Having such a small fridge would be a nightmare. I live in the US (Brooklyn, NY); shopping for groceries so frequently would be a major pain in the tuchus.

Small fridge = more work for me.

Love it! Wish I had a smaller fridge in my galley kitchen, instead of a monolithic monster. It leaves more room to breathe and cook.

When I lived in London, I liked the small fridges. It made me more aware of what I had and made me make more conscious decisions while grocery shopping.

With my big fridge at home now, I forget I have things and buy more and things go bad because I forgot them, or because I had too much.

In large cities, you often are actually walking by markets in your daily commute home, so it is easier to pick up things as needed. But in many places where people drive to grocery stores, I think it is actually better not to have to make as many trips.

When I was in grad school, I shared a single, normal-sized (American) fridge with 5 other people, and quickly learned how to make things from foods that could be stored in the pantry. Similarly, you will notice a lot more of the irradiated packaging of foods in Europe - most likely for the same reason: smaller fridges.

Does that tiny fridge have a freezer in it? If not, where do you keep your ice cream??

I farm and sell my produce at five local Farmers Markets a week. I see some customers once a week and the ones who shop like Europeans come by my stand sometimes two or three times a week. My husband and I don't use all the room in our large refrigerator and, yes, things get "lost" in there...it's like a Black Hole. We plan in the future to buy a much smaller refrigerator and I know our friends and family will roll their eyes when they see it, but it's totally unnecessary as we can get fresh produce (our own and other things) from the markets. Two of our markets are in grocery store parking lots so we get the rest of our groceries there. :) I love the freshness and love not having to fight crowds at the store on weekends. I feel we are very lucky and cannot wait until we can get that new frig (in the little house we are planning) :)

I have a regular size refrigerator but have learned to shop like a European --- almost every day. Why? Because we live across the street from a grocery store! If I lived in a typical city in which I had to drive to shop, I would go back to the American model.

In the winter here when it gets -20C and lower I would rather stock up. But you wouldn't need a freezer for a few months as long as you had a place near the backdoor. So in my climate I would rather have a regular sized fridge.

We shipped our American appliances to our 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom rental for which they worked well. Recently we purchased a 600sf apt and our refregerator is the black teddybear in our small kitchen. We had to make it work due to the large investment of time and money.

Thanks for post!

When I lived in London, I used to just grab what I needed nearly every day after work even though I had heaps of space in the fridge (from a European point of view).
Now in my tiny french studio flat, i live with a (european standard, once again) mini bar fridge and enough freezer space to store 6 burgers and nothing more. I still find out I'm going shopping less often because it's just not on my route.
Takes a bit more planning and a few more canned and pantry goods, but I'm going on just fine. And I find I buy less ready-made food and more ingredients than I actually cook.

*that I actually cook

I would love to have a fridge that size in our apartment, we don't keep out fridge full enough already and like to buy food every few days so that we know we are eating leftovers and keeping our food fresh. We do have the advantage of both of us working at grocery stores so it's pretty easy to pick up whatever we need on the way home. :)

My utterly American fridge is *too* big for me: I've started storing canned goods in it because my cupboards are - conversely - too small.

This would not work for the American kids who gulp milk by the gallon-fulls (gallons-full?).

I had a small fridge in my first apartment, and it didn't bother me one bit. We had a lot more cabinet space, and it kept food from getting spoiled: what was there was going to be eaten.

Now, I have two roommates who share the main fridge while my husband and I share the mini-fridge. I'm very glad to have gone back to that, and despite living in the city, we are welcomed with our small town feel by having a grocery store a block away. I just keep in mind that if I can't carry it home, I'm not going to have space for it.

It's the perfect size for what we need, and I'm considering getting another mini-fridge for when we own: if the big one isn't plugged in, it can become a larger food cabinet (that the cat can't break into), and would be much more energy efficient.

@Strawberry79: I can see where you're coming from with winter stocking, but I have never really done it (-20C is -4F). We get that cold here annually, so we just get used to it fast and stock up more on foods that require heat instead of cooling. I think my two winter staples are black tea and oatmeal.

I like my American size fridge because I tend to have a lot of cooking energy at once and then zero for a few days. I like that I can make a big batch of something and have plenty of room to store it in the fridge or freezer to eat over the next few days (or weeks, if frozen).

I have lived in London now for several years and honestly, the fridge-size difference was one of the most difficult things to adjust to. However, I have learnt to love it.
I may have a large shopping trip on the weekend, but throughout the week I buy a few things that will compliment the items on hand. I have found that I rarely waste food. I can't help but notice how much food I did waste before. I love stopping by the market, or grocery store to see what is fresh.

People coming to our midwest US house wonder the same thing. Due to the number of doors and windows in the kitchen, there is no place for the fridge in the kitchen proper, so it is in the back hall (small full size fridge with bottom freezer), in exactly the same place that the old ice box was (it stands over the drain hole to the basement drain). It makes for a lovely kitchen--light and bright without a big old fridge in the way, but only a couple of steps away.

But where would all of my condiments go?!

I had mini-fridges in two Manhattan studio apartments. You get used to it. But it's true that you can't store ice cream.

I had a full sized fridge in my last house. I'm back to renting (for now) and have a mini-fridge which I honestly hate. Nothing else fits in my freezer other than 2 mini ice cube trays.

Used to be able to shop once every 4-6 weeks, now it's every week to 10 days. It's also more tempting to dine out since I don't have a stove/oven either.

