Decorative Refrigerators

By Sarah Van Arsdale

Unless you've designed or re-designed a kitchen recently, you may think of the refrigerator as simply that big cold thing in the kitchen that keeps the ice cream from melting and the celery fairly crisp. But great strides have been made in the look and function of this appliance, and you'd be remiss to overlook the mighty fridge as a decorating detail.

Considering the history of the fridge, its look has really come around to keep up with home decor in recent years. The first fridges were solely functional: big, bulky white creatures that took up a good portion of the kitchen and made no attempt to fit in whatsoever.

And then the attempt was made to brighten them up, and manufacturers started making refrigerators in the lovely colors of awful avocado, boring brown, and ghastly gold.

If you haven't gone shopping for a refrigerator in several years, you're in for a nice surprise.

First of all, many manufacturers and contractors will work with you to install a fridge that fits in with the decor of a kitchen so seamlessly that you may even have trouble finding the thing when searching for a late-night snack.

The "integrated" style of refrigerators ends the eyesore problem, and can be used in just about any room in the house, fitting into the room's design without screaming "fridge over here!"

Even if you choose a regular refrigerator, by installing wood or laminated panels over the fridge, a contractor can make the front of the fridge look as if it's cut from the same wood as the cabinets, creating a sleek, unified look in the room.

Or, if you don't mind knowing the fridge is a fridge, you can buy a stainless steel model, which with its fingerprint resistance will be much easier to keep clean, and will add an elegant note to the kitchen.

No article on refrigerators would be complete without a mention of Sub-zero brand refrigerators, which have recently become the symbol for cutting-edge appliances in high-end kitchens. These refrigerators are truly luxury items, and offer many more features than simply keeping the mayo from going bad.

The Sub-zero even comes in models with glass doors, so that you can see what you have, ending the misery of standing in front of the open fridge foraging for a snack.

Finally, you can also find a compact refrigerator that will be much more efficient than you may think, complete with a freezer compartment. These mini-models are great for small apartment kitchens in the homes of people who are not wild about cooking. They're big enough to hold all the essentials, and efficient enough to keep things cold. Most of them also include a freezer.

The more efficient of these smaller models will have a separate freezer compartment, with its own door; the models with the freezer held within the fridge won't freeze as well, and are better used as supplements elsewhere in the house.

Elsewhere in the house? Why on earth would anyone want a refrigerator anywhere but the kitchen?

Once you start expanding your thinking about where a fridge may go, you'll see the possibilities are endless. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to crack open an icy beer while you're working in the garage? Or to have milk and coffee kept fresh in your home office?

A small fridge can also come in handy in the family room, where you can keep it stocked with sodas and snacks. In a guest room, a little fridge can add that touch of hominess and independence that may mean the guest just doesn't want to leave - so be careful with that one.

The small refrigerators we've seen lately are so compact and so neatly designed that we'd be happy to have them in any room of the house.

With the progress that's been made lately in refrigerator design, this appliance can now be not only an essential tool for the kitchen, but a necessary extra in design as well.