I do not have one designed into the kitchen, but a friend of mine who recently finished her kitchen did put one in and she loves it. She has three kids and her kitchen is long and narrow. One side of the kitchen opens into the family room and that is where she put a built-in "hutch" which holds the beverage center, and it is easily accessible by whoever is in the family room and wants a drink versus them going all the way to the other end of the kitchen to the main refrigerator - also keeps kids out of the way during cooking.

I think it is a nice idea to just have drinks - as I think drinks take up a lot of room. But, we have a large fridge in the garage (that is off the mudroom which is off the kitchen - so very close) - this holds only drinks, so we didn't have the need for the beverage center.

We included a beverage refrigerator when we remodelled last year. I would say it's the most used appliance in my kitchen. With 23 people coming for Thanksgiving, I'm glad I'll have the other fridge to myself.

I have on one the end of the island closest to the kitchen table, and it is always packed. Not necessarily with beverages. A few months after moving in, I realized that my teens were going through a ridiculous amount of soda and bottled water thanks to the convenience of chilled drinks, so we cut down on that. Now I use it mostly for yogurt, leftovers, condiments, and coffee creamer. My primary refrigerator is a counter-depth side by side (so, not very big!) and the extra space comes in handy.

If you plan on using it for food storage, check the temp settings. Some "beverage centers" don't get cold enough for safe food storage.

I wanted refrigerator drawers for beer, but did not have the space. I have an empty corner in the FR where we were planning on built-ins - and that WILL have the drawers.

I was tired of my DH's wine being in the refrigerator and on the counter. I also wanted to get the coffee maker off of the counter. In addition, I went for a counter depth refrigerator and knew I wouldn't be able to fit everything in that one fridge . . . so I designed a beverage center outside of the main kitchen.

One side has the under counter refrigerator for milk, juice, beer, wine and overflow veggies. The appliance garage on that side hides bottles of vino and a couple of other alcoholic beverages as well as shot glasses, cork screws, blender, etc. Above are the glasses and ice bucket.

The appliance garage on the other side hides coffee pots, espresso maker, milk frother, coffee grinder, coffee, etc. Above are mugs, espresso cups, milk pitchers, sugar bowls, juice pitchers, hand juicers, etc.

This beverage center is closer to the raised bar and dining table than the main refrigerator is. It works great on many counts. Easy access without getting in the cooks way; beverages not clogging up main refrigerator, coffee "stuff" off of the counter, wine bottles off of the counter, etc.

I know it may seem like a silly arrangement in some ways because smack in the middle of it all is the "garden sink" with a never ending supply of hen house eggs drying, egg cartons sharing space with wine bottles in the wine rack, vegetable baskets underneath with our compost pails, etc. But it works : ) Now if I could just get my DH to bring the empties back to the store each week instead of letting them accumulate, lol.

We have one on the side of the island, at the end closest to the eating area and great room. The idea was to keep people out of the fridge (and out of my hair) when I am cooking. I stopped drinking soda and DH has cut back as well (on soda and beer), so we don't use it as much as we used to.

I have a very similar question to the OP. I'm about to renovate my kitchen and I put a Beverage Center fridge into the plans. My DW asked today if we really wanted/needed it. We clearly don't need it, but something about the idea is very appealing to me.

We have two kids, 9yo and 5yo. Our kitchen isn't huge, but not tiny either. However, the layout means the only options for the location of a beverage center is pretty close to the actual refrigerator.

I'd love to others' experiences with their undercounter beverage fridge. I need swaying one way or the other!

Thanks.

just make sure it will get cold enough for what you plan to store there. Most under cabinet units sold as "beverage centers" are made for wine and will not get cold enough for other items - not cold enough even for beer & soda, and especially not for milk, etc.

Thanks numberjunkie. This is the one we are considering:

http://www.electroluxappliances.com/kitchen-appliances/refrigeration/beveragecenter/ei24bc65gs

The video shows them lowering the temp to 38 degrees F, so I assume that would work.

I guess I'm trying to figure out if anyone got a beverage center and then doesn't really use it and would rather have had the cabinet space or if everyone who has one thinks it is valuable in their kitchen (I don't think I was very clear in my last post).

i'm working on one too for my remodel.
since i want to preserve sight lines as much as i can, the side facing into the kitchen will have a sink and fridge base with glass uppers and the coffee makers on the counter.
other side facing into the dining room will be bar with alcohol storage beneath and glass collection above.
we use the coffee equipment much more often, so the fridge and sink is on that side.
i think it will be very popular in this house, a self sufficient place to get hot or cold bevs without getting in the cook's way ever.

We have a Marvel and it is cold enough. I don't have it on the coldest setting and it is 40 degrees. I found the coldest setting to be too cold, with things freezing on occasion.

Just wondering what brands and models you all have in the undercounter beverage / wine units? What features of your particular model do you like/not like?
We need to decide on a unit asap to order cabinets. Thanks!