We were in this exact situation and, after much research on the 42", decided to downsize to 36". It opens up your brand options, and it also enables you to save a few K if you don't go with SubZero (we settled on Thermador 36"). We're keeping a second fridge in the basement for potential overflow stuff.

Are viking/Subzero the only 2 that have 42" counter depth fridges? We will face the same choice in a few months.

Monogram is another with 42" option; LG - I believe they have sxs, not FD. I think perhaps also KitchenAid/Jenn Air does a 42". I didn't like the layout of any of these and just wasn't willing to spend crazy $ for a fridge so we went down in size and picked the Thermador.

I see your points. My concern is that we typically fill our existing freestanding 36" FD fridge, and moving to a 36" built in, and losing the depth, will mean we have too little space.

We just ordered the 42" Sub Zero. We're downsizing so after 30 years I will be leaving my 36" Sub Zero all refrigerator and 36" all freezer behind when we move. We looked at 36" refrigerators but the freezers were too small and I didn't want another refrigerator in the garage or freezer drawers in the island.

Our experience with Sub Zero has been excellent - our freezer is 30 years old and the refrigerator lasted 25 - and it might have lasted longer but we decided not to put money into a repair and replaced it with another 36" all refrigerator.

Please search this thread up and post after you get your 42" installed: would love to see how you feel about dropping down to the single 42", especially after having had all that freezer space!

clinresga - We won't even move in until July and I'm already trying to figure out how I'll manage without my freezer. My kitchen has spoiled me - DH and I designed it 30 years ago and except for the tile floor (I hate cleaning grout) I wouldn't change a thing. Our 3 kids have been on their own for several years but we still love to make extra food and freeze portions for the kids. They are all pretty good cooks but don't always have the time to make real food - so we usually have containers of pot roast, mac and cheese, mini meat loaves, spaghetti with meatballs and sausage, various soups and casseroles and sometimes home made breads in the freezer for them to take home.

It will definitely be an adjustment - giving up the big house and yard isn't a problem but leaving my kitchen will be tough. We're moving into an over 55 community about 8 miles from our home. We're gutting the kitchen and opening it up to the family room but even then it will only be half the size of my current one.

I'll let you know how we make out!

Maire

Sigh: sadly we're in the same generation and we're also starting the "where do we live next" discussion. But we still have one post-college rebound kid back home for the foreseeable future. And there are days when I think of our 5000 sf house "yeah, but if I just had one more room..."

And we currently have the 48" built-in, a second fridge-freezer, and a freezer. Oh yeah, and a beverage center. We have some purging to do. Good luck and tell us how the new setup works out!

Personally I find the 24" column fridges have plenty of usable space -- much more usable than the side by side fridge/freezers that many of us had in the 1990s but of course a 30" fridge would have more so it depends how you will use it. Jenn-Air fridges are usually also sold as a Kitchen-Aid model with different interior trim.

Clinresga...we are of the same generation, but still have two teen boys at home. We are building a retirement home on a lake that we anticipate will bring all of the kids and grandkids home frequently, so the house is a little bigger than I might have liked as well.

i am also trying to choose appliances. I have looked at the 42" SZ, a beverage center, and a small deep freeze in the garage. There will be a frig of some brand in the basement bar but I don't plan to run up and down the stairs.

someone mentioned the Thermador columns. This caught my ear since I was considering the Thermador Grand Pro that Johnsoro raves about. I know nothing about Thermador.

the house we sold had a 12 yr old 48" sxs SZ that was flawless.

@ILoveRed; I can speak to the Therm columns as that's what we've had for the last 8 years in our main home. There we had room for a 48' installation and used the Therm 18" freezer and 30" fridge. We have loved them overall. Not perfect--had to replace icemaker last year, the raise/lower function on the top fridge shelf stopped working (I think gears stripped out) within a year but we never used it anyway. But they are remarkably quiet, and with the separate condensers provide accurate temp control. The question that started this thread was my concern that moving down to the 24" fridge column might leave us with inadequate space. If I could get comfortable with that, I'd do the Therms again and pocket a couple thousand dollars vs the SZ.