I was lucky enough to buy my apartment in "el barrio" about 15 months ago. The only reason I was able to buy it is because it is located in "el barrio" and because it needed some major renovations. I've been "redesigning" my kitchen and bathroom since I first saw the place and have decided that it is time for me to actually start renovating, instead of just accumulating design magazines and making frequent visits to home depot and other home improvement stores.
The kitchen is something that I daydream about all the time. That's my "dream kitchen" on the right (although I'm planning on using marble for the counters). Case in point, I am at work and daydreaming about it. Maybe some day I will have a Viking or Wolf range. For now, I am going to hold on to the 1950s enamel stove that came with my apartment. It's got a warming oven and is just too cool for school. The only downside is that whenever I have to bake anything I have to ask the BF if he will light the oven for me. It's scary, but I'm going to keep my retro-stove and maybe one day I'll be able to light it myself. I've decided to "go green" and replace the same nasty linoleum patterned floor that is in the kitchen with cork. Cork is cushy so if I drop things, they won't break. And it's easier on both the environment (it's a renewable resource!) and on your joints (it's cushy!). 
My kitchen, like most New York City kitchens, is not so big. It's a very narrow galley kitchen and to make things even more complicated, one side of the kitchen is too shallow to have standard depth base cabinets. This has made "redesigning" my kitchen
more complicated than I expected. This limits the placement of my base cabinets to one side of the kitchen and shifting the refrigerator to the opposite wall if I want to have a dishwasher (YES!!) and even a single drawer. As Evil had pointed out to me a while back, there aren't that many counter depth refrigerators out there. I have 3 viable somewhat affordable options: (i) a 10 cubic foot LG refrigerator that is 24"x24"x68" (shown on the left), (ii) a 13 cubic foot European refrigerator that is 24" x 24" x 78" (shown on the right), (iii) a 17.3 cubic foot Fisher and Paykel refrigerator that is 27" x 31" x 67" (shown at the very bottom of this post). The LG seems a little too small; the Fagor is a little too tall, and the Fisher and Paykel is a little too wide and would stick out by 3 inches. I am leaning towards the Fagor, but then I'd have to use a step stool to get to items on the top shelf. Should I just go for one of the other models? I can't decide...
7 comments:
Go for the Korean one.
If you need more space, would it be feasible to knock down the wall between the livingroom and kitchen?
But seriously, priority #1 should be a functioning toilet.
Ooh ooh ooh! I love this stuff! If you knock down any walls, let me know and I'll come help. Seriously, I love building/designing/demolition stuff. I also love painting (and I'm really good at it), so let me know if you want some help with that. It's better to spend money on stuff you can't do yourself!
Back to the point of your post- I vote for #2. I don't like #1 at all, and think that the extra three inches sticking out of #3 will really be annoying (but then again, I am known to be rather ocd about that stuff). If you put the jars of stuff you don't use often up top, then you'll only have to use the stool every so often. That's not so bad!
i wonder why there isnt a more diverse market for counter depth refrigerators. isnt that odd?
anyway, dont listen to evil twin #1... the korean fridge is definitely the wrong way to go. not ONLY because it's korean, but because it's too small. you're going to hate yourself if you get a 10 cubic ft fridge. that's tiny!
i would lean toward option #2 for you. like steph said, you can always put the lesser used stuff at the top. if i had that fridge, i'd stash my white wine up there.
also, i have fridge #3 (as evil twin #2 knows)... and i'm quite pleased with it. also, the fact that it sticks out three inches is not that noticable... because the front of the fridge is curved. where it meets the counter, it only sticks out like 1 inch and it curves out from there.
but if evil twin #2 needs to save space, then fridge #2 is a reasonable option. although having a 17.3 cubic ft fridge is nice the few times a year when you are cooking up a storm, like thanksgiving. probably not a day to day necessity.
Looks like the Fagor is in the lead. That's probably what I'm going to go with. Plus, I just read this on their website:
Bio-Filter and anti-bacteria drum: The unique BIO Filter, an antibacterial/odor-eliminating filter, keeps the refrigerator hygienic by retaining mold and bacteria from the circulating air. The drum additionally contains a protection cover that disables such bacterial particles from settling and growing, thus making it the healthiest refrigerator in the market.
It's the "healthiest"...
I think the healthiest is definitely a good way to go. I'm also not a huge fan of curved things, so the fact that #3 curves out 2 inches might bother me. Then again, I don't live in your apartment.
Here's a good entry on fridges from AT: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/appliances-large/liesls-cure-the-fridge-saga-4-finale-044075
Steph, thanks for the offer, but knocking down walls would require approval from my Coop Board which is something I'd rather not have to go through. They are a persnicketty bunch. Given that their average age is 65, i think "persnicketty" is the most appropriate adjective to describe them.
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