NOW CLOSED Tell Servis how you would design your own fridge and you could win a £100 voucher

[KatieBMumsnet]

We've been asked by the team at Servis to gather your ideas for what would make your perfect family fridge - share your top needs/ desires below and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 JL voucher.

So, what's the perfect design? What colour should it be? How many shelves? What special storage does it need? What else should it do? Is bigger always better? What about environmental factors?

Servis say: "We would love you to tell us how you would design your fridge, from a great piece or art to the outright crazy, let us hear how creative you can be! We look forward to reading your best ideas"

Servis are soon to be running a special competition on Facebook to win the fridge of your choice "giving you the opportunity to win a fridge exactly the way you like it. Fancy having your child's favourite drawing, your best photo or just a unique design...well you can. And don't worry, if you like our fridge freezers just the way they are then that's fine too" keep an eye out for more info.

Please note comments from this thread may well be used on the Servis pages on MN.

Thanks
MNHQ

[Laurensdad]

I would like to be able to alter the size and shape on the internal components of a fridge easily. We eat a lot of salad during the summer months (some from the garden, some bought) and the salad drawer is always overflowing at those times.
If we put the salad products on shelves there is the danger they will catch on the back panel and freeze, or they will be squashed by other things.
We can fiddle around with the shelves, but it means taking everything out and sliding them in and out, maybe twice a week as our stock of different foods change.
Shelves that could unlock and slide up and down would be great, as would additional drawers that could be slipped onto shelves as need to protect salads.

[clake33]

I would like a tall fridge/freezer like a smeg. I would like my fridge to clean its self and the freezer to have a button that you press when you want to defrost the freezer. I would like handles for the fridge and freezer to be child proof so my children can not get into the fridge and eat us out of house and home.

[louise88uk]

If I was designing my own fridge I'd start with having an ice dispenser on the freezer door and a fizzy drink tap fitted on the fridge door with an area to put ordinary bottles of fizzy drink on the inside & not have to buy alternatives. This way sales of the fridge would rise as well as fizzy drinks.
I'd still like space for large bottles of milk.
A tray in the bottom of the fridge for raw meats.
A rack around the top of the fridge for jars to be easily seen.
large freezer draws with strong compartments.

[stonesteps]

I would love to design my own fridge. Top of the list would be smooth, rounded corners that are easy to clean (no nooks and crannies)... lots of adjustable storage options so the fridge can be tailored to your current needs. My fridge has a fixed shelf and it drives me crazy!

How about acknowledging the fact that we don't just use the fridge for food storage - it is the hub of the kitchen where we stick the kids' pictures, artwork, the calendar, doctors appointments, reminders, receipts.... if the fridge door could be written on, we would save a lot of time chasing pieces of paper around.

An alarm for when the door is left open would be great too... my 3 year old did this for the first time yesterday and I have a feeling it will be happening a lot!

[GeorgeW78]

I'd design the outside to look like the perfect inside, lots of fresh ingredients, lovely fruit and veg, a few posh bottles and then I'd try and copy that on the inside. It'd also be a great hiding place for my chocolate stash, no one would suspect behind the greens on the outside was my fave treat on the inside :D

[happynappies]

If I could design my own fridge it would be tall, but not too wide. It would have adjustable shelving and dividers that could slide along the shelves to keep things organised. Deep salad crispers with integral racks so you could have at least two layers of salad/veg without crushing it all. It would be self-cleaning(!) and there would be an alarm for when the door is left open (had this on holiday recently, and it was great - although annoying!). There would be a monitor on the outside showing the temperature, the recommended temperature, and the energy usage in pounds and pence, and otherwise it would be nice and white, sleek and clean.

[Lotstodo]

I want plastic drawers that stay as they were when new. My fridge has plastic drawers that have become brittle and have cracked with age and I have had to put tape on them as they are now sharp in places. The tape looks awful but the drawers are too expensive to replace.

I would like nice sturdy handles on both the fridge and freezer as the handles on mine are brittle and creak when they are opened, especially the freezer as sometimes the freezer door is difficult to open. I know they are going to snap and everytime somebody opens the door I tell them to be careful - I'm going to be saying that for the next seven years or so aren't I? It's very stressful but if the handles are as expensive as the fridge drawers!

Help! I want/need a new one!

[henryscatoscar]

One issue we've had for fridges is the way it drains, if there's some way for this not to block or be done in some other way. A durable shelf inside the door made from plastic that doesn't crack. Often there is a glass shelf at the bottom of the fridge, if there was a way this was not glass that would be safer and not such a worry when cleaning it. Temperature setting which is in degree C or F's rather than just a number setting please for extra safety. A big point is a unit which consumes as little energy as possible. if molded division is included then this should be removable in case someone does not want this. Some may want a drinks dispenser but others not. For the freezer, a better way of ensuring it doesn't freeze up. If the seal is not perfect you can get ice build up. Maybe some way of ensuring the unit is working at optimum settings so its consuming as little electricity as possible. There are always number settings of colder /not so cold but this is a bit of a guess

[AnnMumsnet]

Thanks for all the fab ideas: am pleased to say NorthernFlower wins the £100 John Lewis voucher.

[debofost]

I need different sized shelves for different sized products that are easy to move around.

More space inside doors for large orange juices and milks.

Proper sections for eggs that have deeper storage so they don't fall out.

