It works well in your situation and refrigerator location :)

Of course it looks fine! It's a perfectly respectable looking frig in a very nice kitchen!! I'm glad you're happy with it.

It IS boxed in, but gently so. A wise solution.

some fridges have an ugly metal side wall.
some have nice sides.
i've not seen that written in this forum's responses.

I really like your open shelf directly above the fridge... great for storing platters, etc. Wish I would have thought of that.

Hi David - yeah, that was mentioned in the referenced thread. And at the time I had no inkling of this at all; that I should have considered what the *side* of the fridge looked like! I was rather horrified, at my ignorance, oversight and depths of trivia toward which it has become necessary for me to kow-tow. My stomach wound up in my teeth and then I figured, well, OK. So, if it has a weird, different-colored, not-meant-to-be-seen side, that's the way it will have to be. It won't kill anyone to look at the sidewall of a fridge that was meant to be hidden. Mine was in a giant box, boxed into a hallway, and what was I going to do if it was a problem anyway? I declined to peek.

But I was worried, chanting: "it's only a fridge it just doesn't matter". Which is true, but it's better as it turned out. More generally, I wanted to make that info known to hedge someone's future decision. And note for the record how it turned out! As well as the side of this particular fridge as it's pretty popular: Samsung French Door (don't tell me they differe between models?!)

whew. There are so many bullets to dodge around here. Teensy tinsy trivial ones, true. But they sting all the same.

The problem with many SS fridges or even some white or black fridges if you are a texture freak is that they are like Bunraku Theatre (as in Just Ignore the Black thing behind the other thing). But Samsung seems to have addressed this.

hey - it looks like... a fridge! yep, it does. and it's ok.
better in the kitchen than the LR - or bathroom!

lol!

Hey. My fridge is in my LR. :(

:)

It looks great! Thanks for sharing. DH and I were "discussing" (okay...arguing) this just this morning. I wish I would have looked at this earlier.

Mine are white on the sides, so wouldn't look this nice. Yours looks great.

I like that sneak peak at the granite. Have you shared your island yet??! I wanna see!

Glad you like it since I am one of the ones that assured you it would be fine!! Phew! I have the same fridge, and mine isn't boxed in either. Love it, and hope you love yours as much!

Aliris, I think your fridge looks fine and your cabs are beautiful! After cleaning behind my fridge this week, I'm wondering if it's really a good idea to box in the fridge for 2 reasons: 1) wiggle room to get it out and clean behind it and 2) air circulation.

We haven't reno'd yet and I thought I would box the fridge in, but I'm having some serious second thoughts. Thanks so much for posting yours. I think we're going to go ahead and replace our fridge sooner rather than later because the motor runs almost constantly (it's 20 years old) and it has started freezing things in the fridge compartment. I'll be sure to pay attention to the sides of the fridge when I go shopping!

It looks perfectly fine, and I'll bet it's easier to get the fridge out for cleaning, etc. But who's going to notice the side of the fridge with that fascinating granite stealing the show? Beautiful w/ your cabs!

florantha, you've got a point there. I hadn't thought about that; visually it sort of is. What I was referring to was the KD-group think that insisted I had to have a box around the fridge and I had to have a conference about it and insist and put my foot down and say no and then worry about it for months and months: 'what do I know that the KD doesn't know'? Did I make a mistake being so insistent....' That sort of misery.

drdannie - I also had to fight for the horizontal shelf: 'why not just put it inside the cabinet'? You'll have to clean in there all the time. Do you *really* have that many platters? Actually, what I have are a couple awkward-size platters that can't go vertically; a lazy susan, a heavy epoxied fossilized piece that sets inside of a wire holder for cheese and the like. I wanted a place for those. And I thought this solution was fairly standard, but I got grief for it too. Sorry you missed that idea. But if your cabinets are custom made (or maye even if not), it may not be too difficult to squeeze one in or even carve it out of the bottom of cabinets you may have above the fridge already?

