I don't know the answer to this, but it's something I've been considering. I look forward to hearing what others think!

Jill, you won't get the entire wall thickness. You can remove the wall board or plaster/lathe from the kitchen side and you will have access to the framing inside the wall. The opposite wall must have some kind of support. What I did was remove the studs and turned them sideways. Gained about 3 inches overall counting the thickness of the wall board. Did some damage to the opposite wall taking out the studs and had to repair that. No longer in that house but recall the Maytag "wide by side" fridge only stuck out a little bit.

Thanks, Mike. Good to know!

I removed a pantry (to the right of my SD fridge), and recessed my fridge into the wall during my remodel. I'll post before during and after picts, one at a time. Our wall backed to a stairwell landing. That allowed us to recess the waterline box further (it was in space below landing). They installed a header above fridge and drywalled the box, so I gained about 3.5", and it was SO worth it. You may uave to put your waterline in a different location to get the full depth (side? In the floor?) if you have a room behind your wall. Although with 5.25" walls, you may be fine, that sounds deeper than mine. Also, be sure your fridge vents to the front, and/or make your recess taller than fridge to allow for air circulation. Here is my before pict, the fridge is not all the way against the wall, as you can see it sticks out a lot. Due to the pantry on the otherbside it needed to stick out for the doors to open fully.

Recessed fridge area. The waterline box got moved into the new hole you see open.

After. Love love love. Same fridge, normal depth counters.

The labor to do this is likely to eat up more than the cost difference between a regular and counter depth. The only time that this makes sense is if you are building new entirely (and it's not a load bearing wall) or if you DIY the labor on the remodel. The biggest reason that most do this is to not lose capacity.

In the end, if you want a built in refrigerator, you need to spend the (BIG) bucks to buy a built in refrigerator. Aside from the valid points about regarding cost, effort, etc. refrigerators are built with certain ventilation requirements, clearances for doors to open etc. Built ins are designed to fit flush into a run of cabinetry; others are not.

As shown by the image above, you can push a normal refrigerator back a bit but you can't turn it into a built in by shoving it farther into the wall.

I dont recall exactly, but I think my contrator charged $400 to recess the fridge. It was a no brainer for us.

Thank you all! We are primarily concerned about space in the fridge, as we are a family of 6. I am not expecting a built-in "look," per se, we are happy leaving space around the fridge for ventilation. Thank you for bringing up those points. :)

I will have to consider where to put the water box... currently there is none at all, so from that perspective it will be just as easy to put it in a space other than right behind the fridge! Maybe to the side; we are planning to have a pull-out utility, and we should be able to put it in that space, I would think.

I love the look of the recessed refrigerator! I wonder if I can do something like this? Thanks for the idea and the beautiful pictures!

Load bearing or not, it's just not that big a deal to unzip drywall, install proper framing changes, and re-drywall. Don't forget to accommodate your electrical box either.

Thank you, Trebruchet! It is always good to hear that something you hope to do is "not that big a deal." :)

I did this recently. I didn't drywall the inside of the cavity. Gonna use 1/4" ply instead. Every 1/4" counts..

The demo and rebuild was pretty easy basically. Especially if it all is going to be framed out with tall cabinet sides that will hide a lot of foobars.

Yes, good point, a lot will be hidden. Thanks for sharing your experience!

I would love to do this also. Could the framing be removed without damaging the other side of the wall?

We tried this and found a drainpipe from upstairs in our wall in addition to other piping , which is why the wall was greater than the standard 4" depth.

We considered moving the fridge instead to another part of the wall and making the wall a few inches deeper overall in the room backing this one. The cost was not that great but the layout was not as efficient so we are opting for counter depth and using a secondary refrigerator in our garage for overflow.

I hope you have better luck with your effort.

" Could the framing be removed without damaging the other side of the wall?"

Yes.

