Is there a possibility you can put in a new header, and have 30"
pantry access on that wall? You could use a sliding door, and open it
when you need to open the fridge door more than ap 105°, or just leave
the pantry open most of the time, since the door would be hidden
from most of the living areas. Big downside is that plan would eliminate a wall of
pantry shelves.

If you move the fridge, you have to move the wall cabinet, and that won't work with the window.

I'd leave it as is. With a FD fridge, you'll open both doors more than you think. Put the most frequently used condiments on the right side door. You might think about getting one of the new 4-door fridges and stock the separate middle drawer section with your snacks and drinks, especially for the kids and hubby who may not be as careful as you about opening the left door. The extra drawer fridges cost more but a pantry pull-out is very expensive too. Rev-a-Shelf's 9" insert was about $1000 when we built our kitchen four years ago.

Mayflowers, you're absolutely right about the uppers on the other side of the refrigerator, I didn't catch that! I guess I could lose them to make the kitchen function better? That set of uppers was to be used for drinkware. These are the two refrigerators I was looking at… I have seen them both in real life and confirmed that the drawers on the inside are OK to use with the left door not open beyond 90° but like I said, it could be annoying.

Definitely would help to have the middle drawer and also a door in door on the right would be helpful to avoid accessing the left side too much like this LG:

This Samsung Flex has the door in door on the right and has recessed handles so I could open the door on the left that much further without bumping handles. BUT the lower left is one more door to hit the wall instead of a pullout freezer and middle drawer.

Kathryn Palmer, I can can order another 9" base to go above the other 9" base-but that would put me at 72" H so I'd need something to reach up to the 96" the others have.

MamaGoose, Yes, so frustrating! The pantry wall has always been there, it just wasn't drawn properly before...I can ask about cutting into the pantry but yes it would be a big pain! I'm not sure it would work either because of where the pantry door is. I think I could get used to having the dishwasher on the other side of the sink but again, it might not work with the cabinets I have. Sounds like I'll have to order more cabinets regardless. Changing the pantry access may work, but still a pain for everyone. There are not shelves on that side at all, just a wall, shelves are on the other side. I will post a pic of the pantry in a few minutes.

Deebert, I know what you're talking about with the gizmo in the middle, can't remember if these two fridges have that or not...

we have a wall next to our French door fridge but have a wider opening than you. I looked at a lot of fridges to check their door opening vs being able to remove crispers/drawers. The ones with internal full-width drawers were impossible. I ended up with a Samsung (rf28jbedbsr) that has an *external* full width drawer which would be beneficial to you as mayflowers says. The internal design of the fridge section has the water filter between two crispers, and, if you remove the bottom door shelf, allows the crisper to be pulled out somewhat and then angled for complete removal.

I know Samsung and I believe at least LG also make handle-less 4-door (sedan?? lol) fridges that maybe you could check out in a store with your measuring tape for drawer removal. We were fortunate with a doorway (as palimpsest and mamagoose mention) just beyond the fridge so that the handle just opens into the doorway as I didn't care for the layout of the 4-door fridges.

hth

Mtnfever, I checked the fridges in the stores over the weekend, none of the ones I'm looking at have that full sized drawer in the middle you're talking about, and yes that would be impossible to use with this setup. My fear was that I wouldn't be able to access the left crisper drawer at all and that it would bump into the bins on the door… But I found that wasn't the case. I could access the drawers and pull them out fully it was more just an issue of the door hitting the wall and having to have both sides open all the time because the bins on the left drawer would be in the way with the door not fully extended, if that makes sense.

I always open both doors to access my produce bins because it's tight with one door open. My drawer glides stop at the doors so it doesn't matter a lot if the door is at 90 degrees or fully open.

The separate full width deli drawers hold so much that you could keep almost all of your everyday foods in the drawer. I keep meat and lunch meat, cheese, and yogurt in mine. You could keep juice boxes, and bottled water/drinks on their sides.