Also don't make shelves too high, make the freezer wider and not so high for shorter people.

Lastly more hard wearing plastic for frost free freezers as my drawers have snapped in places where it freezes!

[BigGapMum]

Firstly it's got to be easy to clean with no little places to catch crumbs etc.
I would like the drawers in the freezer to be make of a material which doesn't get brittle and crack when its cold, which is what has happened to every freezer that we have had.

I would like the fridge to have plenty of easily movable/removable shelves for flexibility. Nice deep door pockets. No egg container or butter dish. Fridge MUST have bottle rack.

[Hannah333]

I would love a multi patterned (on the outside) for example, stripes, swirls, leopard, zebra prints, all different crazy patterns! Then on the inside I'd love lots of different shelves, drawers and compartments of different colours so I could colour coordinate my food according the shelf colour! This would be amazing, with separate parts for Raw meats etc, of course. In addition, I would not just want the standard water dispenser on the outside, I would love to have water, but also fresh milk dispenser for the children and for us adults to stick our mug of tea under!
That would be my dream fridge!

[empress249]

Well, my 4 year old son has just 'stolen' two yogurts from my fridge, so a way to lock the fridge would be fantastic! Or maybe a secret compartment I can hide the ice-creams in! :-)

[KnottedAnchorChief]

I would like to open my simple but stylish fridge door to find narnia beyond. I would step out into a sparkling, moonlit world of freshly fallen snow and be handed a beautiful fake-fur coat by a cute, benign, talking animal. Possibly an otter.
The otter would then lead me to a stall set among the pines, with a moonlit sea beyond. The stall would be groaning with the most amazing selection of freshly caught seafood. I would select what I wanted, offer my thanks to the otter, and step back into my warm kitchen to whip up a simple but fabulous seafood feast.

[maidmarian2012]

I would like a salad drawer that did not collect water underneath it.

I would like a bright led light in it.

I would like a brushed steel american style double-doored fridge freezer.

I would like a proper child lock to keep my greedy little 2 year old out!

economic.

somewhere sealed to store cat food.

a quiet ice dispenser.

please!! :)

[kldryden]

Lighting is important, there is nothing worse than not being able to see whats at the back of the shelf!

For me it would have plenty of shelf space in the fridge section with a couple of salad drawers and then a longer narrow drawer which could have moveable section dividers for deli items, chocolates and medicines. Equally larder section behind the door are essential for sauces, pesto etc.

I like freezer drawers rather than shelving but again, they must have plenty of movable dividers so I can separate fish, meat, veg and pizzas. A small section to keep picnic freezer packs in would also be helpful.

I don't like built in appliances but I don't want my fridge to stand out and detract from the kitchen. I think if appliances could come with easily changeable door/drawer covers then I could colour match it to my kitchen.

[ckelly2304]

Full of chocolate, cheesecake, wine and cider!

[bumps2babies]

My dream fridge would be very large, energy efficient and self cleaning. I would like an inbuilt wipeable note board on the outside to try and keep our schedules organised. I would love a secret draw for my chocolate stash that has a code to keep my stash safe from the other half. I would like an ice cube maker and a draw with slots to keep ice lollies separate from everything else.

[topdrawer]

I'd have deep rotating shelves that automatically came to the front with the flick of a switch - think James Bond gun cabinets!

[montiefletcher]

one that dispenses gin and tonic after a long day!!!

[compstruck]

Firstly, a shelf for each member of the family's special food as we all have separate diet issues, and a spare one for the shared food

Secondly, sturdier door shelves, they always end up breaking, cracking or falling out with contents falling onto floor

Thirdly, ice and slush on the front door

Fourthly, no salad drawers at bottom. Make bottom for raw meat and joints as blood can drip down, also whilst defrosting, from top shelves, also into bottom salad drawers and contaminate.

Fifthly, an alarm to sound if left open accidentally AND if power supply has gone off through surge or something.

[CelticPromise]

I would like my fridge to be HUGE. Failing that, flexible. I had to take a shelf out of mine recently, I'd like a slat in the top or on the side to hold a removed shelf.

I'd like more drawers I think, so I don't have to rummage. What about a mirror at the top? Then I'd be able to see all the elderly jars on my top shelf.

A bottle section at the bottom, big big doors, and the freezer to also be big and not an afterthought.

[tigga61]

id like a slim line american style fridge with 2 doors opening for freezer compartment and 1 door freezer with big deep storage boxes and a seperate ice cream storage, self defrost feature, fridge would have a glass salad box interchangable shelves for easy filling and same with door shelves for different size bottles id have an ice crusher and water feature built in to the door outside for ease of use.

[CaramelisedOnion]

I would definitely like more egg space!

I would like colour marked drawers for fruit +veg, dairy and meat and fish (with the meat and fish ones at the bottom, of course)


Perhaps a bottle holder? or a deeper door perhaps so that more bottles could be fitted in than is normally the case.

I would like a light (actually I would like disco lights flashing every time I opened the door but I recognise this is ambitious)

To carry on the theme of being ambitious, I would like a vacuum sealer attachment! I love it when the fishmonger vacuum seals my salmon and would love to be able to do it all myself with meat etc.

I would like it to be lockable!

I would like the freezer to somehow NEVER require defrosting. that is a miserable task - would be fantastic never to have to do that again....

Equal space fridge and freezer.