Many of these comments are essentially telling you how manage your take out and admonishing your partner. If someone wants to store pizza in a box and this is a deal breaker that’s totally fine. I standby my statement that you should take a box with you to the appliance showroom then. There is no reason you can’t end up with a great fridge that holds a pizza box!

Random thoughts:

- Since this is a sticking point, when you go to buy your refrigerator, take an empty pizza box with you. It'll cut down on speculation about what will /won't fit.

- You say you're doing a down-to-the-studs remodel. What lies behind the spot where you're placing the fridge? Could you plan a small "indent" in the refrigerator spot /"recess" your fridge a bit so it would appear to be a counter-depth model but would actually be a full-sized refrigerator?

- Wrapping your leftover pizza in foil (which makes it warm-up ready) will be the cheapest option.

Why would you not have a fridge cabinet constructed that is deep enough to accommodate a full-size fridge? You don't have to fill it to the back but when you need the space you'll have it. My counters are 24" deep and my fridge surround is 30". It accommodates a full-size fridge perfectly. Just the doors extend beyond the cabinetry (2.5 inches) which is necessary so they can open fully. I never understand why so many kitchen fridge surrounds are only cabinet depth. There are only two of us and we could never get by with a cabinet depth fridge.

So much focus on the pizza issue, when it seems pretty likely that the husband is using pizza as a stand-in for some other anxiety. Which could be any number of things. Remodeling is so stressful, especially if it's unplanned and coming on the heels of a plumbing disaster. Stress-fixating on random details is how some people cope.

If husband's worry is actually related to fridge capacity, is it an option to go with a 42" counter-depth fridge?

Unless the pizza has something weird on it, you could leave the box on the counter for a couple days and eating the pizza still wouldn't kill you.

I have a counter depth Frigidaire french door fridge and the space available for a pizza box is just short of 16”. ETA: I occasionally buy those refrigerated pizzas you bake at home and I don’t recall an issue with it not fitting.

What's the size of a pizza box? We almost never order one, but the places we do order from they come in different sizes. Years ago when I was still single a small-medium pizza could fit in my apartment sized frige. I see frozen ones in the store that are huge and probably would need a bigger fridge to store it.

Ask for a clean empty box from the pizza place and take it to the store with you to try it out. Or get a piece of posterboard and trace out the box next time you order one and take it in with you.

Thanks for the continued comments, especially the extra empathetic ones. This flood destroyed all 3 floors of our home on Christmas Eve. We didn’t plan for this, but trying to make the best of it. I’m handling everything, and the only thing in the whole house my husband has said is important to him in the fridge set up. I’m trying to make him happy because I think it’s important in a marriage, even if I don’t share his perspective. We had a lovely fully integrated, counter depth thermador fridge before that came with the house, and the thought of having a fridge stick out in a six figure kitchen is not an option to me.

Another comment hit it on the head that it’s more about him feeling like there is adequate and deep enough storage than pizza. To me, a wider fridge solves that, but he’s still concerned about depth. I’m hoping to show him that not all counter depths are the same, so I asked for personal experience for a starting place. FYI, a bunch of plumbing for the master bath backs up to the only wall in the kitchen, so I’ve been told it would be very expensive to work around all the pipes there to recess a fridge. We do have a fridge in our basement, but let’s just say that the same person who doesn’t want to wrap pizza in foil also doesn’t want to store leftovers on a different level. Also, it’s part of a second full kitchen, and it’s counter depth.

It sounds like a few folks are very happy with the ability to arrange within a Bosch, so I’ll definitely be checking out that option. Still welcoming additional brands/models that could meet our needs, regardless of how silly they seem.

I always move leftover pizz to a plate why would I order pizza and then put it in the fridge in the box , don'y you eat some of it? I have had counter deph fridges for over 20 yrs and honestly have no problem with storage.

Can you put in another integrated fridge? That would give you an entirely different set of options.

I must be missing something. You have a counter depth refrigerator now. You are renovating the whole home and the one thing in this massive renovation that your husband has pushed is the fact that he wants a full size refrigerator, not counter depth. You don't want the fridge sticking out. Because there is a bathroom behind the fridge you can't recess the fridge on into the bathroom walls.

We are talking inches. Have the rest of the wall built out 4 inches or have the lower cabinets pulled forward 4 inches and have a deeper counter on the refrigerator wall. Yes, this will make the overall kitchen 4" narrower, but shouldn't be impossible.

6 figure kitchen, full home reno, I think someone has figure out how to accommodate your husband's one ask.

Or, can't the refrigerator be put in a place where it is not backing up to all that bathroom plumbing?

