Welcome to Liesl, veteran writer for many New York papers and magazines who now is weighing in on kitchen appliances instead of books for a change.
Liesl's favorite, the Bombatino Doppio (left two) and the SMEG (right)"My thought was, height isn’t a problem, even in a small kitchen--floor space is. And if the fridge goes tall, it’ll have enough storage. My own old fridge was 31”square, not counting a 3-inch grille that stuck out the back, and it was about 62” high. I sent out my emails, and waited for the responses to ping in my inbox..."
>> Go To Fridge Saga #1
"None pinged, but I did find some enticing foreign options online. Having lived in Russia (bad example), and traveled in France, England, Italy, Japan and Spain (better examples), I knew that most of the world doesn’t have kitchens big enough for the humongous American fridges which my mother has in triplicate, and which had been foisted on my minuscule apartment. In Northern Europe, I’d noticed that refrigerators often had sleek, designy, slender builds, and came in daring colors--burgundy, yellow, red--rather than the drab dimpled beige of my old GE.
Almost immediately, I found my top choice. Made by Boretti, and called the Bombatino Doppio, this was the fridge Speed Racer would have bought, if he’d been Italian. Sleek, apple-green, lean, and cartoony, the Bombatino Doppio looked like it would transform my humble kitchen-slash-dining room area into a state-of-the-art kitchen-appliance sculpture garden. It exactly matched my dream specs. No longer would I feel embarrassed to throw a dinner alongside the linoleum. The Bombatino would change everything. [See pics below, and letter to Big Chill]
Not so fast: my designer friends and the experts at Gringer’s appliances in the East Village got back to me with bad news. The Bombatino was not exportable to America, would not work with American current, and, in any case, had no repairmen on the continent. I then checked out the revoltingly named but pluckily conceived Smeg fridge line. Smegs came in finishes as glossy and hard as Skittles candy--red, orange, buttercup yellow, mint-ice-cream green, even baby blue. The Smegs weren’t as pleasing to my eye as the Borettis, they had a retro-bulbous look, like an old Cadillac-not to mention the giant logo SMEG affixed to the front door in chrome (which looked to me like a danger sign: “WATCH OUT! Smeg within!”)
However, I was willing to invite irony across my American threshold on exchange for the height, footprint and lively color I desired. Sadly, it soon emerged that the only Smeg model on offer in this country is quite petite--5 feet tall, with a freezer that can just about hold two mini ice cube trays and a bag of frozen peas. If I had a Mattel Easy-Bake Oven, this might have worked. Instead, I scratched Smeg off the list and started looking for North American fridge purveyors whose fridges might satisfy my spatial needs and aesthetic hopes.
First I found Northstar, in Canada (good, retro designs, but too large for my needs); and Big Chill, in Colorado, whose playful colors (beach blue, cherry red, pink lemonade) delighted me, but also came only in king-size. I called Big Chill, found a friendly voice, and learned that the company is working up designs for a possible slim-line fridge. I sent a long, passionate email to the consumer relations department, laying out all the reasons why I thought they should design apartment-sized, design-conscious, color-drenched modern fridges for New Yorkers, Seattleans, San Franciscans, Washingtonians, Bostonians, Los Angelenos, and other space-challenged, beauty-loving urbanites. They thanked me for the message, but I suspect they were humoring me...."
- Liesl Schillinger
...Since 1991, she has written for many publications in the United States and Britain, chiefly The New York Times, The New Yorker, the Washington Post, and the London Independent on Sunday, where she wrote a column about New York life in 1996-98. She now writes full time, and is pursuing the goal of living like an expat in her own city.
>> Go To Fridge Saga #1
Tune in for The Fridge Saga #3 - Tomorrow!
Oy! Keep up the good fight, I say. And thank you on behalf of all us who have struggled and continue to struggle with this issue.
view olga's profile
They're lovely, but are they reliable? I'm pretty sure I've read about the Smeg needing repairs and not sealing especially well, unfortunately.
Keep up with the letters everyone, and maybe someday we'll have a gorgeous, affordable, and good-quality fridge...
view Malia's profile
oh! I was hoping you'd go for a Northstar ... I'm getting one later this year and hoped to hear a review.
