I'd love to know more about replacing a refrigerator as well. My husband and I are in the market for a new one as well- we have white appliances and are looking for topfridge/lower freezer with no ice maker or water feature. A plain ol' refrigerator. I'll be checking back to see what others have to say.

I've never downsized, I have a european sized fridge/freezer combo (the norm of me as I live in the UK). I know I few people with what we call 'american' (ie much larger) fridges, and whilst on the odd occasion I would like a bit more space (usually christmas when we have family to stay!), usually I wonder how people with larger fridges cope with using food and creating minimal food waste? I can imagine forgetting things were there, buying far too much fresh stuff that can possibly be eaten before they go off, and 'losing' stuff at the back of the fridge. I do a weekly shop so its not as if I shop daily to cope with the reduced space!

I think it should definitely be doable, if you thing you would struggle you may need to make menus for your weekly shop to ensure you don't buy too much for this smaller space, and check the previous apttherapy posts on what should and shouldn't be stored in the fridge (eg eggs are supposed to be stored outside of the fridge now). Also store smaller items together in large tupperware boxes so its easier to find you way around a packed fridge.

Also, when you buy your new unit, have a look at the fridge:freezer ratio in space as it sounds like you'd miss the freezer space a bit more than the fridge space, not all units of the same size of the same ratio.

We have a Fisher and Paykel similar to the one shown above. I'm not sure what the exact dimensions are but it is fairly shallow compared to other fridges - so I'm guessing it's 17.5 cu ft like the one above. I don't use the fridge much, so don't find space to be an issue there. I do find that the bottom freezer does allow you to pack things in much more efficiently so I rarely have a problem getting a lot of stuff in there. You may have to change your shopping habits slightly, but I don't think you'll find it to be too much of a problem.

We have an LG model 10 cu. ft. bottom freezer that we love, It has lots of space and is really well designed to hold a lot; it also has the most even temperature distribution of any fridge we've had. Since our fridge has to fit in the original ice box space (1929 house with original cabinetry), we were limited to a small footprint and this fills the bill. Another 6 cu. ft. would seem huge.

I'm on an 8 cu ft refridgerator, no choice as I moved into a place with a tiny ref, and I live alone. I just keep staples like olives, capers, jams, peanut butter, butter, chocolates (can't resist). I have some bread and usually keep cooked food for a week. Since downsizing, I've learned to buy only vegetables/fresh ingredients that will last me the week and take every effort to be rid of all of them by the week's end. The only staples in my freezer are ice and bacon. I still only shop once a week, and sometimes midweek if I change my mind about a meal, but this is the exception. It's easy to cut down and I find I waste less ingredients.

i can't comment on downsizing but here in the UK and in Europe, we make do with much smaller fridge/freezers - some of that comes down to what you put in the fridge and what you do, we don't generally keep entire cases of beer or coke in the fridge only replacing what we've just taken out. and there's no keeping any vegetables in the fridge that could instead sit on the counter or in a dark cupboard.

i have what i would call a small north american fridge freezer (maybe 2/3 the size of your average bottom freezer fridge) and it is more than enough for the two of us. and i expect will be big enough when we expand...

it can require careful juggling of space and thoughtful reorganization, but it's more than enough. big tip, freeze in ziploc bags, not in containers - so much more space!

also i only shop once a week, so i'm not one of those 'european everyday at the market types'

I'm not sure of the size of my fridge compared to this (I think our fridges are measured in cubic litres??), but I will say that American fridges on AT usually look *gargantuan* to me.

I am considering doing this as well but anticipate no problems as I have a tendency to shop for only a few days at a time. If you adopt a similar tactic you may be amazed at how much more fresh produce you end up eating and how much stuff you really do not need to keep in your fridge.

We will be sort of downsizing our fridge once we renovate our tiny galley kitchen. I really would like a counter-depth model and hopefully get one that is narrower so that I can reclaim a couple more inches of counter space. The problem is is that most nice ones are pricey. Oh well.

If you're going to a bottom freezer, you may find that you actually have more freezer space. I have a side-by-side and my freezer is always packed and so narrow that it's hard to find anything and hard to fit larger items. I'm debating about whether to buy a deep freeze or to get a new fridge (although mine is only 10 years old, but came with the house).

I downsized to a Liebherr counter depth unit with freezer on bottom. The adjustment was easier than I thought. Large pizza boxes can't fit in either the freezer or fridge, but I just selected smaller boxes for the frozen options. The leftover pizza keeps better when you wrap it in foil anyway. I find that I shop just as often but buy smaller sizes, more varity and use my pantry more. Ketchup and oil based salad dressings do better when NOT refrigerated; and so do most fruits. I find I waste much less food than I used too with the larger fridge.

