counterdepth,maybe?

Two things immediately come to mind:

1. Recess a standard-depth refrigerator into the wall and, if necessary, the room behind it to bring the carcass (body or box) of the refrigerator in line with the countertop. Then, "build it in" so it looks built-in. (More on that later.)

2. Take a cabinet-depth refrigerator and "build it in".

In descending order of cost for a refrigerator:

• Built-in

• Cabinet-depth

• Standard depth

Now, how to make a non-built-in refrigerator look built-in:

1. Surround the sides of the refrigerator with 3/4" finished end panels
   Be sure the end panels are deep enough to cover the entire carcass of the refrigerator, but not so deep they cover the door(s). The doors need to be free to be able to open.

2. Next mount a full-depth over-the-refrigerator cabinet that is also tall enough to go from approx the top of the refrigerator to the ceiling...or wherever your surrounding upper cabinets go.
   If you cannot get or cannot afford a full-depth over-the-refrigerator cabinet, then pull forward a standard cabinet (usually 12" deep) so it looks like it's full depth.

3. If there is more than inch or so of space b/w the bottom of the cabinet and the top of the refrigerator, fill it with finished filler.
   (It's actually not a bad idea to make the opening above the refrigerator 2 or 3 inches to accommodate the possible height of a future refrigerator. Refrigerators seem to be getting taller over time. Just be sure to fill it with filler for now.)

Either way should change the look of the refrigerator and give it a more "finished" look.

HTH!

Depends on your space. For my Mom's new kitchen she bought a standard depth fridge so she had to move it from its' original position (the old fridge was really too deep for this space):

{{gwi:1577470}}

To this open space just across from where it had been:

In the new kitchen with a pantry (pantry and the cupboard over top of the fridge are 24" deep and pulled forward 6 inches) on one side and a 30" panel on the other:

Since that picture the Shaker crown moulding and a strip of light rail along the top of the fridge opening have been installed (I was actually in the sink base to get the above photo so I'm not sure I will be able to get the same shot now that the countertop and sink are in but I will try to get some better overall shots soon):

There are lots of better examples but this is a 100% stock product with no customizable options. The spec book is the 2 back pages in the 18 page brochure. With a semi-custom or custom line you should be able to do something much slicker than this set up.

Thanks for the help and for listening to me rant. I will see how much it is to enclose a cd refrigerator. I remember checking a custom line way back when and was so disappointed in how much just the refrigerator cabinet cost. Maybe Cabico isn't so expensive.

I'm in the same boat.. hate paying more for a CD fridge (and the french door ones are smaller and more $$ than the CD SxS for some reason) but hate the look of a big clunky fridge poking way out beyond your cabinets. Not to mention the big clunky fridge takes up way too much floor space at approx 30" sans door and handles.

I'm thinking CD french door though and a beverage center to take a bit of the pressure off having a measly 20 cu fridge. Sadly, I don't think this is going to be a lot less than @ 3500 unless someone has a big sale.

Search for 30" deep base cabinets on this forum. Many have done that and love the extra depth and counter space. You can just pull 24's forward. I plan to play around with depth that way.