Palipsest: most of our dealings with contractors seems to be like Banraku theatre: Just Ignore The Black Thing! That's basically the first word out of everyone's mouth. I am no carpenter and when I pick up a saw everyone quakes. But I do better, often, than some of these professionals. What on earth could be up with that? I just don't get it. I will go out on a limb and say There Should Be No Black Things In My Kitchen. sigh. [why is the drain line to the DW in the back of the corner cabinet: isn't that what the toekick is _for_?]

OK, steph - so you're saying the fridge smack dab in the middle of the bathroom, no partitioning, no separate room? Bad for resale.... ;)

slush -- look at the thread I linked. Many people showed their fridges boxed and not in search of the answer here. I found it very helpful. Though in the end I think the biggest variable is the appearance of the fridge's sidewall. But also the specifics of your layout too. So I don't think there is one better-answer. Really depends.

Rhome, yours is probably older. When you spring for a newer you'll be set, probably. Could you just take a piece of spare veneer or, dunno copper or aluminum sheet hanging around? Something big and one-colored? If it bugs you, that is. In the end, I don't think it would especially bug me that way either. Just plaster it with kid pics. :) (My default decorating scheme).

Flowers, good point; maybe that's some of the reason the whole look just feel claustrophobic to me. Some teensy piece of my mind, somewhere, every time I look at it, is squeezing inside to clean! ick.

Marcy, scooter: thanks! I'm really not done, but am so excited about some of my decisions that did work that I've posted some pictures here and there in service toward helping answer another's questions/cogitations. But actually, all I've posted and more would be in my photobucket. I think you can just click on the picture and get to the rest.

That said, I've had no success getting a photo of the granite that really works. With, without flash - no go. Day, night. Somehow the size, the shine, the colorings; it all just doesn't get captured correctly. I haven't spent concentrated time trying to get it right though. I just notice that when I snapped; nope, no good again. It's so interesting to me the work one's eye does automatically to bring sense to an image, that the static camera can't/won't do. The slab is "rainforest green", from Rajasthan. There was a lot of drama surrounding its acquisition during the course of which I've discovered that while the overall gestalt is the same-ish, there is huge variation between slabs even in overall look and feel, among of movement and overall coloring, as well as range of color. These differences aren't so great between lots at any given yard but between purveyors -- huge. Different part of the mountain, presumably.

Most importantly, this stone for all it's swoopy colors and happenings, is a rock composed of vastly different minerals translating to hardness as well as strength and durability. This makes for massive headaches for the cutters. There are cracks, no matter when the salesman may insist. They can and may give your stonecutter a hard time no matter how much wishful thinking he may have otherwise. It may impinge on something like smoothing of edges and sandwiching of them. You must really approach this product with some congeniality; it will serve up differently from expected, and give some heartache along the way.

That's my take at least!

Calimama - whew. Thank you! And of course yours were the voices I was wanting to hear, but you just never know. I think, as I noted above, it actually depends a lot on many factors but mostly, as you noted, what that sidewall looked like, so thanks for your direct experience.

Who'd I forget? Fla, David... thanks as always! Fla - I loved your stone-entrance pictures. As dynamic as the movement in the soapstone. It's forever annealed with your screenname for me! (OK, now it's going to turn out I'm wrong about this, but it was you who DIY'd the soapstone, right?)

The appearance of the fridge's sidewall often is specified as one of the slight differences in the fridge's multidigit model number. This may be the case for all manufacturers. Someone else will know.

Aliris, the fridge looks great! I am going to have the same kind of layout and was wondering if you can tell me how deep the wall is to the left of the fridge? I'm going to have to cut back a weird wall I was thinking to counter-depth or so, so the fridge can open cleanly, but was unsure whether I should be thinking 24" or a little more or less? Congrats - the kitchen looks fantastic!

why is the drain line to the DW in the back of the corner cabinet: isn't that what the toekick is _for_?

Hard to know what this refers to but the dishwasher is supposed to connect to the main drain pipe between the sink drain and the trap (I think this is considered after the trap but it might be before). This is so sewer gases can't get into the dishwasher. In most set ups I have seen it will run into the sink cabinet from the corner and attach to the sink drain pipe after the trap (or it might be called before). You should see it in the sink cabinet - if it is installed beneath the cabinet it isn't installed correctly where I live (code here doesn't require an air gap).

Hi aliris19...

