<p>^^aahhh…thank you…a big reason I wanted the french door layout is because in theory, someone could open the fridge (with just one door) and they wouldn’t block off access to the kitchen. But if you have to open both doors to see, that doesn’t help. And of course you would have to open both doors if there’s a basket drawer that runs the whole width of the fridge section.</p>
<p>I think I need to stand in front of some of these in a store and see if it will really do anything for me. Once I find some that are the right size.</p>
<p>My basket drawers don’t run the width of the fridge. There are two, side by side. But I still have to open both refrigerator doors to get the drawers open because of the way they’re designed (mine’s a Whirpool, BTW). </p>
<p>I love the look of the fridge from the outside but if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t get one. I do like the freezer on the bottom, though.</p>
<p>We have a 4-year-old LG with French doors, and you can get to each of the crisper drawers by opening only that side. There’s also a full-width drawer (great for pizza boxes or a large platter) for which you need to open both doors.</p>
<p>The freezer has a large divided bin underneath, and a shallow basket drawer that pulls forward so you can see what’s there. We’ve been very happy with it.</p>
<p>I have the same LG frig as Booklady. I really like it. It’s easy to see inside, easy to clean, and I love the full-width drawer. I keep all my cheeses in there. I would buy it again. I have the stainless steel in this house and had a black one in my previous house. I liked the black one better as magnets don’t stick to the front of the stainless. The newer LG models have crisper drawers that are even easier to open, and I believe there are three smaller drawers rather than two.</p>
<p>just remolded our kitchen and wife nixed the door ice/water dispenser because it wasn’t a “clean” look. There is a water dispenser inside, but you have to open the bottom freezer to get the ice, which is a pain. End result, I don’t bother to get ice that often, dispensed water is cold enough…and the french door, bottom freezer with no dispenser is indeed a much better look …IMO</p>
<p>edit…we have same KA Mansfield linked earlier</p>
<p>I just finished cleaning my parents’ top fridge, bottom freezer, that they will be selling at their auction this Friday. How I would love to have a top fridge. My parents have had this style of refrigerator for 38 years, but the style never really caught on. But the refrigerator opens with ONE door, and the freezer has a door, not a drawer. </p>
<p>People who have the french doors tell me they like it because the refrigerator is on top. Okay, I get that. But why do you want french doors? Yes, you can end up only having to open one of the doors, but then you have to have a system for knowing what you keep on which side of the refrigerator. That’s an unnecessary step to me. Plus, if you need both doors open, you need both hands to do so. If I’m putting a wide item in the refrigerator, I need to first set it down on the counter, then use both hands to open the two doors, then I need to pick up said item to place in the refrigerator. Why do people like doing that?</p>
<p>I guess I’m just getting too crouchy in my old age. But I also remember that everyone LOVED the side by sides because they were so BIG, and when someone mentioned that you couldn’t get a turkey or a pizza box in it, the advocates would say that didn’t happen often, or they had another refrigerator out in the garage for those items. Now people want the french doors because they want a wider refrigerator.</p>
<p>So, can anyone explain why you like having to open two doors instead of one?</p>
<p>^holding something heavy and needing 2 hands to open the doors rarely occurs. Whole pizza box fits in the pull out drawer below the crispers…big deal out my house…lol</p>
<p>They’re easier to open. I have a friend who has a bottom-freezer with one large door on top, and it’s so heavy that she sometimes has a hard time opening it; she often has to use two hands. As geeps says, opening the two doors can be done using one hand (in two motions.)</p>
<p>Besides, I’m one of those anal people who knows what’s on which side of the fridge. :)</p>
<p>I bought french doors because I always hated my side by side, could not get used to it for couple decades that we had it. I love french door and drower on a bottom, I call my fridge “rubber”. I seem to be able to fit in huge amount of food. We do not have any other fridge/freezer as most of our friends. For those with brillinat memory, there are different shlves, so you can organize by shelves and drowers, but for me, it is a lost cause, I cannot remember anything, it is normal routine for me to “discover” over and over again. I am very good at unusual problems that never happened before. So, I am pretty good at finding things in my fridge. Prosedure is aout the same, just unload and check and proceed to the next shelve if not found.</p>
<p>Thank you Booklady, that gives me some insight into why french doors are so popular. You are the first person who has been able to quantify why you like them, and I have asked a lot of people who own them. I still hate them, but I’m not part of the demographic they are marketing to.</p>
<p>Having the two doors means smaller opening on one side so huge door isn’t swinging open. Also can open only side you need ie milk door or fruit drawer. I love mine and it holds more than any other fridge I ever had. Can store deli platters or large Costco pizza in drawer of fridge. Also freezer easily stores pizza box on one side of divided freezer drawer. </p>
<p>"just remolded our kitchen and wife nixed the door ice/water dispenser because it wasn’t a “clean” look. "</p>
<p>That was exactly my reasoning, too. </p>
<p>In my narrow kitchen I can have both doors open and it doesn’t block anything. If I had one big door and it was open, one couldn’t go into the work space or leave until it was closed, unless you are Gumby. ;)</p>
<p>I like my french door fridge because I can more easily see what I am looking for. In addition to it being eye level, I believe it is a tad wider, and not as far from front to back. I have a filtered water dispenser on the front, but the ice machine is inside, in the bottom. The water tastes pretty good, by the way, and is slightly chiilled. We pondered that for awhile, but it’s been nice. You DO have to pay attention to the best way to use the freezer, but we don’t need to store much frozen food. Probably would if I had more space, but I believe it’s just as well.</p>
<p>I have a 48" side by side, not a bottom freezer, but the doors are also momentarily difficult to open. This only happens after they have just been closed, for example, if you forgot to take something out and have to go back in immediately. It’s intentional - when the door is closed, a vacuum forms in order to create an air tight seal. The door is only difficult to open for a few seconds until the pressure equalizes. At first this feature took some getting used to, but food really does stay fresher for weeks longer than it used to in my old fridge.</p>
<p>I don’t care for bottom freezers in general, though I would definitely choose one over a smaller side by side.</p>
<p>I think I might hold off, hearing what I’m hearing. We will probably be selling our house in 2 years or less, and even though I like the idea of a new fridge, if I have so many constraints (galley kitchen, narrow space to put it in) it doesn’t make sense to spend the $$$. I think I’d rather wait until we have a place we’ll be in long term.</p>