Yes, to be honest it sounds odd. It’s hard to tell from the angle of the picture but the fridge just looks too big for the space. Is there adequate ventilation clearance? Could you replace it?

This happened to us. You can’t have a French door fridge next to a wall because the door opens wider than 90 degrees. We wound up adding a pull out pantry in between the fridge and the wall to create some space. Before you take on any projects, look at the specs for your fridge - they will show how much of a door swing you need.

It will not help. It was poorly planned.

Show the entire kitchen, Please. All angles

Flippers did that to us too. We wound up getting a single door bottom freezer LG that solved the problem. Although then you do have to reach around the door for a landing spot when you're getting multiple items out.

At least you have pretty floors!!

No to the alcove idea. Wall integrity is important. Get a one door fridge that opens the other way.

Narrower fridge with single door. You also need to consider proper airflow around the unit. This irritates me no end. Also, boxing in the refrigerator makes it so hard if the unit needs to be replaced.

What is to the left of the fridge? It looks like a full height pantry unit. IF YES switch those two.

NO to the cut out alcove. Will look super weird.

You bought the wrong fridge it is too big for the space nothing on the flippers they left you space for the right sized fridge . You need a different fridge

How do you KNOW the op bought the fridge? The fridge may have been IN the kitchen at purchase?

It will not help. It was poorly planned.

Sorry to say, but yes. Poorly planned. No refrigerator door will open if it's up against the wall like that ... and a single hinged door would've been better in this location, as the left-side door will always be an obstacle to reach around. A single-hinged door would've angled towards the work area.

At least you have pretty floors!!

Yes!

Everyone thinks they can flip a house and make a million bucks overnight with a coat of paint!

Yeah, but that has actually been true in many areas of the country!

That wall looks pretty thick ( unless its the angle of the photo ) - chances are there's important stuff in there that won't allow a recess. A+ for ingenuity and extra 3" could have helped! .

Like someone said above - find a carpenter and switch the ref and the pantry. Although you may have to purchase a panel for the left of the ref. Those are inset doors, so hopefully it is a name brand of cabinet to get any parts needed.

You can blame it on the flipper but there must have been a designer involved who blew it as well!

Good luck!

Swapping the fridge and pantry would be the ideal solution - but check your fridge specs for clearance requirements first, to ensure it properly fits the space.

A new fridge would probably be the cheapest option. I'd go to an appliance store and look at options of the right size. You'd need a door that swings away from the wall, which might be a pain. That's why I'd go to see what it wil feel like.

I actually think that a cleverly designed recess could work here. Like a shower niche that at least allows for the handle to have a couple inches. The height and length of the right handle isn't "weird" and I think you could make this look decent. Maybe paint a small chalkboard in there and use it for a grocery list, or even oversize it. The wall looks thick though - so as noted above - you may find there's a plethora of stuff in there that you can't easily move / compress.

I would absolutely NOT touch the wall. That will look odd.

You didn’t state the size of the existing fridge but it looks like a standard size. I would go down in the width of the refrigerator and reconfigure the space. Here are my ideas in order of what I would do as a designer:

1. Reconfigure the existing space; remove the cabinet above and put in a narrower but taller fridge/freezer combo. I’ve done this before and the clients are always skeptical but very happy in the end. It’s easy to match the blue paint as long as you save a door to bring to the paint store. A narrower fridge will allow you to open a French door fridge to the right. I would choose one with a recessed or low profile handle and try to find one with a zero clearance hinge to make the most of the space. They are out there. Higher end brands make them. Look for double drawer models to make the space feel bigger.

2. Switch to a left hinged fridge with a freezer drawer below. Not great to have it open this way, but if you get one with a see through door, it won’t feel so tight.

3. If you use a freezer merely for ice, ice cream and a few emergency frozen foods, you can get away with an all refrigerator unit, and put a freezer drawer below a cabinet elsewhere. You can even add a fridge drawer elsewhere. That would allow you to go down in size of the end unit, but still have a lot of fridge space overall. Subzero makes a nice all glass front refrigerator. I wish I knew your existing fridge size. I would be better able to advise you.

I have seen the sexiest and most useful tall fridges that are merely 20” wide, so don’t think that wider is always better. Focus on the cubic space when deciding.

Yep, you need a single door fridge. My mom got a two door model like yours. She had it for a few years and it didn't fit, was up against a wall like yours. She could never open one side fully. The two door models seem to need more clearance. When shopping for her new one we looked closely at how it swings open and if the door needs extra space to swing open. The thing thankfully died a early death, it had issues mechanically early on that took numerous visits under warranty. The replacement was a one door, freezer drawer below. I would never buy a two door fridge after her experience. They seemed like a good idea at first.