Removing the drawers isn't a big issue. You have to pull the fridge out a few times a year to clean under it and behind it, so that's when you remove them. You need 1" on both sides to get your fingers in to pull out the fridge.

hm, do you mean the bins on the left *door* would be in the way vs the bins on the left *drawer*?? The left door on my Samsung fridge has tiny little bins (much lamented by many on the Samsung's with in-door water/ice dispenser) that I use for condiments but perhaps you could remove those for better access to the interior? I don't recognize the first fridge picture that you posted, to know what's behind the left dispenser door and whether the door-bins are useful or not. Sounds like a game show: what's behind door #2 lol!

This is my pantry without shelving or cabinets drawn in. The idea was to have frosted glass so light from the window would come through but not show pantry contents. I planned on having lower cabinets with a countertop under the window to make a coffee station (which may not even work now because it looks like the outlet is under where the country would be, too low under the window for me to plug in the Keurig, ugh one thing after another). Then full shelving on the right wall with no shelves on the left wall since they wouldn't fit. The left wall had to bump out another 12" to add a support beam that is drywalled.

Yes, sorry-I meant the bins on the left *door would be on the way of the inside drawer sliding out.
Here's the inside of the Samsung with no handles to impede another 3" of opening, but I'd have two left doors to worry about instead of just one. The bottom door bin can come out to make crisper access easier. Removing the bins on the doors may be a great solution, they wouldn't be in the way at all and I really wouldn't lose a ton of space!!

And here's the inside of the LG, there are bins in front of the ice maker which makes the bins stick out a little more. I tested it, crisper drawers can still open. This one may not work as well with just removing door bins since the ice maker panel behind them still sticks out so far.

My sister has this problem and no one caught it till the fridge was delivered. No option than to keep it and live with it. Every time you go to open the left side door the handle crashes into the wall. It made a hole in the wall. It's a bad situation and I would try very hard to avoid anything similar. She has to pull the entire fridge out to get shelves and bins out. The freezer drawer barely clears the wood trim. I personally would have removed all the wood trim around the doorway and made it just a finished wall at least with out the wood trim she would have a little bit more clearance.

I keep my hand on the handle instead of just flinging it open, so my hand would touch the wall, preventing damage. The angle would be slightly less than 90 degrees but I can still access everything, though I'd prefer to have both doors open in that tighter opening.

Ravencajun, yes I'm afraid of the hole in the wall! I guess I could put a chalkboard there that the door would hit instead? I at least felt better seeing that I could still open and remove drawers with the door not being fully extended.

Looks like my my only other option would be a fridge like this one that hinges out to the right?

It's 24 cu ft vs the French door's 29 cu ft which I guess isn't a huge deal since we'll have a small top freezer/bottom fridge plus an upright freezer in the garage. But with every pro about it there's also a con...there's an ice maker but I sure would like to have an ice dispenser. It's about $1k cheaper but it's also only 32.75 wide and 69.875 high so I'd again have an issue with the cabinets I already have, the uppers above the fridge are 36" wide. Like I said before, something is gonna be bad I just have to figure out which bad I can deal with the best.

thanks for your comments, everyone :)

Mayflowers, how is your kitchen set up with your fridge? I didn't see a description in your responses, unless I missed it?

Both of the fridges have this door in door which would be super helpful to avoid opening the left door as much

What do y'all think of this setup? Sorry for the rough pencil drawing, I don't know how to do any of the fancy stuff. I would lose the 9" base, 18" base drawer, and the 18" upper and would have to spend about $1k total for the 18" pantry and a 12" drawer base, not bad. Might save years of frustration? It does put the DW on the other side of the sink but I think I could deal with that.

@skw27, That seems like a good solution to me. You would end up having more storage with the 18" pantry. If you could store your dishes more in the corner then it seems like it would work.