I think this is not simply about pickig the right model of fridge, I think this needs some bona fide kitchen planning as Jennifer Hogan is advising.

Get thee a certified kitchen planner!

Depending on where your fridge is - could you bump out the rest of the cabinets to give you some extra deep counters to match your full depth fridge? That won't muck with the plumbing

I COMPLETELY understand this issue. You have to know which hill to die on.

Keep thinking about creative options.

Give the dude the benefit of the doubt. I often hear a requirement from, ahem, certain partners of a house that thinks about the size of refrigerators, that it fit a sheetcake.

And I'll raise the ante of debate and say I prefer pizza slices in squares.

I hated having a counter depth fridge so I get your husband’s fears. I now have a full depth one on its own wall surrounded by a thirty inch cabinet and am so happy I did this. It looks cabinet depth and I no longer need to keep a second fridge running for the over flow that did not fit in my counter depth.

Take you husband AND a pizza box to the appliance store! BTW, I WISH I had taken my big sheets to the appliance store when I bought my wall oven. Just saying….

Why are you stuck on having a cabinet depth refrigerator and not considering a 30" fridge cabinet surround so you can have a full depth refrigerator? Bathroom location has nothing to do with deeper cabinetry and it has no impact on adjacent cabinet depth.

I do think we’d have the space to do a deeper counter/cabinet. Does anyone have picture examples of where they’ve done this? Does it matter if the cooktop and wall ovens are on the same cabinet wall? We only have one ~13’ wall (and an island) to work with.

Here’s the that wall in the former, damaged kitchen in case it sparks more fridge solutions. I already plan to go down to one wall oven with the advantium 5 in 1 above it instead of the double oven and built in microwave, and then do an induction cooktop with no range. Why the former owner needed 3 ovens (plus another in the full kitchen in the basement) is beyond me!

While we never would have torn our a perfectly good kitchen, we do think there’s a lot of opportunity to optimize it better (and the color combos always drove me a bit crazy, but thankfully we hadn’t invested to change any of that yet)

We would have to deepen the wall by the ovens, which currently aligns to the wall for the breakfast area, so I’m not sure how off that would or wouldn’t look.

Side note, take pictures of your house before a disaster might occur.

I have a Frigidaire Gallery counter depth which is several years old that can fit an 18" square pizza box.

You might check out the new LG fridge that someone posted on the other refrigerator thread--it's called counter-depth but actually needs a 27" deep opening. It has more interior capacity than a counter-depth designed for a 24"/25" opening, and less than a full depth that needs 30". I wonder if that would hit the sweet spot for you? It looks like you'd have room along that wall to pull everything out a few inches to fit something like that (even if you just use standard cabinetry and bump it out from the wall).

Totally separately, your old fridge placement would have made me nuts since you'd have to walk across the oven and stove to find a counter to place things on. If you keep the general layout the same, I'd still reconfigure that space to try to have counter on both sides of the stove and adjacent to the refrigerator.

How do you like your present fridge? It looks like a built in not counterdepth. I have a full depth surrounded by deeper cabinets but it is not adjacent to counters. This is my inexpensive 36 deep fridge in a 30inch surround

In a cabinet run a standard fridge in a 30 inch surround would look like this

vs a counter depth that looks like this where the cabinets are flush but fridge door often stick out sometimes at least six inches from the counters to open properly.

Your current fridge has a more integrated built in look, which for me I prefer to counter depth for at least the lack of space is sacrificed for a great look.

Yes, that built in microwave placement was the worst! That’s why one will be above a single wall oven moving forward, so we can gain counter space there.

I did really like the look of the fully integrated fridge, and nothing about the usable space was a deal breaker for me. Obviously, my husband does not feel the same. Ideally, I’d love to go to panel ready, but that seems potentially to be even more shallow.

The new refrigerators of what ever kind hold more than the old one, even ones from just a few years ago. Go to where ever you get pizza from and ask them for an unused box for the largest size size you would order.

I suspect that your current fridge is the one he has had problems with and he thinks that it is because it is flush, which is why he wants a full depth.

Put in the widest fridge you can work out a space for. Preshop and then take him and the pizza box to check the ones you like.

He has only asked for one thing and even if none of us would leave the pizza in the box, I think he should have what he wants.

If you have to lose a cabinet to get a wider counter depth that holds his pizza box, that is what I would do.

Sorry about the flood. Hang in there.

Ok, so I get that it's more about a pizza box. your husband is mainly using that as a size template, right? how many other things are actually that big? the biggest thing we put in the fridge on a regular basis is a large cookie sheet, or occasionally a turkey in a roasting dish. a pizza box is bigger than that, and of course it was already stated a bazillion times that pizza can be stored in a smaller container. I think he's being irrational and getting stuck on one really inane detail.

