We have a Jennair counterdepth refrigerator in our primary residence, and a similar GE in our vacation home. Both are very modern looking, and not at all retro. I don’t know anything about ranges that are counterdepth. As long as they are similar in style and material, I don’t believe it’s necessary to purchase from the same manufacturer. We have a Viking stove and a Bosch dishwasher which look fine with the Jennair.

We have a counter depth LG French door with the freezer at the bottom, we love it , there is 2 of us and we also have a fridge in the garage , the counter depth look great don’t have
Much room .
We also have A LG dishwasher which is really mice to use and a Samsung electric stove.
I bought extended warranties on everything

CD refrigerators that are 36" wide are not small. They hold between 21 cu ft and 24 cu ft. That should be adequate for the standard family. There is a direct correlation between the size of the average refrigerator and the growth of the average American. As the size of the refrigerators grew, so did obesity in the US.

There is an excellent, albeit somewhat old, article, "Your Giant American Refrigerator is Making You Fat and Poor." (Your Giant American Refrigerator Is Making You Fat And Poor (gawker.com)). The average refrigerator in Europe is about one-half the size of the American fridge. They don't stock up on pop and warehouse size containers of just about everything.

I’m sure “counter depth” in appliance talk refers to the “box” of the appliance only, excluding the doors & the handles. My mother needed smaller size overall frig & she found a Fisher Paykel that worked. I just looked them up & see 27 1/16” deep excluding handles & still 35”+ wide. French doors top & bottom & only 19 cu ft total

Thanks all. Lulu Smith, interesting article. Thanks. N.b. the small capacity CD refrigerators I'm talking about are around 9 cubic feet or less , which seems small to me esp during covid when people are cooking, freezing, and stocking up as opposed to going to the store with great frequency. I've found a 30 inch with a capacity over 11 feet, which seems more like it. The kitchen in question couldn't accommodate a 36 inch one, Not that I'd get one, but I wish there were space for one!

The easiest way to find counter-depth appliances is to go to the ajmadison website and set your maximum depth for 25", which is the depth of normal cabinets plus the countertop overhang. Do not be fooled by manufacturers who describe their wares as "counter-depth".

For a fridge, look for the ones that are tall - over 75" - so you get adequate volume. I love the Liebherr fridges, great appliances for less than SubZero, for example. You don't specify your budget.

As far as a range, I cooked for fifteen years on a 24" gas stove with four burners. Just look for a large oven. You can even find upscale BlueStar and FiveStar ranges that size, mostly gas.

Most dishwashers are counter-depth. I agree that most stainless steel appliances look fine together, regardless of brand.

It is true that some European fridges are minute, but it is also true that they tend to shop daily in neighborhood stores and don't use much ice. There are also plenty of larger ones available, because working women don't have time to shop every day.

The door has to still swing so the so called counter depth is only the box so the door sticks out so it can swing open

poorgirl has a point--make sure the specs allow the fridge to actually open once it's in position, whatever position your end up with.

A potential option to explore is to carve a hole in the wall for the back of a fridge. Basically, frame a fridge-sized doorway on the kitchen side only of the wall. That gives you a few extra inches of depth and can be totally worth it.

"I don't want the range to protrude at all."

Nope.

• Frigidaire Gallery Series FGIH3047VFrange -or-
• Frigidaire Gallery Series GCRI3058AFrange
• Blomberg BRFB1452SSNrefrigerator
• Whirlpool WDF520PADMdishwasher

With the counter depth fridge you can’t use the space in the wall, if you had a deeper fridge then you could gain 2 “ by framing out the studs but regardless what fridge you take you still have to be able to open the door and not hit the counter so maybe look at the thickness of the door and also how far out the handle protrudes . We also have a commercial Sub Zero that is counter depth and the door protrudes past the counter.
Our stove is flush with the counter top, the handle protrudes out

I have a fairly new Fisher & Paykel 30" gas range that is counter depth. It doesn't stick out from the cabinet. I have a small kitchen also so the size is ideal.

I am fairly pleased with it except for the fact that there is no burner under 1000BTU. I just purchased a heat diffuser for when I want to keep things at a low simmer.

Architectural Notice, I’m glad you mentioned your simmering issue because I also have the same problem, it doesn’t simmer low enough, I’m going to check out this heat diffuser, have never heard of it before. Thank you!

"I have a fairly new Fisher & Paykel 30" gas range that is counter depth. It doesn't stick out from the cabinet."

