You should choose your fridge before you order. Will it be French door? You need cover panels on the uppers by the range and the sink also. The fridge panels should match those. I don’t understand why you would do a Sherrs fridge cabinet only. Is it a wood grain front you’ve chosen and you want the exposed sides to match? If so, you’ll want all Sherrs cover panels

Ikea cabinet frames are attached to a rail that’s secured to the wall, then the sides of adjacent cabinets are screwed together. The cover panels are screwed to the cabinet frame. The fridge cover panels are not supporting the upper, it’s to hide the sides of the fridge and give a built in look.

If you aren’t doing a counter depth fridge then you need a different approach. You’ll need two Ikea 3 x 8 cover panels that will be cut down to fit the body of your fridge excluding the doors. The upper cabinet will need to be pulled forward accordingly and your contractor will build a frame behind it to attach the cabinet. In this scenario the cover panels do add additional support for the cab.

Is that a corner Susan next to the fridge? If so, you won’t be able to open the door with a full depth fridge next to it as the fridge will extend 8-9” beyond the cabinet face.

We hung the upper with the rails, and then attached the side panel on the outside of it. (Meaning the cabinet doesn't 'sit' on the cover panel, but once the cover panel is attached, it does provide additional support and stability.)

We actually bought extra doors for all of the exposed side panels in our last house, so none of them were a plain edge. In this house, we've installed shiplap that matches our island. So, our cover panels have all been hidden, ultimately.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my muddled questions!!

You should choose your fridge before you order. Will it be French door?

No, sorry, I should have said it will be a bottom freezer that opens from the left.

You need cover panels on the uppers by the range and the sink also.

I'm not sure what you mean by "cover panels" here. The fronts on the sink and range cabinets will be Shaker from Scherr's.

The fridge panels should match those.

We actually bought extra doors for all of the exposed side panels in our last house, so none of them were a plain edge.

Ohhhh, I never even thought of that. Does this mean we should do a Shaker side panel for the fridge? Would it look horrible if we did a plain side panel?

Ikea cabinet frames are attached to a rail that’s secured to the wall, then the sides of adjacent cabinets are screwed together. The cover panels are screwed to the cabinet frame. The fridge cover panels are not supporting the upper.

OK, that's what I didn't know.

I don’t understand why you would do a Sherrs fridge cabinet only. Is it a wood grain front you’ve chosen and you want the exposed sides to match?

No, but the uppers will be painted with a SW white, and I was assuming that the Ikea panels were not paintable. And since I wasn't sure if the cover panel was actually the side of the cabinet (but longer), I wondered if we could attach that to an Ikea cabinet. If the cabinet is just installed regularly, and then the side panel is attached to it, then just using an Ikea cabinet makes sense. I am still thinking we can't get the side cover panel from Ikea though. It will need to be the same color as all the rest of the Scherr's fronts. If we keep it plan, I suppose we could get it from anywhere and paint it, but if we do it in Shaker, I think we'd need to get it from Scherr's?

If you aren’t doing a counter depth fridge then you need a different approach.

No counter depth fridge. So does none of the above apply?

You’ll need two Ikea 3 x 8 cover panels that will be cut down to fit the body of your fridge excluding the doors. The upper cabinet will need to be pulled forward accordingly and your contractor will build a frame behind it to attach the cabinet. In this scenario the cover panels do add additional support for the cab.

I think that sounds more like what I was picturing, but again I'm not sure I can use the Ikea cover panels b/c of the finish.

Is that a corner Susan next to the fridge? If so, you won’t be able to open the door with a full depth fridge next to it as the fridge will extend 8-9” beyond the cabinet face.

But not if it's a bottom freezer that opens from the left, correct?

Also, I'm working on picking out the fridge. I have been doing some reading, and it's kind of depressing. Sounds like all of the mid-range manufacturers suck now. :(

Your design isn’t allotting enough space for cover panels, fillers, or appliance clearances. It will not physically work.

The refrigerator end is especially bad and prompts the whole design to need redoing. You don’t have enough space there for what you want to have happen. And the black hole corner created isn’t doing you any favors either.

You’d be better to not turn the corner there, because that leg is much too short to work as is.

And, no, you don’t need to do door panels on the side, it was just a design choice for us. Here, you can see the ones on the side of our upper cabinets, and at the end of our cabinet run:

Oh, right, that makes sense. Thanks Gennifer!

