French-door refrigerators have become very popular over the last decade. They feature two doors side by side, and a freezer drawer on the bottom. They allow you to be eye-level with most of your food. The shelves are typically wide and deep, giving you plenty of room to store a leftover pizza, various sized containers, and allow you to actually see what you have rather than burying it. If you have your eye on a french-door refrigerator, there are more than a few options you have to choose from. With a large amount of color options, dimensions to fit your home, (the latest and greatest counter depth) inside and outside water options, even a built-in Keurig coffee maker, you're sure to find something which will make you happy for many years to come.
French door refrigerators come in every color option. Black, Black Stainless, White, Stainless, Slate, and Finger Print Resistant Stainless. What is "slate" you may ask. Black Slate is a sleek modern color, made by GE. Also made by GE, is the cafe series, boasting the Keurig coffee maker (CFE28UELDS).
Being one of the largest french door refrigerators at 27.8 cubic feet, there's more room now than ever for fresh food and produce. Trending right along with the french door refrigerator, is the vegan or, clean eating diet. People are realizing how toxic food can be nowadays, and they're stocking up on all things "fresh." With three drawers in this particular model, you won't run out of room any time soon, even with a growing family.
"Counter Depth" is something we've been hearing more and more of, but what does this mean exactly? For a slightly increased price point, and less cubic feet, you may have the luxury of your refrigerator being flush with your counter tops, leaving you with a "built in" look at a working man's pay scale. You're only losing depth, not width, and realistically compared to what we all grew up with, it'll be more room than you know what to do with. Whirlpool offers a huge 24 cubic feet counter depth fridge, with my favorite kind of front water switches ( WRF954CIHV). With the water and ice having their own separate switch, you avoid having to press a button to change from ice to water, every time you want to use it. My next refrigerator will definitely have this feature! Pictured here in black stainless, it's too dark for my taste, but in a well lit kitchen with light colored cabinets, it's been known to look modern and classy.
Although at a slightly higher price point ($3,899) the Kitchen Aid french door (KRMF706ESS) is in its own class, not only taking hold of the separate drawer concept, but by going one step further and dividing them. These doors don't just have the look, Kitchen Aid graced us with soft close drawers as an added touch. So with this unit, you'll have your french doors, two fresh produce drawers, and your freezer drawer. It's a very large fridge at 26 cu ft, perfect for all your needs.
Though french doors are trending, I can't say I'm on board personally. As someone who's owned both a side by side and french door, I'm not a fan of the drawer freezer. It varies based on each individual's needs. Companies will sell you the drawer concept by saying that you're in your fresh foods compartments 90% more than your frozen foods, so having all your fresh foods at eye level constantly is convenient. As someone who shops meat sales, I'm in my freezer daily for dinner, and I've found that when using the freezer drawer items get buried or pushed to the bottom. Though I won't pretend there aren't a couple things hidden in my side-by-side, I can mostly keep track of everything. The biggest example used by people as to why they don't like the side-by-side, is that they can't fit a pizza in the freezer. My answer? Get the Pepperoni Hot Pockets and the box is smaller, right? In all seriousness, we aren't big frozen pizza eaters, so it doesn't affect us. I'd rather have the side by side freezer than the drawer, but that's what I'm comfortable with. Every family is different and has different needs. Whether you go with the french door or side by side, most all of your fresh food will be easily access able. In addition, thanks to the dual cool option, (two independent cooling systems) all of your stale frozen air stays in the freezer, allowing your fresh filtered cool air to stay in the fridge, rather than mixing the two and taking life away from your fresh foods.