There is a reason why you don't find photos with a 48" rangetop next to a 48" fridge. They both belong to a fairly large kitchen that hopefully has a good layout.

Post a floorplan to scale, if you’d like educated help. Generally, what you are proposing is not a good idea.

That should NEVER EVER happen. Talk about a fire hazard! If that ”has” to happen in your space, your appliances are much too large for it.

I have 18” from my fridge to my range, and then a slightly angled countertop on the other side which is 18.5” angling to 30.5”. What you see is the aftermath of my husbands lunch. There is a good sized peninsula to the right and plenty of counter space behind me. The 18.5” space is cramped, and we usually just use it to pour drinks. Cups and glasses are in the upper cabinet. The lower cabinet has cooking utensils and pots. The upper cabinets to the right hold regularly used spices and baking ingredients. The lower cabinets hold pans, baking sheets and cutting boards. So even though it’s a bit tight, it’s very functional. I do not know how you would utilize 9” of space.

I personally like plenty of space on either side of my range. I have 32” of countertop to the right of my range and 25” to the left. I cook from scratch and love the amount of counterspace I have around my range. I would not like only 9” on either side.

I don't understand this set-up at all. If you need a 48" cooktop, you are juggling enough pans that you need much more landing space on each side. And if you are going to do this, you need a tile, stone, or stainless panel on that fridge. Hot pans are going to end up very close to and even touching that panel.

It should be fine. Mine is a 42” with a pantry on one side and a small counter space between my fridge and range, but like you I also have a large island right in front. It has worked just fine for us. You make use of the space you have. I only use the counter space for a coffee maker anyway. I put everything in my island.

NKBA Standards:

Cooking Surface Landing Area: Include a minimum of 12 inches of landing area on one side of a cooking surface and 15 inches on the other side. In an island or peninsula, the countertop should also extended a minimum of 9 inches behind the cooking surface.

If you do what you propose, you are investing a lot of money into a kitchen that will be both functionally and aesthetically poorly designed.

Not a pro, I’ve just owned many homes. 9” is far too little space on side of range. I don’t know about codes and regulations but, ooof, I could never cook with that space. Very awkward. Jamming such large appliances in a small space is a mistake IMO. Surely you can find great appliances that fit better. Good luck to you!

9"?! I have 12" ( I had no choice ) and I can't wait to change it. Keep in mind - if you are cooking using the right burners on the stove (assuming the ref is one the right ) and someone needs to open the left door of the ref - it will hit you or you now have to get out of the way.

Doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

You may discover down the road that you made a big mistake. If this isn't a 'forever' house, that might be a major turnoff to future buyers and you might grow to hate it as well. I would be worried about only having 9" on both sides.

I'd downsize both appliances to at least 36" or adjust your layout if you don't want to wait for other appliances.

Thermador is at least year, my freezer , they say (again) will ship end of march, thats 13 months. The salesman was full of it, so good choice going with something else.

Thank you all for the feedback! I don’t disagree with many of the comments! I am curious, though how this layout would function any differently than so many of the range alcove kitchens I admire? I did a quick search and came up with many and will post here to gauge opinions!

While those photos showcase expensive, beautiful counters, cabinets, and ranges, they are not very functional. In the same way I would love s red Ferrari, it would be extremely impractical for my lifestyle. I recently saw a survey of millennial attitudes about design. They preferred looks over function so that might account for some of these gorgeous pictures which focus on looks over practicality. Do yourself a favor, one that will cost nothing. Put masking tape on the counters 9 inches from each side of your current range. Try it for a week as the only useable counter space while you cook. 9 inches doesn’t leave me room for the lid to my 10” skillet....

I think those alcoves are incredibly poor designs. Not sure why anyone would ever want anything like that and I doubt that they actually wind up in real kitchens.

The difference between a range in an alcove like your images and one with just 9" of countertop on either side comes down to scale and proportion. These alcoves are often grand in scale and the aesthetic for many outweighs the function. Without the dramatic hearth surround, you have neither the aesthetic nor the function.

I don't think most of your images are successful applications of an alcove (or hearth) design, but that is the problem with design apps and sites. Just because someone took a professional photo of it doesn't mean it's good design.

I'm a function person. If it was for me, and I had the money to burn, I'd be ebaying that range top, getting a 36" and increase the surface between the rangetop and the ref to 18" and to 12" between the rangetop and the pantry by replacing all three cabinets.