The only downside I see is that you are losing a longer stretch of countertop between the sink and refrigerator. That might be irritating when wanting to pull things out of refrigerator. Maybe having a cutting board on sink would help in those cases.

Thanks, Lisa! As far as losing the countertop between the fridge and sink, with a French door fridge I would turn around and put things on the island behind me. The 18" space, I imagine, would be used either for things waiting to soak in the sink or things I hand washed that are drying. I know the trash location is not ideal according to the GW kitchen experts but I think it will be ok for how I cook. The rental house we've lived in for 2 years waiting for our new house is the most dysfunctional kitchen I've ever seen and a and miserable place to cook. It has taught me that some of these things that may seem inconvenient from a design perspective will be like heaven to me in a new kitchen.

Just to clarify, the wall wouldn't have to be adjusted - it may not be clear, but the short wall in the picture was longer that the depth of the fridge - it was the frame that made it work.

Sjhockeyfan, thank you, I did think it was more flush but went back and looked and see that it sticks out further. So the 3" or so frame helped that much?

How
do you feel about moving the sink off-center, then centering the faucet
on the window to help disguise it?

A 12" drawer base will not be very useful--I'd rather see you use a
12" trash pull-out in the prep area, than an 18" drawer base to the left
of the sink (unless that pull-out also needs to hold recyclables.) I have a 12" trash pull-out, and it's sufficient for our
household of 5.

You have 182.5" available
(65+53.5+64), so if you line up the 36" corner cab, 18" drawers, 12"
trash, 36" sink cab, 26" DW (24"+ return panel), and 38" fridge + panels,
that leaves 16.5" for a 15" pull-out pantry+ 1. 5" filler. Can you get a 15" pantry?

If
your fridge needs only 1/8" on each side, and the panels are only 3/4"
each, that's 1.75", or 37.75" for the fridge and panels. If you can get
by with only 3/4" for the DW return panel by screwing it to the 3/4"
fridge panel for stability (it just needs to support the counter top),
then those two moves will gain you enough space to put an 18" pull-out
on the end. (182.5" - 36" corner cab - 18" drawers - 12" trash -36" sink
- 24.75" DW+panel - 37.75 fridge+panels = 18". Is that cutting it too
close? That would also mean there was a little more space left between
the fridge and window trim, than on the other side. Just thought I'd mention that option.

It did!

Mama goose, a 15" pantry is not available from this cabinet company so that wouldn't work unless we made something :(. This will make me sound like a crazy person, but I think the sink not being centered under the window would drive me crazier than the refrigerator door hitting the wall! I agree a 12" drawer won't be very useful, I'd probably get more use out of it being the 9" base cab which already has a pullout. I'm stumped. The measurements drawn on my graph paper are the most accurate, taken in the actual house with drywall up and trim installed. 62" (and a half but I didn't write that) on the left side, 58" window including trim, then 62" on the right side.

i just wanted to chime in and let the OP know that we've been in our new house for almost one year. And I've been noticing that almost every decision that I am now second guessing are the ones that I placed form over function. That refrigerator door against the wall will be a huge regret. You will not be the only person opening that door. Friends and family will be using it, too. And you won't be able to control the damage to your wall. I can't speak to the clearance for opening the fridge drawers but I would be very skeptical that you will be happy

If you decide to put a cabinet next to the wall don't forget that you will need a spacer there as well. Maybe 2-3 inches to allow the cabinet door to open. And one more "gotcha" - if you have a drawer next to the wall you need a spacer in order for the drawer to clear the door trim.

Finally, my sink was off center from my window in my last house. I lived there 27 years and never noticed it until I started planning my new kitchen. I had renovated the old kitchen and moved the sink off center to get it away from the corner. The kitchen was so functional as a result of that little change that I just forgot about it until many years later.

one more thing. If you put a cabinet next to the wall be sure to pull it out flush with the carcass of the refrigerator. Make sure the fridge doors will clear. This will make it easier to acces the cabinet and make the fridge look more built in. Are you planning to have a panel between the fridge and the cabinet. ETA: That should read: panel between the fridge and countertop? Don't forget to calculate that in, too. I'm sorry you have this problem but at least you caught it in time to find a fix. Good luck!

