I hope you get some good tips on this question. If I renovate, I will get a counter-depth and much smaller fridge as well. The only thing I thought about was keeping lists (phone, paper, journal) of all the items/food I have in the basement. I have to use the basement for overflow storage of cake pans, dishware, etc. in addition to the second fridge. I am not an organized person.

mobuddy89 - we aren't organized either. That is my concern.

Stan Z - My initial thought was that we need to get better with leftovers. Both in how we store them and in actually eating them!

Went from standard side-by-side to counter-depth and don't feel that we're missing out on storage. This also may have to do with the CD style that we have (french doors with freezer on bottom). For the fridge, I think we actually have better storage since it's the full expanse of the unit, allows me to store larger pans without any issue, and I don't 'forget' about items in the back since I can see everything. No issue with the freezer on the bottom so far.

mamazc - we are going to the same - side by side to french door with bottom freezer. I was actually impressed with the freezer space in the french door counter depth. I am also really looking forward to having the full width of the fridge. I hope we find the same, that it is more usable storage.

We just switched to French door counter depth and love it. I can see everything in there, and am not at all short of space, probably partly because I can easily see everything and remember to eat or throw out things more quickly

We have counterdepth and no real storage problems. The only time things get tight is when my husband has a lot of beer in there (say, after a big bbq and everyone brings beer) or in the days around thanksgiving and xmas. We otherwise only buy food that we plan on eating. On garbage day, I go through everything and toss what's too old. The fridge is usually only 1/3 full using this system.

Facing the same issue, last week I posted and asked if anyone regretted going from full to counter depth. Most responses did not regret the switch but many had fridge backup space someplace. Several people pointed out that they store the extra items of things like soda in cab space and stock fridge as needed. Since fridge space is the only storage space we have for those kind of things in the poorly designed current kitchen, I found that point helpful. I am planning 12 pack storage as we design the layout.

I'm a messy person and going to counter depth really helps me to stay more organized. Storage is not an issue. Ive had two counter depth fridges, a FP fridge over freezer and a SZ column, and my fair share of regular fridges. In my experience, counter depth are so much easier to organize and they have far less wasted space. They look small at first but the improved interior design more than makes up for it. Bet you love it!

We do have another fridge in the garage

and counter depth in the kitchen (which I love much more than a previous one since it has a bottom freezer..so much more convenient)

Frankly if it was up to me-I don't see a need in other fridge at all

But a) we already had it left from previous owners and b) my DH would have five fridges if he could..deep traumas run for generations.

how big is your CD fridge?? we have a 36" CD french door Liebherr for a family of 5 and have no problems. we have a freezer in garage. we don't store bottled water or a lot of beer . no soda since we don't drink it. most times its not even full. the only time its full is when we entertain. then it can get tight but its not all the time so we make do.

love the CD fridge, you can see everything and nothing gets lost in the back..!!

When my CD arrived, I was amazed at how big it was compared to old side by side. It's significantly taller. I don't buy beverages or gallons of milk so this isn't an issue for me. I can see everything! I do have a 2nd fridge in the basement: freezer us for undone ironing and I use the other for holiday extras or yoghurt when it's on sale.

It was HARD for us to make the switch...but we drink a lot! Lots of pitchers of tea, tons of Gatorade for my sporty children & their friends, dh's craft beers, diet Coke, and 2 gallons of milk per week!! Oh, and orange juice! Big drinkers, here, lol!! I store what I can in pantry & put in the fridge as needed. I am seriously considering giving up one of the cabinets for a beverage fridge on my island.

Stackable containers will help with storing leftovers. We did keep our old fridge and it's handy for holidays and summertime when the garden is producing and the canning begins. The CD is plenty of storage most of the time.

I think the style of counter depth makes a difference. Ice Maker/Water takes up a lot of room. I think having an outside drawer with a french door type gives you more storage room and is a great place to store leftovers so you don't forget about them.

