I'm guessing that side-by-sides are typically built with fridge on right because most people are right-handed and the refrigerator is opened more frequently than the freezer.

That being said, if it won't bother the folks who use the kitchen to pull it open with your left hand, I can't think of any aesthetic reason not to switch the orientation.

Its an ok option.

Also big dollars, but perhaps look at the liebherr 48". I believe all of them have a 50/50 split, but there is a three door one - 24" ref on the right, 1/2 of the left is ref and 1/2 is freezer.

Thanks bmorepanic. We had looked at the Liebherr and our concern was that the 24" door is only 6 inches shorter than the 30" door on a typical built-in 48" side-by-side, meaning that instead of 4" of clearance we'd have 10". It feels crazy to be sweating inches like this but we're spending a lot of money on the house and don't want to blow the flow of the kitchen by effectively shutting down a passageway every time someone opens the refrigerator door. Thoughts on whether 10" is sufficient to pass?

Would 14 inches really allow someone to get through. When someone is in the fridge retrieving dinner fixings, where is the drop area? If the drop area is on the other side of the 14 inches, I'd be annoyed to have someone pass through as I'm getting things out and tossing on the counter.
Assuming that since it's an island, and there's another way for people to go around, 4 or 14 inches wouldn't matter to me as pass through space. I'd do the doors in a way that works best for getting things into/out of the fridge. Including 'rear end' space for the person searching for something on the bottom shelf of the fridge. I wouldn't want to get goosed by the corner of the island. :-)
-Karen

My new and wider clearance is 11-1/2 inches and that is after turning the studs behind that wall to pick up a little space, replacing a standard freestanding fridge with a built-in and keeping the same footprint on the island, but probably easing it back a bit withing the toekick space. I don't know if I had 4" before the remodel and it hadn't been a big issue for us. Folks could wait a few seconds, someone can ease the door back or the person can go around the island. You really shouldn't be sitting with your fridge door open that much.

We didn't open the aisle for people passing when the fridge door was open. We wanted the space larger to allow more clearance before the exterior door hit the cabinets behind it and wanted a generally wider aisle there since that is a side door under a covered parking area and the most used entrance into our house. Had nothing to do with walking past an open fridge -- something we still don't do much even with that being near the most used entrance.

I would set your fridge up for the best use of your kitchen in terms of eating and cooking. If that is going to require you to be walking back and forth past an open fridge, I would rethink the layout, not the fridge choice.

I am confused as to why the fridge needs to be on the left and the freezer on the right. Presumably, both are the same width and could go in either configuration. Why not get the 18" ones and put the fridge on the right since everyone is so used to that? I am also confused as to why you just can't use another brands' sxs. If you have 36" width to fit the 2 18" ones, then you can find a large sxs that won't have a 30" door.
BTW - we have the sep fridge/freezer set-up (30" each) and love it (lots of room). If either one ever broke, we'd still have the other. With a 1 piece, we'd be out of luck.

lascatx, thanks much.

dianalo, the two sides would be different in our configuration. A typical 48" side-by-side has a freezer side that's 18" and a refrigerator side that's 30". Our thought was to put the 30" unit (i.e., the refrigerator) on the left so the right hand unit is only 18" wide, thus projecting only 18" perpendicularly when open. An 18" refrigerator would be too small for us.