I have a CD Fisher and Paykel and love it. I really dislike how chunky many refrigerators are and I don’t want that to be a focal point. It’s smaller, so my ideal would be to have an extra refrigerator and freezer drawer, but my kitchen is not large enough.

I made the switch to counter-depth refrigerators over 25 years ago, first with a free-standing model (GE Profile side-by-side with ice and water in the door) and then to a built-in (Sub-Zero 48” side-by-side with ice maker only—no exterior ice or water dispenser). I wouldn’t voluntarily go back to a full-depth refrigerator—unless it was the circa 1973 Avocado Green Gibson side-by-side with wood-look handles that I grew up with. Now that I would work around...honestly!

My MIL has the sale fridge as we do, but in CD size. Hers is great for 1 person, max 2. But for the 6 of us, it would be much too tight. I still need a 2nd fridge in the garage even with a standard size one in the kitchen. I cook a lot and keep lots of fresh produce in the fridge, for those reasons I didn't even consider CD for our new kitchen.

I have a KA counter depth French door refrigerator and I like it very much.

KRFC302EPA

KRFC302ESS

Mine is the one that accepts panels but it also comes in stainless and black.

I spent a LOT of time selecting refrigerators and it was actually the appliance that I was most indecisive about but I am glad I selected this particular model and I am glad I selected counter depth.

This model has no water dispenser or in door feature. It does have an ice maker in the freezer.

It is also 72" inches versus the more standard 69" height so it gives a wee bit more storage but it also enables me to have more of a built in look. As you know, counter depth refrigerators are NOT integrated refrigerators but I had my cabinet maker make a wood panel to clad the sides so it looks much more integrated than if the sides protruded.

I have NONE of the problems with temperature regulation that posters are complaining about and I have no idea why that would be specific to a counter depth refrigerator.

I really appreciate not having stuff hiding in the back - everything is extremely accessible and because of the layout, I can fit quite a lot in the refrigerator. I will say that the freezer doesn't hold as much as my super old fashioned prior refrigerator which had the freezer on top. That is not because it is counter depth but because like any bottom freezer, it has baskets that pull out and so I can't cram the stuff in the way I used to stuff my old freezer :-). On the other hand, I used to throw out a lot of desiccated frozen stuff that had been stuffed in the back of my old freezer for centuries - like discovering a frozen Mastodon :-).

Love my GE Profile (PYE22KSKSS, counter-depth French Door) purchased just over a year ago from costco.com. Really a well-thought out layout. The "Twin Chill Evaporators" (dual evaporators) is not just marketing but really keeps humidity & temp optimal in freezer & fridge.

We have a counter depth french door LG. Like it except for having the ice in the door. The ice maker always ends up clogged. Next fridge will be counter depth french door with ice maker in freezer.

I know this doesn't answer your question. And you don't say if you are renovating or building new, or just replacing your fridge. We got around the need to have a counter depth fridge by setting it into the wall. You gain about 3 inches of depth. If you are building new or renovating, you can likely do that fairly easily. We were renovating. DH framed out an opening in our 2 x 4 wall with a header, The other side of the wall is the living room which has drywall on it and then we slid the fridge back into the opening. The other alternative would be to have a deeper counter and have your cabinets pulled forward on that wall. Makes for a nice baking centre or just deeper counter top , if you have the space to do that.

I liked ours when we renovated our last kitchen (frigidaire professional counter depth french door), but we opted for regular depth this time built into the wall or counters built out (we purchased a new-to-us home and are renovating again) so it'll look counter depth. We are a family of 4 (elementary aged kids) and could mostly fit what we needed... but the freezer felt tight and we always had mini bottles of water for kids lunches, juice boxes and cans of flavored water out on the counter until we could fit them all in as we drank what was in there.

We have a Sub Zero 48" side by side built-in, with ice maker in the freezer only, and I'd never, ever, ever (ha ha!) go back to standard depth. Though our kitchen is new, the fridge was the first appliance put into use, and not losing things in the back (to find they've gone bad), or having to move things or pull things out to reach other items is fantastic. I don't buy the same item several times thinking I've run out, when it's hiding in some remote corner. But then, we keep our fridge pretty full. I don't feel like the far recesses are dark 'mysterious' areas either.

