Under counter fridge for a family of 4 - bad idea?

[Givemestrengthorgin]

We are looking to redo our small and oddly shaped kitchen that was designed by the previous owner. We have very little workspace but could gain more by replacing our tall fridge/freezer unit with an under counter fridge and having the freezer and an additional fridge in the garage. The garage isn't integrated but easily accessible just by nipping out the back door. So we could store longer term or less frequently used fridge items in the garage and just have daily use items in the kitchen. I'm so desperate for counter space that I'm convincing myself it will be okay.

Can anyone with an under counter fridge tell me how they find it? There is four of us in the house.

Thanks!

We are a family of 3, just one adult and it's a nightmare tbh, the kids forget about all sorts we buy that languishes at the back and it's a pain getting down to get stuff/put away/clean. You also can't have handy lists and magnets dont stay on. We really struggle for space too and only shop 2-3 days in advance so with another adult I imagine it would be worse

I doubt that our fridge freezer is much bigger than an under the counter fridge but it does my head in constantly going to the utility room for stuff. So I would think going out to the garage would get old fast.

We have one and it's fine, you have to be careful which model you buy, our old fridge was awful but the one we have now has more usable storage space.
We do have another in the garage.
I don't think i would be happy with not having a freezer in the kitchen, we have an under counter freezer too.

Oh and there's definitely no 4 shelves - 2 and a small drawer is all that's typical

Don’t do it. You will regret it.

I have an under counter fridge and then a separate big fridge and freezer in the utility but it's not far to walk to. Works fine for us. Wine, diet drinks, cartons of orange, spare milk, food with long use by dates go in there. All the bulky stuff basically. Then it's just day to day food in the under counter fridge. I meal plan a lot so just bring in that day/next days food into the small fridge. We never run out of space

I'd much prefer the tall fridge rather than an under counter model.
I've spent a lot of time with an elderly grand aunt and her under counter fridge was really annoying when you are used to a tall one.

The tall fridge gives you lots of accessible storage. It's a very cold cupboard.

We have an under counter fridge which was here when we bought, there's 5 of us and it's a nightmare. Luckily we have another big one in utility but it's not ideal.

Sounds like a botch job. Does your kitchen need to stay small? Could you knock through? If not, I’d focus on other space saving things such as sink covers, a hot water tap, a built in microwave etc. You could have literally nothing sitting on the worktops with a range of these solutions.

I have an under counter fridge and a fridge in an out building. It works fine. I rotate stuff between the fridges. Only down side is popping out to get stuff if it's wet or cold, but it's not a massive deal.

We have an under counter fridge and a spare fridge in the garage. Until lockdown, we rarely used the spare fridge - only at Christmas, when guests visited etc. However, with lockdown, when you do one large shop rather than more frequent smaller ones, we have found we use it more.

It’s not a problem popping out to get the next pint of milk etc.

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful. We have the kitchen planner people coming out next week so will ask them for advice as well and maybe draw up both options to see how it looks.

Yes do post a plan of the room!

Last house we had an undercounter fridge and undercounter freezer, think they were NEFF and was fine for us for family of 4. But depends how you shop / what you eat. My DH cooks from fresh ingredients each day whereas if you stock up for the week always you'ld need to check you can fit it all in. I wouldn't like things in the garage.

This house we have a utility room but think even that is a pain for the fridge as you want everything together. Freezer its less of an issue as that's occassional.

What the...?! I definitely didn't realise having an undercounter fridge was an issue. Jeez, I've never had anything else even in quite big houses (although my parents do have a built in fridge now). We are a family of 6 and "manage"?? fine with an undercounter fridge and a gasp slimline freezer. We could fit a full size freezer but never saw the need. I only shop weekly as well. Although my fridge jenga skills are pretty good!

@MarthaWashingtonsFeralTomcat

I’m literally intrigued how that works. 2 bags of salad and a watermelon would take up a third of an under counter fridge and that’s only a fraction of one meal for a family of 6. Add to that other fruit and veg, big bottles of milk, pots of yoghurt etc I genuinely don’t think I could fit in more than 2 days’ worth for a large family.

Bear in mind that when you sell the lack of obvious space for a tall fridge in the kitchen could encourage prospective buyers to walk away or ask for big discounts.

We had a similar issue but I'm the end I ditched a draining board with the sink instead of ditching the larder fridge.
I was worried sick I'd miss a draining board but as we have a dishwasher and over the years I've binned anything that's hand wash only (except a vase) I went ahead. We have a medium sized square sunken sink. Not having a draining board also gave a bit more flexibility in location choice.
The extra work top space is fab. We have less clutter dumped and left on the side too because things are not left on the draining board.

I keep a Joseph and another smaller plastic draining board under the sink that i can use in very rare occassions. Both just pop on the side and have a small lip that sits over the edge of the sink.

That’s a good tip about regaining work space. My DD has a small double sink and a Franke rollmat - a fold away draining mat.

Never have an under counter fridge for a family. They are useless. Way too small.

Could you fit in a mobile island? Post a pic of the kitchen plan. Could MN improve it to gain work space? Nipping outside to a fridge is a no no in my view!

I much prefer under counter fridges, with more counter top space. We have always had a fridge in the kitchen and then another fridge and separate freezer in the garage. Much more efficient that way, none of them are ever rammed. Only ever shop weekly, plenty of room for everything. The garage fridge has drinks, overflow milk and butter and cheese, and all veg. Indoor fridge all daily basics, lunch, dinner, puddings.

I think massive fridge freezers in kitchens are ugly and take up too much space. I would only one if it was in a separate larder room.

Meant to add.... Not all under counter fridges are equal. You need to get the wide ones, with good internal space. I've always bought Miele for this reason. They are not as small as people seem to think.

Ah ok, we don't really drink milk and I wouldn't fridge a watermelon. I just don't think our fridge is that much smaller than the top half of a fridge freezer? It's 150 litres capacity.