Could you angle the door to the pantry and have it open out into the kitchen instead of swinging in? Shortening that wall would allow the fridge door to swing wider. You would lose a little square footage but not really any storage space since that area is wasted with the door swinging inward now.

Honu3421, thank you so much for chiming in...you're absolutely right, the idea of the fridge next to the wall is out. Gotta figure something else out. I'm confused though, when you say pull the cabinet out flush with the fridge would that not look odd with whatever I have to the right of the fridge being standard depth? I don't think the fridge can look built in moving to the proposed location. I wonder if I get a pantry cabinet that can have the door swing to the right instead of to the left into the wall to avoid a filler there? If I put drawers there I'd have an 18" piece of countertop that would be useless so a tall pantry cabinet would make more sense. I'm ok with the sink being off center by a few inches I just don't think I could handle it being way offset if I can think of another alternative. In my previous comment I said the sink being off center would drive me crazier than the fridge door hitting the wall, you're right-that would be much worse over time so maybe I need to just deal with the sink being off.

mamagoose, maybe your idea would work better for me if we fabricated a 12" pantry for the left of the fridge ( I think 12" would be enough for the fridge door to open??) Then I could keep the DW where it is between the fridge and sink, the sink would be OK, and I'd keep the 18" drawer and 18" trash to the right of the sink. The caveat there is whether 12" is enough space for the fridge door to open. Here's another thought, if the dishwasher is right next to the fridge will the slide out freezer be accessible when the DW is open? Seems like there would be enough clearance, right? The 4 door fridge would be an issue with that though. And I was seriously looking at that 4 door flex Samsung with integrated handles buying me 3" of door opening space. Ugh, this just sucks.

chelle324, that wouldn't work because pantry wall is now serving as support for the 2nd floor.

What are the thoughts on using a non French door fridge with the hinges on the right that would make the wall problem a non-issue?

I have a 12" pantry between my fridge and a wall. The door opens fine. I can take a photo with the door open if you'd like.

that would be awesome, thank you!

I'll have DH take that photo this morning.

I just measured it and the door is 10 1/4" with a 3/4" filler. We had this Rev-a-Shelf installed but there were design flaws in their center glide and it clunked when closing. It was a new design four years ago and may have been improved since then. My cabinetmaker removed it and built me a new insert. You might look at the Hafele inserts as they've been recommended by KDs here.

The door panel is 59" H. The small cabinet above it is handy for cutting boards and cookie sheets. It has a shelf.

So here it is open to the point where the handle lines up with the edge of the door. The deli drawer and produce bins pull out fully. I never open it that far though.

I hadn't noticed the measurement discrepancies between the original
plan and the hand drawn plan when I copied the original. You still have
the same amount of space (182.5"). Here is a graph, with the
measurements I suggested in the second part of my last post--bare
minimum DW return and fridge panels. It allows you to have the DW on the
left, 12" trash on the right, and 18" pull-out pantry, or 12" pull-out pantry and 6" filler, which should be enough space for the fridge door to open with no wall contact at all. Since the short wall is 67" long, you shouldn't have any issue with the door trim, if you choose a pullout. Like mayflowers, I usually don't open the fridge door all the way just to grab something while I'm cooking, so 12" might be sufficient, but you never know when a kid is going to fling the door wide open.

Here's the graph with the 18" pull-out (click to enlarge):

I don't think there would be an issue with opening the fridge drawers and DW at the same time--there would be at least 1.5" between them (DW and fridge panels).

Having
a single door fridge, hinged to open left-to-right, in that corner would
drive me batty--much worse than having the sink off center, IMO.

