question about appliances in rental house (tenants, room, move, terms)

[karen_in_nh_2012]

I am about to move to a new house and will be renting out my current house -- have already found tenants so no issues there.

I remodeled the kitchen in my current house just under 3 years ago (it's gorgeous -- I wish I could take that kitchen to my new house but that's another story!). At that time I also bought all new appliances (the old ones were VERY old and not very efficient) including a new French-door counter-depth refrigerator. The refrigerator alone cost about $2,000 (eek -- counter-depth refrigerators are VERY expensive) and I would like to take it with me. I would then buy a new, regular refrigerator for the old house. It would match the other appliances in terms of color (black) but would likely be 30" wide instead of 36". This is because it will be a regular-depth refrigerator and I want to make sure there's plenty of clearance on both sides for cabinet-opening, etc.

Because the opening for the refrigerator is 36", there will be about 3" of space on either side. Will that look really bad? (I don't THINK it will, but I want some advice please!)

I could probably go up to 33" wide, leaving only 1.5" on either side -- that would probably look a little better and hopefully would still leave clearance room?

I know it's "only a rental" but I want it to look nice for the tenants!

[sware2cod]

be careful- you want to leave enough clearance so the fridge doesn't have issues running. counter depth is designed to be fairly flush on the side clearance; non counter depth fridges need some space on both sides. check the space requirements before you buy.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Actually, that would work BETTER, because there WILL be room -- current counter-depth refrigerator is 36" wide, new regular-depth will be 30" or 33" wide so either 3" or 1.5" clear on either side.

I was more concerned about if it would look OK -- I think "newer" refrigerators actually have smaller clearance requirements. At least that seemed to be the case when I was doing research before buying back in the summer of '09.

Thanks for your reply!

[Big George]

If you can get a 33" wide fridge and put it in there, do it. It'll be fine. There's normally a little space between the fridge & wall, and fridge & counter anyway.

[ShaneSA]

The space will not be an issue. It will not be a custom look you have now, but it is a normal space for a refrigerator.

[Squirl]

It will be fine if the color matches.....

[karen_in_nh_2012]

I think I am going to take a trip to HD to take some measurements of 30"-wide and 33"-wide refrigerators with their doors open just to make sure clearances will be fine. The space for the refrigerator is 36.5" which accommodated my counter-depth 36"-wide refrigerator perfectly.

Thanks for all the replies, I will rep you all! :-)

-karen