If what you're planning on buying when you do the remodel is the all-fridge (nothing fancy, like the Frigidaire or Kenmore :-)) paired with an all freezer model, then I don't think it's silly at all. If it wouldn't bug you to make do with the chest freezer, I'd go for it. The worst that might happen is that your plan changes and in the end, you're stuck with an extra all fridge and a small chest freezer. Most families--including mine--would make very good use of those 'extras', so I don't see that as problematic. Happy Renovating, Cj

The email notification system here has been quite wonky. Thanks for all the replies. In no particular order: bocron - That was the unit I linked to first too. I actually emailed summit. Here's my email and their response. I'm looking for a tall half wine cooler/half beverage fridge. There doesn't seem to be one. (Maybe one over $3k, but that's not an option). I'd like a way to store beer, wine, and soft drinks in one unit. The SWC 1875 seems to be a possibility, but I have a couple questions. Are the wooden racks/shelves flat or tilted? Can the wooden racks/shelves be removed? I don't need to store much wine, just a a shelf or so of white. I'd like to stand up soft drinks and 'regular' beers in that section as well. I'd like to store some red wine along with dark beers that are supposed to be stored at a similar temperature (stouts, etc.). The wines should lay down, but the beers should stand up. If you can think of another unit that would better fulfill my needs, please advise. Either way, I look forward to a reply. Thank you for contacting Summit. The shelves are flat and removable. However, there are gaps on the shelves themselves, so you would have to keep the beer in their containers, or the bottles could potentially slip through the gaps. Unfortunately, we only offer undercounter beverage center/wine coolers. I didn't quite ask if they can be swapped out, but I'd gather not based on the response. If you find they can, let me know. joeboldt - IPA's and the like, no. But barrel-aged stouts, yes, they'll be stored longer. Up to several years. But you're right, for those, they can continue to live in the chest unit that's thermostat controlled in the garage. alerievay - Yeah, the vinotemp and marvel are both more than I'm willing to spend. plllog - Yes, you get the storage of the different beers. Reading your post and the reflecting I did at the end of mine, I think I've figured I really just need a fridge. And we'll probably just make due with what we've got, since the perfect solution isn't out there. I could just get a standing fridge only, but the idea was the cool looking beverage fridge with the glass door and multiple zones all right there. What we've got now is: In the garage chest freezer with separate thermostat to keep barrel aged, etc. stuff. I don't go in there. Also in the garage, a freezer on top/fridge on bottom that was always supposed to be my extra freezer space, and is now kept 'normal' so I can store my extra freezer goods out there. But the fridge (which I hoped to be extra fridge storage) is all beer. I'm not quite as scared to pull something out of there as from the chest freezer. It's where the extra 'more normal' or 'to be consumed quickly' stuff goes. Small beverage fridge in DH's office. No idea what's in there and how it differs from the other two. I think I need to request that he empty it from stuff that could go into either of the garage pieces and use that for the sodas/friends 'normal' beers that they bring and leave. It's smaller than what I'd like, but we HAVE it. We'll see what I think when we get our new regular fridge with the kitchen reno. Maybe I shouldn't have offered our SxS Samsung to the inlaws? And if I change my mind, they'd understand. Well, they probably wouldn't understand four 'fridges' for two people, but they'd be fine with it.

Thank you SO much everyone! It seems most of you are for the CD fridge. We have a small fridge - the kind found in dorm rooms (not tall and skinny but short) which we could also use but there's no practical space to put that in besides the basement. But our kids aren't allowed to drink soda, my husband keeps only a few beers in the fridge at a time, and I keep my diet cokes in room-temp storage so I don't even know what would go in the small fridge. I'm certainly not willing to keep food down there or regular drinks like juice/milk so I really do think we'd be stuck w/ the CD fridge for most of it. I could keep our old fridge in the basement for holiday meals as well as all the drinks we presently keep in room-temp storage, however I was upgrading to an energy-efficient fridge! why would I want to have the new fridge AND the old fridge, considering that?! Going up in 3 cubic feet in size on for the fridge portion (free food), when I picture gigantic dice of a cubic foot each in size, that seems like a decent (not great, but decent) improvement... (I hope)! Here's what I'm too dumb to figure out: if the fresh food portion of a fridge includes the space in the door/doors - regardless of whether it's a 1990 standard fridge or the new french door kinds - how does that translate based on the new layout? In other words my current old fridge has very little door space; it has only one door and its shelves for condiments and butter. The new fridges have space for at least 2 gallons of milk in the door, but less space for condiments and yet still some space for them. So if the milk will no longer be on the main shelves but in the door, does that mean I'll get all that added space on the main shelves + the additional 3 cubic feet of fridge space? Anyway...thanks for helping me figure all this stuff out!

By IRC, the ceiling height may be reduced to 60" "where people cannot walk" which means the back of the sink or the back of the toilet, or a shower area taken up by a bench (as long as the 30" hoop/80"is met in the shower) , so right now it appears that the toilet is in a spot that would no longer be permitted. You definitely have the room to get a legal powder room in this space (by international code/your local codes my be more stringent), ceiling height and all. Maybe just not with this toilet location or position. If you could move the toilet it may help, but moving a toilet is not cheap. The other thing is since you have a hole in the roof already, you may be able to enlarge it and pop up a dormer. Again, not so cheap. In my location, if the toilet was not relocated and was 12" on center instead of 15" (the old requirement), it would be grandfathered. Actually, that would be allowable in some circumstances now even if the bathroom were completely reconfigured (such as it being the sole bathroom in the house and only having limited room). A toilet in that position may have met a local code at the time it was permitted, or at least passed in your jurisdiction at one time, but currently it could really only be in this general position if it were turned 90 degrees and the Tank was against the knee wall. Could you draw this in a plan and indicate the various ceiling heights throughout?