Plus you can put magnets on the side!

I love the vintage style. Wish it would have worked in my house! :)

I agree! It's a kitchen, why so secretive about what goes on in there? (wishing I could afford the Big Chill....)

It's a kitchen, why so secretive about what goes on in there?

LOL! That is right up there with how I feel about "hiding" the TV.

Well my secrets out.... I have my big TV right above my big fridge facing the open living area for all to see! Although, I sure would LOVE that vintage fridge in Aqua!

Lavender, do you have one of those?

Rebunky- LOL! That is too funny.

No fancy Big Chill (I wish) just a regular cute white one. Nothing special, fridge on bottom/freezer on top...but it works!

It used to bug me that you see the fridge right as you walk
into the house. The kitchen is not open to the living room, but it is
to the entry and it frames the fridge perfectly. With vintage style, I think it will look like I PLANNED it that way :)

My husband LOVES a big TV (okay, so do I for movies) so we'll never hide that either. Also visible from front door! LOL

I told DH I either want to hide it or have a vintage looking one. In red, with red behind the glass cabinet doors to match!

I don't really see a need to hide the fridge. But then, I've never swapped out my black Jenn-Air CD fridge for a stainless because I feel like the stainless fridge would stick out. I guess I have mixed feelings.

I don't know if view of the fridge is 'wrong', but a few feet to the left is my lovely view of the farm...totally unseen from the front door. If we ever redo the farmhouse, I'm going to have to add a great seating area in the back. All of our seating right now is in the front. Nice view of the garden, but no view of the creek and the horses.

White appliances have always been my favorite! Stainless steel is very nice (for everyone else) but just not my style. Too many hostess jobs in restaurants, while in college. Yikes, flashback :)

I have plenty of other stainless (cooktop, DW, apron-front sink), but for some reason the thought of a giant stainless fridge bugs me.

I don't want my appliances hidden. I want them to be seen so that anyone working in my kitchen can figure out where the dishwasher is; where the fridge is rather than it all blending in with the cabinetry. And I want to see control panels on dishwashers so that when it's running, I can see the countdown display to tell me how much time is left in the cycle. Why have concealed controls at the top with digital countdown display if you cannot see it. STUPID.

We are reusing our refrigerator in this remodel to save money. But when the bank account has recovered. Or when this one dies, I'm contemplating this GE Artistry refrigerator. Vintage looks, much lower price tag (~$1100) than the lovely big chills.

crl, we are going to be looking for a fridge soon. Ours likely won't be hidden or built in. I think I may have to have that artistry. Off to look at specs and reviews.

Wow, that Artistry is a fun alternative to the ($$!) Big Chill. Although they don't offer the fun colors, that one a playful take on black or white. I like it.

Mom place you have your option of which to see first when you come in, the range or the refrigerator. Best to look straight ahead at the pantry

But for kicks and giggles, if you sit in the right spot at the dining table and a nice gust of wind comes up, you can wave at the person on the toilet....... (that was my dining table seat as a kid and mom wonders why I want to rotate the toilet to behind the door)

The GE Artistry is on my list too! I have mixed feelings about stainless, but I hate how the plastic handles discolor on white appliances, so the stainless handles on that fridge are perfect. Just waiting for the the current fridge to die- it's been repaired twice already.

If you don't mind a small fridge, check out the darling SMEG (ignore the horrible name, lol). Cutest fridges ever! And they come in all sorts of jelly-bean like colors.

I think it really depends on the kitchen as well as the appearance of the fridge. In my own kitchen, there is no place to put a fridge without it either blocking a window, obstructing a view through another window as well as blocking the light from it, or blocking an architectural feature original to the house that I want to showcase. So I'm very glad we were able to create a niche for it out of a closet just a couple feet from the main kitchen area. Cute or not, it's better not having it in the main kitchen area due to those other issues.

Are the GE Artistry's sides finished like the front (smooth, glossy)?

The problem with the smeg is that the one available in the US has a single door and a tiny-tiny-tiny freezer section. At least as far as I have been able to find.

According to the Home Depot reviews the sides are not glossy. I really hate how appliance manufacturers have decided they don't have to finish the sides of appliances properly. Sigh.

Seems like many people don't really use a kitchen very much anymore so they want it to look more like a showroom because, well, that's all it is. A kitchen for someone who cooks is much different.

Glass top stoves are popular because they're easy to dust.

I like the vintage look a lot but like the efficiency of modern even more. Using a chest freezer as a fridge is best of both worlds. Easy to put a cabinet around a chest freezer and the top becomes counter space.

The textured sides are a bummer. My fridge is the corner of the kitchen, so the side wall hides one side of the fridge, and base cabs hide half of the other side.

Vintage is hot so there are modern choices. The BigChill is more 50's.

Not a bash on anyone who designs a kitchen this way, as long as their happy then its great; BUT I can't understand these new kitchens that aren't supposed to look like kitchens at all.

I remember looking at pics of one with my husband and we probably spent 20 minutes trying to figure out where the fridge, DW, pantry, etc were.

