What We Think About Having Our Fridge in the Pantry, One Year Later

THE FARMHOUSE

Back when we remodeled our kitchen in 2019, we decided to put our fridge in the pantry. The whole fridge-in-pantry situation proved to be a surprisingly hot topic with readers, and we got all sorts of comments for and against. So today I wanted to share how it’s going, what we think about the layout, and if we’d do it again. Plus I’m asking a friend with a similar fridge-in-pantry layout to weigh in. Let’s get into it…

what we think of having our fridge in the pantry, one year in - www.thegritandpolish.com

our Farmhouse pantry, sources here

Let me take you back to early 2019 when we decided to remodel our kitchen. We debated about floor plans and got input from you guys. We even wrote 3 posts about the floor plan: Initial kitchen design with the existing floor plan, floor plan 2.0, and our final kitchen floor plan.

Here’s the original floor plan of our kitchen:

FarmhouseFloorPlans-Kitchen before-01.png

We knew we wanted to replace the original fridge location with the range, but where could the fridge go? The best option we came up with was the pantry. The more we thought about having the fridge in the pantry, the more I liked it. We wouldn’t have to stare at a giant gray box all day. And we’d have all the food in one spot. So we went for it. Here’s our post-renovation floor plan:

FarmhouseFloorPlans-KitchenV4 final-02.png

But I have to admit I was a little intimidated by the opposing comments. We heard things like, “I wouldn’t buy a house with the fridge in the pantry,” “It’s un-American,” “Don’t do it!”. So today I wanted to circle back and share our opinion after having lived with this layout for over a year.

psst: we got a great deal on our fridge at a scratch and dent sale and shared the experience here.

So how do we like having the fridge in the pantry?

In three words: we love it! Seriously, we have no reservations. Even if it hadn’t been the only location that worked in our kitchen to house the fridge, I’d still want it here. It’s next to all the food and hidden out of sight. A win-win in my book!

The only time we’ve had a traffic jam around the fridge is when our whole family crowds in there to put away the groceries or find snacks. And a couple times when we have guests over and I’m baking at the countertop opposite the fridge, and people are in and out of the fridge for drinks. But in a year and a half, those things have happened maybe a handful of times and they’ve never been enough of a nuisance to make us second guess the fridge placement.

So would we place our fridge in the pantry again?

100% yes! But don’t just take my word for it… Chloe of Boxwood Avenue also opted to place her fridge in the pantry when she and her husband renovated their kitchen a few years ago so I asked her for an update on whether or not she likes it. And here’s what she said…

“When I designed my kitchen, I knew that I wanted to emphasize the beauty of the range -which was a splurge. It felt off to have a large stainless steel appliance placed next to the beautiful French oven. Looking at the plan, I had the idea to put the fridge in the pantry. In fact, we always had a fridge in there - it was just a second fridge. We didn’t need two refrigerators in the kitchen, so I decided to eliminate one of them, and leave one in the pantry. Since our large pantry doors always stay open, the pantry feels like an extension of the kitchen and doesn’t feel inconvenient. Overall, I am so happy with this design decision. Take risks and have fun!”