A CD fridge is going to be more money than an equivalent regular depth fridge. I know you want to just be done but maybe run the numbers on how much $ it would be to make the enclosure bigger? It may not be that much more than a CD fridge and then you'd have more fridge and more pantry space!!

The top cabinet can be reused and just pulled forward. The side bit can actually become a shallow cabinet for canned goods or you can make it into open shelves for cookbooks. And you'll need a wider side panel on the left side.

We only have a counter depth fridge because our small galley only has a 40" aisle; if a fridge stuck out we wouldn't be able to get into the kitchen.

We make it work, but I really would not recommend a CD fridge unless you only cook for 1-2 people. We don't have an attached garage to put extra appliances, so I can't speak to that solution.

The shallowest fridge clearly looks the best, but only you know if it has enough capacity for your family. We all want form and function, but if you can have only one and aren't about to sell the house, pick function.

If it helps, when you go from a big fridge to a much smaller one, you usually end up making some behavioral changes with the fridge swap.

If you kept storing food in your fridge exactly as you do now, you wouldn't be happy, but if you adapt a bit, it all fits fine and isn't an issue.

For example, you'd start being better about tossing old food when you come across it when formerly you probably were more relaxed about just letting that stuff sit.

After I make soup, I don't just stick the entire pot in the fridge anymore. It takes up too much room. Instead, I ladle the soup into jars. The jars fit better in the smaller fridge and also are exactly the same capacity as a bowl of soup, which make them easy to grab and pour in a bowl and toss in the microwave. And then I also don't have my pot out of commission for a week.

For pizza, I just put the few leftover pieces in a small pyrex casserole dish with a lid and recycle the pizza box. The pyrex dish fits easily in any fridge.

Stuff like that. You simply don't put bulky or mostly-empty containers in the fridge anymore. And you toss old stuff more often. At least for me, it was extremely easy to get used to.

As they say, your mileage may vary.

We have a small true counter depth fridge (just 20 cu ft). You really do run out of space and we have the old fridge in the garage for spillover. We were boxed into by narrow aisles, just like @benjesbride. @lenzai has a good option to explore, but I think it will be more than because those end panels tend to be really expensive.

We had a 10 cubic foot refrigerator for a family of three in our first house. No extra refrigerator or freezer space anywhere. It was completely fine. I have no idea what people keep in these huge refrigerators. I know I would just have science experiments growing in the back. Ymmv.

I made the same mistake and mine sticks out too. It bugs me because 1, I didn't think about it & 2, my KD didn't mention it either. Annoying. I like having a big fridge and I even have a fridge in the garage. Part of me wishes I never even bothered with the enclosure. If you need a big fridge I would just leave it. If you have kids & they grow up and move away then you can get a CD fridge :)

I have a Samsung SXS cd fridge and love it. Similarly to Jillius, I repackage leftovers and make use of ziploc bags when I need additional space. It is really only a problem at the food-centered holidays, and I'd much rather have an overstuffed fridge for a couple of days than give up my cd fridge.

I love that food no longer gets shoved to the back to remain until I have a clean out session. With this fridge those sessions are a thing of the past. It all depends on what is important to you.

What about cutting out the drywall and recessing the fridge if that is not a load bearing wall? If you change to the 28 cu ft fridge you will be closer to counter depth.

This is certainly a case where your cabinet shop or GC failed by advising you properly. If you have the aisle clearance, I would spend the money on changing the cabinetry to enclose whichever fridge you want as lenzai suggested. I'd only spend the extra for a counter-depth fridge if you lack the aisle space for the standard depth.

You could also look into recessing the fridge into the wall to gain a few more inches.

We chose a CD for a built-in look and aisle clearance, and we love it. However, if you cook a lot and keep your kitchen stocked with fresh food, you will want another fridge.

We have an additional fridge (cheap yet very effective top/bottom) and use it all the time. I do a great deal of shopping at farmers markets and need the storage, and the fridge is wonderful for my batch cooking.

Right now, I'm thankful to have it for cookies ;-)

When researching our CD choice, we found that the interiors can vary widely.

We have found our KA French door CD to be among the most spacious and better organized inside.

You wrote you purchased the biggest SS fridge you could get. Why? Do you truly need that much space? Did it seem the best value for the cost?