I wondered if I'd miss the ice maker in the door. Nope. I don't miss the ice splinters or cubes I have to wipe up. No more cracked glass when someone gets a little forceful with the dispenser. The space our in-freezer ice maker takes up is small compared to the door dispenser. Not that you asked... : )

I do love that it doesn't stand out into the aisle, but for me that's just aesthetics, which isn't the most important thing. DH was all about that, though : )

Having said all that, if I had to put in a counter depth in the same space as our standard, I'd not have gone the route of counter depth as it would not have been large enough for me. So I think it really depends on the size of counter depth (are you up-sizing, staying the same cubic feet, or downsizing to fit the space?), and how full you fill your fridge (I realize not everyone needs massive refrigerator space like us, and we are just 2 people but I cook a lot).

I LOVE my counter-depth KA refrigerator!!! It holds a lot! And I prefer to have a 2nd refrigerator in the basement for extras. I don't want all that stuff cluttering up my kitchen refrigerator or freezer.

I have had my KA side-by-side now for about 7-8 years and it's great. They no longer make my model - I have no dispensers in the door and now they have them. Bummer! I suppose if I needed room for frozen pizza in the freezer, it would be tight, but that's something I never buy. I also don't have 5 gallons of milk in my refrigerator, nor do I keep tons of water in it.

One thing I like very much about my KA is that they use the same hinges on the counter-depth as they do for their built-in models so they can be nearly flush with the side panels.

Here's mine.

We’ve had a Fridgidaire Professional counter depth French door for five years and have loved it. We’re a family of four with two teenagers who eat like it is their full-time job, and it’s been fine for us. We don’t have a secondary fridge or freezer, but haven’t felt the need to get one.

I do think that it depends on how you shop/cook. We don’t typically have a bunch of frozen stuff and so a smaller freezer works well for us; it would be a total pain for my mom, who freezes things constantly. We also don’t have a door ice/water maker, which probably frees up quite a bit of space.

We’re moving in a couple of weeks and the fridge is the only appliance that we’re taking with us (RIP Hoshizaki ice maker).

We have a 36" counter depth SubZero all fridge. It never gets more than about half full. It's so spacious and because of the shallower depth, I am much better about making sure I through out left overs before they sit there for a month. Would not want to go back.

We have freezer drawers to the side of the kitchen, and we are very happy to have them in a separate space. That makes much more sense for our workflow.

We also have another fridge in the garage, which is mostly used to offload things from the trunk directly into a fridge (e.g. large quantities of beverages). And there is a small fridge in the in-law unit. It mostly gets used for its ice maker, which we don't otherwise have in any of the other units.

We have a 36” Viking FD counter depth. It’s fine. I like the look of it, and it keeps things cold. That’s about it. The freezer drawer is an abyss (I keep it organized but god help me if a kid or my husband rummages through it). The ice machine broke but that is the only problem it has had in nearly 10 years. I can’t say the same for the other Viking appliances we have.

In our new place we are working on, we will have a 42” fully integrated thermador. It’s a side by side (thermador doesn’t make a FD in that width). I’m looking forward to the new layout especially for the freezer so everything will be more visible. I also like that the kids will have easier access to fresh food. I’ve also played around with the SZ 42” FD which is really nice also.

We are going to put a more standard/boring fridge in the basement to accommodate our wider food items and overflow.

"The freezer drawer is an abyss" While I love the look of FD fridges, I just can't handle the chest style freezers they have, digging through icy items, pulling things out to find that one item that is inevitably at the bottom, LOL! But then I do freeze a lot. Much prefer the shelves for organization in a side by side.

We have a GE Profile FD model without the water in the door. It does have an internal dispenser for water and the ice in the freezer. I like it much better than the SxS GE we had but the freezer drawer is a not ideal. We do have a 2nd fridge in the garage and could not live without it since we have teenagers. When we remodeled our kitchen last year, I looked at the KA and Bosch models too. The KA did not have a lip at the back of the shelves so any drip would potentially not stay contained to the shelf. I wanted to like the Bosch, but the interior seemed cheap to me. We have not had issues with food freezing in the fridge that someone else mentioned, but we have not packed the fridge either.

@2manydiversions we freeze a lot too why is why the abyss is soooooo frustrating. I have yet to come up with an effective solution (and I hope people don’t suggest to “eat fresh not frozen”). we do a lot of sous vide cooking; you can cook from frozen and do all of the meat prep beforehand.

I’m looking forward to a more organized fridge freezer with my side by side.

