Side by sides have horribly limiting space division. The fridge and freezer compartments are narrow and deep, with science experiments falling to the back, and no ability to store a birthday cake or pizza. To get ”a good amount of fridge (especially crisper) space” you need to move to an all fridge column, with a separate freezer located elseshere. Or, a french door, where the entire wide width of the cavity is contiguous refrigerator storage space.

We had to replace a side by side that had a ton of room and adjustable shelves and every newer side by side we looked at was smaller than the old one and didn't have adjustable shelves. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find one comparable to the old one size wise. So I understand the struggle. I am not much help because we did end up going with a french door with a bottom freezer. But if we hadn't gone with that we would have gotten an LG side by side probably since those seemed to have the best layouts inside.

Thank you! This is helpful. Argh, the direction fridges are going in doesn't seem to be made for me. My mom has a side by side that is 20 years old and won't die and she won't get rid of it, because she loves it.

Do you mind if I ask which French door you got and are you happy with it?

We went with this one. We don't use much ice and most french doors we looked at had two ice dispensers, one in the door and one in the freezer part. This one just has one in the freezer part which works well for us, plus it gave us more door shelf space in the fridge part. We haven't had it long but so far we like it and haven't had any issues. It is our first french door fridge though so I have never had any others to compare it to.

• Minimum and maximum exterior widths?
• Counter-depth?
• Maximum depth excluding handles?
• Finish (e.g. stainless steel)?
• Next to a wall deeper than the width of adjacent refrigerator or freezer door (answer must be "No")?

Our kitchen has to be rebuilt post dishwasher leak. It will not be next to a wall. Counter depth while attractive won’t give the space within the fridge we feel we need. We expect to probably do SS.

The LG LRSXS2706 and LRSDS2706 did well in CR tests:

• LG LRSXS2706S: Home Depot, Best Buy
• LG LRSDS2706S: Home Depot, Best Buy

Thanks!

I heard Samsung is not the best. But I saw this and thought of this thread.

It's not side by side but it doesn't have the drawer at the bottom. I think it's neat and if you want extra fridge space I think you can change one of the bottom doors to fridge instead.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-29-cu-ft-4-door-flex-french-door-refrigerator-with-wifi-autofill-water-pitcher-dual-ice-maker-stainless-steel/6448513.p?skuId=6448513&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=440&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtcCVBhA0EiwAT1fY7zNW_rVfDi66WPKOOYbUqjUDSdSW0MUL6Rqttl3byncjAe_K1xl1HhoC_-YQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We recently installed a 48" Kitchenaid side by side built-in (I also greatly dislike the bottom freezer and dislike having to open both top refrigerator doors at the same time). We love it so far, and haven't had to resort to the separate freezer and refrigerator we have in the garage. It has 30 cubic feet of storage space (50% more than our last, which was 36" standard width), which is towards the higher end of what's available without going to separate refrigerator and freezer columns. We opted for icemaker only, but they have one with water/ice in the door.

• Kitchenaid KBSD708MSS Side-by-Side 48" Refrigerator - 29.4 cf - $10,524
• LG LRSXS2706S Side by Side 36" Refrigerator - 27 cu. ft. - $1,400
• LG LRSDS2706S Side by Side 36" Refrigerator - 27 cu. ft. - $2,000

I too dislike French Door units, but are you specifically looking for a side-by-side, or are you just looking for a non-French Door refrigerator? My preference if for one full-sized fridge door.

Measure the amount of contiguous shelf space available in the models under consideration. That is by far the more useful metric for choice over cubic foot capacity. Cubic foot capacity wars measurement is what has fueled those impossibly deep Samsung or LG refrigerators. That’s a misguided metric.

A 36” deep fridge is almost impossible to integrate into a kitchen. That is a foot of fridge sticking out past your cabinets. Things go to die in the back, so the extra cubic foot capacity becomes a detriment, and isn’t helpful. A shallower fridge, with more side to side continuous width for the shelving, is the most user friendly choice. That can be a single door bottom freezer, a single door top freezer, a freezerless fridge, or a french door. The shelf space is more usable to fill, and find things. Narrow and deep is the least user friendly choice.

@Johnson Brothers Contracting: "A 36” deep fridge is almost impossible to integrate into a kitchen. That is a foot of fridge sticking out past your cabinets. Things go to die in the back..."

The LG refrigerators suggested above are 33-1/2" deep, not 36". The OP is rebuilding her kitchen; she can build deeper cabinets along the wall with the refrigerator. Maybe the OP has good "refrigerator management".

A new version of the french door is the 4 door. Just don't get a Samsung. Frigidaire has one. Link.

Another is Dacor. Link.

Thank you!

@dan1888: "Just don't get a Samsung" "Another is Dacor"

Dacor is a Samsung subsidiary. Many Dacor appliances are re-badged Samsung with modest changes in appearance or features. Example:

• Samsung RF23A9071SR36 Inch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator ($2595)
• Dacor DRF36C700SR36 Inch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator ($4199)

>>"Just don't get a Samsung."<<<

Well, Dacor has been a Samsung subsidiary since 2016 and the fridges are reportedly all now Samsung products.

We bought a Fisher & Paykel 4 door refrigerator last December and have been very happy w the freezer layout and the flexibility. Having the lower right compartment on fridge would give you ample crisper space. It has very good temperature control and food stays fresher much longer than in our old LG. Just water in the door and ice maker in freezer w a scoop. We have a deep freezer in the basement for additional frozen storage

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/RF203QDUVX1.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=RF203QDUVX1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2MWVBhCQARIsAIjbwoOta9_fqs83uBj74hakyOc5I8jIlJOQ_ggWk_Py2WYLbiHF8-1cvBMaAlU5EALw_wcB

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Dacor does use Samsung parts. So, that leaves the Frigidaire. Electrolux product.

Thanks for the tip @wdccruise !