Sometimes we fall to the mindset bigger is better. A psychological thing when we don't actually need bigger. Try to assess realistically what you need to store in a fridge for 5 days and base your size choice from that.

Looking at your photos, you could think about not going with external water and ice if you get a CD.

Just a thought ;-)

I like the looks of the CD the best. I have a CD and I love that I can see where everything is and nothing disappears in the back for ages.

Fridges today seem so huge to me but I grew up with a fridge that was probably about 12 cu ft, maybe 15 cu ft, tor a family of 4. It was a GE, circa mid to late '50s (no idea if my folks bought it new or used), with revolving shelves, a foot pedal and a separate freezer compartment. It was a such a cool fridge! That thing lasted for decades. It was still working when my brother gave it away about 7 or 8 yrs ago.

DH and my first fridge was a 19 or 20 cu ft SxS. We had that fridge for nearly 19 yrs. We replaced it with a CD fridge, about 21 cu ft, 6 or 7 yrs ago (I was worried our old fridge would up and die at the most inconvenient time). I was floored at how massive SD fridges had become since we bought our first fridge. We did not want to give up aisle room so we spent the $$ on a CD fridge. No regrets. The only time it wasn't large enough for my family of 4 was for holiday meals but it wasn't that big of a deal. If it was cold enough, we stuck the pies in the garage (my car served as extra counter, lol) or placed overflow food in a cooler.

As Jillius pointed out, you have to adjust habits for a CD fridge. Maybe because I've never owned a huge fridge, it was a non-issue for me. Perhaps I don't know what I'm missing. That said, I love not losing things in the back of a deep fridge, only to play "mystery food" when cleaning it out.

I took an empty milk jug, a bundle of celery and a few other things with me when we shopped for a fridge to be sure to buy one that worked best for us. I can't put celery in, side by side, as I did in my old fridge, but it does fit in the crisper drawer. That's another way to assess how well a CD fridge will work for you.

I echo what mimipadv wrote. The ice/water thing takes up a ridiculous amount of room in the fridge section of a French door fridge. We get our ice from the ice maker in the freezer and water from a spout inside the fridge. I'm not keen on having these things in the door because they're so repair prone. But I'm fortunate that we live in an area where the water tastes great out of the tap.

lisa- our CD fridge also has indoor water and for just us 2, it works great. With kids, it could lead to the door being open all the time.

We had a built-in side by side before and yes, we found unidentified food stuffs in the back.

Hated that damn thing with a passion!

Are you sure your regular depth refrig sticks out that far? I just measured ours and it sticks out 9.5 in without handles. I have a very big refrig. I could probably do better, but I am always afraid of crimping the water line.

I'd first look at recessing into the wall if that's possible because it will be the easiest and likely cheapest depending on what's behind it. Then dis get a new cabinet. If the bug fridge is important to you. I would not leave it as is.

I am installing a counter depth fridge in my kitchen shortly (no cabinets yet) and went with the no water in the door model. It has water inside the fridge and ice maker in the bottom freezer.

Just brainstorming... could you have them remove the panel and just frame up and finish a wall on the right? Visually it would kind of bookend the wall on the pantry side? Maybe this wall would be a good spot to hang command center type stuff?

If your builder won't work with you on either reframing the wall as Benjesbride suggested, or on adapting the cabinets as several others mentioned, do you have room elsewhere for a small freezer? We have several relatives who have put a small freezer in a utility room, basement or garage specifically to hold pizzas and other frozen foods that won't fit in their CD side-by-side refrigerators. A chest freezer can be bought for less than $200.

Counter depth, always. You can always place a second fridge elsewhere if you must have it.

CD. The back half of my fridge is full of junk stuff that I throw out every couple of weeks after what seems like an archaeological dig. I'd get a freezer chest for the garage, basement, ...

Definitely counter depth.

We got a CD fridge about 6 months ago. I think it's 22 cf, the old one was 31 cf.. I like the smaller one much better. In the old fridge we "lost" everything on the bak half of the shelves anyway, or misc condiments lived there for way, way too long. Now I am much better about using up our leftovers and nothing gets lost in the back. We also have an extra fridge and chest freezer in the garage but we had those before anyway and the smaller fridge works just fine.

I have no extra fridge or freezer and I still would opt for the CD unless you can panel the larger one so it looks sort of built-in. Strictly aesthetics for me.

