I think it could...or maybe not. depends on the rest of your kitchen layout. can you post one?

You could create a visual gradation by putting the narrow cabinet to the right of the fridge and have it come further out than the counter but not as far out as the fridge and leave space for the fridge door to open fully on the other side.
To me the real irritant is that you have to stand in front of the fridge and have to work around the door on the right. I would prefer a one door bottom freezer with a handle on the right, it would be much easier to use the countertop to the right of the fridge to load and unload groceries.
You appear to have a lot of small drawers....are you certain what you intend to put into them will fit? It seems to me that pots and pans will not fit into the cabinets on either side of the range.

This is what we did. I think it works. Probably not everyone's cup of tea. It is a standard size fridge. The shelves on the right and the cabs over the fridge are brought out to the same depth as the base cabinets. The shelves will hold cookbooks and baskets I think for beer koozies and the like.

JDez- thanks! Do you have an image from the side by the sink?

I have a full size fridge at the end of a cabinet run and it works fine for me but it's not against a wall - it abuts an eat-in kitchen with an atrium window and bistro table. I did nothing special with the cabinets - it's a SS fridge with black sides, but the black works well in my kitchen. Again, not for everyone, but I believe in function over form and for me the look is fine. I have pictures in the Finished Kitchen's Blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: Weissman's kitchen

This post was edited by weissman on Sun, Oct 26, 14 at 13:23

Another view

Kiwi gem, remember the picture of my old kitchen - I think I posted it in the other thread. That was a full-depth fridge that we boxed in, and the cabinets next to it did not come out as far (by choice - we thought it looked better).

That's pretty much what we did except we could not bring the cabinets all the way out due to the small wall to the left of the refrigerator/cabinet area. We brought it out as far as we could.

Having the same dilemma with my design. I agree with practigal inn that reaching around the French door is awkward, but I have never been able to find a Freezer bottom, Single door fridge top with ice and water on the outside - which is very important to us.

If anyone has seen one, please clue me in. TY

AnnaC34's looks great and is very close to yours!
You could divide the closet or pantry to the left of the fridge in half if you do not want broom storage, and put in a pull out cutting board at counter height for loading/unloading the fridge. That said, I have a side by side and never used the 24 inch counter to the left of the fridge for loading and unloading, I used the counterspace to the right because that was where my sink and dishes were.

lynn_r, we were going to buy one from Fisher and Paykel which is just as you describe, also counter depth so you sidestep the problem I am having. With 5 children and me being a dedicated juicer, we just didn't feel it was enough space. It may be just what you are looking for, though!

Here is a link that might be useful: one that might work

Thanks Anna, Jdez, and sjhockeyfan! Those give me confidence it will work!

Just adding one thing - mine was a French door with no landing space to the right, but the island was directly across from the fridge, so that became the landing space. Worked just fine.

Our french door fridge is at the end of a run. I really wanted a single door, bottom freezer (we didn't want ice or water in the door), but couldn't find one at the time that was as large as we wanted. Reaching around the door to the counter is a minor inconvenience, but not a deal-beaker.

Our kitchen is U-shaped, so the counter opposite the fridge is almost 6 feet away.

sjhockeyfan, I think our situation will be similar to yours. The island with a prep sink will be the the landing area.
annkh, I really wanted a single door, too, but I can't argue with all the features on the Samsung. I love that the bottom right section can be fridge or freezer, so I can either use it as a kids' snack fridge or keep all my pre-prepped juicing ingredients in there. I also love that it doesn't have handles, so it won't clash with any other appliance handles :-) I'm so weird about that stuff.

Kiwigem, thanks for the info on the Fisher and Paykel but it is way too small for us. We are 5 adults, Mom and Dad and three adult kids. Add to that the various girlfriends/boyfriends that seem to have taken up residence here at various times (at least they buy their own food LOL) we need all the space we can get.We currently have a 30 cu.in. SXS and an upright freezer in the basement and there are days that it still isn't enough. Still confused on placement. I need to post my plans and see what you guys come up with. I am always so amazed at your suggestions.

Kiwi, mine is at the end of a run with pullout to the left and island across. I like this setup and would not have done it differently. It functions very well and the 8" bump out from counter edge to fridge is not obtrusive.

bbtrix, thank you! That's exactly how mine will look. I'm so glad to see yours looks great!

Now that it been 7 years, how do you like it there?