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Help needed - 36' fridge & 18' DW or 30' fridge & 24' DW???

13 years ago

I have a very small kitchen and have to choose between 2 scenarios. I plan to be in this house a while but will eventually sell. It is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house now and will be converting the bonus room off garage to third bedroom/den. It is a starter house.

1. I can go with a 36" wide refrigerator but that would mean only space for a 18" DW (would go with the Miele) and I loose counter space.

2. I can stick with the 30" wide refrigerator and put in a 24" DW (also a Miele). Gain a bit of counter space but committing into the smaller fridge size.

What would you do?

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Comments (9)

cbug
13 years ago
Didn't know they made a smaller dishwasher. Neat. Depends on how much you cook and do dishes but if it were me I'd choose the smaller DW and keep the larger frig.
artemis78
13 years ago
Are you looking at counter-depth or standard depth fridges? We have a 30" standard-depth refrigerator now (old Kenmore) and it's more than adequate for a household of two in a 2/1 house. We're going to a 36" with the remodel, but mainly because it will be counter-depth, so the overall space is about the same.

Personally I'd much rather have the counter space (and the full-size d/w is a bonus too). I do like the 18" Miele a lot, though, and know people who say it holds nearly as much as non-Miele 24" standard models.
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When I bought my first fridge, I knew that I didn't use much fridge space, but I went ahead and got a 36" counter depth (with ice, not in door) for my small kitchen. However, those were not so prevalent 24 years ago so it was expensive (but not sub-zero expensive). Could I have gotten a smaller one? Probably. Would it have been counter depth? No. I still have that fridge. A marriage, then a move, then kid, then divorce later I most definitely don't want a smaller fridge when I get a new one. I'd like it to be bigger, but I want a sub zero integrated, so it may end up being slightly smaller. That makes me really nervous. I'm hoping that going from a side by side to an over/under layout will help. Fingers crossed!
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palimpsest
13 years ago
We have the 18" Miele and it holds a lot, but we also do not need to let dishes sit until we fill up a full-sized DW. I have single/couple friends whose dishes lanquish dirty and smelly in the full sized DW until they feel it is full enough to run.
sabjimata
13 years ago
Well, I wish I was getting 2 dw's so I vote for option #2. Can you put a second fridge in a laundry room or garage for overflow?
babushka_cat
Original Author
13 years ago
thanks all for the replies. a backup fridge is a good idea, could be used for parties as well....i think option 2 is the plan...
caligal
13 years ago
If you have a 36" fridge all the dishes won't fit in the 18" DW when you clean it out!!

But seriously, I would do the second option, more counter space.
kareena
13 years ago
I vote for option #2. That would also put those 2 appliances more in alignment with each other, size-wise.
annie.zz
13 years ago
I had that same debate and went back and forth. I opted for the 30 inch fridge and 24 inch dishwasher. No regrets - the fridge has plenty of space for us and the larger dishwasher accomodates a few larger items that I have. I also agree - in a small kitchen that extra counter space is really important. At some point I may get a chest freezer or extra fridge for the garage or basement, but so far I haven't needed it.
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
Go for the smaller refrigerator. Besides being more in scale, it's more economical--not only original cost but cost to run it. This is an ongoing cost. Burn fewer hydrocarbons!

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