We have a counter depth fridge, its a kitchenaid and I think it's the 20. No regrets. I have a second fridge too, but honestly we need the room. The extra space from the other fridge would not be enough.

You are not gonna buy any space by taking out the drywall behind it. The way a wall is constructed it that there is a 2x4 at the top horizontal to the floor AND there is another 2 x4 on the floor horizontal to the ceiling. You would have to remove the bottom 2 x4 (hope it not load bearing!)to get the frig backwards and all you would get would be 3 1/2 inches - the width of a 2x4 (and an enormous expense to tear out a all and deal with the weight problem as there will be an upright somewhere in there as they as set on 16 inches on center.

I'm getting rid to evict the 22-24 cu ftish ref/frz French door that was here when we bought the house. It is a moose. It is too big for the space -its is 36 wide and the space is 32. We'll end up with 20-21 cu ft. And we cook a LOT and use only fresh ingredients. More than that is not necessary for fresh foods and I have a 22 cu upright freezer in another area (buy lots of fruit and veggies in season or stuff on sale and freeze it.

I hate the water dispensers - and this monster has one. Just get some ice cubes from the try in the freezer and water from the faucet. They take up freezer space and are just one more thing to break down

I would say go with the one in the middle on size and do the wall partition as suggested above. That is a 1 day project to build for a competent handyman and then add 1 day to paint.

BTW the frig usually has to come out slightly past any sidewalls. Can't open the door 180 degrees where the edge of the hinged door goes back against the side of the frig without that extra space. If the side panel is even with the front edge, there maybe a wee problem with opening it all the way.

BTW you might, maybe, have a claim against the KD for incompetence but frankly no attorney with more brains than a rock would take it. Damages would be too low to justify the $10,000 -25,000 bill for their time to press the matter even through small claims. (Rule #1 we learned in law school - never take a case where the bill will be way more than the client will put in their pocket) Try dickering with the KD to get them to pay the costs of the new wall or reduce the cost of making a bigger sides panels. Probably won't get far. YOU went in and ordered cabinetry and ask for the panels for frig sides. They sold you the usual panels that 95 -98%+++ of people get. YOU did not tell them that you had bought some super gigantic thing that is extremely rare outside a restaurant and where it is highly doubtful that even 1 in 1000 people would get. There is no breach of a warranty of fitness for intended purpose by the seller --- YOU never told them the purpose of the panels were to cover this freakishly large frig. Pretty safe bet that what you need would have had to be custom made. Not unreasonable at all for the cabinet store to assume what you wanted when you said "panels to cover the sides of a frig" were the normal panels to cover a normal frig (like under 21 cu ft) and no reason at all to think you wanted custom stuff.

As to the GC.....not so much. YOU picked the refrigerator. YOU picked the cabinet stuff. He just put in what you ordered. Not his fault. Once had a client (contractor) whose customer was determined that the master bath would only be certain dimensions. So off goes the customer and picks out this whirlpool tub......and when delivered, the only way it would fit was to cut a hole in the exterior wall and let it hang outside. Not the contractor's fault. The customer was the one who picked it. (Customer sued - my client and I won - blew her out of the courtroom.) Picking out stuff without going into great detail with the GC as to whether it will fit or work usually doesn't end well unless the person is very experienced in design and dimensions.

As a working mother who raised 3 boys but only had time to shop once a week (two full shopping carts), there is no way that we could have survived with a counter depth 36 inch fridge unless there was a second fridge/freezer close by. In my remodel we have a 42" counter depth and it is barely enough when everyone is home; we overflow into the under counter fridge drawers that I added during the remodel, as well as into a basement small freezer. It depends on how much you shop and how much you eat. So the OP has to decide based on her own needs. That is why I suggested recessing the fridge and going one size down instead of going for the 20 cu ft. On this forum, people have recessed fridges several times and it basically is constructing a door frame that the fridge slides into. It doesn't have to be fully finished, just framed up and drywalled since no one will see it.

While I agree that the mistake was understandable, what I don't understand isn't the size of fridges (after all, people keep looking for larger and larger fridges - where is that space supposed to go?), it's the cabinet panels - why aren't panels and over-refrigerator cabinets designed to cover full-size refrigerators?