ETA: Just a thought, but if you put the existing 18" drawer base between the fridge and wall, flush with the fridge box, put the counter top on, and then set the 18" upper on it, but set back a few inches, it would look like a hutch. You could order another 18" upper in the correct height to bridge the gap to the ceiling--that might be less expensive than a pull-out, but you'd still need the 12" trash cabinet, and you'd have a 9" pull-out you wouldn't be using.

Having a single door fridge, hinged to open left-to-right, in that corner would drive me batty--much worse than having the sink off center, IMO.

Me too!

Thank you so much for all of your input! And mayflowers, thanks so much for the pictures, that was so helpful! I'm so grateful to be able to bounce things off of people. Definitely won't do the one side hinge door, definitely will have a pantry cabinet to the left of the fridge, size TBD. Mama goose, I'm thinking of maybe breaking the rule and putting the DW on the right of the sink and having an 18" trash on the left and a 12" trash in the prep area instead of a 12" drawer base which I agree is useless. I have plenty of drawers for utensils in the island and next to the cooktop. I'm also trying to work with what I have the best I can.

I have another question, maybe I should start a new thread, but I'm wondering if I should go with a 30" cooktop or a 36"? I do not cook over the stove much at all, I can't remember a time I've ever had more than 3 pots at once. I bake. The majority of what I cook I use a large rectangular electric skillet. My range hood is 36", some people say that's too small for a 36" cooktop, some don't. I've read a lot of GW threads on this topic, the consensus seems to be to go bigger if given the choice between 30 and 36. But given the way I cook I wonder if that extra 6" of counterspace would be better. I really questioned the decision after seeing 30" cooktops at Home Depot today that looked HUGE. Also since I have a 36" drawer base would a 30 or 36 cooktop work better there?

You'll probably get more responses if you start a new thread, and maybe cross post in the Cooking Forum. I'd choose the 30", which is what I've always had, and IRL, I don't know anyone with a bigger range or cooktop, unless it's one of the vintage ones. I rarely have more than two burners in action, and I prefer to roast or bake meats--almost always cook bacon in the oven. The 30" cooktop should be fine over the 36" base.

Thanks mama goose!!

If it's too much of a hassle to do a pantry you could always do an upper and lower. Our "pantry" is an upper and lower next to the fridge that are 10" deep (weird space constraints) but we wanted to have dedicated counter space for the toaster and fruit bowl.

Sounds like you only need a 30" cooktop unless everyone in the neighborhood is going bigger. Of course a 36" cooktops was one of the main goals of my remodel!!!

Remember that a 36 inch Cook top only gives you one additional burner. Do you often feel as if 4 burners aren't enough? Would you like 6 extra inches of counter space? I have about 4 tines a year when I need 5 burners. I always need more counter space.

Thanks for chiming in! I'll definitely consider the lower and upper cabinet idea to the left of the refrigerator. Re: the cooktop, we live on about 80 acres so there aren't really neighbors to compare to! I've never even used four burners, much less five. I've only ever had slide in ranges so even the 30" will be large to me. I noticed that some of the 30 inch cooktop have 5 burners. The plan all along has been to have a 36" cooktop but then saw the 30" at Home Depot today and was surprised to see it was a 30. I thought to myself that looked like plenty of space. I'm most excited about having countertop space and double ovens which I know I will use.

My 30 inch slide in range does indeed have 5 burners but one is simmer only. It's a GE induction and I love it. I also have anot electrolux single wall oven installed at counter height. Range under the vent for broiling an the oven for the times I need two ovens. It is the best of both worlds for me.

We actually chose 3 hob induction cook top when we remodeled our kitchen. It was decided that the counter space was more important to us than the 4th "burner". After using the set up for a year, we got it right! It just depends on your cooking style.