I'd be more worried about organization. like with our fridge, you can't fit a normal size pitcher on any of the shelves unless you remove one shelf entirely. every time we want to put a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge, we have to clear everything out one of the door caddies. super inconvenient. also, I won't go into it, but there's just something about the organization of the fridge in general that's insanely bad (compared to anything I've ever had before). so that's a big thing I'm going to be looking for in the next fridge.

I have the sister to the LG frig that has been mentioned a few times. Mine has the 2 freezer drawers. We had always had sxs and were staunch supporters of them. We are tall and they worked for us being able to see everything at a glance and not having to stoop to get in the freezer.

First world problems--ice maker and a freezer bin broke on sxs. Good enough reason to replace the old frig. We looked around and decided on that LG. OMG!! We didn't know we could love a frig. Super spacious inside with the 3 full shelves, door bins are big. Water is on the inside of the frig, ice inside the top drawer. The freezer is much smaller than the sxs but we have a freezer in the basement. Yes we bend to get into the freezer but we have changed our eating habits so we aren't in there that much,

Go look at it, I think it would meet his needs.

This was an issue for me when we had a Sub Zero at a previous home. The pizza box is a storage device; so, we changed devices. Use a plate, small sheet pan, or individually wrap slices. Alternatively, order a medium. Don’t let a piece of cardboard come between you and good design.

I would like to say about deep fridges- I used to say deep fridges are great, you can get more in them.

However, with the onset of senescence and all that brings...

It is more difficult to bend over to get in the back of the fridge.

Yes, that is why the Lord invented Lazy Susans, but not everything fits well on them.

It might be a good choice to think about a refrigerator that is not so deep but that is wide so you have just as much storage.

That does not solve your pizza box problem though, and I do understand that your husband wants just one thing and you want to accommodate him.

As I said earlier, maybe a talented, experienced certified kitchen designer can figure out how to set back your deep refrigerator into a wall somewhere in the kitchen in a place you haven't thought of.

As to the design by the former owners-

Maybe they wanted wall ovens so they wouldn't have to bend over to put things in or take them out, and the third oven just came with the range top as a stove unit and wasn't used much, they just got a good deal on the whole thing?

Maybe the downstairs kitchen was for the possibility of an in-law suite, in case an older child came back home to live, etc.

Maybe they kept kosher and wanted ovens for meat and dairy cooking.

Although the design there is not so great, there is no space that I see next to the refrigerator to set anything down, and what's worse, there is that wall jutting out.

I like some counter next to a refrigerator for loading and unloading, unless you have an island opposite.

The current kitchen design makes no sense in other respects.

My experience as a right-handed (amateur) cook is:

Facing the sink, your cutting board should be on your left.

Additionally, it makes more sense for the refrigerator to be to your left or behind you to your left so you are bringing things in one direction.

Then the next direction should be your range top which should be to the right, so you are carrying what you prepared at the sink/cutting board to the stove.

You could store cutting boards on the right and left of the sink, with storage slots down below to keep the meat and vegetable cutting boards separate so you aren't potentially getting salmonella all over your cut fruit.

Also, I am not sure how practical that fancy wood is to directly cut on.

Do you cut on it?

I never would! And it seems very high maintenance, needing frequent oiling, Unless you could put a sealing on it like on boats.

You could make an absolutely gorgeous table out of it. Maybe even one with leaves.

If you don't need one for your dining room, you could use outdoors after it is sealed, or in your auxiliary kitchen!!

It would also make fantastic serving boards for cheese and hors d'oeuvres.

Thank you so much, loobab for your thoughtful comment. Some great tips in there.

We did not cut directly in the butcher block, and it was hard to wipe down, and you couldn’t put anything too hot or cold or wet on it. Definitely do not recommend for a kitchen. It did not make it through the water damage in any reusable capacity, so it’s gone now, and we will be going with stone.

In case anyone was on the edge of their seat wondering how this played out, we decided to go with the 48” sub zero French door, panel ready. We drove over an hour to get to the biggest showroom we could, and I think my husband finally believed me that counter depth is now the standard when not one single fridge in the whole giant showroom was full depth. I think he’s still a little hesitant, but I also think that seeing how giant we could go width wise helped quell fears about having to rearrange whenever he wanted to put something else in the fridge. Thanks, all, for the advice. Now fingers crossed that we can actually receive a sub zero on a reasonable timeline (less than 6 months would be stellar).

That’s great! You won’t regret spending the $$$$ on superior refrigeration, longevity, reliability, and customer service.

