My first preference is for a refrigerator on top with a freezer drawer underneath. My second choice would be for French door. And my dead lat choice would be for a side by side.

Side by side freezers tend to not have enough horizontal room for being useful for me. And side by side refrigerators are only marginally better. I think a nice wide space for putting everything away makes the most sense.

Chances are you have more in common with your daughter than your daughter in law :-)

My choices are same as Rita: Single door over bottom freezer; French door over bottom freezer, third might be top freezer and last would be side by side.

Unless it was a very wide side by side like a 48" wide Subzero, then I might like the freezer.

I dislike both -- I prefer a single door fridge with a bottom freezer. I also don't like having to open both doors in a French Door model (and, in real and regular use, it almost always requires both doors). Vertical freezers waste more energy and lose more cool than horizontal shaped freezers, so that's another strike (in addition to the narrowness) against a side-by-side, unless you've got some physical limitations that don't allow you to bend.

I had side by side, switched to French door in my remodel. I have 2 fridge compartments and also 2 freezer doors. Each freezer side has a shelf and 2 drawers. It’s wonderful, I can see everything. You do not ever have to open both doors, you can just open the one you need. I fit everything from my side by side freezer into one freezer compartment of my new fridge. And this one is conter depth, the other wasn’t.

Huh. And here I thought I was the last person left who prefers one fridge door to two. But I'd a million times prefer a french door to a side-by-side.

what @writersblock said....

Thank all of you for your advice. I don't think I have seen many with a single door over a freezer on bottom. You definitely lean away from side by side. I'd love a counter depth, but I hate giving up space and they are so expensive!

"I don't think I have seen many with a single door over a freezer on bottom."

They're certainly not as common as French door models, but I'm happy with my KitchenAid (my search was even harder, as I also didn't want one with a water/ice dispenser).

Here you go, 136 to choose from. Not necessarily recommending buying there(no personal experience with them), but it's a great site for research:

https://www.ajmadison.com/refrigerators/bottom-freezer-refrigeratorsh

Pre-remodel, our house had a 20 year-old side-by-side counter-depth Subzero. The freezer wasn't quite ideal for us, but the fridge worked quite well. I definitely like it much better than any of the full-depth refrigerators that I have ever had to use. It is better organized, more accessible, and actually feels as if it holds more under real-life conditions than full-size fridges.

If it wasn't for the awkwardness of the freezer, we would have considered getting a comparable model again.

Instead, we are getting a 36" counter-depth single-door all-fridge column. That'll be close to our ideal solution. And for the freezer we are getting Perlick under-counter drawers. That'll neatly fit our workflow.

In the meantime, we also got a commercial True refrigerator for the garage. I love it. It's one of the smaller units they make, but compared to other residential all-fridge columns, it's dirt cheap. It has a single door that swings wide open. And internal organization is simply a rectangular box with adjustable shelves. It's amazing how much better that works than residential fridges with all sorts of irregular nooks, crannies, and strange electronic features.

I am firmly in the camp of single door instead of French door. I don't like having bulky ice makers that take up space in the door. Counter-intuitively, I think that well-designed counter-depth appliances have more usable space than fullsize models that are nominally larger. And I feel that side-by-side columns can work quite well. But that requires careful design and is less likely to be found in low- to mid-range consumer models that all try to set themselves apart by the number of features that they sport.

I had side by side for years and didn't think I would like the french door because I didn't think I would like the freezer. Husband wanted french door so we got it, and I'll never have anything else. I love it. I've used the fridge on top freezer on bottom as well and don't like that as much.

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We have one issue with our Samsung Fresh Door fridge. The meat drawer on the bottom is fridge wide, you need to open both doors to access. Next fridge will have two drawers.

I love my Bosch french door fridge, with two freezer drawers below. I had a side by side for 25 years, and was fed up with not being able to fit anything wide into it (such as lasagna pan, pizza box, cookie sheets).

We have the fridge on top with 2 drawers below covered by one front. We love it, so much more room than a side by side, would never have that again. Ours is a Samsung.