You mentioned things going bad in a larger fridge. Well with a CD you don't lose things in the back so that happens less for me. There was some discussion on this issue in this thread: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4627571/any-regrets-switching-from-regular-depth-to-counter-depth-fridge

We do have a second refrigerator in the basement because it was here when we bought the house. But it is mostly empty except when preparing for big holiday meals. I love my new CD refrigerator.

Oh and I do have some organizing bins in my refrigerator. It definitely helps maximize the space.

When updating the appliances in our kitchen, I eagerly chose a counter depth fridge. Big mistake for our family. It certainly LOOKED nice, but it was amazing how much I missed the storage space of a regular depth fridge. Fortunately, my friend was in the market for a counter depth fridge, so she bought mine and I bought a regular depth one. No regrets.

Lisa - it is interesting that you feel the outside drawer is helpful. The one we sent back had an outside drawer and I really wanted that, but they don't make a lot of counter depths with it and the salesman said it actually decreases space so we went without.

Jewelisfabulois - hopefully we will be one of the many that seem to love it because full depth doesn't seem to be a realistic option in our kitchen.

Seeing as your family does not drink a lot of beverages that need to be stored in your refrigerator, I think you'll be quite happy with it. As others have stated, it's easy to see what is in there. It may be just what you need to stay on top of the contents of your refrigerator. It's super nice to have everything at eye level; no stooping to see what has been pushed to the back.

Thanks everyone! You are making me feel better about moving to a CD fridge!

Cheryl I am hoping you are right. We did get the ice/water maker in the door. I know a lot of people recommend against it with CD but I can't imagine not having it. The place we have been renting doesn't and it is one of the things I miss most about our old fridge!

Based on others comments, I am ordering more stack-able containers to store leftovers in. We will have to be diligent about cleaning out the fridge but if we are running out of room that shouldn't be an issue! It will certainly help open the kitchen up, which is our main goal with the new house.

I hope you like the ice/water in the door. My GF has a full depth refrigerator with the water/ice in the door and the compartment for the ice is very small, and we run her out of ice in no time flat when we are there. Our ice maker is in the freezer in the lower section of our refrigerator. It drops into a catch bin and it keeps up with our demands on it. It also has a boost setting, or whatever the right term is for it, that will speed up ice production which is nice. We put in a filtered water faucet on our clean-up sink as a way to get by not having water on the door.

Good luck with it. I hope you really like it. :)

I think I'm going to do the same as you and get stackable containers, too! Great idea. I love that about this forum; great ideas being shared.

The good thing about CD, is you don't lose a bunch of things in the back. It's amazing how much space the lost items take up.

I use my basement fridge for extra beverages..... soft drinks, water, milk, etc. I also use it for things that I buy larger quantities of, but don't necessarily need immediately,.... yogurt, apples, ontions, cheese, etc. So a bit in the kitchen and overflow in the basement. I know that when I move the last of the overflow to the kitchen fridge, it's time to replenish! I never store leftovers in the basement.... might as well just skip that step and toss immediately as I will forget to use it.

I have a counter depth frenchdoor refrigerator. Our old side by side is in the garage but it only holds beverages or overflow before parties and holidays. The counter depth holds all of our day to day items. It is also very flexible. My daughter decided to bake this weekend and make jello. It took seconds to shift drawers around and hold items.

We went from a ginormous full depth 31 cubic foot fridge to a 18 cubic foot built in. I love the built in and don't miss the clunky fridge at all where things got lost in the back. Our fridge is still mostly empty but we store leftovers in glass containers and dont have many beverages either, maybe a dozen cans or so.

Thanks everyone for commenting on your experiences! We move in this week and I am hoping that I will love the fridge as much as most of you do!