I have a bit of a love/ hate thing going on with my Samsung CD French door with drawer.
Love the drawer for beverages and deli items. love the door storage in the fridge, and the basket and drawer freezer.
The icemaker has been replaced twice in four years, and probably will need to be replaced again, soon. Constantly freezes over. Drips water. Very frustrating.
We also have a fridge in the garage, and a beverage fridge on the porch, so plenty of extra space for storage. Otherwise, I would have to shop more often, as we buy mostly "whole," foods, a ton of fruit and vegetables, not processed items, and they're bulky. The good news with counter depth is I can really see/ find everything, so less waste.

From reading both Houzz and other internet forums, it doesn't sound as if Samsung can build ice makers. Period. So, don't buy that brand, if you need to have ice. There are countless reports of ice makers being the first thing to fail.

I love mine. At 22cf it has all the usable space of my previous 26cf. Both French doors. Look carefully and compare the usability of the drawers and shelves. It’s a KA, but is 5 years old so I have no idea how new ones look or function. I will definitely buy another counter depth when this one gives out.

NYCish, Oh, you are speaking my language! Sous vide! In the midst of our remodel I joined the cooking forum here (wonderful group there!) and was convinced to go ahead and get a sous vide. It's one of my most favorite cooking 'appliances'. First week I cooked 4 different proteins (beef, pork, fish, chicken, shellfish) and all so perfect. Then I started batch sous vide-ing. Easy-peasy, just pop back into the sous vide to thaw pre-cooked at 1 degree under, warm, and sear to finish. So yeah, need freezer space, need organized freezer space, need it to be easy to reach what I want, easy to see!

DH and I were between the Thermadore and the SZ - 48". Both side by side. The Thermadore was nice. I think it was just a bit smaller in cubic feet than the SZ. Our SZ is not integrated, it's built-in, but flush installed - a bit more space between the cabinet doors and side panels than integrated, but not a big issue for us. Our cabinets are full overlay, so the flush install was only so the sides of the doors didn't show. You'll love your new side by side freezer space, I'm sure of it!

Flush-install IMHO looks even nicer than integrated. We deliberately chose that option in our kitchen. Instead of having a confusingly oversized kitchen cabinet, we have a part of the kitchen that very clearly and obviously is the fridge. But it's also sufficiently discreet, that it doesn't really stand out. You just know it's not a storage cabinet. I really like that look.

We opted for a 30" all-fridge and two sets of 24" undercounter freezer drawers in the island. Worked out a little better for our floorplan.

And yes, shout out for sous vide. It's awesome. I alternate between using my immersion heater and my combination steam oven, as both of them do a great job at sous vide cooking. Use it all the time!

"But it's also sufficiently discreet, that it doesn't really stand out. You just know it's not a storage cabinet. I really like that look." Exactly what we were going for. Thought maybe we were being fussy or just plain odd, so thank you for posting that.

Can you post a photo of your flush-install fridge please?

^ - I'd be happy to, but our kitchen still isn't finished (doing a whole house remodel, 3/4 this phase), and I'm kinda waiting for it to be complete before I post any pics. I found this pic online...

shows flush install, without the full pantry/storage cabinet look. I will say the spaces between our cabinetry doors and the panels aren't as wide as in this pic:

Subzero Refrigerator Panels - Flush Inset · More Info

This is similar though to what ours looks like. I think this is a 42" or 48", and we did the double panels on the fridge side. Our crown molding is more subtle (our home isn't large, and I personally don't like big or complex crown molding in average sized homes, but that's just me).

At the risk of sounding dramatic, our counter depth fridge is a life changer for me. Why? Because I can see everything. Nothing gets wasted because it was hidden in the back and I can quickly scan contents before heading to the grocery store.

It's a fridge. No arguing that away. It's not an oversized cabinet. But on the other hand, it also isn't some bulky appliance that is randomly plunked down into the only available spot. It looks as if it belongs.

I like this compromise. It fits with the overall look of the kitchen, but it also clearly says that this is a functional space first, and a designed room second.

Not a fan of "standard" counter depth fridges (i.e., 36" wide). The size compromises are too great. I've had 48" built ins and liked those, as well as standard depth side-by-sides. All good.. In my current house I have a Jenn-Air french door counter depth which I dislike on all counts - don't like french door, too shallow. And to top it off the builder installed it non-counter depth, no idea why. But not worth changing out to me.

We put in a Jenn-Air 42” side by side counter depth last year in our remodel, very happy with it. Nothing gets lost and it looks great and not like a big bulky fridge sticking out. Don’t think I could ever go back now...