First fridge I had was an Amana, bottom freezer— liked it well enough. Renovated kitchen and got 48” side by side Subzero— loved it. I had an extra full sized chest freezer so didn’t worry about things like pizzas not fitting in. Then I moved into a house w a 42” side by side kitchen aid — not nearly enough room in freezer— things kept falling out. Never wanted a French door—thought it was gimmicky— BUT Replaced that fridge with the 42” subzero French door. LOVE it even more than the 48” subzero SxS— have tons of room in the fridge—don’t have to open both doors—I put stuff kids would want on right side, and special stuff I like on left side, so they don’t even know it’s there! The freezer part is surprisingly roomy.

French door hands down. I never owned a side by side but my MIL and some friends did and I saw the restrictions it had. This is my 1st French door fridge and have had it since 2014 and love it. We have the indoor ice maker and water access. Best money we have spent for a fridge. Ours is the GE Cafe model.

We have French door in our vacation home n got a side by side for our house. It’s really just a matter of getting use to something. Both are fine....

teamaltese I notice your left frig door is next to the wall. Will it fully open?

Frigidaire Gallery, french doors, ice maker in freezer compartment. This thing is huge and has lots of LED lighting which was an added bonus. I planned my kitchen remodel such that I have an area (30 inches deep by 45 inches wide) to accommodate a large fridge. Side-by-sides are the worst design IMO.

I just spoke with a THIRD appliance repair person who will not service my Samsung french door fridge. I explained that we would be replacing it soon with a counter depth fridge and asked for his recommendation for a brand of fridge to consider. For the third time in a week, I was met with "Ugh, they are all pretty bad." What he suggested was to stay AWAY from LG and Samsung. He also suggested that if anyone wants a bottom mount freezer, they should get one with a single door above. He says the french door models with the water dispenser are the ones that cause the biggest problems and are the most difficult and expensive to repair.

The other point he mentioned (I don't know if it is true yet) is that most manufacturer's of french door fridges get their parts for those models from Samsung and LG. That is why he suggested staying away from them.

The search continues...

Single door, bottom freezer. Mine is a counter-depth Fisher Paykel.

@wentzylvania, when I had my GE side by side repaired (3 times in 6 years), I was told by at least 2 (if not 3) repairmen that refrigerators are not made to last more than 5 years, and count myself lucky. I have had great luck with Bosch appliances so far. My french door fridge does not have a water dispenser, however. I was willing to give that up because the dispensers take up a lot of space in the interior fridge.

I'm on year 4 on all my GE Cafe appliances, French door fridge, range, dishwasher, washer and dryer, so far all have not had any problems

After many houses in the last 10 years, French doors win!

I’ve had appliance people also tell me not to buy Samsung and LG appliances.

"I’ve had appliance people also tell me not to buy Samsung and LG appliances."

I hope that's not the case, because I just bought an LG range last year.

And 10 years ago I bought an LG washer and dryer, and so far, so good......someone in another thread asked how they move stacked units to service them, but so far I haven't needed any.

Cabanamama, yes, here’s the side view.

Oops, that should be Cahabamama.

As I have posted previously, Korea makes excellent small appliances, large ones not so much. Give them another 10-15 years...

Counter depth side by side here after a french door that was way larger. I do like it better than the french door because the bottom freezer drawer of the french door often got a little disorganized, was not as neat or as easy to clean as the side by side freezer. But disclaimer we now have a two drawer refrigerator for all beverages/liquids. We are a family of four and eat a lot at home! Both fridges packed all the time....

We have a Kitchenaid built-in with one door on top and freezer below. We are looking to replace right now but this one has been amazing for 17 years! We love the space to put large platters in the fridge. The door is heavy and hold so much including one gallon jugs of milk. After 17 years we will stick with the same fridge for our new one.

French Door for sure. I have had both multiple times and always go back to French Door. Recently purchased the KitchenAid 5 door and love it. Have only had it for a month though.

what are the 2 smaller middle drawers? freezer or fridge storage?

The two middle drawers are fridge. You can adjust the one on the left for meat, deli or drinks and the one on the right is for produce. They are my favorite features. There are still two produce drawers inside the French doors too.