I am function over form, for sure. I think it just depends on your lifestyle. My brother has a CD fridge - he is single and eats out pretty regularly and rarely entertains. It is perfect for him. I have 2 kids, plus usually extras, entertain regularly in he summer (pool), buy fresh produce twice a month from a co-op, and hate to grocery shop so I do mass shopping trips. I have traditional full size fridge in the kitchen (and would have a bigger one if I could figure out how to work it in without tearing out the cabinets). AND I have a second full size fridge in the garage. I regularly use every single bit of space and very rarely do I have science experiments going on anywhere.

My fridge doesn't block the traffic pattern, but even if it did I would probably live with it. It does stick out and doesn't look as polished as I would like but for now I forgive it completely. To me the storage space is worth so much more than a photo shoot ready kitchen.

I'm amazed (as are my European friends) at how big people's fridges are here. Maybe it's related to about 40% of food being thrown out in the US? Just a thought.

I have a big fridge for 4 people, and I hardly throw away any food. I had a 20 cf fridge before I remodeled and I hated it. I was determined to get a bigger fridge, and I did. I also had not planned on keeping the old fridge in the garage (but we were able to make room) and I love my garage fridge too. I like the roominess of the bigger fridge. I felt like everything was crammed in my old fridge. No room for anything on holidays etc. I might downsize when my kids move out.

Besides, everyone knows size does matter :)

I think, too, that Americans tend to grocery shop about once a week. We take our big SUVs to the grocery store and load up bags (and bags) of groceries and then come home and need big fridges and freezers and pantries to unload all that stuff.

When I lived in Israel (and suspect this applies to much of Europe as well, and even to some of us US urban dwellers) my mom would walk to the little mall that had a butcher, a baker, a general store... almost daily - she'd pick up a loaf of bread from the bakery, some chicken from the butcher, some broccoli and oranges from the grocery... She never bought more than she could carry the three blocks home, and only bought enough for the next day (or two.)

I buy staples once a week. Things like the yogurt I eat each morning, milk, etc. If I am cooking at home that night, I go to the store and buy fresh. On Saturday night we always eat home and DH goes to the farmers market in the morning and gets fresh caught fish and some fresh veggies from the farm stands at the market.

My mother on the other hand always had several weeks worth of meats frozen in the freezer and she'd buy veggies for the week.

We do need a big freezer but that's because our dog eats RAW and we need to make up her breakfasts a month at a time.

nosoccermom

I'm amazed (as are my European friends) at how big people's fridges are here. Maybe it's related to about 40% of food being thrown out in the US? Just a thought.

^^^

It's because the terrorists are winning. Clearly ;-)

I think it looks great as is. Your fridge is big and beautiful. As long as it is not blocking doors or windows. But if it really bothers you because of the look and isn't blocking anything: If the side is magnetic, add a magnetic shelf or two to it and it will look great. Or put a side rack less deep to make the difference appear tapered.

We had to remove our top cabinet to be able to fit the height of our new fridge, that only required unscrewing the cabinet simply held on by screws, was easy. But all this talk about cutting into drywall and all that hassle (unless you are skilled in that sort of thing) otherwise it might be more work and hassle than it's worth unless the fridge is blocking something. We got these magnetic shelves and they look great and very functional too--> https://tinyurl.com/rab3rqm Personally I like big and beautiful fridges like yours and we only have about 33 inches width so no room for it, otherwise I'd have one like yours even IF it stuck out.

How did you fix the dilemma? I have a 34cu chef collection refrigerator and I don’t know how to include it on kitchen remodeling

Here's one sticking out about 10" and I think it looks kingly!

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/372884044149774891/

Especially if one side is a wall it blends in just fine.

Bigger and deeper fridge with more food space is better IMO; storing food is the only reason we even have a fridge.

I think if there wasn't a wall on one side and it was sticking out 7-10" on BOTH sides it would be a bit cumbersome but if there's a wall on one of its side, looks good!

Yes, How DID you include it? This has been very helpful to see everyone's comments. Reading it as a whole, one minute I'm shopping daily and cooking all fresh ingredients and the next, I'm living on leftovers and stockpiling meals for weeks! LOL But seriously, I hope you adjusted to a large fridge and are happy. We had a CD fridge with 4 kids and it was frustrating. I wish I wasn't OCD about the fridge hanging out. Seeing it on popular TV shows helps normalize the reality that fridges just do that.