It's a little dark in this picture but I wanted to update with what I ultimately decided (THANK you everyone for your help!). I really should wait until the backsplash is done and the kitchen is all cleaned up to update this post but I was excited :). I took the suggestion of keeping the DW to the left of the sink out of the cooking/cleanup zone. I was not loving the idea of having the DW right next to the fridge but I decided to go for function and do it that way. I moved the 9" base cab that was between the DW and fridge to the wall side of the fridge, and bought 2 more to stack. They have pullouts inside, except for the top one because I would be be able to reach anything! I changed the 18" upper that was on the right of the fridge to a 12" which also has a pullout to make it more functional. So I only ended up buying two additional 9" base cabs and a 12" upper. I still have the 18" upper in the garage, haven't decided what to do with that yet! I'll update with another pic when it's all done.

It looks very nice! How is the access to all the pull-outs?

Mayflowers, I'm so sorry-I just saw this question! I updated my alert preferences but I never get email alerts. The pullout access is fine-I'm only using the middle 9" right now and it has drinks in it-tea bags, hot chocolate and cider packets, a box of Caprisuns...I just haven't had anything to put in the other two yet. Well the top one doesn't have a pullout-I do own a pullout for it but it was just too high for me. I may put it in someday though.

Here are some updated pictures, THANK YOU to everyone for your help. It's incredibly functional and fun to cook in. The walkways are very wide and I'm really happy with the decision to put the dishwasher to the left of the sink and the trash pullout on the right. I'm waiting for the correct size window grids for the window sink as part of my punch list-so please ignore those! The microwave, toaster oven, keurig, and kitchenaid mixer ate in the walkin pantry next to the kitchen. Love having all of that out of the way and my family hasn't complained (too much) about having them tucked in there. It helps that there's a huge picture window in the pantry :). Sorry these are dark… It's a little overcast today.

Your kitchen turned out so pretty and I think you found the right solution for your problem. You really should do a separate post for your reveal because I feel people may not check an older post.

love your windows, hood and countertop. Very nice to have such great seating and a large island.

Thank you, karenseb...this wasn't so much a reveal as an update for those who were so helpful with my original post. I was figuring they'd get an email notification or an update on their houzz home feed.

Well, finally! I've been waiting amost five months for an answer! J/k.

You made the right decisions because it looks perfect! I really like the warm chocolate counter with the dark wood floor. I'm so used to seeing gray and white counters, so what a nice change. I've always liked brown despite the gray trend we're in now.

Haha mayflowers! Thank you for the compliments! My bathrooms are gray and white quartzite but for the kitchen I wanted to pool in a little bit of brown with the grays for my floors and couch. So the granite has browns, grays, and whites. My walls are a warm gray.

Very nice. I love updates.

Ok I'm really having a hard time looking at this kitchen. It's because I can't decide what I like the most!

Beautiful choice on the granite, and your solution to your fridge problem. It worked out beautifully. Love your color choices

It looks like you stuck with the 36" cooktop?

May I ask what size your windows are on either side of the cooktop? I'm doing the same thing with windows on either side.

Thank you Ilovered and cpartist! Cpartist, I've been out of the loop for a while so I haven't gotten caught up on your saga in the how's your build progressing threads. The windows on each side of the cooktop are 24x48, (but actual width measures 22", 28" with trim). I don't miss uppers there at all especially with the lower storage I have. LOVE the drawer bases that everyone suggested in one of my other posts. I think you may have been the one to suggest a straight run of uppers on the sink side (I think that's what you're doing in your kitchen?) but it came out better symmetry-wise to do a corner with a 12" next to it. The 12" has a pullout and I have spices in it. Yes, went with the 36 cooktop and really glad I did. I definitely don't miss the extra 3" of countertop on each side. The 36" range hood is great with ventilation for how I cook. I originally bought a gas cooktop but since we don't have natural gas in my area I was going to pay for the tank plus the line to be dug to the house. At that point I was over extra expenses to I returned it and went with the electric cooktop. It's fine.