Just a point of clarification…SubZeros are not counter depth…their units are either built-in, or integrated. So-called counter depth models, actually stick out beyond the counters, in order for the doors to open. SZ uses special hinges, that enable the doors to open despite aligning with the counter, or a run of cabinetry.

just an idea ....what we did. My contractor (hubs) was able to frame out the back side of the recessed area where our full size depth fridge is placed. So the fridge is recessed further in, so it appears like it is a counter depth. The wall is non-bearing.

I have a Fisher Paykel.

I did not read the whole thread, but I would hit my husband over the head with a roll of aluminum foil if he based his appliance purchasing criteria on the size of a pizza box. Glad you got a nice fridge OP!!

Several people here have mentioned this new 27 inch LG fridge. Can someone provide a model number?

@davisrs123 https://www.lg.com/us/counter-depth-refrigerators?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrfymBhCTARIsADXTablU8w3FuXr279ZgUvS7XBdIrqEpsztODANUVVK7xz2McCDXRP_cA1AaAuN2EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

in one house i have a ge somehting..side by counter depth and shpce in pizza boxes all the time.. (when you order more than one its easiest to consilidate into one box)

Some months later, I can also add that the Bosch can indeed take a very large pizza box! The shelf configuration on the door allows for things to project into that space, which works nicely for things like the extra large pizza boxes that our new neighborhood pizza joint uses.

This is a photograph from my old kitchen in a house I sold 2 years ago. When we built this house in 1994, we had a brand new full-depth sxs fridge that we wanted to take with us. This entire run of cabinets is extra-deep to allow for the fridge. The cabinets under the pass through were very deep, and sometimes difficult to reach the back. I'm not sure this was the best solution, but it is what we did at the time.

Thank you for once again clarifying how you feel about this. I was personally still a bit fuzzy after you said the exact same thing several other times…

People are allowed to spend their money how they want. I don’t understand why my wife spends so much money on shoes to match one particular outfit that she doesn’t wear that often, but I don’t need to understand… she has the right and should do it.

People often focus on one particular and largely unimportant detail to the exclusion of others. On this particular site I have seen people use dovetail drawers as a sign of quality. Dovetail drawers were a sign of quality 100 years ago when people were hand cutting dovetails. Today they are just a way for cabinet manufacturers to charge a lot extra for a cumulative 15 minutes of work. Yet so many people establish that as a criteria for quality. At least fitting a pizza box has a chance at utility.

But if you don't like what Jan likes??????

@Sherry8aNorthAL regulars on this forum know that disagreeing with Jan Moyer is like saying Voldemort's name out loud (anyone who said his name could be instantly located by the Death Eaters).

"This entire run of cabinets is extra-deep to allow for the fridge. The cabinets under the pass through were very deep, and sometimes difficult to reach the back."

@Rachel it's good that you brought up this alternative solution with a full-depth fridge to avoid it protruding from the adjacent cabinetry. What has changed from that 1994 kitchen design is that people now have the counter be extra deep, and the base cabinets underneath it be standard depth of 24", but pulled away from the wall the additional inches. This accomplishes two things - (1) avoids the issue you mention of difficulty reaching the back, and (2) does not incur the big upcharge for extra deep base cabinets. It should be noted that this design would need the uppers to be 15" deep rather than the standard 12" deep. In addition, people today would install mostly drawers instead of the cabinet doors your 1994 kitchen had. I am saying all this in case people reading this thread are looking for design ideas for installing a full-depth fridge.

I read a lot, very seldom comment because of that mindset, which is shared by several "pros". Taking pro tongue-in-cheek, since a real pro would not be nasty.

Sherry I have to assume some of the pros on this forum don’t tell their clients they post often here or hope they don’t see. Perhaps they are also kinder in person that here. It’s shocking at times.

Adding to what @M Miller said, Rachel’s 1994 kitchen also has a gas cooktop on such a skinny island, that wouldn’t pass code in many places nowadays. Additionally, the gas cooktop lacks a vent hood above…we now know how unhealthy that is…for a home’s health, and especially the occupants.

The point is, there are many changes in the way things are done in 2023, compared to 1994. That includes the choices in refrigeration, and cabinetry.

I would not ruin my kitchen with a full depth refrigerator. And yes, there are times I miss the full depth, but…

I bet there is a fan that pops up in that island gas stove.

@westcoast hopeful, you are correct! The cooktop and telescopic down draft were by Dacor which at this time, had exceptional build quality. This was an expensive installation, and it was properly vented outside. This was not the most functional solution. As you may remember, placing a cooktop in the island was very en trend in the 1990s. In my current new build, the cooktop is on the perimeter!