If you have a bookshelf or shelf over your fridge...

13 years ago

...would you mind sharing the height and depth of your shelf?

It's looking like we'll have an adjustable shelf over our refrigerator so that in the future a taller refrigerator could be put there without modifying the cabinets (ours will be super short as fridges go). We're going to stack the adjacent upper cabinets, so I'm thinking there will be a shelf with a cabinet on top of it.

So I have two questions:

- We can make the over-fridge shelf 15" high or 18" high (minus the shelf itself, so usable height is a bit less than that), with a cabinet on top of it in either case. Going with a taller shelf is slightly better layout-wise because it means we get 33" high uppers in the adjacent run v. 30" (assuming we align the uppermost row of cabinets, and it seems like we should)---but 18" seems like an very tall bookshelf, given that the tallest cookbooks we have are only 10" high.

- Also, having a 24" deep bookshelf seems a little nuts, too, since wouldn't the books get pushed back into it? Would it make sense to have a 12" deep box sitting there rather than just a shelf, so that there's some dead space behind it but the books wouldn't be pushed backwards?

If you've gone the shelf route, how tall/deep is your shelf? Would you change it, or does it work for you? Also curious to know what kinds of things people store there other than books. (We're pretty well covered on the trays/cookie sheets/little-used bowls/etc. front, which is what I might otherwise stick there.) Thanks!

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Comments (6)

chris45ny
13 years ago
Am planning on having DH make me a wine cabinet over the fridge. It will be open and just have Xs to separate the wine bottles.
rhome410
13 years ago
We have 2 shelves above our fridge/freezer set. The first (lower) is 12" deep and 12" tall (usable space)...Perfect. It has nothing behind it...Just attached to the upper box and the cabinets beside it. The upper one is 24" deep and 10 1/2" high. I kept a serving thing up there for awhile that needed the depth. I also keep the contraptions I make applesauce with up there...Referred to as a chinois or chinoise, I think. Anyway, this shelf isn't bad, as it holds the shorter cookbooks. I put a box in behind to keep them from sliding too far back. Very high tech. ;-)
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jakabedy
13 years ago
The beauty of the 24" deep over-fridge cabinet is that it helps the fridge look less prominent in the overall scheme of things. And it is much easier to reach things that are at the edge of the fridge than it is to reach those that are 12"-18" further back.

If you're worried about the books getting pushed back, you could put a little cleat in there on velcro or a light, removable adhesive. It would stop the books as you push them back. Are you using a panel on the side of the fridge?
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
fyi If wine is to be stored over the refrig, do some checking to verify what the temp will be. Wine doesn't like warmth and there will be warm room air near ceiling plus heat issued by the refrig. unit. At the very least, have some dead air between the unit and the wine shelves and rotate your stock frequently (hick!).
artemis78
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks! rhome, your lower shelf setup sounds like what I'm envisioning...even if the shelf is only 12" deep, it will be pulled out so that it's flush with the 24" side panels (we'll have panels on both sides of the fridge). It's just the space behind that would be dead. I could just put some boxes or bins back there, though---maybe an easier/cheaper solution?

@chris45ny, I've seen some super creative wine storage options for that space, including one (on IKEAFans, I think?) that even included a hanging wine glass rack. :) We don't need wine storage, though, as we have a separate storage area for that in our dining room (and DH is busy converting our basement into a wine and beer storage space, since it's a lot cooler than the house). Cookbooks are definitely the front runner as they're the only thing that's really unaccounted for in the kitchen layout (well, that and dog food, but I'm thinking over the fridge is not such a hot plan for that!) Just trying to get my head around the logistics of it all!
rhome410
13 years ago
I hope that I explained well enough...That my 12" deep shelf is pulled out flush with the front of the fridge with dead space behind.

You've probably seen a pic, but here you go anyway. This is an old photo, though. I moved books from elsewhere, so don't have anything but books and the chinois up there any more:

If you have a bookshelf or shelf over your fridge...

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If you have a bookshelf or shelf over your fridge...

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