Fridge freezer actually IN new kitchen or in utility room?

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

We're having a kitchen extension and utility room built at the moment . The guy who drew the plans suggested a small integrated under counter fridge in the kitchen itself to increase counter space and a standalone fridge freezer in the utility room. Dh thinks this is a good idea.

I, with my increasingly creaky knees, don't relish the thought of constantly crouching down to find things like the jar of mustard hiding at the back of the under counter fridge (I do this at my mum's house and it drives me mad - i am so used to an eye level fridge.)

And I also think the "spare" smaller fridge should be the thing that's tucked away in the utility room, not the main fridge freezer which we would be using more and would be better placed nearer to where we will be preparing food.

Help me decide what we should try and plan for! I suppose a compromise would be an integrated above counter fridge in main kitchen (no knee problem then) and put up with the slight further journey to the fridge freezer in the utility room.

God I'm so sick of thinking of trivialities like placement of fridges but when I think of the ££££ it will cost I want to get right and not be cursing for the next 20 years every time I open the fridge door.

Go for a large fridge in the kitchen and a freezer in the utility?

Integrated freezers have no space. I would have tall fridge in kitchen and big freezer in utility. I would love more freezer space for bulk meat buys from farm shop and for dog meat/bones (and ice cream!)

tall ff in kitchen, tall ff in fute.

I've heard integrated anything has no space! And if they go wrong they're a pain in the arse to fix/get a replacement for.

Hadn't even considered a separate fridge and freezer so thanks for that. That would be the best thing really. Just need to convince DH that he should drop the integrated idea he's fixated on.

Our fridge freezer was in the utility room down some steps before it was all knocked down. Even though it wasn't far to walk it still irritated me having to through a door and go up and down steps. I definitely need all the day to day fridge stuff at hand in the kitchen. Not so bothered about the freezer stuff being so close.

PigletJohn: 2 fridge freezers? Are you preparing for Armageddon?

"And I also think the "spare" smaller fridge should be the thing that's tucked away in the utility room, not the main fridge freezer which we would be using more and would be better placed nearer to where we will be preparing food."

I absolutely agree with this. The stuff that you use the most should be to hand - IN the kitchen, not outside it.

Our current arrangement is a tall fridge-freezer in the kitchen (two thirds fridge, one third freezer) and a medium-sized chest freezer in the utility room. I find that works well for me. No way would I go back to an under-counter fridge!

We have a ff in the utility room due to having the worlds smallest kitchen. I would letter to have it in the kitchen BUT the holiday cottage rent has small integrated ones in the kitchen and I hate the bending down (old gimmer).

So ideally a large ff in the kitchen; failing that put it in the utility room

the fute is next to the front door, so shopping goes straight in there, also milk off the doorstep, and cold drinks for the garden or person washing cars, also packs that have not yet been opened, and frozen stuff that will be there a while (my spare xmas turkey and ham are still there).

The kitchen has stuff that is currently half-eaten or opened packs (mayo, salad, milk, vegs, marmalade, cheese, sauces, eggs, ice cream), and easily gets full. It is inconveniently distant from the front door and garden.

he probably is curly i've heard people called pigletjohn are first on the list...

You need a freezer in the kitchen. Drives me batty to have to go across the hall to get frozen peas and ice cubes.

Also, if you get integrated, where do you put your fridge magnets???

(We're fiddling about with our kitchen next month).

Be careful of integrated.
In a few years time if the ff breaks down you may not be able to fit a new one into the old space...BITTER EXPERIENCE.
My parents have an under counter fridge, I hate it, having to bend down... Eye level is so much better. I have an American fridge freezer in the kitchen.
It would annoy the hell out of me to have a fridge in the utility.

We have a free standing FF in the kitchen, but sort of built in (framed) and a chest freezer in the garage.
My ideal would be chest freezer in utility, but there isn't enough space.

Crouching down for fridge or running backwards and forwards to prepare meals from 2 fridges wouldn't be ideal for me.

Stuff you use often should be IN the Kitchen.

One other point about integrated (i.e.e behind fake cupboard door) fridges - you can't put fridge magnets on them or stick things to them.

Get a big fuck-off fridge freezer that attaches to the plumbing so you can have unlimited instant ice. And put it in your kitchen.

If I were designing my kitchen that would be top of my list.

Definitely put a freestanding big fridge-freezer (with freezer UNDER the fridge, so no creaking required for fridge items) in the kitchen.

V v annoying to have a fridge anywhere other than where you are preparing food.

We've just had a kitchen/diner extension, which has given us a futility room. Due to the shape of the house the futility room is quite big so we've put a fair amount of less frequently used kitchen stuff in it.

We've got a tall fridge in the kitchen, tall freezer in the futility. Works well for us.

[bows down to PigletJohn]: spare Christmas turkey and ham? Spare?

Tall ff in both here too. Integrated one in the kitchen of the house we recently moved to. Brought our own with us too as it was nearly new and a really good one.

Under the counter fridge would be very annoying, I think.

Holly: yes, quite. My mum and dad's (integrated undercounter) has just broken down ( in fact had been leaking for a while, which they obviously didn't notice, with it being surrounded by cupboards) and they have had to get a freestanding which now looks a bit strange as it isn't quite the right size for the space.

That's it - I am putting my foot down. Definitely no integrated undercounter fridge. I'll let him decide whether we should have a separate fridge (in kitchen) with freezer in utility or big fridge freezer in kitchen with little spare fridge in utility.

Ps. Don't use ice or frozen veg that much so won't bother me having to go to utility for freezer stuffz

We had a spare Christmas turkey. My Mum worked at a factory where at Christmas all the employees got a nice hamper and turkey. Which became interesting when my Dad worked there for a few years too.

I also worked somewhere where one year all the lads from the warehouse suddenly appeared in the office with turkeys for all. Totally unexpected. I was dumbstruck but immediately had to call my DParents (with whom we'd be spending Christmas) to see if they'd already bought one.

Spare Christmas turkeys - you never know when you'll get one!

I bought a really nice free-range bronze saddle for us in good time, but went round the shops on Christmas Eve and saw a must-go-tonight thing the size of an ostrich at a fraction of original price, and couldn't stop myself. Hunter-gatherer genes. Same with the ham. I need a few house-guests to use them up. I cooked the ostrich and there are still Tupperware boxes of it in the freezer

Had some guests over from Oz a couple of weeks back and we managed to eat nearly half the 4.5kg Topside, also from the xmas clearance.

We had ours in the utility at our previous house and the novelty soon wore very thin. I don't mind having a freezer out there though as you usually only use that once a day.

I Think your designer is more interested in looks than practicality.

I've ordered these

fridge
freezer

I'm putting them side by side but you could split them and have the freezer in the utility.