I have 2 similar adjustable drawers in my fridge, but they are incorporated within the top half and not separate. Yours doesn't look like a counter depth fridge? I didn't go with counter depth fridge on that wall. The base cabinets on either side of the fridge I ordered as 27" depth so it didn't make the 30" depth fridge stand out as much. I was just lucky that my wall setup had that option

French door hands down! I had a side by side and the sections were too narrow. I couldn't fit a large tray in the fridge any kind of tray in the freezer. Holidays or parties where difficult because I couldn't prep food in advance on platters or trays and fit them in the fridge or freezer. When the fridge finally died I got a French door and I love it!

You don't necessarily have to pick French door, even if you want fridge and freezer on top of each other. You can still pick a single door, instead of two French doors.

My main misgiving about French doors are the two doors. I just don't find them all that useful. When I have stayed in places that have French door refrigerators, I find I always open both doors anyway.

I think people open both doors, not of necessity, but just habit? Many times, I just open the right door because I need milk or creamer. We are both right handed. I can't seem to logically open just the left door as easily being able to open just the right

"I think people open both doors, not of necessity, but just habit?"

I found I did it because I otherwise couldn't reach inside comfortably......I could open one door and get items stored in the door easily, but not so much if they were stored on the shelf. My shoulder got in the way when I held the door open with one hand and reached in with the other - I could do it, but it wasn't comfortable and felt cramped. Maybe it's just because I'm larger than average, or maybe a titch claustrophobic.

The french door is useful when you are opening the door into a walkway and want to limit the distance that is blocked by the doors.

that is probably the case with me. it's in a walk pattern for different areas of the kitchen

I sell appliances, Side x Side refrigerators do not cool as efficiently as french doors and also wont keep food as long as french doors. French doors are the best way to go. good luck

I wish I could keep food in the fridge long enough for it to go bad... Lol

We actually just bought a side-by-side fridge yesterday as our previous died in a blaze of glory over the weekend. It lasted us almost 9years with only one repair so I consider myself very lucky.

Our needs are not typical and I found the French door fridges didn't have the right shaped space for us. We use glass gallon jars for milk (too heavy for the door, and I read that many models don't keep the door cool enough for dairy in any case), preserve our own food in quart jars or bigger, and buy the biggest jars of everything known to humankind. So we need our storage to be vertical to accommodate all those tall containers.

I actually like the freezer in a side-by-side too. It probably helps that we have a couple of extra freezers too, but again I find the vertical storage better for us. I can freeze gallon bags of stuff flat in the chest freezer then stack it vertically in the side-by-side. I like being able to do a shelf of fruit, and one for veggies, and one for meat.

boschboy I would love to hear how your KitchenAid 5 door refrigerator is holding up or anyone else that has one also. This is the one I looked at and would like to buy but I'm seeing bad reviews by some and is making me have second thoughts. I have a side by side and think I would really like the French Doors. However, I wonder about the ice maker being in the refrigerator instead of the freezer area. Any problems with that or anything else in this refrigerator?

I think it should be mentioned, for those who like a bottom-door freezer/single-door fridge, like Toronto Veterinarian and Writersblock, that these days that configuration with a 36" width (the width space I have now) will cost $5000+. You can get a narrower fridge in that configuration for normal prices, or spend a lot for the 36" width. If you page up this thread to Writersblock's link to the ajmadison website, you will see that is the case. Just want to make sure that was said.

I am waiting for my side-by-side to die. I am too frugal to replace it when it is working, but I will never get a side-by-side again due to the narrowness of each side. French door has its issues, but I cannot afford the single-door 36" option at $5000+.

After about 9 months with the KA 5 door fridge there have been no issues. Still love it and do not regret my choice. I was able to show it off to my guests over Thanksgiving. Now it sits next to a French Door Oven which looks pretty cool too.

Thanks for your reply boschboy! I'm reading a lot of reviews where some are having trouble with the ice in the ice maker melting and leaking on the lower inside drawers withe the sliding tops and outside on the handles and in the floor. I have been wondering if having the ice maker in the refrigerator instead of the freezer is a good idea or not. Glad you are having good luck.