I'm not sure what you mean by "cover panels" here.

Cover panels “finish” the exposed sides of cabinets. They should coordinate with the fronts but not necessarily be identical. I don’t know if you want your contractor to take on finding material with a finished edge and color matching and painting, so you should talk with Scherr about this. How far off is the white? Ikea has a few different whites for cover panels. You definitely need cover panels for those exposed sides.

But not if it's a bottom freezer that opens from the left, correct?

Not correct. It will make the Susan inaccessible. Here is an example of full depth fridge. It protrudes 9” from cabinet front. I pulled my drawer out 9” so you can see how it would interfere with the Susan door function. You’ll have to visualize in reverse. It won’t work. Sophie is right, it physically won’t work. I’d advise a visit to Ikea to analyze the displays.

Thank you for the pic! That helps a lot. I will be going to Ikea soon so I will play around with things there. Maybe we'll just do a drawer there. I had previously thought about blocking off the "black hole" space from the kitchen and opening it up from the other side as storage in our stair well. Something to still consider....

I didn't get what you meant about the other cover panels b/c I had not noticed the exposed sides of the other cabinets. Thank you for highlighting that!

Just remember to account for that... it’s an extra 3” you’ll lose along that top cabinet run!

Just want to emphasize what Sophie said, a full depth fridge on that wall makes the entire corner unusable. You won’t be able to even stand there, thus the black hole analogy. If there is no other location for the fridge I would only consider a cabinet depth one. Have you posted for design help?

I think there are layout things to be worked through here (fridge depth), but I'll answer the Ikea/Scherr's cover panel questions from my experience.

We also did Ikea with unfinished Scherr's fronts which we sprayed with BM Simply White. You want to pretty much wrap all the ikea cabinets with cover panels. You won't want any exposed portions of cabinet. You'll see this when you go to Ikea.

We priced cover panels through Scherr's, but the shipping made it very expensive. Since we were painting ourselves, we made the cover panels out of mdf and routed the edges to match the door/drawer front edges. Scherr's was super helpful in helping us figure this out. Also we just cut filler strips from mdf. Everything painted well. Here's a couple pictures of ours without cover panels and with.

I'm not sure I would buy an Ikea cover panel that doesn't match your paint color or finish. We did buy the toekicks from Ikea that matched our white closest because they click on the legs easily and it's hard to notice.

I'm happy to help with other Scherr's/Ikea questions if you have them.

I have gotten design help, and my fridge is there in my current set up. It would be workable if the range wasn't so close to the fridge. I know we won't be able to open those drawers while the fridge is open, but it will be way better than it is now. It's a small space with some constrictions, and after going over designs with multiple people, this one (above) won.

SCRAP THAT! Current fridge is only 30" deep with doors, so I can't use my current config to suss out how it would feel if there were drawers there, not a range. I may just do what I suggested above - close off kitchen access to the black hole and use it as stairwell storage - and also just put open shelving next to the fridge.

And yes, I know of course that measurements are important. I don't mean to say I am basing this entirely on how it would feel. But with every configuration we have looked at, I have also used boxes, and even my son, to fill in for various objects, to see what it would be like to work in the various arrangements. That's one reason I decided against a french door fridge. 50% of the time, the fridge door would be blocking the counter on which I would want to put my food items. So now that I see how shallow my current fridge is, I realize I can't even "pretend" this config with what I've got right now.

If you go with a counter depth fridge so many problems will be alleviated. Is there a reason it's out of the question? You'd be able to keep your Susan, which is great storage, with this fridge: LG 28".

I took a brief look at the thread where benjesbride came up with this config. She did include cover panels and filler. I want to add that I love my french door fridge and would recommend it for your space. I would also choose to reconfigure that corner to fit a 36" counter depth rather than a full-depth that will be really obtrusive to the space. My daughter has this LG in a small kitchen. It's great fridge at a great price. They have models with water/ice in the door too.

No, counter depth is not out of the question, I just had not thought through that. In fact, I have been looking at them online this morning. I am a bit concerned about cost, but I think we can figure that out. Now that I know my current one is counter depth, I can really see how a full depth fridge will not work. Yikes!