We had a Smeg in London and indeed it did not stay cool well ... stuff did not seem to keep as long as it should.
view ridge.'s profile
Go Liesl! I hope it works out with the Big Chill - I'll be in line to get one.
view cara's profile
Check out AJ Madison's website - they offer two counter depth refrigerators at alot less than the Euro ones. One is by LG and the other is by Avanti (very cheap). Here is the link for the LG
http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LRBP1031.html?brand_store=1
view bklyngal's profile
I have the LG fridge from the above post. It is the correct depth for my ikea kitchen it is pretty cheep! my two gripes: 1. the noises it makes, although it is MUCH quieter than my old fridge. 2. I haven't been able to figure out a configuration to put a britta or a water container that fits...
view kung fu grip's profile
kung fu, can't you use the slim Brita pitcher or are you talking about one of those huge things with the tap?
view ridge_van_winkle's profile
Here's another one to throw on the pile.
http://www.equatorappliance.com/products/ConServ_Refrigerator.asp
view midcentury_mama's profile
I am thoroughly enjoying this serial adventure with a cliffhanger at the end of each segment. I shall have popcorn in hand when I visit Apartment Therapy tomorrow.
view Aldyth's profile
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100472303&N=2520 90401&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125
Vestafrost
24"x24"x7' I heart my fridge!
Out of stock in stainless but they have white for $900
view DahliaCactus's profile
I'm fortunate that in most of my apt sized small kitchens, I have had the adequate space for a fridge and most were not huge things either. The apt I live in now is your standard double galley kitchen and the fridge is not huge, I think 21 Cubic Inches or some such with a smallish, but seperate freezer, made by Kelvinator in about 1989. Basic, yes, but adeaquate for my needs and is what was in the place when I moved in a bit over 4 years ago.
Do check out the smaller sized fridges from the major manufacuters, they may not be totally the depth of the counter, but will extend slightly but I agree that if you don't have the room to swing the door fully open, well, that's indeed a problem.
view ciddyguy's profile
I love the Liebherr fridges, but they don't come cheap:
http://www.warnersstellian.com/products/8439
You can choose all fridge, all freezer or a combination, built in or freestanding, the link above is for the 24" freestanding w/o icemaker (a $200 option).
I've seen these appliances in person and they seem well-built and very practical.
view bootsmomo's profile
I have a vestfrost and love it too. plus it makes me only buy food i'm going to eat, and in reasonable amounts.
view lisa2 in austin's profile
Maybe I read the first post incorrectly, but if the problem is the door hitting the opposing counter, isn't the solution going to be found in a side by side? The doors will only be half the width of the unit so that makes each door only 16" wide instead of 31" wide.
view RichardinLA's profile
The LG is awfully cheap-looking imo. A plastic box with a bad stainless door. If money is tight, I'd go for a simple white (and dimple-free!) counter-depth model before I bought a fridge trying to be something it's not. FWIW, salesmen have warned me that the Northstar and the Avanti are not worth the money. I took their word for it and decided to suck it up and invest in the Liebherr for my (currently gutted) kitchen.
view binxie's profile
With cupboards jutting out 26 inches from the east wall, and stove and fridge jutting out 32 inches from the west wall, the aisle in which I work, as I inhabit the kitchen scenes of my youth, and somehow chop, dice, stir, mix, grease and bake--is 16 to 18 inches wide, tops.
Is there perhaps a mismeasurement here? 'Cause if this is accurate, a 24" refrigerator will not open fully either, as you only have 18" of clearance. RichardinLA's solution of a side-by-side would seem to make more sense.
Perhaps the next post will clarify what we're not understanding about the layout?
view wende in phoenix's profile
We have a Fagor fridge - it is 78 34" tall 24" depth and 24" width
http://www.flickr.com/photos/illmethinks/2292651534/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/illmethinks/2291878923/
we purchased it at AJMadison.com I was very happy with their service. They lost our tracking # and worked very hard to find where the fridge was. Even going as far as (gasp) calling me back to let me know where it was.
g
view illmethinks's profile
I have surprisingly bated breath waiting for part three of this saga!
view theambershow's profile