Sub-Zero, Liebherr, GE Monogram, and other “cabinet depth,” built-in refrigerators are increasingly popular in the high-end market. These refrigerators provide a number of desirable features, such as humidity controlled compartments, specially controlled drawers for fine-tuning the temperature for delicate foods, snack drawers, and independent compressors for the freezer and the refrigerator so that there is no shared air between the two chambers. However, I think the greatest appeal is the fact that these refrigerators are the same depth as the lower kitchen cabinets.

    Ordinary refrigerators are six or eight inches deeper than the lower cabinets and countertop causing them to stick out into the room, thus ruining the lines of the kitchen design and just plain getting in the way. A built-in type unit will sit back more, with its doors flush with the other cabinets so they become less obtrusive. Each manufacturer offers several models that have doors you can cover with panels that match your other cabinetry. This is what you see in showplace kitchens. (more…)