Yes, it definitely depends on your lifestyle (do you cook, number of people, ages, entertaining, etc.) Do you have another refrigerator available to you for the extra stuff that won't fit? I love my large refrig for my large family. We believe in cooking and eating our leftovers. My refrig is always packed. I looked at counter depth and just knew that they weren't big enough for me. You need to think about is it more important that you can store all of your food and condiments were you are not frustrated or have more space to walk around your kitchen. Good luck!

It depends on your needs. A counter depth fridge doesn't work for us and we're just 2 adults. We don't eat boxed/canned/frozen prepared foods so we need tons of fridge space for produce, almond milk, etc. We buy big tubs of organic greens at Costco and other giant sized things so a shallower fridge doesn't work for us. It also depends on the specific fridge because some are laid out better than others so really think of the items you need to store and whether or not they'll all fit in each fridge. They're all a little different!

you can try it out by putting a row of empty half gallon milk and juice containers along the back of all the shelves, *and* block off the front of the drawers. see how it goes.

any way to keep this fridge in the basement/garage or is it dying?

Can you knock out the wall behind the current refrigerator and recess the refrig? Say if there were a closet on the other side of the wall?

We are a family of five and building a new house. We are going with counter depth. I looked at one today that I really liked and I could see it working great for us. I'd rather shop for fresh produce twice a week than fill with stuff that goes bad fast. Our current fridge is deep and I can't see anything in it. I never thought I would want counter depth but I really like the thought now

We put in a counter depth refrigerator when remodeling our kitchen. It looks great (paneled), however, it holds much less. I had to buy another for the garage (& there's only two of us & we eat out 3 or 4 times a week).... as I said, looks great, just be aware of the fact that it holds a lot less. Btw, it isn't the fresh produce that is the problem.... it's all the other things.

I like my counter depth fridge, it really did solve a traffic flow problem in our kitchen (well, the original kitchen we bought it for, when we sold that house the buyers didn't want our fridge so we took it with us) but ours is taller than most fridges and when we moved it into our current kitchen we had to move the cabinet above it because it wouldn't fit. We are a large family and I buy in bulk, but I had an extra fridge in the garage even when we didn't have the counter depth one.

My counter depth fridge was required for my remodel and I had to change how I buy food. I can't store as much in the freezer, which was annoying at first but now I actually use the food I have and avoid tossing freezer burned food. Fitting produce is also a little tricky, and I don't shop at Costco.

Love love love mine. Always have had one, always will. Anything else looks like a huge box in the room to me..

The problem is the island overhang, it doesn't allow for seating so what was the purpose of it?

Yes for counter depth! It will make the kitchen look custom, modern, luxe.

A few more comments . My previous fridge was a 26 cf Samsung and I loved it. When my builder convinced me to go with a counter depth, I spent a number of hours looking at what was available.

My KitchenAid has as much usable space as the Samsung due to its great features. We rarely eat out and I cook from scratch, including making lunches. Fortunately, I live in a neighborhood with too many grocery stores and two farmers markets so I shop for produce as needed.

Shop wisely and you too will love the way the kitchen looks with a counter depth.

Anne we are considering Kitchenaid. Glad to hear you like it.

We have counterdepth refrigerators in our primary home and our vacation house and are very happy with both. The kitchens look much more custom without the bulky silver box. Our previous standard depth refrigerator seemed to house a lot of forgotten items in its posterior recesses. May not work for a large family however.

we have counter depth at our vacation home, regular at our residence. just the two of us, but i prefer to shop once a week so counter depth isnt big enough for our residence. no waste, and i know whats in there. i find i waste more when i shop more often, weird i know.

Our counter depth fridge is a kitchen aid too

Yes to the counter depth for aesthetics and flow! It will work great in your space and you'll be amazed at the difference. We switched out our regular size for a counter depth several years and it really opened things up. BUT, it does hold less and you'll need to plan accordingly. We're a 2 person household and we have a 2nd fridge in the basement for overflow which we only need when having company for an extended period.

The best of both worlds would be to recess a regular fridge to make it look counter depth.
If possible of course.
One thing to consider, if you go counter depth with 3 doors, will you be able to fully open the door on the wall side?
Or will it only open at a 90 degree angle hitting the wall? If that is the case you won't be able to fully open your produce drawer.

Karen, fyi... last week my KitchenAid refrigerator compressor went out. It was 5.5 years old. At least $700 to repair. Very disappointed.

Meant to address Alison, not Karen.

Allison, one of the fave features of my KA Architect series is the very roomy deli drawer. That thing is phenomenal. Even its sister fridges, whirlpool, Jen air, etc... didn't compare. I was advised by repair techs to get the extended warranty on refrigerators. Mine is 3 + and haven't used the warranty.

We recessed our regular fridge when we did our remodel so have the best of both worlds....!

If u can live with the space inside a counter debth - the aesthetic is so totally worth it

@LisaG I'm a household of 1 adult and 2 cats and this fridge is packed. I also eat mostly fresh foods and only shop once a week, also stock homemade kombucha and kefir so every inch of current fridge is occupied. There's nothing lurking, it's all stuff I use so my fear is losing that space.

@nnigrt My Dad suggested that, I have an extra garage I don't use where the chest freezer is located so could put this fridge in the garage. It's dying, but it's the freezer drain, keeps clogging and I'm tired of watching for ice that leaks on the hardwood. I can turn up the temp and make it a full fridge.

