If I can impart one piece of advice on any of you it is this ... never flush a bug with wings without putting the toilet lid down first and ... don't wait until your appliances have broken to pick out new ones.
You. YOU RIGHT THERE.
Go now and pick out every single major appliance you can think of. Browse online, go to stores, ask friends and then decide on what fridge, stove, dryer, washer or vibrator you'd buy if your current one broke. Because once it DOES break, (and it will) you're gonna be in fits and might not have the mental capacity to make a logical, informed, well thought out decision.
If you wait until your appliance breaks to buy a new one you might end up with something ... ugly.
There are a variety of slippery slopes you could go down if you're forced into picking out and buying a major appliance like a refrigerator in the 12 hours you have until your food spoils. And if you're not thinking straight, that slippery slope migt not be paved with an automatic ice maker.
My fridge broke a few weeks ago. When I realized it was on the blink my head started to spin and I got a bit woozy. Partly due to the fear of having to buy a new fridge and partly because I immediately started banging my head against the 13 year old appliance. Sometimes that'll help get things up and running again. It's the Fonzie move but with your head.
It didn't work. I am still without a fridge. Actually, that's a bit of a lie. I now have a total of 3 refrigerators in my kitchen. Three of 'em. My regular, broken fridge, my niece's bar fridge, and my mother's miniature poolside fridge. All in my kitchen.
Why no. It isn't crowded and annoying. Why do you ask? Why do you ask? Why do you ask? Why do you ask?
Sorry. Sometimes the Xanax makes me repeat myself.
Tra la la.
While my first thought was to run out and get a refrigerator immediately so I didn't have to live through what I'm living through right now, I restrained myself. I would rather live for a month or so with completely inadequate fridge storage, a crowded kitchen and the soothing sounds of my Xanax drip than live for the next 10 or 15 years with a fridge I hate.
So every night for the past few weeks I've been looking at and researching refrigerators. I now know exactly what I want. I know right down to the last detail. I also know ... this fridge I have in my head? It doesn't exist.
More on that later.
For now ... a look at what's out there. I need to come to a decision quickly by the way. I'm overrun with carrots, beets and zucchinis from the front yard vegetable garden and have nowhere to put em.
The Most Beautiful Refrigerators from Around the World.
The increasingly popular French Door fridge. I was surprised that the cost of a full sized French Door Viking refrigerator was only a few thousand dollars. I would have guessed more. Great professional style handles, nice clean lines and I'll admit it, the Viking label up in the right hand corner kindda sucks me in.
I absolutely love the look of professional appliances with all of my heart. This True column refrigerator is one of my favourites. Sadly I can't have it because it has no freezer. I don't need a big freezer because we have an upright freezer in the mudroom, but I do need something so I'm not always having to trudge 5 steps to the mudroom when I want ice or nuts for cooking or whatever.
The other downfall to actual professional refrigerators like this is they're louder than refrigerators meant for the home. They have fans in the top of them that run constantly. They never, ever, shut off. I would find that constant drone in the kitchen annoying. I think. I DO love the look of this though. Hmm.
Source: True via Costco
This idea comes from a environmental lifestyle expert Danny Seo. This is one of the best ideas for chalkboard paint I've seen in a long time. This could actually work in my 1940's kitchen. It would probably look out of place in a kitchen with new cupboards and shiny new things that aren't ... cracked and broken.
Source: Daily Danny
This LG refrigerator is way too small for me but I thought it was so cute I had to include it. Fantastic fridge if you have a tiny kitchen or need an extra fridge for the basement or pool house. I don't have a pool house. I have an algae filled pond and a potting shed.
Source: LG
Get ready for the fridge I would buy even if I couldn't afford it. The only reason I will not buy this fridge is I don't have room for it. I would have room for it if I got rid of my stove, but then I'd have to go on one of those raw diets where nothing is cooked and I happen to like my chicken cooked. My beets too. I could probably go either way with cookies. This fridge exterior is by the Italian company Meneghini with the inner workings by high end German refrigerator manufacturer Liebherr. It's the Ferrari and the Mercedes Benz of refrigerators.
Oh. And as you can see from the panelling you can also get a woody.
