Does this ruin my new kitchen?

[KitchenLayoutHelp]

We are moving into a new house, there was an integrated fridge freezer included that was too small for us, we already own an American fridge freezer we wanted to bring with us.

This isn't our kitchen, ours isn't finished yet but this is the same size and lay out. I have (badly) edited the kitchen like ours to show where our American fridge freezer is going and where the breakfast bar is being shortened to to allow extra room to pass by it.

It just looks a bit rubbish. I love how big open and bright the room looks in the first pic. I know we need to prioritise storage over looks but I'm worried it looks really bad and out of place. Does it?

When you say it's all been ordered and delivered. If it was me I would rather refund or exchange than have something I wasn't happy with.

Also if it was me. I would have floor to ceiling units on right hand side and fridge there.

Then a kitchen island in the middle.

Thank you for some positivity, I've nearly cried over this and if that isn't a first world problem right now I don't know what is

It's a kitchen diner, the other side of the room will have a dining table etc so the breakfast bar are into that space too much if it went down that way. Dh is happy as he didn't like the gap and said there was too much empty space and this is much better but I just feel sad that it's ruining my pretty kitchen.

Will definitely get something to go at the side and cover it. Our kitchen has the same cupboards and slate floor, but we have oak look worktops so perhaps an oak bookcase could tie it in, or a tall plant. I just want it to look nice

Where does the door behind the fridge lead to?

My only concern is the layout, seems like a faff to have to walk around the fridge and possibly squeeze through the gap between the fridge/counter to get about. Especially if someone’s actively using the kitchen. Would it be a high footfall path?

You need to change it - it’ll do your head in. Any chance of integrated side by side fridge/freezer in two lower cupboards?

Remember you are the customer and the company want your money - especially at the moment! They would rather change them for you surely?

Talk to the supplier and see if any changes are possible. We’ve just had a Howdens kitchen fitted and a few last second amendments were made with no issue. Talk to whoever did the plans and ask for advice.

If the breakfast bar is mainly for surface space, why not investigate under the counter fridges/freezers.

I think it’ll look fine once you’re in abs using it, but if it bothers you, change it

Yeah sorry I think this looks unbalanced. Can you sell your existing FF and get another one that better fits the space?

It looks a bit clunky but after years of trying to have my dream kitchen, sometimes practicality has to top aesthetics. I would love the biggest fridge freezer that I could fit in my kitchen even if it doesn’t look great.

I think it’s fine although it would depend on the door opening space.

You can balance the look of it by higher shelves or other distractions further in the kitchen.

You’d regret not having a decent fridge if you’re used to it.

Everything is paid for and delivered. The developers are fitting it next week. No major changes could be delivered by then, it's a development of 30 houses and if we change everything now we will be delayed until after they've done the rest of the houses and we'll miss the stamp duty holiday. It really is too late, I'm not saying it to be a martyr.

It doesn’t look great in the photos but it will be fine in reality. A small fridge freezer is worse.
You’re living in a home not a show house.

Do you have access or could you draw it in chalk somewhere (and find out widths of the fridge door? If it functions reasonably so you will be able to cook/prep food and you can use the bar then it is likely a good compromise. Although you might like something that feels bigger imagine squeezing a week shopping in the smaller integrated fridge if what you really need is the big one you actually have.

All rooms look nice and spacious and open until you have to put in the furniture or fittings required for practicality, so I don’t think you should compare it too much with the first picture. The integrated fridge/freezer in the first picture looks like the one we have in our current rented flat and it is too small, it’s very annoying and that’s not for five people!

I think the edited picture looks worse than it will be when you actually have the shorter breakfast bar, and have the side covered with other things, so it won’t be so stark.

With hindsight I guess you could have kept the integrated and had a smaller fridge in the same space as your large one, but that would have given you less storage and still wouldn’t have been an open look. So I don’t necessarily think you have made the wrong decision.

It will drive you nuts
I had my kitchen fitted several years ago at a big cost. I had granite work tops and splash backs under lights you name it cost a bloody fortune
One of the things I asked for was an intergrated bin fitted in one of the units
Stupid fucking kitchen designer didn’t take into account the waste pipes and now I have a fucking horrible big expensive bin in my kitchen which I didn’t want .
Still fucks me off every day that I see it 8 years on 😂

Yes looks totally out of place sorry.

Liebherr do integrated and non-integrated American fridge freezers that are shallower (Ie front to back) than the standard ones, but still fit a huge amount of food in.

To save money you can buy a Liebherr full height fridge and full height freezer, place them side by side with integrated doors (you could order some additional doors). These look like American fridge freezers but actually side by side and cheaper. They are also shallower than standard.

Can you get your big fridge/freezer professionally spray painted to match your kitchen - being a darker colour means it makes a statement and looks even bigger than it is.

It's never too late until it's all fitted.

We made changes to our kitchen as it was fitted.

It might mean that you have to pay a bit extra to have someone come back to finish fitting when new bits arrive but most things are possible.

The only regrets that I've had over the moves is not to include the biggest fridge possible. I wouldn't think or worry until everything is in place and you have lived with it for a few months. Your new kitchen looks super lovely and family practical, we all look at things too hard. Find the joy xx

Oh and I have under the counter fridge and freezer
😂😂 I honestly did think about removing the freezer and chucking the bin in there - that’s how much it annoys me 😂

I think you’re right about the bookcase. Put it on the side of the fridge looking into the diner part of the room and you won’t see the fridge - it’ll just look like the bookcase is a divider between the kitchen and diner. I saw this done in some pictures somewhere the other day and it looked great. Some nice plants and hardback glossy cookery books and you’re sorted!

I would have had an island. A breakfast bar for 2 isn't much use to a family of 5.

It does spoil you flow of the kitchen! Have you a garage you could put your American style fridge in. Then use the small build in fridge freezer for daily use not storage!

It’s too late to rearrange the kitchen and it sounds like it’s all planned out to work. The thing that I couldn’t live with is seeing the side of a massive fridge. I would build a small partition wall on the dining room side of the fridge/freezer (cheap and easy to do).

Could you put the fridge freezer in the utility room if you have one.

The room doesn't look balanced the way it is. Could they fit all the kitchen apart from the tall unit and you put a tall fridge in there ? Order a cupboard for a tall fridge to be installed later.

Don't start with something wrong. The whole point of buying a new house is to have it ready as you want.