Even though I like the red I would choose the white. When I bought my Kitchen Aid mixer, I fell in love with the red color and it looked great in my kitchen. Now I'm thinking about redoing my kitchen and I'm thinking that stupid red mixer is going to stick out like a sore thumb. The refrigerator is an even bigger expense than the mixer. You may think that you'll always love it, but our taste changes over time.

Laurie

Do you want your fridge to be the focal point in the room? If so..go with the red. Personally I like the appliances all white & accessorizing with the red.

Eventhough I would love the red I have to say buy the white. I also bought a red toaster and things and now that I remodeled I had to buy all new again.
The only thing I can recommend is buying some red poster board (or anything red) and cover your current fridge. Then see how much it jumps out at you and if you like it.
I think you're planning a very nice classic kitchen. Stick with the white.

I should have bought your Mariana Soapstone...my name is Mariana.

Are you redoing the whole kitchen? I would build it into the cabinets. Will you have a microwave or dishwasher? What will they be or look like? What about stainless steel. The frig you picked out looks small...might just be the picture. I always think you can never have enough frigerator & freezer space. If it is a large frig, go white.....I agree with msrose. You will only see the red on the stove when its lit. I think the red frig will look odd, you can always paint the walls red and add red inexpensive accents. I wouldnt invest in a red refrigerator. My mom has a similar stove, would love to see the room when its done.

Zipdee, I know your style and there is no doubt in my mind -it sooooo needs to be red. Go for it.

If you're going for a total vintage look--white. (we had a very similar fridge when I was growing up)

If you want vintage with a twist--red.

If you stick with white--you can always change out your accent colors--canisters, curtains, etc...

I just LOVE the direction you are going. Many years ago I had a boyfriend whose family had a beautiful cottage on Bear Island in NH. The kitchen was all vintage and I just loved cooking there. I loved doing everything there ha.

Anyhow.. I'll be the odd one out again. I like the red. It's part of the vintage look. What is your home/favorite palette like? I checked out the colors and I think if it was my kitchen, I might go with one of the custom greens-- but green is pretty much a neutral in my house and for my palette so I could easily redecorate around it. Do you have a color that does the same for you? Is Red it?

I guess I just think that color is true to the era, it helps the vintage feel to pop and it's fun. I wouldn't normally recommend an expensive "fun" purchase to someone I didn't know personally-- but I reread your post and you didn't say you were considering red.. you said that your inside voice was saying "red, red, red". It sounds like you want fun and bright.

I love the red. The red fridge gives a real pop and then you don't need to clutter the place up with accessories. The red is a big statement.

I love red, but in this case I would go white, for two reasons.

First, for down the road and redecorating purposes. The little bit of red on the stove knobs won't hamper you - a red fridge will.

Second, the red fridge as pictured reminds me of a Coca-Cola canned drink vending machine. Don't ask me why, but that was the first thought that came into my head. Maybe something I saw in an ad in years gone by? I am not a pop drinker, so it isn't because I have cola on the brain. I am probably the only one who will see that, so it isn't a good reason to hold you back, I guess. But I had to mention it.

Your kitchen sounds like it is going to be wonderful. Can't wait to see the completed pix

Love your look! I vote white and here is why (JMHO):

The red is too red. I'm not a matchy person, but would it bother you if everything else red you bought didn't have the same hue or intensity? Would you develope red overload? Would the room start to look a tad themey and not the vintage look you really want? I find the red tiring.

W/ white, you could change out your accent colors when the whim struck. You could have everything else in the room red and those items could still be more easily changed out.
The white is a timeless classic, sophisticated, clean.

But it's your home and your kitchen and your checkbook. :) You can buy a lot of fun things that will bring out the red in other ways... but only you know what will make your heart happy every day.

Zipdee I just did a search to see if I could find some pics of your amazing home in past threads. I came up empty. I really think before any one gives you advice on this they need to see your home - the bright blue bathroom vanity, the colour popping girls room, etc.

I just think the red fridge will tie the kitchen to the rest of the house and it will be a whole statement. Your style is so distinctive and not in any way wishy washy, I really don't see it changing down the line (am I wrong?). It just seems to me that if you go with the white, you might as well save your cash and go with any white fridge. If your style does change down the road, get it sprayed white.

I think that red fridge is going to make you smile every time you walk into your kitchen.

Zipdee, I love the red. It makes such a statement! I know you are going for the vintage look, however I feel like the white would get lost and all that good money lost with it. Be true to your instincts...what fun is playing if you are going to play it safe? The first thing I thought when I saw the red was "Ooooo! I love that!" Go for it!

Well this is going to be a very interesting thread to follow! The white looks monotone to me but the red looks as though it would almost bowl you over. The white I see far more decorating aspects, but the red one is so cool! What other things would you put in the kitchen to balance the red?

Anyone remember the old blue fridge on Grace Under Fire? I'd heard sales for vintage colored fridge's were pretty hot for awhile after that show.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this and all of your help! I appreciate all of the feedback, it really makes me think through this. Let me see if I can answer questions.