My concern about a french door is what I mentioned above. The way I am used to working now, I open the fridge from left to right and can easily put my food onto the counter/range to the left (in future, it will only go on the counter). The fridge door is over to the right, well out of the way. With a french door, that action will be blocked half the time. I'd have to close the left door to put the food down. It sounds like it would be frustrating. However, when I search for counter depth bottom freezer fridges, the options were quite limited. If I open it up to a french door counter depth, I would have more options. Stuff to think about...

Thanks for working on this!!

Your welcome! You're just not used to them. And remember the doors are only 18" wide on a 36". They really are not in the way. Veggies will need to be brought over to the sink side of the range where main prep will take place. You won't want to drop them to the right of the range, though you could.

I am supposed to be doing my menu planning and list-making right now, and every time I go into the kitchen I start thinking about the design and whipping out the tape measure. This is getting ridiculous. Lol. But new things keep popping into my mind, and I can't stop!

If you want an L shape, the other end would be more suitable to the L. Place the fridge on the main wall, 17" away from the wall to the right, and use the short wall for a 15" deep pantry + filler. That will give you a larger refrigerator, even though it may have issues with the door opening. But it would have issues where you've located it.

Is there any way you would be willing to swap the range and the sink? You'd have better work flow.

Is there any way you would be willing to swap the range and the sink? You'd have better work flow.

I considered that, but I was hoping to keep the sink and DW together, and I don't want the DW close to the fridge. Someone is bound to open the DW and leave it open. So what's better - this work flow or swapping the sink and range but still having the DW at the end of the run (and not next to sink)? Neither flows quite right, but it's a small space so it's not like I will have a ton of extra steps no matter what I do.

I will try to address the other issue later. Gotta run to the store before my children darken the doorstep.

I know what you mean abut the fridge. When we remodeled 5 years ago, I could not find a single door fridge with freezer on the bottom (at least not locally), so we got our first french door fridge. Yes, I do have to reach around one door, but that's really only an issue when I'm putting away groceries - the rest of the time I only deal with one or two things at a time, so I'm not transferring from counter to fridge - I'm already holding the item before I open the fridge door. Once I got used to it, I love it, and would do it again.

In your case, where the fridge is near the corner, it would be even easier - you would place things next to the stove, not on the counter right next to the fridge.

Thank you, Scherr's, for all the detail. Even if I make some changes, this will still be helpful. And I'm glad to hear that most people would make a fridge side panel plain. That's how I was envisioning it.

This is a crappy Floorplanner mock-up (because Ikea Homeplanner is driving me nuts). I wish I could rotate it, but I don't see a way to do that in the 2d rendering. The sizes in blue are widths (not lengths, as it might appear) of each item along the wall. I think this works with a left-to right opening, bottom freezer counter depth fridge. The 15" drawer cabinet next to the fridge should be fine, right, since the fridge door would open away from it? It could be recessed a bit or pulled forward as pictured. The corner space would be blocked off in the kitchen and open through the stairwell on the other side of the wall. The counter top would just run straight to the wall.

If for some reason the 15"W drawer cabinet doesn't work next to the fridge, that could be open shelving.

I also worked on a plan that would allow for a french door fridge, but I'm not sure how that would be better. With a fridge like below, there is nothing for the door to hit. If there is some reason a FD fridge really would be better, would I need more space between the fridge and the cabinet? If so, It could be a 12" cabinent (no drawers).

And here's some wall cabinets. In Merillat Basics, which has the same furniture board construction as Ikea, and full extension soft close drawers, full overlay, real birch wood white painted shaker, (no thermofoil) with the fridge panels, but not the island or shelves, you'd be looking at around $4500 for all of those cabinets. And there are TONS more sizes available for that than IKEA.

“If you are covering the side of a cabinet that is completely exposed we recommend getting a shaker style cover panel.”

Stillpitpat: I might be interpreting this wrong, but it reads to me like you *do* want a shaker-style cover panel for the right side of your fridge, since it’s exposed. (You see it from outside the kitchen.) The left side would only need a flat panel. No?

That was the deciding factor for us. The side that was visible from the living room got decorative panels. The other side was flat.

Gennifer, lol, I guess I got stuck on "It is not normal to have your fridge cover panels "Shaker" style." I'm not sure what I will want. I'll have to look at some pictures.

