Um, you'd be blowing almost all of your budget on a single freezer drawer and still have to purchase refrigeration. The total would be well over a single unit. And I wouldn't buy Frigidaire anything. The quality isn't there. At all.

I'm with LWO on the poor quality of Frigadaire. I had a couple of them in my other home and they all failed within 3 years for one reason or another.

I agree with LWO. Plus, think about re-sale - will future buyers want a kitchen with a fridge without a full freezer?

But, why do you say a 42-48" fridge is $6000-7000? Though it is true that you won't find one for $3000. There is a 42" GE Profile that sells for $4100 for the panel-ready (i.e. you would have to panel it), and $5000 in stainless steel. The Liebherr 48" SBS20H0 costs about $4600. The 48" GE Profile sells for $4500 (panel-ready) or $5300 (stainless doors). Go to the AJMadison website where you can sort for 42-48" fridges, and then sort by price.

I think you should explain why you've budgeted for an architect to design your kitchen (usually pretty pricey), but have not budgeted for the sort of fridge that an architect's plan would call for. Are you spending a lot on cabinetry? You could perhaps cut there. If you are, say adding corbels, or fancy trim, or glazing, you could save thousands on foregoing those cosmetic additions, and put the money toward the appliances. What are you spending on a range or ovens? On a hood?

There was a recent discussion about an expensive kitchen that sadly did not devote much budget to appliances. But isn't a kitchen for cooking and storing food?

We hired an architect because we are moving our kitchen to where our dining room is and we are widening our mud room and moving laundry to the second floor and changing the layout of the den - all close or connecting rooms. He didn't really lay out the kitchen for us but I know that we need a bigger refrigerator - we have three kids and a big extended family and our current 36" fridge is just not sufficient. No, my cabinets are not fancy - no glaze or extras. We moved into this house a year ago and put in a great cook top - a 36" capital and of course a new hood. We will be re-using it. We are hoping to reuse the new dishwasher and keep the wall ovens that were here when we bought the house (very new). I asked here about the refrigerator because I was hoping we could make it work - tile, flooring, demo, rebuild, cabinets - it adds up as you know. Perhaps after the discussions here I will determine that we have to spend more on the refrigerator but I came here for all of your expertise because I never really understood the value in a sub zero fridge. This will be a well used kitchen - I cook dinner everyday unlike many I know who have amazing kitchens and dont' use them. But I also spend a lot of time in my kitchen and want that special tile and beautiful farm sink because this is where I live.

Are you locked into the 42-48"? If not, can you spec a $3000 refrigerator and put an extra fridge and/or freezer in the garage or basement? I like having the extra fridge and freezer as it makes it easier to keep the one in the kitchen more open (i.e. not jammed packed with the latest trip to Costco, etc). Just a thought...

Can you get by with a 36 inch frig and keep second frig in the basment/garage as an extra storage? This would be the cheapest option and this is what my mother's cohorts would have done.

Freezer drawers or udercounter freezers are very expensive. I don't know of any "cheap one".

Can you leave the 36 inch refrigerator that you have now and make the opening for 42/48 inches until you have the funds? What do you think is the life left of your current frig? Obvously, you will have a large gap for a while. You need to commit to a frig that will not change its spec in the next few years. Subzero tends to keep the same spec so that they can be swapped out in the future.

Good luck.

We just redid the kitchen as well and couldn't justify with all the other costs spending 10-12k on a 48 subzero that we really liked.

We hunted around and found one on craigslist that came with a 90 day parts and labor warranty for $2500. After the 90 days it will be covered under our house warranty so I know we were taking a risk but that might be the way to go?

Wow, I knew the large fridges and sub zeros were pricey, but not that expensive. Holy cow.

We had the room in my parents kitchen so we designed it to hold two 32" refrigerators right next to each other. I have also seen the pairs that is a fridge on one side and freezer on the other or two refrigerators in different spots in the kitchen.

If you posted your kitchen layout, you might get some more specific ideas about how to incorporate more fridge space without spending a lot.