I'm down with trying to use what you have. Consider adding either a cutting board that covers a pair of the burners or a stainless steel cover if you need a little more landing space. If you don't like it, you can always place those cabinet orders then and live with it until the new stuff comes.

We all convinced we're right, but sometimes I think function people are the MOST righteous (not discounting myself).

Almost all the pictures people have posted (including the original poster) show at least 15" landing space. Nine inches is CRAZY small. Can't even fit a dinner plate (which is what we do every day at dinner as everything gets plated. You wouldn't bring the whole pot of soup to the island and serve from there).

I have never ever seen any pics on GW with those kinds of proportions, unless it's someone asking for help on how to fix their non functional kitchen. I don't know where you found those pics, but they seem a lot more instagram than GW. Like, someone designed a kitchen for getting likes, and not for making dinner.

Finally, count me among those who thinks that if you "must" have a 48" range only 9 inches from appliances/pantries on either side, your kitchen is definitely not big enough for a 48" range or fridge.

One thing in your defense...a 48" range surface has plenty of its own landing space. I use my center griddle (covered with a cutting board while not in use) for ingredients, pots etc all the time.

I would suggest getting a couple of boxes and tape them to the counter at 9" from the side of your stove and see what you think.

Early in my career , my trainer told me - "Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should." I say this to my customers all the time.

It is also difficult to gauge what your work zones are like since we only know what you are describing and not know what sort of adjacent tops and work zones are around you. A floor plan would make this so much easier

I think lucky998877 has a point. A 48” range will give you some landing zone options. Personally, I wouldn’t like that but it is a possibility if you’re in love with the large appliances. I also don’t like alcove range installations either as they feel so constricted. I hope you find a good compromise, bowmeister. I wish you the best!

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. I appreciate all of the perspectives and it is helpful. I ended up finding a 30" column refrigerator and matching freezer which I will separate, giving me at least 18" on either side of the range to work with and still enabling a 30" pantry door opening, although I may steal a couple of those inches too. I think my kitchen space is large enough to handle large scale appliances, I am just trying to keep a similar flow with my remodel because I love the current functionality of my work zone.

Well just be thankful that you are getting all this feedback now. Look what this poor gal did in her kitchen! I can't even imagine how this design ever got that far.

https://beckstreetblog.blogspot.com/2020/04/rethinking-our-range-alcove-design.html

Cooking Surface Landing Area: Include a minimum of 12 inches of landing area on one side of a cooking surface and 15 inches on the other side.

FWIW, I did exactly that in another house; it was all there was space for. I had been worried about the asymmetry but it didn't bother me at all. What had bothered me was having the refrigerator right next to the range, with no landing space for either. The remodel moved the refrigerator to the other side of the room, with adequate counter space on the side that the door opened from.

It seems to me that the way to get adequate space on either side is to choose a 36-inch range.

@Chessie like the woman in the blog post, I too have a large island directly behind my cooktop area currently and will too in the remodel. I convinced myself the lack of landing space on either side of the cooktop with the larger cooktop wouldn’t be a problem because I currently never use the countertops next to the rangetop for prep and landing…I always use the island. I still wasn’t comfortable with the aesthetic of it or the permanence of it and the feedback I received was very clear. I feel fortunate to have quickly secured the column refrigerator and freezer and the added bonus is extra freezer space, which I could use, and the option to have wood paneled appliances, which works into my design better this time.

Post a picture when you’re finished.

I m glad I found this, debating the same issue as bow. Currently I have 24 inches on each side of the range which I never use for prep or serving since I have a huge island behind me and plenty of counter space . I felt the space on each of the side of the range were a waste of space (at least to me ) so I was planning to move the refrigerator next to range with 16 inches between the fridge and range. Reading this post is making me think now. I guess the advise is Not to do this 😺

@Riviela

That may not be the right decision for your kitchen and your layout. There is form, function, storage and visual that has to all come into play. Everyone's space is different. If your plan works for you and doesn't break any codes, then stick with it.

Good luck!

Thank you Debbi, I wanted to move the refrigerator next to the 48” range and add a cabinet between the 2 appliances (16 inches) ( currently the refri is in the opposite side of the island- no the best location for me)
the alcove is now 100” since I discovered a problem with a column in the right side of the alcove that I cannot remove- so I will no be able to fit the 16 inches cabinets in both size of the range as the first picture( wish) based on the advise here it seems that I have to keep the refri where it is now in order to have space in both sizes of the range . The column I have is similar to the picture 3 - I will have plenty of counter space after the column and keeping the island for prep as well ( I never used the space on the alcove - I used it for decoration only )