• Fisher Paykel OR30SDG4X1: Depth without handle: 25-1/4" Depth with handle: 26-3/4" ($3700)
• GE Profile PHS930YPFS: Depth without handle: 27-1/3" Depth with handle: 28-1/4" ($2760)
• Frigidaire FGIH3047VF:Depth without handle: 26-3/4" Depth with handle: 29-3/16" ($1800)

I might be mistaken but when shopping for a small fridge with a friend who was moving into a condo, we discovered that Samsung makes a counter depth french door fridge with a bottom freezer drawer that has offset hinges on the doors. The hinges are set to swing the doors inward so that they align with the case of the fridge when the doors are open 90 degrees. Something to look at, perhaps? (My friend ordered the fridge but had to return it because it was an inch too tall....)

Even 90 degrees often isn't wide enough for full access of the drawers or for removal for cleaning.

In addition, just because the hinges allow a door to open 90 degrees, that may or may not include handles. Once the handles are added, they may hit the adjacent wall and force the door to stop opening...it may not be able to be opened fully with the handles.

Read the specs of the refrigerator carefully. You need some space on the sides and back for air clearance, anti-tip device, etc. That air clearance is not included in the stated depth. So, the true "depth" is the air clearance + depth with handles.

Does anyone know if ranges have to stick out beyond the surrounding cabinets to protect them from heat from the oven? What you usually see is the range box aligns with the front of the cabinets, but the oven doors sit proud of (extend past) the cabinet box.

For refrigerators, the shallowest are probably going to be true built-in refrigerators.

B: Yes, most ranges need to hae the doors proud of the cabinet fronts, else it is a fire hazard. That F&P looks different, though, in that there is a SS edge around the door.

Funny about European refrigerators! My aunt in Paris had a slatted wooden box with a lid that hung outside the kitchen window. She had an American fridge but it wasn't the same voltage as European ones. She only plugged it in when I was visiting because I liked ice in my drinks and it completely iced up, so I was a happy camper! When you shop daily for the day's food, it just works differently! Americans don't do that, hence the monster fridges and the wide butts!

A slide-in range like a lower priced Frigidaire or more expensive Bosch has a setting low enough to melt chocolate. Plus many other positive characteristics.

@Architectural Notice and @poorgirl, you can adjust your burner settings by following these instructions...

Reset the Minimum (Low) Setting

I looked at both Bosch and Frigidaire during my recent gas range search. The Bosch wouldn't work since all of their slide-in ranges have "wings" on both sides and my range is located at the end of a line of cabinets with an aisle next to it. I was disappointed since they got good reviews and was a good price. The Frigidaire, as I recall, was ruled out for one reason or another.

@elunia, thank you for this! I mentioned this to my husband and he wondered if the warranty would be voided if we did this. I had previously asked both the FP on-line help about this and a service person from the appliance store and both said it couldn't be done.

I think I will contact the service department again at the appliance store where I purchased the range with a copy of your screen shot. The model number on your screen shot is not the same as mine and FP has different series of ranges (professional, contemporary, and classic) so it is possible it does not apply to my particular range.

@Louise Smith How nice for you that you live in a more 'European' town or city with markets and fresh produce nearby. My family lived in an English city for a summer; our neighborhood had a high street with a greengrocer, butcher, bakery, cheesemonger, wine shop, little and a farmer's market, all within walking distance. Once, I ordered food from various farmers for my MIL's birthday a couple days ahead of time and when I went to pick up the potatoes, the farmer said "oh, dearie, I'm not sure you really want these taters- when we dug 'em this mornin, it was rainin and they're a little muddy."...... I WAS IN HEAVEN!

We later lived in a small suburban neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware with a farmer's market that sold fresh Delaware & Jersey produce , including local eggs, dairy and cheeses right on the property! It was wonderful- many afternoons, the kids and I would walk out our back door to 'see what was for dinner'. There were 3 large grocery stores within a mile of our home and I never had to 'stock up' except in the fall, when I would fill the walk in chiller with bushels of local squash, potatoes, apples, pears, asian pears, onions and garlic from farmers.

Of course, I always has a car in Wilmington; I was able to drive to the farms. My family also had a thriving business- and sure, I'd go to BJ's for bulk toilet paper and paper towel, but not much else, it wasn't necessary. Oh! and a Trader Joe's was about 3 miles away- sometimes the kids and I would go there to get something fun & delicious and frozen. What fun! I miss those days.

As American cities become more urban; for those who live closer to the center, grocery stores get fewer and farther between, sometimes 6-8 even 10 miles away. Adults with families often work two or more jobs. People in cities are often forced to shop from bodegas with high rents and higher prices. Some don't have cars and plan bus trips - most have to plan weekly shopping, and are often forced to choose wholesale stores for food to feed their families. Those people need big, cheap refrigerators.

There are also people who live in rural places where a trip to town is 45 minutes each way, making shopping a weekly or bi-weekly event.

It would be nice if we could all shop healthy food daily- but the USA isn't set up that way. While you can say refrigerator size needs to change, it's actually the food supply chain that needs to change....

It is a system that gives the best food choices to the wealthy that is making the US Obese, not the refrigerators that support it.