@threers The dining room is directly behind, it's already sort of small so recess wouldn't work well

@jck910

I imagine for more prep space. I installed granite with old counter template so just kept the overhang.

We have always had a garage fridge and love it. It allows us to work quite happily with a counter depth.

We have purchased a counter depth refrigerator. In doing so we decided to go with a model without water and ice in the door in order to get the additional storage space in the fridge. That makes a big difference in space availability IMHO. Much prefer the counter depth look and we also have relatively tight space with an island.

Wish we would have done what Whitney Baird recommended - no water and ice in the door. That contraption takes up a lot of space. Plus, I swear my hubby can't get ice out without having at least one stray cube melting on the hardwood floor.

So I took a look today and counter depth feel quite small but likely my bias since I'm used to standard sized. It doesn't seem even a large sheet pan would fit.

We have counter depth side by side Frigidaire Gallery. It was what we could afford at the time we bought our home. The regular depth was left when we moved in and looked like it was sitting in the middle of the kitchen and blocked the tiny walkway into it. For us counter depth it is on the small side and you really have to maneuver when putting away groceries; it's a pain. It could be because it is a side by side though. Our next fridge will be counter depth because of small floor space, but will have french doors and bottom freezer drawer. I am also putting in a beverage fridge to hold our drinks and wine which should help give us more food space in the fridge.

If you're storing kefir and kombucha there is no way a counter depth will work for you. I mean, maaaaybe, but doubtful! We also brew our own kombucha and with a standard depth fridge it's sometimes a struggle! Ours is jam packed most of the time! We own a Samsung RF28HMEDBSR for reference. We do LOVE that bonus fridge drawer by the way (much better than the long narrow deli drawer that some fridges have inside the main portion).

Make sure RS (FACING) door will open if set in using a counter depth fridge.

Anybody building a kitchen should simply have Cab Co build a fridge surround and bump out the above cabs. This allows use of regular fridge and look built in.

Counter depth fridges are a huge rip off as they actually charge you a lot more for a smaller fridge. They are about $1000.00 more then a comparable larger size fridge.

Cabinet depth isn't built in so know the door side will show.

The side of my door doesn't show....how about a fully integrated one. Then the it's literally flush with cabinets

nnigrt - I like your suggestion of blocking off the back of your refrigerator in order to live like that for awhile as a test.

fldhkybnva - If you are afraid of your large sheet pan won't fit, take it to the store and test it out. I tested out my new dishwasher with a sample of all of my different sized plates, bowls, and glasses.

We had a side by side Sub Zero in our last house! The motor was on the top and it was really wide to counter act the counter depth.....you can shop by size and get any configuration you want in any size you want........and more and more brands are going with them.....Samsung just came out with a four door counter depth.

And Thermador makes a fridge only and a freezer only that can go side by side....had neighbors who did this and the units were both four feet wide....any size any price.

I looked at all sorts. I love my LG three door. The ice thing inside has a cover on it on the inside so that space isn't totally useless. The deli drawer is on the inside (we liked the four door, but felt that we lost too much space with it.

Counter depth simply wasn't big enough for us.

I believe people have recessed their refrigerators into the space between studs so that no walls are affected?? Looks like you could relocate your outlet to the side wall...

I have a counter depth four door LG, and I am very happy with it. We are a family of 4, but love to buy and cook fresh, so we buy groceries every 2-3 days. Our fridge is only full when we have parties.

I love my counter depth. It's a little smaller, but it's just my husband and I now, and I shop a couple times a week for fresh produce, so it works fine. It looks so much better than having that big refrigerator sticking out past the cabinets.

We got a counter depth fridge when we remodeled 2 years ago and I love it. The kitchen feels so much more open and it's easier to see what's inside the fridge and keep it organized. We did keep our old fridge in the garage for beer and other drinks which works out out perfectly.

@LisaG I didn't think so and while I'll have a spare, I don't want to rely on it to function as usual. Go figure, the model I like is larger....LG door in door with accessory drawer

@wannabath That's what I've learned. Counter depth isn't actually counter depth, they sell them but the hinges are different. The ones in store aren't truly since as you point out they have to sit out for the door to open.

@pennydesign

What size LG 3 door? I looked at a bunch yesterday and really like the 3 door LG model with door in door.

We went with http://www.lg.com/us/refrigerators/lg-LFX28968ST-french-3-door-refrigerator

The specifications for any refrigerator will list BOTH the cubic feet in "size", and the "usable cubic feet". Go with the "usable" number to compare.

I have had a 29.5 cu ft standard fridge, a 42" built-in GE Monogram and a 25 cu ft counter depth. The counter depth interior was much better designed by far!

Just an update for anyone who happens upon this thread. I went with the larger than current fridge, 29 cu ft LG. The counter depth were too small for me. This fridge is perfect and while it's technically 2 inches deeper it fits similarly in the space and gives me all of the room I need. It's nice to have the extra fridge in the garage but definitely didn't want to depend on it.

Thank you very much for the update. It is nice to see what people decide to do in the long run. I am glad that you are happy with your decision!

If I swap out my regular depth 33" fridge for a counter depth 36" would the extra width make up for the loss in depth?