To think I'll hate an under counter fridge?

[MoaningSickness]

We be moved into a new house and the main compromise we had to make for the good area/decent bedrooms/large garden was a small kitchen.

We have an old combined fridge freezer that doesn't fit anywhere in the kitchen (it's currently in the dining room), there's room for separate under counter fridge and freezer.

DH is keen to replace the old unit with a pair of under counter units, but I'm concerned I'll find bending down to the fridge all the time really annoying.

We could make space for a combined unit but we could lose a cupboard and counter space which are already in short supply. Plus its extra work.

Are under counter fridges annoying to use? Anyone got one and love it? AIBU to think it will be a problem?

Oh good grief, you'll be fine. Surely you have to bend to the freezer anyway?

OP, we moved to our new house about six weeks ago. Like you, we compromised on the kitchen. Left a dream kitchen and inherited virtually no counter space and uncounter fridge and freezer. I’ve just ordered a freezer for the garage (if you do this make sure it’s one that’s designed for garage use, a normal indoor one might stop working if the temperature outside gets too cold) and will be getting an upright fridge with small ice box.

I hate the undercounter fridge with a passion. Mind you, I think it’s a particularly bad version. The salad crisper doesn’t pull out it lifts up so if you want to get anything out of it you must first remove everything from the bottom shelf - madness. I’m sure there are better versions. I find stuff gets lost at the back and goes mouldy...

As far as having to bend down to get stuff out of the freezer section of a fridge freezer, our last one was a French door F/f and had two doors in the fridge section and two deep drawers for the freezer - no bending. I loved it.

There’s also not a single drawer of any kind in our kitchen, which is a lot more annoying than the fridge!

I've always had a under-counter fridge with no problems. I would much rather have more surface than a big ugly fridge/freezer blocking up the kitchen. We planned our new kitchen to fit in one of the wider ones, with good internal space, I have always bought Miele for that reason. TBF we always have an extra fridge and freezer in the garage. I keep every day food in the kitchen, and drinks, veg, overspill food in the garage.

As for the bending down, well I bend down for the washer, the dryer, the dishwasher, the cooker...... so do I notice bending down for the fridge, no, no, can't say I do.

Yes, I hate ours. We had the same situation as you. The under counter fridge just isn't big enough for us, and there's only me, DH and DS. Our old fridge freezer was much bigger and I really miss it.

But we also don't have enough counter space so we're just putting up with it until probably forever we can build an extension.

I suppose it depends how much choice of a house you have. We went for this particular house because it was cheap and we wanted to keep our outgoings down, and I'm glad we did because we're both a bit concerned about our jobs now.

In my previous house we had limited work space so put in 2 u/c fridges then a seperate freezer in another room/garage. I do prefer my free standing one now but if you have no room for a free standing and need the work surface you may have to. I dont remember it being a big problem.

I have a Liebherr one that slides out with drawers. I find it great. I had an ordinary swing door one but everyone hung off the door as they leaned down, breaking it within a year. They're definitely not as handy to look in but do the job otherwise

We put our main fridge/freezer in the garage and have an under counter one in the kitchen. Problem solved. Under counter one just stores things we always need to hand so milk, cheese, yogurts etc.

You'll get used to it. My.house has built in fridge and freezer. When I was viewing it one of the first things I said was that I hate under counter fridges. 18 months on I don't give it a second thought

How much do you lot eat that a normal fridge doesn't hold it!!?? Aren't the tall ones more or less the same size just higher with a little freezer underneath? Or is everyone prefering the really massive American style ones?

We have an under the counter one but have a space where a tall one could go (the fridge is actually in the spot where a dish washer should be). I've never heard of this fridge hatred, every day's a school day.

How about a small one on the work surface too. You could keep milk for tea and a few everyday things in it. I bought one like this for my Mum in a care home to keep fruit and chocolate.

www.aldi.co.uk/ambiano-white-table-top-fridge/p/085313229083400?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzsXvm6n-3QIVkOR3Ch3_pghdEAQYASABEgJOd_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CJLBgp6p_t0CFVDG3godZbkI3A

I would hate that.

We used to have a fridge freezer and I felt I never had enough fridge space. As soon as we could we got a chest freezer that lives in the garage and a BIG fridge. It isn't one of those double-fronted "American" ones I think it is what you call a larder refrigerator - about six feet high. Bloody love it. When we had a new kitchen fitted we specifically had it designed to accommodate the big fridge.

Thanks for all the opinions. It feels like a pretty even split.

Fridge drawers were something I hadn't considered but do seem quite an expensive option. I think we probably would want to redo the kitchen at some point, but not for at least three years and could easily be more, so I don't want to spend loads on something we may change later.

I think I'm particularly aware of the bending issue as I'm currently pregnant, but really that's only a short term problem!

And as other pp have said I only go into the freezer very occasionally, but the fridge is three meals a day, plus a couple of toddler snack times, plus every cup of tea... I honestly wouldn't want to count how many times I have the door open.

Yes, you have to bend to get stuff out the freezer. But you don't use the freezer as often as the fridge. Under counter fridges are annoying. The old one I had I had to literally get on my knees to get things. Glad to see the back of it.