Source: Smeg
I've been seeing the "armoire" refrigerator more and more lately. I wasn't able to find a manufacturer of one, but rather people have bought high end refrigerators (Sub-Zero) and had the armoires custom built around them. Something like you see below would cost approximately $20,000 for the Sub-Zero fridge and then the custom cabinet made to house it. I'll admit they've done a great job on this and I actually like the look of it. But I wouldn't want it in my kitchen. The same way I wanted to make sure my vegetable garden looked like a vegetable garden, not a bunch of vegetables disquised as flowers ... I want my fridge to look like a fridge.
Source: General Electric/Monogram Series
I realize this is the sort of thing that would scare a lot of people away, but I have wanted a glass front refrigerator for years. And I think I'm one of the few who doesn't immediately think "everything has to be perfect inside it". I really don't think that's the case. There are some precautions I would take to ensure it looked nice, but I definitely wouldn't worry about having mustard bottles on display or other everyday items.
The one thing it WILL have to be is clean at all times. The fridge above is the General Electric Monogram and it's the closest thing to the perfect fridge I can find.
It has a glass door, comes with a freezer, is made for the home so it isn't too loud and it's stainless. IT HAS LED LIGHTING ALL THE WAY DOWN THE SIDES OF THE INTERIOR! But it's out of my budget. I think.
Because I spend a HUGE amount of time in my kitchen I plan to spend a lot on my fridge and I won't feel one bit guilty about it. My fridge and stove are my toys. They're my vacation and my workhorses. I use them every day and I use them a lot.
When I see magazines filled with pages and pages of kitchens boasting Sub-Zero refrigerators and Wolf or Viking stoves I think ... but you don't cook in that kitchen. I can TELL you don't cook in that kitchen.
There aren't a lot of men out there buying Ferraris to just look at them. So why do so many women do it with high end appliances?
This next fridge is similar to the GE Monogram only definitely out of my budget. The Sub-Zero glass door fridge has a little larger glass area than the Monogram, which I like. The more glass the better.
So ... if the more glass the better, that would make this fridge the very BEST, right? It's perfect in so many ways, yet so wrong in so many others. Full glass door, but no freezer, plus it's a genuine commercial refrigerator so it would have the constant humming of a fan all day and night long. BUT, it's only $1,500.
Source: Frigidaire via Costco
We're going on a month with no real refrigerator here and I still have no idea what I'm going to buy so tonight I'm going to proceed with my last resort.
Before I tuck myself in tonight I'm putting a zucchini under my pillow and keeping one eye open for the elusive Glass Front Fridge Fairy.
Update: I ended up buying a new refrigerator when I redid my kitchen and I went with a True Professional series glass front refrigerator. And I absolutely LOVE it. You can see it in my kitchen and read all what it's like to live with a glass front fridge in this post.
Maureen @theThriftyLass
WTF? Refrigerate Guiness?
Joanne
Good luck with GE! We had to replace the motherboard on our GE Profile fridge after 4 years ($300) and our cottage GE Profile bit the dust last winter after only 6 years. It was not repairable. The next time I buy any appliances I'll talk to an appliance repairman first and not go by how pretty they look!
Cynthia
Joanne, we learned our lesson on "pretty" stove/ovens the hard way also. Our Bompani unit was a total waste of money!
JebberA
Glass front = no home for condiments. Condo-less condiments. How sad. They'll be relinquished to some shelf where they don't get to enjoy the daily swing of the door. Think about that.
Jennifer H.
I was thinking the same thing! It would be hard to corral those on the regular fridge shelves.
Sarah In Illinois
Ahhhh, we were discussing glass front fridges the other day. My boyfriend was saying how much he wanted one! I will have to send him the links! But I never thought about, until another commenter mentioned it, that you would lose precious door space!
Lynne Knowlton
Hey refrigerator-less sweet cheeks ~
How about an all Canadian made ...NORTH STAR appliances from Elmira? They are dead sexy, simply made and they look totally retro with a funky modern twist (like a freezer at the bottom or the top). I need one too, so you go FIRST and tell me how much you love it. Or hate it. Wait, if you hate it, don't tell me. I will be in the refrigerator dog house for that one. eeeek.
Lynne :)
Brenda j
WOW....
princesslala
Glass front? Yikes!
Look at the flat front Fisher Paykel maybe. I love LG's too.
