What brand are the rest of your appliances? Cabinets and countertops? What other finishes are you using (hardwood vs LVT flooring, etc.)

Also, If you’re worried about stainless not matching across brands, don’t be. All of my kitchen appliances are SS (NOT that “smudge proof stainless” stuff) and all are different brands.

I would research appliances and buy the best appliance for that need and not worry about matching. That's something they do in builders spec houses

I haven't decided! But I think I'm basing my other choices around the Viking french door wall oven. There are only a few brands that offer the french door oven: GE Monogram, GE Cafe, Bluestar, and Viking. I don't have a problem with mixing brands as long as the style and finish matches. We like the pro-style handles of the Viking and wonder if we can order extras to apply to fridge or other brand appliances to bring cohesiveness?

We plan on having porcelain faux-wood in a driftwood grey color, mixed white and med gray cabinets, white subway tile back splash. Not sure about the countertops yet, but will look at a white marble or other white material, faux concrete, soapstone, or even wood (mix of 2 various materials)

Check on the appliance forum. If I recall, Viking is not a brand that you want.

You don't want Viking. They tend to have the most problems and repairs across their full line.

Why are you so set on a regular depth refrigerator? I love my counter-depth - not only for the fact it doesn't stick way out in the kitchen, but that things don't get "lost" in the depths of the refrigerator.

We had a counter depth side-by-side at our old house and frankly, even for 2 people, it was very small. Perhaps a french door would be better? We bought our panel-ready counter depth for 1200.00 at the time but doubt I could come close to that price. I don't think a regular depth fridge would look that differently than a counter depth since we will have the 36" depth alcove, right? As far as the Viking, maybe the GE Cafe will suit our needs for the french door wall oven?

Standard depth refrigerators are very deep and stick way out into the room unless recessed into the wall. This started when people wanted to be able to put gallon milk jugs in the doors. They are about 4" deeper than the used to be.

I would decide on fridge 1st, then design space for it.

Whatever fridge decide on check specifications on open pass 90 degree to be able to open fully & remove drawers when needed.

In general terms,

Image 1 = to open a fridge against wall a hinge is pass adjacent wall meaning front of fridge is pass adjacent wall

Image 2= if hinge is behind adjacent wall a filler is needed to open

Of course, refer to the manual.

There are different type of hinges which makes a difference. French door fridges need a lot of side spacing to open.

Hope that helps.

I think I like image #2, so if I had a french door fridge, I would need a filler on each side, right? Trying to visualize how the trim out would look...

Your opening will need to be wider than 36 inches for a 36” wide fridge. Some fridge side bulge and you need some air space around the fridge for venting.

If it has 2 adacent walls, yes 2 fillers. Often, french doors need more than 4 " fillers. Check manuals & give specs to contactor. Double check measures of space with installer. There has been posts here when installers used just 3" & didn't open fully. When in doubt, more space width is better than too tight.

Once fridge is installed, verify drawers can be pulled out before checking off completed to satisfaction.

So the wider the filler, the less the fridge looks built in?

Not necessarily. It could look quite attractive if symmetrical & trimed in nicely.

Fillers often add function. It is necssary if fridge is built in to open

Example. See filler on left. That would repeat on right in this situation.

Oh wow. Is this a standard depth fridge? I would like to see more about the trim out!

It's a photo I found. Based on the shadow on the bases to left I believe so. When shopping for fridges download the manual. Find the description similar to this example.

Appliances die sooner than cabinets. And refrigerators are not standard sizes. So I would not design for a specific refrigerator.

We had an exisiting refrigerator that was only a couple of years old. But it was on the small side so we had our GC design side trim pieces and a shelf above that could be easily removed if the replacement refrigerator down the line was bigger.

Be sure to leave any required clearances for air flow.

The fridge photo posted by artistsharonva is a Dacor 42” Built-in.

Here is what I did with my standard depth fridge.

That looks do-able! Nice job! That's a pretty tight trim out but I think I could go even tighter since I have a lot of room for venting.

You can only go as tight as the clearance specs specify. Mine is exactly the required clearance.