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.
Sandy
A few years ago we bought two fridges at the same time. One is in the kitchen, the other in the laundry room. Kitchen fridge is a Maytag Plus, with a bottom drawer (2 large pull out baskets) The other is a Kenmore with the freezer on the top. The Sears delivery guys said they'd never delivered 2 fridges to one house before. I like them both, & even tho there's just the two of us, it's great to have lots of food and drinks when the rest of the family visit. We went for price, not "pretty".
Sandy
Lourdes
Karen, we have the first one (Viking). Spendy, but a great refrigerator. However, if we ever get another one, I DO NOT want stainless steel. All may appliances are stainless steel and they're a pain in the posterior to keep clean. Want my next fridge to have wood doors to match the cabinets.
Amy in StL
I've always had a traditional freezer on top fridge. The house I'm in the process of buying has a new french door model and I'm not sure how I feel about it. My niece has one of these and it always seems awkward to have to root around in the drawer for something. I've always wanted a side by side with ice and water in the door - I drink a lot of water - and there's even a company that offers one that has cubed, crushed and shaved ice in the door so you could have sno-cones or frozen beverages without using a blender.
Aly
I love when you show us your research! You really are into the art of doing stuff.
I don't know if you had a show called Felicity up there in Canada, but it was about some kids starting college in NYC. The "hot" boy lived in a gorgeous industrial loft, and they had the coolest glass-front fridge that I have coveted ever since.
Now I need to go to Netflix and watch some old episodes...
Patti
Hi Karen, here's my 2 cents on the french door style...I bought the GE profile french door fridge with the freezer on the bottom and I hate it. None of the doors close on their own and with a couple of kids in the house that becomes a big problem. And the freezer drawer is really not spacious and it's inconvenient to get to stuff at the bottom. Next time around I'm going back to the side by side.
Laura
Whew! Sooo glad to see my dream fridge on your list (LG) Although glass doors are my fantasy, too!
Jenn
i <3 home renovation porn.
designlove
I have the narrow LG cute tall one in my laundry room. I use it for beverages! Looks fab!
C.
Donna Flores
I think the Meneghini is what Nigella Lawson has in her kitchen (or fake/studio kitchen for her shows). Looks awesome there, and it's even more beautiful in the paneled wood. Such pretty choices! I don't know if I could pick just one.
Kelli
i dunno Karen - a frig is a frig is a frig. Not being a culinary goddess like yourself, as long as it works and looks halfway decent, i'm good with that. *shrug*
And there's no way i'd get a glass front frig as nice as they look...i'm too much of a slob and apparently like to grow science experiments in my own refrigerator. Eeew.
Winegirl
The one here fried and (thought) I had to move fast... got a good deal at Lowe's, but had to work within the small framework of the cottage kitchen. Wish I had sucked it up and really spent time finding the right one. The wrong choice seems to live forever...
Good luck!
Leona
I clicked on a few of your ads to help contribute. ;)
I had not idea there were so many very cool options. (pun intended) Thanks for the research.
Karen
Thank *you*! :) ~ karen
Kim
Oooo, I love the Meneghini woody. Eww, I don't love how dirty it sounds when you say it out loud.
Maureen
Hey, at least you get to choose! As a renter with a cheap landlord, we got a used fridge off CraigsList. It smelled like a smoker lived inside the fridge. We finally got rid of that problem, but the problem with the bad outlet is not fixed. So we have an ugly small fridge that plugged via an extension cord that runs to the dining room. Classy!
MK
As a busy Mom of 3 kids and a foodie we are considering the full fridges from Costco. I never have enough room in a standard fridge freezer combo for all our condiments and fresh food. In are current model soo many of the plastic peices have broken off and cracked. I just want plain solid racks I can use my own baskets if i want any drawer type storage. Im not worried aout the noise as are bedrooms are far away and my family is 100x louder then any fridge or train for that matter. The only decision left is actually if we are going with a glass front or solid. DH thinks solid and think glass, at that price and costcos return policy I dont think you can go wrong with either one.
Scouty
Gee, I like the window in the fridge idea. Never considered it before. It would give a galley kitchen like mine the illusion of having more space in the kitchen, not claustrophobic. Same as putting glass in some of the kitchen cupboards, opens it up. The bottom drawers in your wish fridge - looks like one is dedicated to a freezer, but the other could be used as a fridge, hide the ugly containers! Like it – go for it.
Susan
I can't stand the freezer on the top. I'm WAITING for my refrig to break so I can get that fopaw corrected. Actually I knew it was just WRONG, but at the time the bottom freezer ones wouldn't fit in my space.
I don't clean the insides enough to chance having windows to the mess! But your choice is a beaut.
Mary Werner
Never understood why people didn't hire a refrigeration contractor to build insulated cabinets that were refrigerated. Seems like a simple idea but what do I know - I lived out of a picnic cooler for a couple months. Not fun but not as bad as having no clothes washer while having small kids that loved to play outside. Maybe you could start a new trend - hand made refrigerators!
Laura Bee
I have a story. When I was still living without a car I rode my bike to work nearly everyday. Rainy days too. Even in winter if the roads were clear & it was warm enough. I did this six years Wed-Sun 11am-whenever they let me free. (it was a restaurant.) I used to daydream that if every person who saw me go by all the time thought - "That girl needs a car" gave me five bucks or even a dollar - I'd have enough for a car.
On that note ~ "That girl needs a fridge." Go for the monogram ~ where's the donate button gone? :)
BTW, I finally bought my own car for my 25th b-day haha, but good luck Sunshine, maybe we can cover the taxes.
Karen
LOL. I'm a big girl now. I'll pay for my own fridge. I'm not what you'd call rich, but I'm not the destitute troll I was when I started this blog. Thanks to my readers. :) Although the more readers I have the more money I make the better fridge I can buy. I may have to start forcing people to read my site. Clockwork Orange style. ~ karen
Sharman
Destitute troll ... That was hilarious!
Leslie
I've read reviews of that Frigidaire glass front commercial refrigerator which state it goes through a WARMING phase every 12 hours (raising the internal temperature to something like 58 degrees to "defrost" itself, but why would a refrigerator need to do that), so spoils all your food twice a day. Perhaps this feature, which cannot be disabled and is not discussed in the user manual, would not be welcome in your dream appliance? And the problems I find with SubZeros is that they are not very deep, so are not nearly as roomy as you'd expect. When I lived in France, our refrigerator was narrow and TALL. It was AWESOME! I could put SO much stuff in it while it ate up almost no floor space in my small & awkward kitchen. The fact that American refrigerators are so short has bothered me ever since.