Karen
But ... But ... I really want a glass front. Oh. And I'm still on the hunt for a womb chair and a 36" tulip table & 4 chairs. Just in case you know ... you have some hidden somewhere. ;)~ karen!
Lyn
We're nearing the end of a 3 month total kitchen remodel (totally gutting the space, knocking down a wall, all new appliances). We've been living with the very, very old fridge that came with the house (it's harvest gold, remember when that & avocado was in? Probably before your time) set up in another room, you have to unplug it & the coffee maker if you want to use the microwave. Anyway, we got a Kitchen Aid. The decision was easy, I wanted french doors, cabinet depth, panel ready. They're the only people who make one. After all the decisions that you have to make in remodeling, I was actually happy that there was only one option!
Carolyn Boyd
Ahhh, fridges. When I moved from Ontario back to beautiful Nova Scotia, I needed a new fridge and I didn't want the "usual" stuff. I found a Fisher and Paykel at Lowes and also The Bay. I purchased it through the Bay and had it delivered to my house in NS. It is counter depth and has been called "sexy" by my friends. We love it. No glass though, BUT, I don't have to worry about the mess inside..... Also, it was on sale, a big prerequisite for me for any purchase.
Karen
Carolyn - My neighbour just got a Fisher & Paykel. She loves it. I saw it. It *is* sexy. ~ karen
ev
Hmm...buy the $1500 Frigidaire for now and save up for the GE $6500. You could have your readers vie for the first one at $5 a crack, or maybe a contest (again, at $5 a crack), to name the GE one when you get it! Really, sorry you are having to put up with the crowded kitchen. No fun at all! Karen, you should get the GE. You use your fridge and stove for your livlihood--this blog! Go for the gusto! Good luck!
magali
Going a month without a real fridge is pretty intense! we're on one month without a dishwasher. Our building got hit by lightning and it fried something in the dishwasher :(
Beckie
I can go either way with cookies too =)
I didn't know I wanted a Meneghini...but I sure want one now!!
pve
Did you ever think of just having a wine cooler?
pve
Karen
pve - I did. But then I'd have to fiddle around with the shelves (they're curved for bottles) plus, wine coolers don't get cold enough. They only have "wine" temperatures. I looked into some beautiful Thermador wine coolers. ~ karen
pve
You are bringing up a bad memory. A few summers ago, we had a fridge die. It was a month without and each day, I had to go get ice for the cooler. We all are so totally spoilt with modern day tools and appliances.
I spotted a really cool fridge....I will have to find the name....
you will love love love it.
back....soon.
pve
Patti
Just sold my LG French Door refrig. 2 mths ago on Craig's list and went back to a side by side. I thought the refrig. Was beautiful in the kitchen, but plastic pieces kept breaking and I hated the freezer! I love to grocery shop like other women like to clothing shop. I was forever having to dig to the bottom to get to something. If I stored things from front to back, I couldn't use the available space bc the freezer had 2 deep boxes and a shallow drawer above them.
Janie
Buy in haste....live in misery until it or you die. Dead stove, couldn't find what I wanted, bought a BLACK stove. WTHWIT? Too bad you're not related....you could get a discount on the GE Monogram.
Jenny
This might be CRAZY, but if anybody could do it , it would be you - DIY Glass Front Fridge! Buy a stainless, french door, run of the mill fridge.Put legs on it. Then cut out and insert a glass window on the refridgerator side. It would have everything on your wish list and it would be AWESOME!! You would truly be Queen of the Pinned :)
Erika
I LOVE the glass front but would have a very hard time giving up the shelf space on the (opaque) door....good luck in your search!
Tigersmom
I totally got a woody looking at that paneling and I'm a girl!
Those Meneghinis are beeeautiful and you can clean under them without throwing out your back. They remind me of the antique (but still working great) fridges at a restaurant I worked in. Huge but really cool-looking and they had glass fronts. You would have been smitten.
Good luck in your search.
Liza Lee Miller
So, we got back from a 5 week camping vacation to find that our fridge had died. Well, luckily, I lied. It died while we were gone and my wonderful mother-in-law found it and cleaned it all up. We started shopping and found a fantastic GE Profile (french door) used. Gotta love Craig's List. Anyway, good luck, I'll be interested to see what you end up with.