I've been wondering about your kitchen a lot lately because I didn't box in my fridge either. (Remember my silly thread on the heels of yours?!) I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to post pictures, or would at least have to edit out the fridge, or enter the "didn't box in my fridge" underground because of the shame. ;)

Yours turned out very nice! I'll be getting the same fridge as yours (but counter-depth)... if I can ever make up my mind about stainless or white.

White?! Oh no...

Thanks for posting. :)

I've been wondering about your kitchen a lot lately because I didn't box in my fridge either. (Remember my silly thread on the heels of yours?!) I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to post pictures, or would at least have to edit out the fridge, or enter the "didn't box in my fridge" underground because of the shame. ;)

Ironcook, I'll see you in the underground! Not only did I not box it in, it is WHITE! ;^)

See, that would bug me, but I'm OCD about too many things.

I'm very glad that you were happy with your decision and that you shared it with us. There's gotta be a way to capture the rapture of your rainforest on film!

Shelayne - I originally bought a white fridge too. I got home and dh freaked; evidently he had some fantasy about ss being the only way to go. Who knew? Surely not me: when encouraged to speak up about what he's wanting he says nothing. It's like this little game we play: he lets on to nothing about what he's wanting until suddenly I discover the invisible limit of impossible and I have to go crawling back on my knees to the vendor to undo the problem (this also happened with a faucet).

I thought a white fridge would have been just grand, but it elicited such a dramatic response from dh that I didn't really even delve into the why, just returned to the store and shelled out an extra couple hundred *totally extraneous* bucks just for a different-colored front. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me, but he didn't. His response was so irrational that it was obvious it just wasn't even going to stand up to questioning. But I sure did grumble about having to take it all back.

Anyway, all this just by way of saying: I'm with you, white is rather nice.

That said, every decision one makes informs that next. As it happens, I now do like the silver-color of the fridge we wound up with. I had always thought this all pretty pretentious, but somehow I seem to have acquired a kitchen that in many ways I would formerly have scoffed at as pretentious. At least it's internally consistent!

Iron: ditto comments to shelayne - I think the white/ss decision depends on the other things you wind up getting to some extent. But honestly, unless you find a sale where the price is equal, as, again, the color you choose just winds up informing other choices, why not choose the cheaper? We didn't, but it is, after all, dh who's earning most of the $$$ around here, so I decided to let him have that weird need (I'm guessing it's about something like 'my wife deserves New and new=ss - but I don't really know, haven't and won't ever ask. Some things one just doesn't want to know the answer to -- it would be too embarrassing). FWIW while white cabinets are not my thing, white fridges do seem to me to be the gold standard (which is why aluminum just doesn't come up to grade!) ;)

Hi cary - my DW is at 90-degrees from the sink cabinet, separated by a super susan corner cab. The hose i was refering to is going back and forth from the sink setup. It is strung through the inside of the corner cabinet rather than underneath it, which I would have thought was aesthetically preferable. Maybe it's not technically feasible; dunno. I'm guessing it was but my dear plumber (dp) didn't feel like taking the extra time to snake it through. Maybe I am doing him a disservice in imaging so ill.

Oh LA - I am so happy someone has asked me a question I can go measure and help out with! Thank you!! That wall is 30.5" on the inside measurement. The specs of the fridge are online, say, here: Samsung dimensions . You want to have space around the fridge for airflow; how much depends on whether the fridge is in a corner or not (actually -- the extra corner-gap dimensions may be more about permitting sufficient space for the fridge doors to open rather than air flow. This is what Samsung's site has to say about the matter: "Thanks for the question. Samsung recommends at least 1" on each side of the RFG297AARS for circulation. This will be sufficient as long as the refrigerator is recessed only as far as the depth of the case, not including the doors. If you set the refrigerator back into the cut out the whole way, the doors will not be able to open properly, and could become damaged when the door rotates into the cabinet edge. Now, even with the refrigerator case properly aligned with the edge of the cabinet, if there is a wall that is perpendicular to the refrigerator that either French Door will open into, you'll need a total of at least 3-3/4" clearance on that side for the handles to clear and the door to open at least 90-degrees, which is necessary to be able to access both the crisper and Cool Select Pantry drawers. - Ms. Samsung". This quote is from this questions page - a goldmine of info: Samsung support page ).