It's going to be difficult to not need to do minor patching as the drywall are normally secured to the studs with either nails or drywall screws. When the studs are removed the screws remain in the studs (from the opposite wall) and sometimes create a small opening by taking some of the drywall compound that was used to patch the nail/screw hole originally. It's an easy repair, but unless you have the same paint match, you'll most likely have to paint part or the whole room.

I would think one could slip a long metal cutting Sawzall blade between the framing and drywall to cut fasteners before framing removal, leaving the heads on the opposing wall undisturbed.

I was wondering if it would be possible to do this from the kitchen side, working inside the tall panels with the overhead cabinet, leaving the studs in place up above and putting in a header. There's likely only 1 stud in that 36" wide space.

My fridge backs up to a coat closet and I can't afford to lose the depth in the closet. I had spec'd 32" deep panels to get the look of a CD fridge but builder installed different ones b/c of 24" deep cabinet above - wanted to secure that to studs and not have to block it out (though blocking would have been hidden by the panels).

So is there a way to move the fridge, zip out the drywall between the panels, zip out the stud(s) and still support the overhead cabinet while in process of installing the header? I can take the wire shelving/rod out of the coat closet in case the header has to be a little taller than where the screws are in the studs on that side, but I'd prefer not to remove the side panels and overhead cabinet in the kitchen if we can work with them in place. I can empty the cabinet too ;-)

Moving water line and electrical isn't a big deal. And I won't worry about piecing in tile - no one will see it behind fridge. I'd like to gain 4" but anything will help, the original goal was just to have the doors of the fridge sticking out, but the gray-painted sides hidden. Though I will lose that little strip I put the school phone directory, dr's numbers, etc. on (SS doors)!

In the grand scheme of things when remodeling a kitchen this project is not too big of a hassle and the space you save can benefit you.

Yes it is possible for the framing to be removed without disturbing the sheetrock on the other side of the wall, however a lot depends on how the sheetrock is fastened to the studs and the condition the sheetrock is currently in. The method I recommend and have had the most success with personally is utilizing an oscillating tool with a metal blade. I have also used a sawzall with a metal blade and had success. However because of how a sawzall is built it can be difficult getting the blade between the back of the sheetrock and the stud without putting too much pressure on the sheetrock with the body of the tool while working between studs. Both tools will vibrate the wall and may cause nail pops however you can get the blade of an oscillating tool flat against the sheetrock. Trial and error has taught me this is the preferred method.

Also three things you will want to take into account are as follows. If you are successful in removing the studs without damaging the other side of the wall you may still need to spackle the wall if you plan to secure the sheetrock to the new framing. Secondly if the refrigerator has water and or an ice maker you will need to consider the placement of the water line. Lastly as I believe somebody may have mentioned you need to plan for the electrical box accordingly.

Containing projects to a designated area should be a concern when remodeling. Redoing a portion of the sheetrock in a finished room may not be ideal however it is not a significant enough variable to be the only determining factor as to whether or not this portion of the project is put in place.

I found the bottom plate the hardest to cut out (sawzall).
Not a big deal just a little harder than the verticals.
I stacked three 2x4s for the header.

It would be a little tricky with the cab in place. I guess you could support it with 2x4s or something. I'd just take it down and do it right. And yes you will damage the other side. Mostly just some holes that can be patched easily.

Thank you all for the input! :)

I have a cabinet depth fridge and my sister does not. I dont see how a bigger fridge will make a difference for a family of 6. I personally hate the freezer drawers. Our cabinet depth was not that expensive and I bought a super cheap fridge that sits in my laundry room for the extra stuff. Even my sister is looking to get a second fridge. I think its hard to avoid.

What happened to your pantry? i habe the same problem as there is a wall next to my refrigerator that goes 5” beyond my cabinets. i was thinking of pushing my pantry back 5” ? any ideas

I have a similar problem. my pantry wall is next to my refrigerator and sticks out 5” pass my cabinets. i thought of pushing my pantry back 5” so i have more room between my oantry and center island. any ideas