to want to buy a house with space in the kitchen for a fridge..?

[MrsRajeshKoothrappali]

Viewed four houses today.

Two of them didn't have a space in the kitchen for a fridge. One of which was a brand new fitted kitchen done up to sell.

In one house you had to walk from the kitchen, through the dining room into a conservatory to access the fridge and in the other you had to walk through the utility room into the garage to get to it.

I thought it seemed too much of a faff and said that I needed the fridge to actually be in the kitchen, or at the very least in an ajoining room.

Estate agent looked at me like this:

Am I totally spoilt and unreasonable. Or is wanting a fridge in the kitchen pretty standard?

Am starting to doubt myself..!

YANBU. We've been to quite a few houses that either don't have a fridge in the kitchen or only have a tiny undercounter fridge for a family.

I looked at a refurb house which we quite liked till we noticed no place for the fridge. You would have had to rip out brand new cupboards to make it fit. Muppets.

YANBU! British house design has always confused me. under counter fridges? washing machine in the kitchen? No eaves so no place to shelter when entering and exiting house... (I'm Canadian)
Currently have a galley kitchen which was obvs designed by a non-cook. My dh renovated it so it's as good as it can get without knocking down walls but the fridge is still under the counter directly opposite the back door next to the cat food and litter tray (blech). I'm constantly pretending to shove the kitchen wall back about 4 feet so I could stop banging my elbows on it. DH doesn't think it's funny because it would cost a bomb to extend .
I literally dream of a kitchen diner with a proper sized fridge freezer and dishwasher (no room now) and a separate utility room for washing and drying laundry. sigh.
Hold out OP and tell those estate agents the truth about fridges!

nosleeptilever - we spent then money (£56k) and it was properly, properly worth it...

Where I live close to London, there was a trend about 10-15 years ago for house owners to split their houses into as many flats as they could cram in, so there's no room for any storage full stop, room for cold food storage would be an absolute luxury. As a pervious poster mentioned its not unusual to not even fit a bed in a bedroom. I would think that was an essential

What happened to the Work Triangle? The amount of paces between fidge, cooker and counter should be about equal

here

When I moved into this house the kitchen was arranged in such a STUPID way that the fridge and freezer had to be in the utility room, which was at the back of the house so a real traipse. It was like that for two bloody years and drove me mad, It was so annoying to have to go back and forth, and then again when I inevitably forgot something.

I got a big American fridge in the end and knocked the kitchen about a bit to fit it in. 2 bloody years! That's what comes of having a partner who is a builder and his 'yeah in a minute' approach to DIY.

YANBU. Any kitchen lacking either sink, cooker or a fridge, is not fit for purpose. I wouldn't even consider buying.
Perhaps if I was renting, and everything else was perfect, I'd put up with the inconvenience if it was to be temporary. But buying? No.

basically a kitchen is for food prep. if said food cannot be stored in a kitchen what you have there is a FAIL.

You wouldnt put up with a sofa in a room that isnt the living room cos of lack of space, or a bath in another room than the bathroom...total madness

My house doesn't have room for a fridge in the kitchen. Previous owners had one through dining room and in sun room. Condition of us buying the house was that I could get a fancy smeg fridge and put it in the dining room so next to kitchen. In the end got a smeg-a-like fridge that was half the price but still looks cool so ok to have in dining room.

I would definitely tell the estate agent, it would be a deal breaker for me.

As someone said, every time you make a cup of tea you have 2 pain in the arse journeys, and it is very, very annoying. Especially if you live with people who 'forget' to put the milk/cheese/butter/whatever back.

That is the prime reason I now drink my coffee black.

Nosleep

i dont think british house design is at all like you describe. I have a tall fridge freezer. Oven is chest height (in wall), washing machine in utility, with tumble drier etc. The trouble is land is at a premium in cities in the UK, so people wont build houses as wide and airy as in Canada. Oh any my house isnt modern...about 200yrs old. so its not like i built it bespoke to accommodate my kitchen needs.

Regardless as the property shows will demonstrate on TV there is nothing a brit likes more than extending their property to create more space. Only obstacle is cost.

