Fridge not in the kitchen... why??

[Momniscient]

Recently I've seen a lot of places on RightMove where there's a big American style fridge/freezer is in the adjoining utility space... and nothing in the kitchen

Honestly, I can't get my head around it. I think it'd be unnecessarily annoying to have the fridge in another room... but I'll happily hear any alternative views where there are advantages having the fridge elsewhere! Tell me!

YABU - Living with a fridge in the utility is the dream, you don't know what you're missing
YANBU - Don't do it. The fridge belongs in the kitchen.

What's the difference between an American and a UK fridge? How does everyone on this thread seem to know this?

Also I've never had a fridge in the utrlirt room, only a freezer. And that was out of the kithen, across the loung, into the hallway and it was in the storage cipboard.

Suprisingly not much of a pain. I don't snack though

What's the difference between an American and a UK fridge?
American fridges have eggs in them. UK fridges have margarine and sadness.

I have a huge American fridge freezer in my kitchen and will probably get it moved to the utility when we renovate, keeping a small integrated fridge in the kitchen for drinks, spread, jam, sauces etc. I think they're a bit unsightly!

Trudging back and forth to the fridge? A utility room is literally attached to the kitchen, my big fridge is in my utility and is about three steps away from my main work counter.

What are you lot all imagining? Separate wings and long dark leaky passageways through a crypt to get from the kitchen to the fridge?

Our kitchen is the width of a double bed and only 8ft long. It's tiny. Our fridge lives in a corner of the dining room, which is so ugly it makes me count the days down til we can leave this tenancy .

Although I hate it because it looks awful, I can't say I've ever been bothered by it on a practical level - it's only about 10ft from the kitchen, if I'm cooking I just grab all the ingredients at once and take them in there.

My grandparents' house had a big double fridge freezer in a pantry area adjoining the kitchen (through a door). It was quite nice - almost all the food, including jars etc, all lived in there, so it was easy to unpack shopping and it was mostly on shelves so you could see everything you had at a glance. The actual kitchen itself had the basic stuff (bread, butter, tea making stuff, some tins of things) in the cupboards, but otherwise everything in the pantry area.

@TractorAndHeadphones

What's the difference between an American and a UK fridge? How does everyone on this thread seem to know this?

American style (and french style to an extent) are big and ergonomic and practical and you can see the shit you put in. UK fridges often need you to sniff out anything that’s gone off lol

I prefer a fridge in the kitchen, but we also have a separate freezer unit, which is in the utility, so it doesn't seem completely bizarre to me to have the fridge in the utility, too. It's really just another step or two away and probably not the inconvenience that it initially seems.

@PuppyMonkey

Trudging back and forth to the fridge? A utility room is literally attached to the kitchen, my big fridge is in my utility and is about three steps away from my main work counter.

What are you lot all imagining? Separate wings and long dark leaky passageways through a crypt to get from the kitchen to the fridge?

Even if the utility is next to the kitchen, there must be a door or it would in fact be part of the kitchen. And yes, I am lazy enough to find that a faff!

Even if the utility is next to the kitchen, there must be a door or it would in fact be part of the kitchen

Yes there’s a door… it’s pretty much always open.

My fridge is in the pantry at the end of my kitchen. There's no reason it couldn't be in the kitchen, but I like having all the storage-type stuff in one place. It's not a tiny kitchen or pantry but not an enormous, country-house style one either, so I think it really is just preference.

What I don't like is when you look at newbuilds and realise it's a four-bed house sold with only space for an under-counter fridge, or a normal-size one that would have to be put in the living room! Seen a few of those and it's just crap design.

@ThePoisonousMushroom

Even if the utility is next to the kitchen, there must be a door or it would in fact be part of the kitchen

Yes there’s a door… it’s pretty much always open.

FWIW we have a separate kitchen and pantry/utility, because at various points in the house's life it was subdivided into two, and there's a solid wall between the current kitchen and pantry, plus an arch for the door. We took the door out as it was annoying, but don't want to knock through. I really like that as a shape because it means you have no faff getting things, but also if you do have a 'messy' space to hide stuff if you need.

My dad has his fridge in the draughty entrance hall, ;it's tucked under the stairs so doesn't get in the way. It's a little less convenient than having it in the kitchen but must save a lot of energy as it's in a cooler place in the house.

I was just thinking this today. I have a tiny galley kitchen. My average fridge freezer is just adjacent in the hall. One day I want t create a kitchen diner. But I don’t want a big ugly modern fridge freezer to dominate. So I think I will create a utility and put all the white goods in there and just have an integrated under the counter fridge for things I need a
Lot like milk etc.

If I had a utility room, I'd like to have the fridge / washing machine in there, and have a table in the kitchen to eat at! Must be a space issue, surely?

It’s mainly a space issue I guess. Older houses weren’t built with so many appliances in mind.

Having freezer in cellar does mean you get moments when it’s freezing and you think, nah I don’t need peas tonight! ( it’s only accessible via outside)

I live in the US. Curious as to what is deemed an “American fridge”? Aren’t all fridges the same? They keep food cold. Why would an American one be any different? Over here we just call them refrigerators.

'American' style fridge freezers are generally twice the size of a typical UK fridge freezer, usually with double doors and iced water and or/ice function.

@BritWifeInUSA
American fridge - usually full height, with fridge and freezer full height. These are generally too big to go in most standard uk kitchens if no extension or large.

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/refrigeration/fridge-freezers/samsung-rs8000-rs68a8530b1-eu-american-style-fridge-freezer-black-steel-10221025-pdt.html

‘Normal fridge’ - usually freezer at the bottom, fridge at top. But can be bought separately so each is about a metre high and often just one ie fridge is put underneath kitchen worktop, and then freezer in shed/ garage.

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/refrigeration/fridge-freezers/samsung-brb26600fww-eu-integrated-70-30-fridge-freezer-sliding-hinge-10224778-pdt.html

American style

Traditional UK
UK

I suppose most UK houses are smaller so space for a massive fridge freezer in the kitchen is limited.

I think people in the US/Australia keep things in the fridge that would be kept in the cupboard here - jam and marmalade, tomato sauce etc. (I know this is controversial - there have been rows on MN previously )

Oops x post

Ah, we call the ones with two long doors “French-door refrigerators”. Not all refrigerators here look like that though. We have three refrigerators in our home. Two have a freezer at the bottom and one has a small freezer on top. None of them is side-by-side.

I find it weird that they are called American fridges when most of them here don’t look like that. Oh well, you learn something new every day.

We have the freezer in the garage. The fridge is in th kitchen.

@XenoBitch

I have a normal size fridge freezer, and it is in the utility room. There is nowhere for it to go in my kitchen.

Exactly the same here. It is a little annoying and I've said it's the first thing we change when building costs come down enough to allow us to remodel the kitchen (in a million years time).

@BritWifeInUSA

I live in the US. Curious as to what is deemed an “American fridge”? Aren’t all fridges the same? They keep food cold. Why would an American one be any different? Over here we just call them refrigerators.

We didn’t name them 🤷🏻‍♀️, it’s what someone has decided to market them to the U.K. market as.