Is Fridge in Pantry ok?

13 years ago

Hello Houzz friends! I recently had the water heater explode in my rental property, and my tenants left the water throughout the weekend. Needless to say there has been a lot of damage, so I am taking the opportunity to remodel the property!

I am refinishing the kitchen, and am deciding whether or not the fridge must be "in" the kitchen, as I am building a 6 foot wide pantry right off of the kitchen. So, I have room to put the fridge there, and still have a big pantry (the fridge would be out, not within the pantry). Doing so would allow for more countertop space in a fairly small kitchen.

Would anyone be so kind as to please share whether they think this is a useful or terrible idea? If you can see the fridge, but it is not technically in the kitchen, will this scare potential tenants away or is it more functional and advantageous?

In the photo you can see where the fridge should go (on the right of the frame). The doorway to pantry area is just to the right of it and the fridge would go right there, so about two feet through the door.

I would really appreciate any and all comments and thank you in advance!

Featured Answer

PRO

Sarah Bernardy Design, LLC

13 years ago

Keep the fridge in the kitchen and dedicate a small counter area in the pantry for preparing dry foods or placing appliances like a toaster, microwave, etc. to keep the countertops in the main kitchen area as open as possible.

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Comments (11)

PRO
Creations Nadia Interior Design
13 years ago
the kitchen is not big: i would think that any tenant will be happy to have a larger counter top :)))
PRO
A Crew of Two
13 years ago
Hard to say without seeing where the pantry is. If it is more than 10 steps away I say no, don't do it.
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joyceg
13 years ago
I'd definitely keep the refrigerator in the kitchen for convenience sake. It should be less costly for you to renovate this way too, because #1, you won't need extra material for a longer countertop, and #2, you won't need to install a new 220 plug for the fridge if you keep it in the original spot. .
PRO
Dytecture
13 years ago
Agreed, the extra steps to the pantry to access the fridge would get tiring.
axellentaesthetics
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you all so much for your comments. Truly appreciated.
Lynn Westhoff
13 years ago
I like the idea. I think the idea of more counterspace makes sense. Refrigerators take up too much space in a small kitchen and people can condition themselves to go to another area to look in the refrigerator. When cooking, I like to gather the items I'm going to need from the cupboards and fridge and place them on the counter anyway.
panjatty
13 years ago
OK... allow me to throw a wrench into your plans. Why not blow out the kitchen into the pantry area? That way you get a larger kitchen, more counter space, and the fridge can stay in the kitchen where it belongs! You might even end up with enough room in the center of the kitchen for a small work island with a stool or two on one side. You would have to redo the countertop, but you could probably reuse all of the existing cabinets without too much effort (pretend there's a hinge on the angled corner and just flatten that side out). It looks like you have about six feet of cabinets on the fridge wall which would fit the six feet you're adding in the pantry. If there's no dishwasher to the left currently, you would then have room for one to the right of the sink. Any renter would be thrilled to have it and you could probably even get more rent that way.
April
4 years ago
I did it! I recently updated my kitchen and moved the fridge to our walk in pantry.

I incorporated 2 drawer fridges in our island. I absolutely love it. I was expecting backlash from my family of 4 (including teenagers) 3 months in and all is great and everyone appreciates the extra space dedicated to a huge island.
suedonim75
4 years ago
The thread is 8 years old!
Lindsay Jenda Dodyk
4 years ago
@April i know this thread is old but your comment is new so i wanted to reply to say we are thinking of doing the same

thing you described! we will have a long kitchen, so even if the fridge was ”in the kitchen” there isn’t a way to make it convenient for both the person cooking and the people standing around. Our fridge will likely be about 6-8 steps from island/sink with countertop in pantry and thr fridge drawers will be on the other side of long island for snacks and drinks. i was so happy to see your comment because I’m nervous but excited about our set up!