If you really want to avoid French door fridges, Fisher Paykal makes a couple counter depth models that have a single door for the fridge on top and a bottom freezer. They’re slightly smaller than most counterdepth models thes days, too, which might benefit you, too ... about 32” wide and 27” deep, I believe. (Tho it does possibly limit your options if you ever need to replace it)

We had one for 9 years in our previous house and were quite happy with it. ... We had a odd size space that benefited from a shallow fridge.

That said, we have a French door fridge now and I wouldn’t go back to single door — it’s nice to be able to open fridge doors without blocking the entire aisle.

I'm not against them, I'm just not sure which I would like better. And now I have a headache, reading over all this. :(

HA! Your remodel hasn’t even started yet. Just wait. ;)

Oh god, I know. And in the mail today was a flyer for the appliance store we will almost certainly use. Wouldn't you know it, they are having a sale in a couple weeks. Sigh.

Have you thought about where you'd store your pantry items yet? I was thinking that several of your original wants were still missing. Here's a few more ideas that address more storage and your want of a table that you'd occasionally use. Both plans incorporate an under cabinet MW which can be attached to the 30" Upper. The first one is based on your last drawing, but keeps the Susan in the corner instead of the basement stairwell storage and 15" drawer base. The Susan is accessible with a cabinet depth fridge. It also adds narrow pantry storage and bench/shoe storage area. Since this is the family's main entrance a small, organized mud area makes sense.

This next one goes back to one of your original ideas and incorporates an Ikea Norberg wall mounted table under your window. You can flip it up for homework or for extra prep space. This one also gives you more flexibility regarding your fridge and a lot of counter space and storage.

bbtrix,

You're right about what I left out. I should have included the opposite wall in my posted layout but idk how to indicate a stud-bay pantry and pull-down table in floorplanner. I guess I could just put in a couple of lines with a note. We were still planning to do something like that, although maybe a narrow table with a stool underneath instead of a pull-down table (even though it would technically be in the way of traffic, we can deal with something that protrudes 12" or so). We probably can't do an under-cab MW just yet, as my youngest would probably spill stuff/burn himself, but in a couple years we could do that.

I do want a few hooks and a place to put a couple pairs of shoes, but our front is our "main" entrance, or at least it's where we store more stuff. When we come in the back door, we are supposed to bring our shoes to the front, although we don't always do that (me too, not just the kids). We also have a closet and storage baskets in the front, so everything is *supposed* to be carried there. What hangs in the back is my apron and a few fleeces/windbreakers (and snow pants to drip/dry when we have snow but that's been sparse lately). So we need a little space for that, but not a ton. Sometimes I hang my purse in there out of reach of the cat, who finds the leather straps just right for chewing. That said, I am intrigued by the idea of the wall table on that *back wall* under the window in the next plan. If we did that, we could then use the space next to the stud-bay pantry for coats & shoes. And I didn't even know that Ikea made a fold-down table. I like the sound of a $40 table a lot better than a custom one. I wonder if I could put some fun contact paper on it so the whites wouldn't clash.

That second layout is close to what I thought was The One, but several people here talked me out of having the fridge along that opposite wall next to the DR door. Even one of the people who originally suggested it changed her mind. Strong words were used. lol. I think I have officially abandoned that one. But this definitely gives me more to think about. Thank you so much!

Stillpitpat did you check out IKEA's shoe cabinets? Take up no space but hold a lot. We had the HEMNES one in our old house and loved it. It holds so many shoes and the top is just deep enough for a drop zone (keys, spare change etc). I believe it was 11" deep but they even have ones slimmer too.

You know what I need to consider? An 18" DW. I keep playing and playing with the measurements, and gaining an extra 6" might help a lot. We have 2 kids but don't run the DW every 24 hours. It's more like every 36 hours. I would not mind a smaller DW if I could get away with running it every 24 hours.

Stillpitpat, Is there still time for your contractor to recess the fridge?

I'm going with a counter-depth fridge, but I'm having the contractor leave a recess behind it for the future, in case we ever need to replace the fridge and can no longer find a counter depth or decide we want a larger capacity model.

Renov8or - Her basement stair is behind the fridge.

Ah, gotcha. I read all about that in another discussion (that's what gave me the idea!) and I didn't connect it to this one. Thanks!

It's not a bad idea, as the wall between the kitchen and stairs is actually pretty wide (I'm not home now so can't measure) and I was hoping to recess it, but my husband thinks the vent stacks are in there. ☹️ Before long we need to poke some holes in walls and soffits just to be sure.