I have 2" in the back though come to think of it, probably not enough to the wall side -- I should shove it to the right a bit...Anyway, with 2" in the back and 30.5" on the wall, that permits the wall to come to where the doors start to open just fine. The doors are very thick. You need a little extra space for the doors to be able to open up fully. They open to something like 150-degrees (this number is just a guess; you might be able to find the correct one online). You need to be able to open the doors beyond 90-degrees like that in order to permit the internal drawers to open. Therefore that side wall must stop before the edge of the door -- or else you need extra space to the wall (I think that's the reason for the 3" gap required if you're on a corner).

David - interesting if those numbers do suggest a difference between models in sidewall appearance; it could be then some don't look the same as mine on the side. geesh.

Oops. I meant to say that would bug me in my kitchen. I'm guessing you knew that but wanted to clarify.

I do think it looks perfectly acceptable though.

Hey Breezy - and scooter's mom - you posted while I was writing that magnum opus! I'm sure there is a good way to grab the stone, but I haven't gotten to the project yet. I've taken pictures to illustrate some point or try to answer a question, but none just for the sheer pleasure of representing what's there! Gotta compel me with some question ;) In the meantime I have dishes to do. I love my new DW, it's unbelievably quiet, but who has ever heard of a DW taking 3 hours to complete?

Hi again - yup; got it.

You know, I think everyone's got their trade-off to make in terms of when something gets too done-done. Or maybe not everyone - obviously some people strive for "done-done" (a realtor's term of long ago); not me. I'm actually supposed to be a crunchy-granola unshaved-legs birkenstock-wearing earth mama. It's all nonsense of course, or at least most of it. But there is a point when for me personally it gets too just-so, and each and every little step incrementally gets there. I feel as it is, quite as a fish out of water; quite befuddled in such luxury. DH notes it will take next to no time for me to gunk it up with stuff and washed-out baggies and the like. But short of being a mistake, that side-boxing just steps over a line for me. I'm glad it's possible to omit without entering into mistake territory.

Ah, prejudice....

Actually, here's another puzzle. Everyone who's seen the kitchen seems a little stunned and I keep hearing words like "luxurious" and "amazing". But it doesn't really feel luxurious to me because I think I've been living inside of the plan for so long. And also, no one's seen a before-pic here, but mine was fairly impressive. The before was functional, but hideous and cluttered beyond belief. We're not particularly fancy people so I guess the kitchen seems out of character. To me, boxing it in might just have crossed the line.

Found my Thai fish sauce today. Oh happy day!

Regardless of fridge outerwear, it's a beautiful space and one that you've worked so hard on. It reads amazing to me too. You're too buried in reno fog to see it. I appreciate the glimpses you've shared on my threads and others.

Speaking of granola, you reminded me that i need to look back and find your recipe before it drops off the list.

Breezy - you are such a mindreader! I just *grabbed* that thread back! But did I ever post the granola recipe? I think not...

Oh, it looks as though I did. But it'll fall away soon enough. It's just basically the one on Diet For A Small Planet, p.361. No oil (completely unnecessary -- why does anyone make granola with it?) I didn't have my book when I posted earlier so let's see whether I remembered correctly.... it's about right; might want to toss in some salt and maybe a few more nuts/seeds to the proportions. But that's entirely jigger-able by eye and taste and according to what's on hand. The biggest difference I've added over the years is to bake at 325 for up to an hour; I like the carmelized toastiness that comes from a long, slow bake. And that's what "adds value" I think. That is, this granola is better than what sells in gourmet packages around here for $8/8 oz bag. Ridiculous! At that rate one of my batches would be worth $250 at least!

there are some cases where it makes sense to box a fridge.

your kitchen is different, because of the varying depth of field of the fridge, the cabinet overhead, the cabinet next to it and the wall.

see mgkinz fridge:

Here is a link that might be useful: here it makes a lot of sense to box the fridge

I'm sorry but I can't pay any attention to how your fridge looks, unboxed or otherwise, because I'm too busy shrieking with joy over your Rainforest Green counters.