I have a Marvel counter depth fridge. I like it better than other counter depth fridges because all the mechanicals are at the top of the column, not the back, so the interior depth is much greater.

I have a 36” SZ counter depth single door, bottom freezer drawer at our second home. It’s too small when we have guests so we have to have a second fridge. I had a 42” built in SXS at another house. That was big enough. If I had to have a CD I wouldn’t want one smaller than that or I’d plan for a second fridge for adequate capacity.

Its too bad so many builders don’t provide a full depth refrigerator cabinet surround - so simple. Fortunately I have one in my current home and I love my big FD fridge other than the freezer drawer. I really liked the freezer in the SxS fridges I‘ve had - hate digging around in the drawer.

M, is that your kitchen above? It’s exquisite!!

Yes, that's us. We are extremely happy with how our remodel eventually turned out.

What you are seeing is one half of a galley kitchen. Galley kitchens are often frowned upon on Houzz, as they are difficult to get right. But if you do them correctly, they can be amazing. I only need to walk three steps in either directions to access all the important appliances, tools, or ingredients. But it never feels crammed, either, as we have an extra-wide aisle.

I did discover though, that there is a very real problem with a galley kitchen. I have yet to figure out how to take a picture that really shows off how it looks. I can't even show the basic design, which is a row of cabinets on each side, and a kitchen island at a 90° angle, just outside of the galley, where the dining area starts. Incidentally, our freezer drawers are in that island.

There are a ton of hidden details in this kitchen, and again, I can't really show those on pictures. But I find the time we took to work out all the specifics really paid off. I have cooked in a lot of different kitchens over many years, and this is by far the most functional configuration I have ever worked in. It's so fun. All the years of reading comments on Houzz/Gardenweb really paid off. And the kitchen even looks good in addition to being functional. Thank you Houzz!

@M can you post a pic from another angle? You did a great job. Love your choices. And you are right. Galley kitchens (or really, smaller kitchens) don't get a lot of love but they do make a lot of sense for a vast majority of spaces. We are doing a one wall kitchen with an island; everything will be just steps away. Its not small, but not ginormous. I also like that you put your freezers in the island; that was so smart!

@M

" Galley kitchens are often frowned upon on Houzz, as they are difficult to get right. But if you do them correctly, they can be amazing. I only need to walk three steps in either directions to access all the important appliances, tools, or ingredients. But it never feels crammed, either, as we have an extra-wide aisle. "

YES to all of this!!!!!

I was horrified when our architect showed me our renovation plans that included a galley kitchens. The architect is also a friend who is very good home cook. He asked me to trust him and he was right, I absolutely love the layout.

Back to counter depth fridge talk - my love comes from the fact that I have a dedicated column (SbuZero) and a seperate freezer column. If it was a combined unit, I would feel differently

@2manydiversions interesting re:batch cooking. We typically vacuum seal our bulk poultry purchases (just as an example) raw and add spice blends or herbs, and then we cook straight from frozen and then sear. Is this what you are describing? Or do you cook first, cool and then freeze? Any benefits to one or the other?

The sous vide machine has transformed my husband. He went from not cooking a lick to cooking every weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. I think it gives some parts of his brain a workout while allowing other parts to relax and stretch a bit (he works in a super stressful high intensity finance job and travels a ton).

@M, now I’m dying to see the rest of your kitchen! Wish you could share pics and details. Glad you are so happy with the outcome :-)

OT: NYCish, yes, I do that as well (vacuum seal after coming home from the grocery), but batch cooking with a sous vide changed my life even more (although not because my husband will cook, and frankly, the way he attempts to cook just scares me silly!). You can batch cook anything – chicken, pork, fish, beef, veggies (sous vide carrots… love them!). So, I’m assuming you know sous vide excels in making horrible tough cuts (beef, pork) into uber-tender, flavorful cuts? Example: Sale on cheap New York Strip Steaks, Select (you know, those awful hunks of meat with no marbling and they will be tough no matter how one cooks them?). Bought in bulk, then gather herbs and seasonings, pats of butter if want. For DH and I only, I separate them into 2 steaks per vac seal. Season each however preferred (often differently), pop 8-12 packs of two each when sous vide comes to temp for the preferred time - since it’s a longer time (I go 6 hours for cheap Select), batch cooking is perfect for cheap cuts, not just steak, pork is a great example too), pull out when done and put in bowls of ice (ice bath) 30 minutes to safely cool. Freeze. All cooked to perfection, in freezer, waiting.. Pull out a couple steaks in a single pack, either frozen or from fridge before work, put in sous vide at 1 degree below original cooking temp (labeling helps!), and you’ve shortened your sous vide time for those nights when you can’t wait. I buy whole pork loins on sale, cut to 1-3/4” or 2” thickness chops, add shallots, herbs, seasoning, whatever, often I will use diff seasonings for diff packs. Divide for family meals, sous vide 3 to 4-1/2 hours, sharpie to note on pack that they’ve been pre-cooked, and what seasonings used, ice bath, then freezer.

