Fridge placement dilemma opinions welcome

[eclecticcottage]

I have come to a very frustrating and sadding conclusion about the fridge dilemma, which has been bugging me since I made an offer on The Bungalow Project. I've had two contractors, my real estate agent, a couple friends and two kitchen designers along with one random store employee who was interested in the great dilemma while one designer was listening to the dimentions of the kitchen and the problem they presented try to find a better solution to no avail. If you've seen the pictures, you have a good idea of the layout. I'll post a few below with the descriptions in case you haven't visited the blog.

One wall (back wall) has the (end of) built ins against it, tight to the door trim for the bath, then the door to the half bath, the other side of the trim, a 22" space, the trim & door to the mudroom, then the trim on that door leaves only a 21" space to the outside wall (this will be fun with cabinet bases but that's a separate issue).

You can't see the built ins, but they are just to the left of the bath door:



You can see how tight against the trim the built ins are



The next wall has a 31" space (this is where the dishwasher is placed at the moment in the pics), then the trim and windows, and on to the corner where the chimney cupboard is with only a 33" space (this is the wall where the sink base is now).

Sink base wall with windows-this will be where the sink stays. This is the general layout I'm going with for this wall, and the one described below. Basically, to look at the kitchen as it's shown in this "sketch", you would be standing in front of the built ins by the bathroom door looking towards the corner where the chimney cupboard is presently:



Next we have a wall with 83" of space from the corner to the dining room door way trim (this is the wall that mostly came down yesterday, which is as far over as it can go).

And around to the last wall, with a doorway to the den/craft room/bonus room in the corner and about 15" of space before the built ins.

This is standing in the dining room looking into the kitchen (both walls had really bad plaster so it and the lath came out), it gives a pretty good idea of the kitchen and layout overall:



If you've kept up with that, you will "see" the problem. There is NO where for the fridge! I have no pantry. It's not practical to put it in another room (Dining room? Bathroom? Bonus room/den? No). I don't have the space for an island where I could potentially relocate a stove or sink. I have only one choice. It is going to break my heart. I am going to need to remove part of the built ins (NOT all of them), bump into the room behind (the bedroom/den/craftroom/bonus room) and make the fridge sit flush with the remaining built ins.

If anyone can figure out another way, speak now or forever hold your peace! I can do a (really) rough sketch with dimentions and post it if someone wants to see it. I am open to ideas, but so far, nothing has worked-including putting the stove in the corner on an angle and putting the fridge next to it on the shared wall with the dining room-that wall isn't long enough and doing so blocks the oven from opening properly. I've been all over pinterest and google images for ideas and made myself crazy but I can't find another option.

[TexasRed]

I would be happy to try and help with your layout.

I have designed or re-designed several kitchens in the last few years. Fancy myself an amateur space planner.

Have you already ordered the cabinets?

I'm struggling to visualize the space from just the pictures - if you could do a quick sketch with basic measurements (birds eye view) it would give me a starting point.

Post here or feel free to email to me through my user profile.

Hope I can help.

[phil]

is the pantry deep enough for the fridge? I'd suggest doing a to scale layout looking down and then you can make scale sized fridge stove, sink dishwasher etc. then you can move the pieces around and right away see any available options.

I'd omit the dishwasher or the cabinet beside it and put it there. It will drive you nuts if you don't' have the fridge within a couple steps of the sink as they are the two most used items in the work triangle. you can put the stove or anything else where you want but if the sink isn't near the fridge it won't be comfortable to use the kitchen , preferably the stove should be close too. You could put the dishwaser in an island maybe if there is room? or go for an "apartment sized" dishwasher, they are narrower.