It didn't even look like a kitchen!! It looked more like a library, or some other room with a lot of cabinetry built in, that happened to have a sink.

I guess the newest thing will be finding a way to hide the kitchen sink so that the transformation of the "kitchen" into a "non descript room" will be complete.

I don't have a fancy Big Chill or vintage fridge in my kitchen but all of the custom cab makers I got quotes from were surprised that I wanted to leave the space for my fridge 44" wide with no surround or cabinets above it.

This is my forever kitchen and I know how appliances have been getting wider and taller over the past several years.

I wanted a space that I would easily be able to replace my current fridge in the future without worrying about cabinets.

It is also why I went with a standard 30" range (though I'll admit I was VERY tempted to build it to accept a 36" or 42" range) and my double wall ovens are a standard 30".

I KNOW that my appliances will give out before my cabinets will and I wanted the space to be amenable to replacing appliances in the future.

I'm surprised no one mentioned how much STUFF this lady has in her vintage refrigerator and freezer spaces. Wow!! Looks like at least three hams, plus homemade desserts ready to serve to her friends when they visited (and you know they came wearing hats and white gloves)

@crl_ - I know! I was tempted due to the cute factor until I saw that. So I went with my Summit that is only a tad bigger but has a decent freezer. Even though we have a full-size freezer in the garage, I don't want to run out there for everything but ice.

Here's my Summit fridge. With the rounded top and slightly rounded doors, it leans vintage but not so much as the Big Chill, Smeg, and GE Artistry. But at only a bit over $600, I'm not complaining. :) Oh, and magnets stick to front and sides! It's a SS-look, not actually SS. I don't know what it is but it looks nice, imho, and doesn't show fingerprints. Still glad it's in a niche.

Summit Appliance - Refrigerators - Appliances - The Home Depot · More Info

@Texas Gem - I think it's due to open concept homes. Personally, I think you can have a very functional space while also having hidden appliances. Function depends on layout, not cabinet style. My glass-top electric range is extremely easy to clean. And it gets cooked on 2-4x daily.

Don't they work better with some air circulation? It really is packed. Some day I will be her. I just need to grow another foot taller and get my heels on. I would feature an attractive fridge proudly, but the Smeg is too small and the Big Chill is just trying too hard.

I confess, I have perused the "old fridge" section of craigslist from time to time...

Ge Artistry color

GE Aristry frig now comes in 2 colors. Red and Aqua.

I'm guessing if we're talking about it (trend-setters that we are), it will be the next big thing in kitchen design - "free standing, attractive on all sides refrigerators".

While I love the look of the Artistry in the aqua, you folks who are planning on them should know that these are absolute rock bottom of the line in all ways except the look. They were designed to appeal to millennials, who GE thinks would prefer shiny over quality. So if you'd buy a $400 fridge otherwise, then they're just great. If you want something better than that, pass them by.

EDIT I've seen the slate in person, and it's a pretty shoddy affair once you actually touch it.

Theretropolitan is the one I would get if money were no object....

Ohhhh. I have a love/hate relationship with GW. I so want a cool retro frig and the cute microwave now!

FWIW Big Chill now has an ebay store from which they've been selling fridges with what they indicate is minor cosmetic flaws.
Just an enabling note to fellow scroungers!

Writersblock, you're crushing my heart! Why can't there be an affordable options other than the same old ugly fridges? :-(

writersblock, I'm pretty sure the compressor and fans to keep food cool and frozen in the Artistry fridges are exactly the same as in their higher end models. The difference in price reflects size, layout, and features. I would expect an Artistry refrigerator to run just as long or keep my food just as cool or frozen than any other GE refrigerator.

No water or icemaker taking up valuable 'refrigerator' space and only 30 inches wide; I'm definitely interested.

We're in the market for a fridge, and the main thing is that it be reliable. We're using a super cheap 14 cu/ft place-holder until the house is done, but the darn thing runs perfect! We would prefer a bottom freezer, but a top freezer would be OK. We fell out of love with the french door models, although they seem to be taking over. I'll have to check the reviews on the Artistry to see how it stacks up. We don't care about ice makers or water dispensers either.

While talking pricey vintage look fridges, check out Elmira. Beautiful, but 4 times what I would spend.

Our white, freezer on top, fridge is about 20 years old (my mom gave me her old one) and knock on wood....it's been great, so far :)

I'm doing the GE artistry line in my new build (minus the OTR microwave). I realize that these appliances are not the highest quality, but I'm sure they are comparable to the standard SS ge appliances that come with the house. At least with the artistry the applainces will be cute. I'm actually really pleased that ge came up with the artistry line and priced it as they did, otherwise I would be stuck with cheap looking stainless stuff. Once I've lived with the appliances for a few months I will be happy to give a review.

Oh, yes, please do post a review!

We are attempting to future proof the refrigerator area by having a few extra inches on the sides, with panels that can be removed. And a removable open shelf above the refrigerator and below the actual cabinet. I decided to go with the cabinetry look because I needed a broom closet cabinet anyway. But I would still love something better looking than builder basic stainless when my budget allows.