I prefer chicken breasts sous vide 2 hours, so again, batch cook with seasonings, ice bath, freeze. Skirt steak (great for fajitas) is 12 hours, so batch cooking after marinade is wonderful. Any veggies batch cooked can be put in same sous vide to reheat – again, 1 degree under temp for your lowest original temp cooked item. Cheap roasts on sale I batch cook on weekends, sear, slice for lunch meat and freeze (way better than any deli meat). And as you already know, fast sear : ) Happy Sous Viding!

RE: Galley kitchens. Not everyone needs or wants an island… : ) I’ve seen galley kitchens here on Houzz/GW designed beautifully. I sure don’t frown on any kitchen that A) Has a functional layout; B) The homeowner has given it their own style.

I guess I'm in the camp of not understanding why the absolute need for an island in all circumstances. I prefer sitting around a kitchen table on comfortable chairs versus being perched on stools - I don't opt for counter seating at a restaurant given the choice so why would I do so at home?

For reference, here is the picture of one side of the galley that I posted earlier:

I still am not really happy with how difficult it is to take good pictures of our kitchen, but I can at least show you the other side of the galley:

You can admire the beautiful work that Dino Rachiele did when he built our big sink. And if you look really carefully, you'll notice that we raised the countertops by 2". That's why there is a pull-out cutting board above the dishwasher -- although, with the cutting board in the sink, we don't really need this pull-out.

More importantly though, it gave us the opportunity to put a trash compactor underneath the drain board but make it all look seamless. Dino truly worked some miracles here.

You can also see the fold-up doors for the upper cabinets. That's convenient for having them move out of the way. They are motorized so that even shorter people can easily open and close them. I installed touch-sensor buttons underneath the uppers.

And you can see the pull-outs in the upper cabinet. A common theme in our kitchen. Everything has drawers, and where drawers aren't possible, we have pull-outs.

Our drawers are extra deep and pretty wide. Makes for a great way to organize all that random stuff that inevitably accumulates in every kitchen. I love the dividers that our cabinet maker installed.

You also see one of my favorite features. I love cooking with lots of spices and I frequently buy in bulk. I never before had a good way to organize them in a way that they were easily accessible. So, with the remodel I bought lots of reagant bottles and put them into a rack behind the sink. That space would otherwise have gone unused, but now I have all my favorite spices readily available.

For now, you still see the plain plastic bottle caps, but I made wooden ones that I only need to still varnish before they'll get attached to the bottles:

The one thing that I haven't really been able to show you in relation to the rest of the kitchen is the island. It's just outside of this space and turned at a 90° angle to the galley. Any time I take a picture with both island and kitchen, it just looks distorted; so use your imagination instead. But here is a closeup:

The island houses our freezer drawers. I love how we separated fridge and freezer into two different spaces.

The island is great for those times when I need help for a big meal and want people to work close-by but not actually get into my way. It's also a fun place for the kids to sit at. And it's an extension of our dining room table. So, it can be used to stage dishes for dinner.

So, as others said, an island in the kitchen isn't always ideal. But having an island is sometimes quite useful. So, our unconventional placement worked out really well for us.

Finally, same as all the countertops, the island is also raised by 2". It's great for working on it while standing.

We have a 4-year old 36" 4-door GE Monogram CD/FD refrigerator/freezer (ZFGB21HZSS). It is our first FD and I have mixed feelings about it... I like the depth, and that I can store things that are wide. No big issues so far, but some inconveniences. Like others have mentioned, the bottom freezer is a pain because you have to dig through everything to locate what you're looking for.

If the ice tray gets a bit too full, pulling the freezer drawer will send some of the ice behind the drawer.

We've had the water line for the (internal) water dispenser freeze a few times. When this happens, you need to bump up the fridge temp a bit and wait a day or two for it to thaw.