I had the same dilemma. I took out part of my pantry to make a spot for the fridge then realized I could not stand having it on the opposite side of the room. I reconfigured and moved the sink to the side of the kitchen but it required moving plumbing etc.

the fridge needs to be against a wall or it will just make the room feel small. one option might be to buy a small fridge that you can have near the stove to keep the most frequently used things in like milk and butter. Maybe you'd find it different. I drink lots of coffee so I am always going for the milk. one thing I was planning to do was to make a little coffee bar with a bar sink and place for the coffee pot etc away from the main counter.

your existing plumbing is probably near the stack in the wall to the roof. It can be a few feet away but it's best if the sink isn't too far from it's stack. you can check code but if you wish to put the sink in an island you can use a DWV (drain waste vent) I understand you want the sink by the window.

you could try a test by moving your fridge near where you intend it and see how it works for cooking. I tried that and found it just did not work for me if the fridge wasn't near the sink.

[eclecticcottage]

I don't have a pantry. Poking around at pics from other bungalows has made me ponder whether the original owners changed the typical design and made what might normally have been a pantry into the half bath off the kitchen.

The built ins are in the kitchen itself and are only 14 1/2" deep, hence the need to "bump" into the den behind them to make the fridge flush-I'll recess the fridge into that space so it is flush with the fronts of the built ins, if this is the solution I go with.

Cabinets are in stock so I haven't ordered them. As soon as this is all sorted, I will probably see if that store will also do a will call, to be certain they have the when I need them. Right now I *could* pick them up and put them in the basement, but I'd rather wait until I'm closer to the install.

It won't fit on the wall with the windows. If it's all the way against the wall where the dishwasher is now, it will come out into the doorway (that's only 21" deep, with 5 1/2" trim) and on the other side of the sink, there isn't enough space to make an "l" kitchen-and then there's no place for a stove. Same kind of dilemma if I move the stove into that corner and put the fridge where the stove is in the drawing of the "L" layout with the new cabinets.

Here, really rough and down and dirty but it's the basic idea

[eclecticcottage]

Also the entire space is about 10x12 so it's not all that large.

[Nicholas]

Just curious, are you allowing for the separate electric for the fridge? It has to have its own source from the box, any thing like microwaves and toasters on the line will kill it...eventually.

Below are pics from a craftsmen we looked at, a way too tiny kitchen. The room beyond with the breakfast nook was also the pantry. It probably doesn't help with your dilemma but it shows anything is possible, in the last pic they even kept some original cabinetry/table as you can see.

[eclecticcottage]

The Bungalow is getting all new electric, so that won't be an issue. I found some burn marks on some of the joists when taking down failing plaster that confirmed my decision to do it. Anyway, it has (had? It will never be live again) K&T and it's evil nemesis, blown in, so even without finding those spots I already decided to pull new wiring. No sense in doing all this work to have it burn down in a couple years. We put the fridge at The Cottage on it's own circuit just in case something else somehow tripped a breaker, at least food wouldn't spoil.

Oh so glad my kitchen isn't quite that tight! My base cabinets will encroach about 4" into the trim on the mudroom door (I'm planning on shimming them out so I won't cut the original trim-no way to know what might change later so why ruin it if there's no need to) but at least they don't end up IN a doorway!

[Lily left the valley]

Without appliance widths, this is a bit tricky. You seem set on the appliances you want, so you've put yourself in a corner, as it were.

I would not touch the built ins.. Better to buy less new cabinetry than take out the original just for a fridge that might be bigger than the buyer wanted anyway.

Also consider that if someone is buying the home for what you could retain, do you really think they'd like to find out some of the built ins were sacrificed (and a possible awkward bump into the den) in favor of keeping new Home Despot cabinets?

You've already broken your own heart with the windows and walls dilemma, you'll forever regret butchering that kitchen built in.

[Lily left the valley]

After looking at the blog to try to think this around a bit...is there a door between the dining and den? Or no because of that corner bedroom which would make for its own awkward?

If so, you could possibly remove either the dining or the den door in the kitchen, which would give you more room for the fridge.

[oaktree]

In your 3d model, could you omit the dishwasher and put the stove to the left of the sink with small cupboards on either side and put a fridge where the stove currently is? Or is it going to block the doorway?

It also might be worth looking at euro style fridges which are narrower and shallower. This one would almost fit between the two doors and possibly in that corner near the door:

http://www.smegusa.com/product/fab32ucrrn/

Not cheap though.