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twostepsback

fridge opening wrong way, how annoying will it be?

TwoStepsBack
11 years ago

Fridge door experts: in the updated layout below, we have an all refrigerator on the left side of the back wall and an all freezer on the right wall. I like them apart. But, the fridge we're planning to get (Electrolux) only comes with a right hand hinge and the freezer has a left hand hinge. Both would make more sense, given their locations, the other way around.

How much of an annoyance do you expect this to be? We have a 36" side by side right now so depending where I'm coming from, I have to open across my body sometimes, and I never think about it. But each of these units is 32" so the doors will be wider.

No one else, as far as I can tell, makes an all fridge and all freezer in about this size for anywhere near this price (about 2k each), so I haven't found anything equivalent with switchable doors.

I'm tempted to just bite the bullet and have doors that open often the wrong way, but how crazy it will drive me I can't predict with any confidence.

Comments (16)

  • ice1
    11 years ago

    Hi, I'm in Europe and work at a Siemens and Bosch store. All our fridge's have hinges on both sides, so you can change openings. Check to be sure the Electrolux does not have that also. Hopefully it does and the salesperson that sells them does not know.

    Svava

  • CEFreeman
    11 years ago

    I can tell you it would drive me nuts.

    I had a washer dryer setup like that once.
    Not a single time did I do laundry, when I didn't grumble, moan and hate the darned things.

    It adds only a few extra steps, but somehow in its lack of efficiency, it's hours added to the work load.

    "Don't do it," she begs!

    Really. It's a surprising PIA.

  • cawaps
    11 years ago

    Sounds pretty annoying to me, too. You probably won't be in the freezer as often, so maybe that wouldn't be a deal killer, but the fridge seems like a real problem to me.

    A search on A.J. Madison turned up a Danby all-refrigerator with reversible hinge, 30" wide, 17.7 cu ft. At $778, it's affordable but probably won't have the same level of features as the Electrolux. And it appears to only come in white.

  • lascatx
    11 years ago

    Would drive me nuts. You are going to be standing at a doorway while you have to get things out of the fridge, and with your prep sink there, you will be limited on landing space. You may have to open and close the door several times to get things out for a meal. No reason to do a new kitchen and not make it work right for you, in my book -- but I'm a person who cooks and wants primo function.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    I've lived with this. It does drive you nuts, for about a day and a half, and then you just don't think about it anymore.

    (Would be different, maybe, if you deal with a 23 lb turkey or equivalent every day.)

  • Jumpilotmdm
    11 years ago

    I wouldn't buy a fridge from a company that didn't make the door swing the other way. What do they think it is, a microwave?

  • beeps
    11 years ago

    Lol at Jumpilot. :)

  • aloha2009
    11 years ago

    Why not just put the frig on the right and the freezer on the left?

  • capecodder
    11 years ago

    I agree with writersblock...you'll get used to it. I did.

  • momfromthenorth
    11 years ago

    The frig especially would drive me bonkers when cooking.

    However, you have that little eating nook on the other side so from that angle it won't be bothersome. If you have kids who get up to get more milk during dinner, they will like that right side hinge. If you are trying to grab something quick while cooking, eh...frustration.

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    No, you're not going to get used to it in that layout. It doesn't matter if somebody else had a fridge that opened the "wrong way" for them unless they have your kitchen. In your layout there is absolutely no place to put things you take out of the fridge without multiple steps.

  • TwoStepsBack
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks everyone! This has been very helpful. I had sort of forgotten about a landing space for the fridge as I obsessed about the door, and most things considered, I'm pretty sure it won't work the way I have it drawn up. Back to the old drawing board, or to the fridge and freezer together at the end of the island.

    You guys are great, but you probably know that already.

  • Clarion
    11 years ago

    We built a "temporary" kitchen in the dinning room almost 8 years ago. There our refrigerator opens the wrong way, and there is no landing space, but hey, it was temporary and the fridge opened the correct way for the new kitchen.

    It drove us crazy for a month or so. The hinges are reversible and I am very handy. But in 8 years I haven't changed them (the new kitchen will be ready next year). You do get used to it, for what it's worth.

  • lalithar
    11 years ago

    Not in your layout.. It would be annoying as hell making it feel as something is really off in your kitchen.

  • MuleHouse
    11 years ago

    I'm glad you reconsidered. I had a right hinged door when I needed a left hinged one and it drove me nutz. Every time the door was opened it was so awkward. I don't see how you can ever get used to not having a place to set things going in or being taken out.

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