The camera I can work with was dropped adn only takes fuzzy photos now and my new one won't work, so I can't post a ohoto right now. We have trhe Perlick drawers in our breakfast room, and they hold a lot more than I expected. Right now, I have a gallon of milk, a gallon of OJ, 3 half gallon containers, a number of other juices and chocolate milk, a 6 pack of juice cartons for lunches and the rest of a pound of coffee. The bottom drawer has beer, water bottles, juice pounches, yogurt and some soda (soda cans will stack 2 high so you could put a couple of cases in there). Holds a LOT more than my dorm fridge did and it's easier to get to. You would be limited on putting trays or certain large things in there (watermelon, turkey -- don't know if they'd fit), but I would think most things would work. Some models will hold tall bottles -- 2 liter soda, wine, champagne, etc. Others will not. Check it that is important to you. If it will be your only fridge, make sure it's up to the heavier use, whether drawers or a door style. Many of them seem to be built with more occassional use in mind. That was one of the reasons we went with Perlick -- we knew ours would be used many times every day.

You're right...I don't know why they made it so wide & tall. Even though your refrigerator is a standard depth, it's almost 36" wide, which is becoming the "standard" width...so there's probably no need to plan for wider. The top I can see since the new "standard" is close to 72" high, so that may be planned for the future. I actually have 4" of so of empty space above my refrigerator but I also have filler to cover up the gap. My refrigerator is about the same height as yours, so I needed room to expand later...but probably not 4" worth! I think RHome410 has a great idea of putting a slab drawer front piece across the top filler to make it look "planned" and more "finished". Unfortunately for me, my door style wouldn't work b/c it needs almost 7" to fit the frame + a center...and I think you're in the same boat since your style is similar to mine. I wonder if the real reason has more to do with measurements in general on that wall. Maybe it was made bigger to take up a couple more inches of room so there would be less filler elsewhere. If there wasn't at least 3" that could be tacked on one of the middle cabinets (or 6" to balance two cabinets...3" for each), then maybe the thought was that rather than have two inches of additional blank wall on one side or even an inch on each side, it would look better to have those 2" in the refrigerator alcove. Have you asked them why there's so much extra width?

hapagrrl: As you seem to have ruled out Whirlpool, Costco is probably no help. Costco does have an unwritten, very liberal satisfaction/full refund guarantee but they only carry Whirlpool brands for the types of fridges you want. A couple of things to check out or bear in mind if you do decide to consider buying large appliances from Costco. If you want delivery (which is usually included in the price), check the "shipping and terms" tab on Costco's product page. Used to be that some areas could not get delivery of fridges. Sometimes whole states --- say, Montana and Alaska --- and sometimes just particularly rural or remote areas of certain states. Sometimes there might be an extra charge for delivery to them. Read the tab to see if there are restrictions for your area. Another thing to bear in mind is that, while Costco.com will deliver the new fridge (and haul the old one, if you want), Costco rarely comes to retrieve one you decide to return. You have to haul it to a Costco warehouse yourself or else arrange for somebody to do it for you. Although you are ruling out Whirlpool products, l still suggest that you call around to servicers to see what you can find out about what the problems are. As plllog says, the problems might be mostly minor things -- broken support brackets, cracked crisper drawers --- or they might be major ones. Seeing numbers of reports of compressor failures might or might not be significant. FWIW, some percentage of early product failures (as noted by practigal) is inevitable for every mass produced product. There is even a name for it: "infant mortality." Thing is -- Whirlpool sells so many refrigerators that even a tiny percentage of compressor failures can translate to a large number of complaining people. And, there is nothing like inept or intransigent warranty service to push a dissappointed customer into a vitriolic, internet-posting crusader. Plus, these days, there are shills and trolls paid to muck-up on-line reviewing. Anyway, if you do get some feedback from services, please let us know what you learn.

I don't think black stainless has a lot of longevity. I expect the manufacturers will not continue to make this finish. Plus Sophie's experience makes sense to me- it will not wear well- it's just paint in the end. I would stick with regular. And while Viking has a very bad reputation right now- it used to be good and maybe a 20 year old range is from the golden age of great Vikings- I suspect you have a workhorse of a range- congrats.