The refrigerator is the heart of any kitchen. It keeps your produce fresh and crisp, chills dough for your favorite cookie recipes, and ensures beverages are perfectly chilled for your next dinner party. When shopping for a new fridge, it is vital to understand the features and style best suited to your home to ensure you make a worthwhile investment.
Items like refrigerators are considered ‘big ticket’ items and can quickly blow your budget when redesigning your kitchen or updating your appliances. To get the most value for your money without sacrificing function, versatility, or aesthetic appeal, it is strongly recommended to wait for significant annual sales and online or local retailer deals to purchase fridges and freezers.
Built-In Refrigerators
Fully integrated kitchen designs are one of the biggest trends in modern kitchens, and for good reason. Keeping your appliances flush against surrounding cabinets, essentially hiding them in the kitchen build, gives the overall space an open and airy feeling, reducing unwanted clutter.
Choosing a built-in refrigerator for your kitchen is about more than aesthetics. It’s an intelligent investment that enhances your kitchen’s design and functionality, especially in smaller kitchens or scullery spaces.
LED Lighting
Sustainability is a leading trend across industries, including kitchen appliances. Reducing your household’s carbon footprint will lower your monthly energy bills and help you fulfill your obligation to support Mother Nature. LED bulbs are nearly 90% more energy efficient than standard incandescent bulbs, offering maximum illumination with minimal environmental impact.
Proper lighting in a refrigerator gives it a sleek and modern appearance and helps increase visibility. This prevents you from overlooking forgotten vegetables hidden in the crisper drawers or a block of cheese sitting at the back of the fridge.
Multi-Door Configurations
Multi-door refrigerators have an elegant aesthetic appeal and functional and versatile additional storage space. Although the multiple doors may initially feel overwhelming, they allow you to maximize your organization and improve accessibility.
You can select between a French door, 4-door, or 5-door configuration based on your preferences and your household’s needs. Some models include flexible compartments that can be switched between regular refrigeration and freezing capabilities based on your current storage needs.
Humidity-Controlled Drawers
Humidity-controlled drawers are a popular feature of modern fridges that you will not want to overlook. This smart technology features adjustable airflow, allowing you to expose different food in your fridge to varying humidity levels, helping you extend its freshness and maintain an optimal storage temperature.
Produce known for wilting quicker than you want, like leafy greens and broccoli, will thrive in high humidity conditions. At the same time, fruits like apples, pears, and cantaloupe require low humidity levels to postpone the rotting process.
Quality Ice-Makers
Ice makers have been introduced previously in fridge designs. However, 2024 will show a noticeable uptick in built-in ice makers that produce quality ice much quicker than ever. Refrigerators with clear or rapid-freeze ice makers are quickly growing in popularity with people looking to upgrade their kitchen appliances.
Select a model that includes a Fast Ice option for those who love to entertain but constantly find themselves unable to keep up with their ice needs. This option drops the temperature of your freezer for a set period, increasing ice production by nearly 30%.
Fingerprint-Resistant Surfaces
A stainless steel finish continues to be one of the most popular choices for kitchen appliances in many kitchen designs around the world. However, one of the biggest complaints connected to this design style is the constant need to wipe away unsightly fingerprint marks every time they are used.
Fingerprint-resistant versions of the classic style are growing in popularity and are a worthwhile consideration when purchasing new appliances. This easy-to-clean coated finish will significantly reduce your cleaning time by eliminating smudges and smears with a simple wipe of a damp cloth.
Additional Storage
Alongside your standard kitchen fridge, incorporating an additional under-counter bar fridge or wine cellar lets you keep beverages and wine in a central and separate location. This frees up space in your main fridge, allowing guests to refill their drinks and access appetizers or party food away from your household setup. This alternative setup will make entertaining a breeze for anyone who loves to host dinner parties and family get-togethers.
In addition, you can keep your beverage fridge at a far cooler temperature that is better suited to drinks but may compromise the taste or texture of food items. Should you choose to incorporate an additional fridge into your home, it is worthwhile investing in Energy Star-approved sustainable appliances fitted with LED bulbs to lower your monthly energy bills and reduce your household’s impact on the environment.
Water Dispensers
Modern refrigerators boast a wide range of extra features to simplify usage and improve overall functionality. One clever improvement found in many of the new refrigerator designs is measured water dispensers.
These innovative dispensers come with a Measured Fill feature that lets you choose the precise amount of filtered water you need, based on your container’s size. It automatically stops when the container is full, making it a convenient and efficient addition to your kitchen.
