Fridges Keep Growing and Growing

Those 60's twins' heads are indicative of a long standing trend of refrigerators growing taller and taller. The fridge in the picture is probably 60-62" tall. Back in the 80's they were typically 69" high, now they are 72" on average.

Since I have been designing lifetime kitchens for clients for the last 27 years, I find myself dealing with this problem quite a bit these days. Previous clients call me when their choice of a new fridge won't fit under the cabinet above built in on "refrigerator legs" (That's what we call those panels that enclose the refrigerator on each side).

In response I have learned to place a shorter cabinet with a removable valance below over the refrigerator in anticipation of further "growth".

Dealing with the refrigerator cabinets in the kitchens that were designed before my "revelation" is harder. They always need to be replaced, since 69" high refrigerators of any decent quality don't exist any more, and the idea was that they look built-in. The only fridge that is the same height as it was in the 80's is the Sub-Zero (Thank YOU Sub-Zero!).

No matter how the existing cabinets are finished, it is a problem matching the old with the new. Kitchen cabinet finishes yellow and mellow (darken) over time, with exposure to light and cooking fumes. So, even if we have a perfect stain or paint sample to match what they looked like originally, it will take a year or so for the new to age to the look of the old. Getting a sample to match that has been shielded from light and fumes is difficult too!

There is also the issue of matching the door style: Only the better cabinet manufacturers keep any sort of record of the edge details and insert panel profiles of cabinet doors they made 20 years ago. Neither do the clients. But I do.

Doesn't sound much like glamorous kitchen design. Does it?

Peggy