24" including doors/handles, or just the main body? (Including door means you're looking at integrated/built-in refrigerators; just the body means you can look at counter-depth freestanding refrigerators.)

thanks to both hu-622906582 and artemis78. Here's my issue: I could go with a freestanding rather than a built in, but everything -- the frig with the door wide open -- can't be more than 59" given the placement and size of the kitchen. Obviously, having a shallow frig body and having french doors rather than a single door will both help. Any recommendations of reliable and user-friendly refrigerator/freezers that fit my situation, especially if it doesn't cost too much, would be most welcome!

How do we know it is the design that has painted the homeowner into a corner? Some people's kitchens are a tradeoff of inches. It may not be that the design is bad or stupid and the homeowner has to be "punished" as a result by paying $10,000 for a refrigerator.

Lots of kitchens the size of a football field have Subzero refrigerators despite having room for something much larger. Are they "dysfunctional" because they didn't pick something much deeper when they could?

We just bought a Bosch counter-depth refrigerator; it was one of the shallowest models we could find. (The Fisher & Paykel was even shallower by an inch and half since the doors aren't as thick so I think it looks sleeker, but we liked the internal organization of the Bosch better and the price was more or less the same at the time we bought.) Specs are about the same as the Thermador someone referenced below. The F&P should need even less space. Both are considerably cheaper than the cheapest built-in, though they won't be flush with the cabinetry. (They're both designed for a cutout depth of 25"--that seems to be pretty standard.)

artemis78 - I'm thinking of going with the Bosch counter-depth, just like you! Anything you have to say about it (plusses and minuses) would be welcomed!

With the very big caveat that we have only had ours for two weeks, I'd say some pros are:

- Extremely quiet (including icemaker, which was a concern)--not audible except when water is running to the ice, and then there's a clunk clunk as a few cubes come out; it only makes a few an hour, which some people dislike but I appreciate because it means you don't notice the sound.

- Very customizable as far as shelving; door shelves can also move around, which they couldn't on some models we looked at.

- Fits a gallon jug on the door.

- The FlexBar is a neat feature and seems handy so far.

- One of the shallowest models we could find but still has lots of capacity.

Some minuses:

- The door is over an inch thicker than the Fisher & Paykel model we were also considering, which means it sticks farther out into the room. (Both are still shallower than any other model I found, but that part is a bit irritating; it's not that much less deep than the 25-year-old model it replaced.) We obviously knew that when we bought it but it's a bit more real when it's in your kitchen! And of course, that's why a gallon fits on the Bosch door but not the F&P door, so...

- Ice bin is huge, far more than we can use. We replaced it with a third party refrigerator bin that was about the right depth and fit under the icemaker and so far this seems to be working (fills up and then the sensor seems to know it's full and it stops making ice, and freed up a bunch of freezer space). We have never had an icemaker so this may just be the norm, though.

- Stainless steel shows everything! Again, have never had this so maybe that's just the norm for all stainless. But it's annoying. I did read some reviews of people having trouble with the finish peeling so we're watching out for that (but also have friends who've had Bosch fridges for a few years and haven't had that issue).

We got the four-door model and I have mixed thoughts on whether that was worth it. On the floor model of the three-door, the produce bins seemed to bang into the french doors a lot and we constantly had that issue with our old refrigerator. The design is such that you have to open both french doors to open the bin on one side, which seemed silly. So I figured that having just one drawer to pull out as a single step would be better. I didn't realize that with three-drawer model, you can set the individual produce bins to different temperatures and humidity levels, but with the drawer it all has to be the same, so that's not ideal. We'll see how that goes over time.

Overall I'd say I like it fine, but don't love-love-love it. There are some things I liked, and still like, better about the F&P, and some things that I don't love about either (miss my single door refrigerator, but couldn't find a freestanding 36" single door model anywhere!) It is pricey (but on sale was cheaper than the stainless F&P with ice).

Definitely measure your enclosure (if it's existing) as the specs vary slightly among the brands and models.

Wow, this response is super helpful. One more follow-up question for now: what did you like better about the F&P? From what I can see, the F&P built-in is $4,000 more than the Bosch counter-depth, and I wonder if I'd like it any more than the Bosch.

Oh, we were only looking at freestanding--so the F&P freestanding 36" models, which are a little cheaper than the Bosch without water/ice or about the same with ice. (We were trying to stay under $3K, though ended up a bit over it for the four-door.) I liked the F&P shallower depth (we have a tight clearance around the fridge), the freezer organization, and the overall look/feel. It had other downsides, though. I think the two are pretty comparable overall. The F&P integrated models look really nice (and had a single door option) but cost significantly more (even though they're on the low end for built-ins).

I’ve had the 36” freestanding F&P (w ice maker but no water) for a year and love it. It’s quiet. Easy to keep clean and organized. I put carrots and even lettuce in the veggie drawer without being in a bag and they stay crisp.

Also, a gallon of milk does fit in the door.