It looks great. Also love what you've done with the grain on your cabinet doors and drawers.

Not understanding the comment about "group think." Is the swipe necessary? Your fridge works because 1) the side panels are nice 2) It already is completely boxed on one side with a wall and 3) There is no straight-on view of the side, such as you would have if that entry wall disappeared. Not every situation is the same as yours.

I saw that fridge in a house I was looking at last year, btw. Very nice looking in person.

Your fridge looks great! I'm facing a similar situation with a bisque fridge (LOL, shelayne!). Haven't decided yet, but your picture helps me visualize--thank you for posting.

davidro1, thank you for another perspective.

Oh no, marcolo, what did I say?! Whatever, I'm sure it wasn't intended as a swipe and I do apologize, any and everyone!... the "group think" I was referring to was part of this sentence: "What I was referring to was the KD-group think that insisted I had to have a box around the fridge and I had to have a conference about it and insist and put my foot down and say no and then worry about it for months and months: 'what do I know that the KD doesn't know'? Did I make a mistake being so insistent....' That sort of misery. "

I was referring to how unpleasant things felt for me regarding this stupid little potential wall next to the refrigerator. It was something I had to fight hard for, not having. My KD (no one on here) ... actually, I should say the person who sold me the cabinets as she had almost zero planning input - but she is a designer and I valued her design sense (in the absence of any formal training here). Anyway, this person told me, in a completely shocked voice "Oh there is no way I would ever build a kitchen without a box for the refrigerator. It just doesn't look good". I hadn't really even realized she'd included it in the plan; I hadn't in what I'd asked for. But this was during a meeting with her boss where we were trying to save some money (!) and it came to light that this massive hunk of wood was planned. Her point was also that it was required additionally for structural reasons. But her boss, a (former, I should think) carpenter, waived this away and said structurally it wasn't necessary as there were two walls. It was evidently a very expensive part of the bill as the piece of wood is large, requiring stitching together and much finishing. But that left me wondering what she knows that I don't know.

Thus I came here with this question, wondering why I was so crass as to imagine such an installation different from the requirement of the "KD-group".

Obviously, many many haven't boxed. Moreover many who do, do so wisely and serenely (as David and others point out). My swipe was at the way I was made to feel it was utterly unthinkable to do what I wanted to do, when in fact many have and do and there is good reason to; as it turned out my kitchen was just one such one. But I couldn't see that confronted with an angry person insisting I was doing the completely wrong thing way back when!

This thread was really instructive for me first of all seeing so many boxed-in fridges that looked terrific, so many that not only looked terrific but necessary, and many more that really didn't need it; as well as articulating some of the reasons, in both directions, people have for going one way or another, reasons quite apart from design considerations.

It's my impression that this is one decision that is squarely and flatly in the middle ground where reasonable minds can completely disagree, or also that reasonably different kitchens converge to the same solution and conversely, similar kitchens reasonably conclude with a different solution.

The 'group think' I was objecting to was that evidently somewhere in KD-world is the rule that One Shalt Not Box. It flustered me!

Apologies for: (1) the persnickety, overly-long explanation and (2) any residual unintentional insult I may have implied.

Marcolo - thanks for noticing about the grain. That's something that was a new 'articulation' for me. That is, I've always loved the grain of wood I saw that some doors had more than others (I also love that clear open aspect that sometimes comes that it may have been Buehl? forget who - who pointed me to a great explanation of in another thread about how this arises when you sever certain plants cells at an angle).

When we got a sample of the door my husband pointed out that it had a seam down the middle disrupting the wood grain. This was evidently required with "solid wood", a high-end upgrade. But this observation let to realizing that veneer might actually be preferable from some perspectives, like this one. He wanted an uninterrupted stretch of wood grain (I agreed) so these doors are all veneered. I really love it. And I would never have noticed or realized quite why some doors look better than others. If you want to see the wood grain and it's not too expensive (it was cheaper for us actually), I highly recommend this option. For some reason I haev associated 'veneer' with 'less-good', but I think I've been all wrong. It's quite a nifty technique. Silly prejudice again; not sure where it all comes from!