Its very lifestyle dependent, I would say. I went in the opposite direction. Used to live in the UK, where the typical fridge is about the size of a beverage center fridge here. Not a problem, when you live in a little village with butcher, baker, greengrocer in walking distance. And milk brought daily by the milkman! But now I'm back in the US and can't imagine living that way now. We are in the woods, far from stores, now I make bulk purchases at Sam''s Club an hour away, we buy half a cow from a local farmer, and so on.

We did look at counter depth refrigerators this weekend and they just felt too small --- for our current way of life. And my logical husband couldn't wrap his head around the idea of paying more, for less. Why ARE they more expensive for less space?

I couldn't wait to get rid of my CD fridge. I might have felt different if it was French door, but the side by side was always full. I feel like I lost more to the back because everything g was so close together you couldmt see around anything. We have a beverage cooler for drinks, but having very little freezer space bothered me too. Full size fridge was a requirement in our remodel.

Another 'yes' vote from a CD owner, with NO extra fridge. Granted, it is just 2 of us. I can understand how a family with teenagers to feed would feel the need for more space.

But my townhouse kitchen is only 10' x 10' ~ I could not abide by a fridge taking up valuable floor space plus IMHO, it looks ugly to have a huge fridge sticking out into a small kitchen. I LOVE the look of the CD.

I would strongly encourage anyone with a small kitchen footprint to consider CD.

My kitchen is smaller and when I replaced the appliances I went for CD and GLAD I did... The old fridge stuck out way too far. We did put our old fridge in the garage. My hubby works outside so I usually have 4-6 packs of Gatorade in the garage fridge, along with waters & soda. If we didn't have the garage fridge then it would be a struggle.

I should probably mention that given our old floor plan, I would stick with CD rather than have a narrow walkway past the peninsula. In the new kitchen, we are recessing the fridge so it will appear to be counter depth.

Our new fridge was delivered and it does look beautiful at counter depth! We move on Thursday so I haven't used it yet, but it is pretty!

Congratulations. Glad you like it! We have a CD main fridge, a beverage fridge/wine cooler in the FR and the old fridge in the garage. The old fridge is mainly used for the freezer, but large packs of beverages and costco sized fruit go there (melons in the summertime). Things do sometimes get forgotten out there, because only beverages are grabbed. Most of the fresh fruit/meat/veg/dairy goes into the main fridge.

So I have to say, I have been using the fridge for 3 days now and I think it will work fine! There really is more room than it looks. As others mentioned, I think the key will be getting rid of leftovers, either eating them or throwing them away. As long as the fridge isn't cluttered with leftovers I think it will be plenty big.

KXP24....which brand fridge do you have...I love the fact that it looks easily adjustable?

We have a GE. We haven't really adjusted anything other than the shelf that folds back to make room for larger items.

Just had a 30" counterdepth fridge delivered this weekend and I love it! It seems to hold as much stuff as my old wider, but shorter, fridge. I was always throwing food out because I lost sight of what was tucked in back in old fridge. The shallower depth makes everything visible and easy to grab. I love the minimalist quality of this fridge as well. No heavy plastic and bulky bins taking up space. Old freezer was a pain to dig threw to find whatever. I threw out food that was buried under in the freezer deep wire basket. I am pleased as punch with the way this freezer is organized with drawers. So easy for retrieval. Holds plenty for us. Love it, love it, love it! Here are some pick

We just went from a counter depth to a regular depth, and I love it. At our old house we had the counter depth one and a fridge in the garage, but at our new place without a spot for the second fridge, it seriously did not meet our needs, but we do eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.

What fridge is that, please, quiltgirl1?

It is a Liebherr. It is tall like a sub zero, but without the price tag of a sub zero.

I was going to get French door 36" model, but wanted pull out pantry space so saved the 6" extra for that. Also, the way my kitchen is laid out, I would have been reaching around French door, so this door made more sense for me.

Thanks!

I have a GE: Counter-depth French, White PFCF1RKZWW. This specific model is discontinued, so I found it on clearance last fall. However, I think the newer models have the same features.