I totally agree the white is the safe way to play this, colors could be switched out very easily in the kitchen then. That's why part of me is saying, stay safe. The other part says .. It just seems that white doesn't really do this fridge justice in a way, it's kind of a fun, eye catching fridge. You can see all the different colors it comes in here, if you'd like to see them. http://bigchillfridge.com/

Budge, Oh .. The red does call to me! :D I do love bright, playful, happy colors and twists on the traditional. I guess I would call 'my style' .. (if it could be called that) .. maybe a colorful twist on vintage cottage. Kind of casual and livable, I try to keep things organized with not too much clutter. I'll put a link below for pictures of the upstairs, if anyone would like to look at them. Thanks for trying to find them. :)

Gk5040, We are redoing the whole kitchen. We're working around some quirky space issues in an old house, so most likely the fridge will work out the best free standing. It's finished on the sides and will look fine exposed. It has 20.9 cu foot, so not tiny, but not large either by today's standards in fridges. It fits our lifestyle fine though. We live right in town, I pass the grocery stores, butcher and farmers market everyday when I bring the kids to and from their schools. So we don't need as much room as someone who would be living in a more rural setting and shopping less often.

Funkyart, we are in the process of redoing the whole downstairs of the house right now, in addition to the kitchen area. Red will be sprinkled through the downstairs. It's one of the colors I'm always draw to and it's always shown up in my decorating, inside and out.

Les, I can see the Coca-Cola reference, their older/vintage machines were rounded like this in a way and very vivid. Like Syllabus, was saying with red and themey, it would be a fine line to add the right things and incorporate different colors into the mix, as not to head that way.

Ttodd, honestly I'm not sure what I'd do to balance the red yet, if I decided to go that direction.

Also, the red in the picture is a little off .. you can see a better picture on this page, the 4th picture down. http://bigchillfridge.com/pages/photos.php

Thanks again!

Here is a link that might be useful: Upstairs girl's room, look towards the end for finished room pics

RED,RED,RED! I know YOU will make this work! Very cool!

I say RED! You can always paint it (this is the one fridge that you can say that).

If you don't, you'll always wonder. Life's too short to live with regret.

Laurie~Still got that mixer? I'd love to have it! But then, I MUST have a new coca-cola calendar every year ha.

Oh, definitely the red. Especially after seeing the pics of your girls' room (which is awesome, BTW).

The fact that it's so reminiscent of the coca-cola machines (which I saw too) just adds to the character and fun.

You really want the red. It will make you happy everytime you look at it.

I vote for the red since the refrigerator just looks so vintage and hot in the red color.

The only decorating I've seen of yours is on RMS and it's your girls' bedroom and I absolutely love it. It is bold, brave, cheery, and very cute. How could anyone be depressed in there?

When I view the second group of pictures it's like "ok, yeah, so what?" But when I view the first group with the red fridge it's like, "FUN!" Heaven knows kitchens are drudgery enough. Put some fun in there.

If you ever remodel, or get bored, well, you know what they say... it's only paint. They will always sell white appliance paint. Take it outside, mask it off and spray away. Or sell it. The point is, it's not permanent. It's not fatal.

Indulge yourself -- get that red fridge and all your friends will envy your moxy and will oooo and aaaah over it for years to come. Why have a house that looks like everyone else's? Where's the fun in that?

When I saw your pictures it reminded me of this adorable kitchen from the Gallery KCottage Decor thread. I wonder if this is why the red fridge reminds Les of Coke?

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Your red fridge would be darling in that kitchen.

Thanks again everyone for the help and thoughts! I've decided before I make a final choice to call and order color samples. There's a few other colors that catch my eye, so I'll have metal samples sent and fixate on them for a while just to make sure. :D

Oceanna, that kitchen is adorable, isn't it? I've seen the whole cottage on RMS and he's done a fabulous job inside and out on it!

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but if you get red, remember that there are a ton of different shades of red and if you try to accessorize with more red, matching that red on the fridge may be hard to do.

I love, love that vintage stove. Do the shelves in the fridge turn by chance?

How about putting that gorgeous red on an accent wall in your kitchen? I can see by your other photos that you love color. How often do you get the urge to redecorate? If it's once every 10-15 years (the supposed life of a refrigerator)I'd go for what my heart lusts for!

I would do white, because I've learned the hard way not to go 'out there' with big ticket purchases. But your style may scream out for the red. Here is my opinion on making your decision. Do you plan to stay in this house long enough to need a new refrigerator? And does red always appeal to you or is it the color of the moment? If you know that red is great for you and there is no real specter of selling in the next half dozen years, then, do it.

Red

Oh, what a hard decision. I myself would play it safe, and would go with the white on this big of a purchase. But you know yourself best, and if you can go the distance with red, and you will LOVE it everytime you see it, go for it.

i vote white. red doesn't look vintage to me, because i don't think they would have sold red fridges at the time that stove was sold. i don't know though. however, a big pink or a big aqua fridge would look vintage to me. and it wouldn't be so overwhelming. if you use up all your red on that big fridge, you may not be able to have as many fun red touches elsewhere, like 40s curtains with cherries on them, etc. kren

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Red,

Good question, we will not be selling our home any time soon, we own an established business in the area.

Annellis, I'm sorry .. I'm not sure if the the shelves turn.

I still haven't made a fridge choice, but we did get the french doors in on Saturday. I've super please on how much light they let in to the area. Next weekend, I'm hoping we can start installing the beadboard on the ceilings, we'll have to see how it goes though.

I still need to pick out hardware yet, we just have temp locks on them and please excuse the mess, there a lot left to do.

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