I love that European way of living...less becomes normal. People have to come out and see other humans because there is no food if they don't. They sleep when they should sleep and stay awake very late. I loved that rhythm of life...I was in Spain.

b

http://www.retireinstyleblog.com

I actually really love this apartment. And I love that fridge! I wish I had a small fridge like this. Being a bus-walker, I only buy small amounts of groceries at a time anyway. I find this to work for me because I tend to eat fresh food, and not much frozen processed food.

Also, I love that it takes up very little space and is under the counter. My fridge is so large and takes up so much real estate in my very small kitchen.

I could live in this apartment.

I totally agree about food getting lost and going bad in my enourmous refridgerator. My apartment's kitchen has no storage space and very little counter space. I would love it if my fridge were replaced with one of these.

I did live in a house with a shorter fridge. Maybe only five and a half feet. I liked it 'cause I could see in the fridge. My husband was irritated at being able to see the dust on the top...but and under the counter would totally work for me.

How do people with homes in very rural areas in temperate climates manage food storage? Big refrigerators and separate big freezers? What about power outages and closed roads from winter storms? Big pantries of canned and dried food? Maybe root cellars? I lived in Nebraska and Maryland suburbs as a kid in the 60's. In both houses, my father had a giant freezer in the basement. It contained the edible parts of an entire cow chopped into bits that were wrapped in white paper with labels of the organs contained. He said it was economical. :\

Like Homebody and Roberspeg, I learned to live with less refrigerator when I was splitting a fridge with 3 other roommates and could only take the bus to the store.

It made me realize how EASY and CHEAP it is to live mostly on fresh produce instead of processed/stored food. A box of Cheez-Its is what, $4? For that much you can get nearly a half-dozen apples that will feed you twice as much. Despite only going to the grocery store once a week, I started buying lots of fresh produce that would last... about a week.

This is a beautiful article. I love the perspectives you share about objects, behavior and lifestyle!

I noticed this when I did a semester abroad in the States, actually! At home in Australia, we had the two full-sized family fridges (biiig family), but when I was in the States, I just had a little bar fridge.

I'm pretty sure I could adapt to it fully, with one exception - the freezer was way too small and NEVER got cold enough. I had popsicles that never froze. Since I really enjoy having a freezer so I can make stuff ahead and freeze it, or to freeze bananas, or even just for sorbet, the lack of a freezer would be a major downside to having a bar fridge instead. I think I'd need to have some alternative.

Although buying in bulk might save money at first glance, if you throw out spoiled food you're really loosing cash. I love the buy local, buy often strategy such a little fridge encourages. Brilliant!

We got rid of our microwave and found we eat less, eat together as a family more often, and eat more veggies raw instead of cooking them.

I now have a theory that the obesity epidemic is because of convenience, be it packaged food and snacks or microwave ovens.

Definitely small changes can make a big difference.

I buy only what I need for the day - there's less waste. Also, items like ripe fruit don't keep for more than a day or so.

So interesting how something as simple as the size of your fridge helps you to understand another culture. I've always purchased groceries for one or two days max (must be the French blood in me.) Works for me but I can certainly understand how large fridges (and stocking up) are more convenient for some folks.

I love it. It is exactly what I am doing in my kitchen - http://on.fb.me/qXgYSa I am still undecided if I need upper cabinets.

It's an example of design following the culture. Food culture here is very different than in the US. One small example...unlike American soft bread, the bread here is not stored in the fridge. Its crunchy crust would go soggy in the fridge (uck). And since it's made without preservatives it last for 1 or 2 days only = more frequent trips to the bakery.

In some ways frequent small shopping trips keep the neighborhood grocers, bakers, butchers, and farmer's markets in business. Although the "mega store" model is becoming more common unfortunately.

Aaahhh (affectionate sigh), this reminds me of my days living in Ireland. I went to the grocery store every day and had dinner parties almost as often. I could still do this, but the whole 9-5, two hour commute a day, American living seems to often get in the way.

When I bought my house (Philadelphia, PA), I didn't own a car and knew that I would never be coming home with bags and bags of groceries. I bought an apartment size fridge (about 4.5 feet tall, 9 cubic feet). It has a full freezer and reminds me everyday that there's not always need for the giants that grace most kitchens in the states. It's a great compromise for someone who never has a fully stocked fridge, but can't imagine just having a minifridge.

I have a Fridge this size, with a freezer the same size just beside it. There both built in and look very neat.

But the comments above about shopping every day due to the small size were surprising to me. I only shop once a week and tend to stick to the fridge. I usually don’t by too much for the freezer. There is more than enough space in that fridge for a weeks worth of food, how much would you need. Its just about smart shopping. Filling a massive US style fridge, only leads to gone off produce, and the bulk of my food is veg and fruit, that I mostly don’t keep in the fridge anyway

While I do have appreciation for the small fridge way of living I would go bonkers I think when it comes to make ahead and other things. I have an American size fridge and a chest freezer as well. I have many moments when I could do with another of both. I am a vegetarian and try to do things like make my own stock for example. I use the freezer to save bits of scrap, I use the fridge to cool the stock down, the fridge freezer to do the freezing and my chest freezer to store it. In order to have stock with a small fridge I would either have to buy it ready made or buy the fresh ingredients to make it and do that right before making a dish each time. Just thought it was a good example! I could happily deal with shopping every day and would even prefer it but there would be things I like to do that became impossible then.

@Lisa (Montreal)

Store? Ice cream?
You mean Ice Cream has a measurable shelf life?

;)