out enough to work, with trim right up to the edge of the sides of the refrigerator, allowing for circulation.

    It depends upon the refrigerator: some doors need close to 3" to swing open, some swing almost within the width of the refrigerator body itself.

  • plants4
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    My refrigerator is buried so it will appear to be counter depth. It's the doors I haven't figured out. It turns out it's not that easy to measure how much extra is needed for the swing. But it's an aesthetic question between the side gaps and the projecting door. I see what you mean about where the sightlines are and I hadn't thought about that consideration.

  • palimpsest
    14 years ago

    You should be able to find out in the specs exactly how much swing is needed for just the door and for the door and the handle. Right now I am doing two kitchens where one of the doors is going to swing into a corner. However, there is a doorway in the corner that the handle will swing into in both kitchens. Therefore I only need the 1" required for the door, NOT the full 4" I would need against a solid wall for the door + the handle. Does that make sense?

    And also I have found ways to use trim to narrow the gap that lines up with the Box of the refrigerator, so the trim is Behind where the door hinges...know what I mean?

  • palimpsest
    14 years ago

    So the refrigerator does *not appear like a true counterdepth built in. The Door is not completely flush with the 24" cabinet. The Box of the fridge is, and the door sticks out a couple more inches, so it looks like a 27" counter-depth fridge. (One actually IS a 27" counterdepth fridge, the other is 32" buried to look like one)

  • plants4
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Oh, that's an interesting thought about the trim being behind the door hinge. I'll have to go look and see if that would work!

    Yes, your explanations make perfect sense. Apparently the specs, which I can't find, do not include the swing information...which seems really idiotic!

  • bluekitobsessed
    14 years ago

    I'm definitely in the "projecting doors" camp. My KD's specs had my fridge so tight that I doubt you could fit a piece of paper between the fridge and the cabinetry. Pic:

  • plants4
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    And, any regrets bluekit?

  • plants4
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I should say that it looks fine to me! In fact, I feel as if I've seen more with the doors coming out than I have with some "black gap" which I can't even picture.

  • palimpsest
    14 years ago

    Bluekitobsessed's fridge is how counterdepth (vs "true counterdepth") are supposed to look--thats the ideal position. They also usually require less circulation on the sides than a conventional depth fridge: in the one kitchen, the 32" depth fridge required 3/4" of airspace on the side, while the 27" depth required only 1/8". (Same manufacturer)

  • Buehl
    14 years ago

    Personally, I prefer the tighter look. Large gaps (and 4" gap will appear large) don't look as "finished" to me. My refrigerator is similar to BlueKitObsessed's refrigerator and I have no regrets (other than I wish it were a 42" rather than 36"!)

    Here's mine. Note that b/c of the carcass depth, the side panels are actually 26" deep to hide the sides of the carcass completely.

    From the side. The wall to the left of the refrigerator is 24" deep so notice that the side panel is approx 2" deeper:


    From the front.


    From the other side. See where the side panel is approx 2" deeper than the base cabinets & approx 1/2" deeper than the counter overhang:

  • bluekitobsessed
    14 years ago

    No regrets. What Buehl said. Not only would gaps look bad but they'd be a dust catching PITA nightmare to clean.

    TKO point: I don't know what kind of fridge you're buying, but my LG, along with most of its FD competitors, has a pull-out (no hinges) freezer, so having space for the hinges becomes even more useless.

    I suppose you could have a place to store brooms, dog leashes, handmade spaghetti, other really skinny items...or just do it the way Buehl and I have.

    Blue

  • jacy
    14 years ago

    Another vote for projecting doors. I'm going for that and trying to hide as much of the carcass (what an apt term -- love it!) as possible. The gap would be full of crap in my house in no time and I'm all about easy maintenance.

  • idrive65
    14 years ago

    Mine looks like buehl's, the case is hidden and the doors project. I think I have 1" at the top, as called for in my fridge specs for air circulation.

  • weedmeister
    14 years ago

    The one thing I will mention is that the door swing varies per manufacturer (depends on where they put the pivot) and that sometimes its the countertop that is the limiting factor. It the last picture above, if the countertop overhang had been say 3", the rightside door may not have opened. You have to remember to take this into account with respect to the door swing.