Anna, you're cute. A bunch of people have asked about the Rainforest Green slab. I have noticed it's hard to get a good picture of the - I think it's sandstone and not marble? Not sure... whatever it is, it's shiny and moves and varies tremendously; hard conditions for a good picture. Oee of these years I'll get a good series of pictures. In the meantime if you're thinking of using it, you might want to know I think it can be difficult for the fabricator to work with. I think it's quite popular and therefore often thought not to be so difficult. But I think there's more to it. I'll gather my thoughts on it some more at another time. If someone's in a hurry, let me know.

Thx!

It's serpentine...not quite marble and not quite anything else. I only know this because I fell madly in love with it last year and seriously considered redesigning my entire kitchen around it. In the end I regretfully decided that it would fight with the Lacanche too much for visual attention and decided to save it for a future bathroom reno (or maybe a fireplace when we get around to doing the den). But I still adore it and always love seeing it in other people's kitchens! And you're right, it is so hard to capture its beauty in photos.

I'm thrilled that you posted this follow up and this photo, because I've been in the midst of the "to box, or not to box" question in my own little world. I like how yours looks, and I think I'll be copying you.

The fridge looks great and anyway what people will notice are your beautiful cabinets and gorgeous granite! Drool worthy. Can't wait to see more.

Micki - in the "copying me" department, I think David's observations are good to note. Can I also call attention to the deep low counter on the right of the fridge? Don't know if you noticed it. I highly recommend this setup if at all possible for a couple reasons: (1) having a low landing spot for boxes of incoming groceries is *great*. (2) the depth of the deep counter matches the fridge so helps mitigate its bulk, plus it gives you extra space of course, above and below counter. I wanted that low counter as a bread-kneading surface. I took a fair amount of gaffe about it from many quarters, a little from here, even. But I'm liking it far more than I had anticipated, even., Oh yes, reason (3) (or is it #4, really) it's great for kids to be able to use for mixing, say, cookie dough ;) - they can see inside the bowl, which they couldn't do with the full counter-height. In fact, I moved my bowl to that low counter to mash some bananas as well for the same reason; full height people appreciate the low counter for mixing as well. Who knew?

If you bake, I highly recommend a low countertop somewhere. And having it next to the fridge really helps with grocery hauling too. Double duty.

Thanks, Chicago.

Anna - serpentine, eh? I am highly confused by these stone retailer designations. "Serpentine" is a fairly specific form of rock in the geology world, which this just might be at that. I have found a very loose correlation between geology terms and stone-retailers' and have really thrown up my hands in confusion at this point. So to some these terms have great, sage meanings ("that's not sandstone, its' marble!" ... only I would have gotten a big fat Zero for calling that a marble in geology class, that sort of thing [oh, look at this from wikipedia: "Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone." That's interesting to factor in... ); I just don't know, but I'm happy to take your word for it! Whatever it is, it's neat, a little soft and a bit absorbent too I think. Definitely, lots of variegation in mineral composition, which can be problematic for the stone cutter I think. I found another crack today, and I'm OK with it, I hope ... we'll see what happens in the long term!

We had the same sort of configuration for our refrigerator space. After the range died and we got a new SS one, we decided the old almond color SbyS fridge had to go and went looking for a SS french door one. The only one that had stainless sides was the Electrolux, which we really didn't like. We went with the LG and it has a grey textured side. At the time we had natural maple cabinets and builder plain white tile countertops. After we got it in, DH decided that he didn't really like the look of the "grey monolith" triggering the re-do hell we've been in since March. We didn't go with a counter-depth, so the fridge will only be semi-boxed in, with a panel the same depth as the counter top. Seeing your spectacular granite and lovely cabinets, I'm thinking that if we had just re-done the cabinets and countertops, nobody would have noticed the side of the fridge.

I think when it's all said and done, you notice all the little intricate details, but everyone else just sees and remembers an overall impression of your kitchen and whether or not they felt comfortable there.

Thanks for the measurements, Aliris! From that angle I would have thought it was a lot shallower - and thanks for the FAQ direction. I get the keys to my place tomorrow and the first thing I'm going to do is measure that Samsung!