I once rented a very nice flat- it had been the showhome for the apartment block and had been left with the show flat decor - so good quality finishes, very clean and it had been designed to maximise space. It was quite quirky decor, but had a wee balcony, nice curtains and a million colour matched vases
there was a fridge and dishwasher and washing machine in the kitchen
but - no bins! and no space suitable for one in either bathroom or kitchen
also no space for a desk or bookshelf and none of this sort of useful/functional furniture. Or any place to put shoes or a shoe rack . I spent the whole year with mobile bins eg you had to move them out the way when you used the bathroom or kitchen and most of my books/ work on permanent display on the massive dining table

I would not buy a house without fridge in kitchen unless I was planning to alter it substantially

Unfortunately mine is the same, space only for an integrated fridge with the main fridge/freezer in the garage. It wasn't too much of a problem before children but is a bit of a faff now. We just couldn't afford to buy a house with a large kitchen in 2005 as the prices then were ridiculously high. The estate agent at the time said we needed to pay an extra £15k for a large kitchen with fridge space! Or an extra £20k for a house with a kichen large enough for a table & fridge! It was that type of foolish talk that led to the ridiculously high prices and the subsequent housing crash.

YANBU - it would drive me mad having to go to a different room/building to go to the fridge. I hate to think how many times a day I get something out of or put something into the fridge.

We were at a friends the other day and I noticed that their fridge freezer isn't in the kitchen. It seemed odd as the kitchen/dining room is a huge extension they had built at the end of their house so the kitchen was new and to their specifications yet the fridge was at the other side of the dining area IYSWIM.

I once lived in a rented house (pre-DC) where the washing machine was in a separate building/ garden room and that was a big enough PITA doing your washing a couple of times a week.

We have a space for the fridge-freezer but the designers didn't put a plug near it? We have to stretch an extension from the nearest socket

I lived in a house as a student where the fridge was in the living room. It joined onto the kitchen though and the kitchen was tiny so it was never an issue, it was about 3 steps. I've lived in houses since where the fridge has been in the kitchen, but further to walk

At home we have a small fridge under the worktop in the kitchen, and a big fridge freezer in the utility room (not that close to the kitchen). Its never struck me as an issue but I guess I grew up like that! I'm not sure I'd tolerate it in another house

I'm not an envious person at all, apart from when it comes to kitchens!

Our kitchen is fit for purpose, but not fit for MY purpose. But at least the fridge is in there, where it should be!

I dream of a huge kitchen with plenty of workspace and an adjoining utility room where I can do my laundry in peace without the dog nicking the mucky washing and where I have room for a dedicated beer and wine fridge!

What an odd thing to do. However, it may be a godsend if you're dieting.

Yanbu our second rented place had no real space for a combi just under counters right PITA until we got them fridge freezer was in the lounge/diner, looked odd!

House we have just bought ironically hasnt space for upright 50/50 but current owner has that in the conservatory, Which is literally just off the kitchen (about 4 footsteps from
Kitchen door) and it has space for an undercounter fridge in the actual kitchen so im thinking that i'll only really trek to conservatory for wine freezer

My 1st house had a small kitchen, the previous owners had fitted a dishwasher where the fridge should have been and put the fridge under the stairs. It worked fine.

Yanbu.

I once went to view a house I was convinced would be perfect for us. It was all going so well til the homeowner took us to show us the garage at the bottom of the garden - which I then realised was the only storage place in the entire house for the vacuum. Fail.

I'm still waiting for the estate agent to get back to me about whether or not there's a fridge in the kitchen of this other house we like.

It's not mentioned. All other appliances are named.

Until yesterday this is something I honestly never thought about, now it's 'an issue'.

The bloody agent I'm waiting for is the one who thought I was 'too fussy' in another property because I suggested the damp extension ceiling might just be a problem..!

House hunting is tedious..!

YANBU
but i take exception to everyone who says you need a dishwasher.

in our kitchen, we have a fidge/freezer and a separate freezer.
and acooker and a washing machine.
it's too small for anything else.

my mum and dad used to have the washing machine in the conservatory - which made proper sense, as it was next to the back door for hanging out in the summer, or the conservatory could be used for hanging out in the winter.

no problem with washing machines being in garages either, if they're attached to the house