I also dislike the "quick space shelf". Part of one of the shelves is split in half where you can either use it as a full shelf, or you can push back the front half-shelf to make room for taller objects below. When the split shelf is full of food, I invariably hit it with something I'm putting in the fridge and it retracts, dropping what was on that portion of the shelf onto the floor.

All this said, we'll probably get a CD/FD for our next home, but something with more options for organization in the freezer like sliding shelves. We've been looking at SZ 42" FD's, but time will tell if that'll fit in our build budget.

M, your kitchen is the epitome of "A) Has a functional layout; B) The homeowner has given it their own style." : )

When I got to your 2nd photo I knew what the spice jars were! I seem unable to cook without herbs (fresh too) and seasonings. Love the jar lids you made, very nice work!

Oh! I love nice wide drawers, and extra deep. Our peripheral cabs are 27" deep.

I'm rather envious of your touch sensor doors and wish I'd thought of that for our upper cabinet microwave 'garage' with a door this lifts and pushes in... manually. Oh well, it's not life and death! LOL! Gorgeous kitchen, and clearly one made to do some serious, and casual, and fun, cooking! Thank you for sharing. And yes, I get that it can be hard to photograph a kitchen as it truly is.

"All this said, we'll probably get a CD/FD for our next home, but something with more options for organization in the freezer like sliding shelves. We've been looking at SZ 42" FD's, but time will tell if that'll fit in our build budget."

Sorry to the OP for having gone off topic so much. I think this paragraph says a lot... CD fridges are not inexpensive, so of course, you don't want to make a mistake. You said you loved your FD. and if that's the case, I'd go to your local appliance store, tape measure and camera in hand, and measure, photograph everything. I did that, and was so glad! I compared measurements and shelf sizes, bins numbers and sizes, to my current fridge, and even measured food items I constantly keep in the fridge. Sure did help.

I'm rather envious of your touch sensor doors and wish I'd thought of that for our upper cabinet microwave 'garage' with a door this lifts and pushes in... manually.

I think the motorized Blum hinges can be retrofitted at any time. We had not originally planned for them and meant to open the doors mechanically. I had overlooked that I am just a few inches taller than everyone else in the family. So, I can easily open and close the doors. And the mechanism that moves up rather than to the side is definitely really nice for access to the items in the cabinet. But my wife needed an alternative solution for closing the doors back down.

The contractor brought in the motors. They aren't cheap. In fact, I think Blum overcharges for them. But they do work. By default, they have a sensor that requires you to push the door to have it open. We didn't like that because of fingerprints on the glass doors.

So, I installed the touch switches. It requires a little bit of precision soldering, but it's otherwise a clean and easy installation. Looks very professional; as if it was always meant to be this way.

"It requires a little bit of precision soldering, but it's otherwise a clean and easy installation. Looks very professional; as if it was always meant to be this way."

I'm positive DH could handle that (put a Blum servo drive on the trash bin so understand the cost - oh I love that thing!) and he's good at tweaking, building, etc., but if I ask him to do one more thing right now he'd divorce me : ) We are a month past our deadline (self-inflicted), and still lacking so much as we are doing much ourselves with only weekends to work. However, I'm making a note to myself.

Well, send me a message any time you want to know how to modify those Blum sensors. I can walk your DH through the steps.

thank you everyone for all the input and wisdom shared. As always it's helpful. Still up in the air what I will be doing ; so many good points. I do know I won't be doing anything super fancy of $$ .Going to get a new fridge at some point, and it will either be counter depth or full depth but nothing more complicated.

M, thank you, so thoughtful and kind of you. It always helps to have someone guide you who's done it before.

salonva, if I've learned one thing throughout this remodel process, it's take your time, think things through. Better a long remodel then making choices you later regret. Good for you not rushing your decision.

That is very nice 2 Many--- I am certainly one who is never rushing decisions, kind of to the other extreme... not in the good way but thanks for your encouragement!

Glad you got some useful info, Salonva, and sorry to hijack, but I have to add thank you @M for sharing more of that gorgeous and interesting kitchen. That sink! Those cabinets, the spices!!! I really enjoy the kitchen design stories that solve particular problems in small spaces, and yours is a great example. And related to the OP’s question, there are times when a “specialty” appliance solves the design problem, especially in a small space. Standard size American fridges have become bloated and unwieldy for all but the giant suburban house. Thanks to all who contributed to this fascinating and useful thread!