Speaking from experience, downsizing your fridge isn't as big of a challenge as it may at first seem. I actually prefer my smaller fridge since I've found that less stuff gets "lost" and then necessarily thrown away when rediscovered a few weeks later. I also prefer having the freezer on the bottom-- the freezer items stay more organized, and it's great to have all the fridge stuff at eye level.

To answer Sian, I think what happens is larger fridges fill up with half-used condiments - at least, that's what happens to me! Maybe with a smaller fridge my turnover would be better.

My only tip to the commenter would be to make sure you can fit any dishes you are likely to put in there - for example if you were preparing for a party, is there a particular casserole dish you'd want to chill? How about half a watermelon or a gallon of milk? My current fridge doesn't have shelves tall enough for those Ikea glass bottles, and the "tall" section of the door isn't deep enough, so bottles have to roll around on a shelf. Not a huge deal, but if I chilled homemade drinks or certain wines often I might find it annoying. A friend's french door fridge is too shallow for her sheet pans (we were making some kind of candy when we discovered this). My husband's old side-by-side freezer was too narrow for my ice sculpture mold.

I've had an 18 cu ft Fisher Paykel for several months. Bought it to replace a 10 yr old GE side by side with continuous ice maker/water dispenser problems and leaks. Highly desirable features include:
Bottom mount freezer/refrig food at eye level
"Active Smart" Energy Saver at 440kWh/year
EZ clean stainless requiring only dish washing liquid. It always looks good.
Sleek exterior with option of two handle types (I dislike the bulbous contour handles on most models in the US)
Although ice maker/water dispenser are available, I chose not to have them. This model is noise free.
Easy for one person to move.
All in all, it's just great. It was a special order from Lowe's. Around $1800.

We have a 14 cu ft Frigidaire. When we had bigger fridges they often sat half-empty and thus ran inefficiently. Ours is white with no bells and whistles and whil I sometimes pine for more freezer space, it suits us just fine. It also comes in stainless. Kenmore may have a comparable fridge as well. I think this is ours: http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/FFTR1513L.html?brand_store=1

What's the big deal with Fisher-Paykel refrigerators? People talk about them like they are the bomb, but I am totally unimpressed with them. My sister has one, and considering the features, the efficiency and especially the total lack of space in it, I find it is really expensive for nothing. To me, they are among the low-range machines.

I just went shopping for a refrigerator (got an 18 cu. ft. KitchenAid bottom freezer) and noticed that none of the Fisher-Paykel are EnergyStar rated. Considering they take up as much room as other refrigerators, they are really shallow and can't store nearly as much stuff as others. They also have full width shelves instead of half-width ones, which means you don't have as much freedom to set up space efficiently and best suited to your own use as with other refrigerators, thus wasting valuable space.

I think downgrading will be easier than expected. I find the bigger the machine, the more stuff gets lost in it until it gets smelly. Lots of food waste as a result, which is not worth it.

I think the key is to grocery shop more often in smaller quantities. Also check carefully how the room inside is divided to make sure you can still fit a watermelon or a turkey in there.

I just got one of the brand new Version 2 models of the 17.6 cubic foot Fisher and Paykel a few weeks ago. This replaced a non-counter depth top-freezer in my new home thst I was not happy with.

I previously had a counter depth KitchenAid fridge in my last home and I really liked it. It looked good and the relatively shallow depth made it easy to reach anything. It was about 21 spcubic feet, so the new one is a downsize.

However, the gross size can be misleading. My new fridge makes slightly better use of space, with slimmer shelves, no big filter blocking part of the top shelf, and a very slim water dispenser. The freezer is actually roomier in practice vs my old one, as the icemaker takes up no space and the way the drawers work is very efficient.

Compared to the non-counter depth fridge that I only used for a few weeks, I found the smaller space not to be an issue as I'd never out stuff all the way in the back of the fridge anyway since it was hard to get to.

Overall I'm really happy with the F&P fridge and think it'd the best option of its type. And given that counter depth fridges are expensive, it's a pretty good value. I'd highly recommend getting the new version (model number ending in 2), as it has nice upgrades including LED lighting, hidden hinges, and a faster icemaker.

I love my counter-depth, bottom freezer (with drawers), smaller GE fridge. Nothing gets lost in the back or bottom and I feel I waste less food becasue I can see all of it and I don't buy excess. Also having the fridge not stick out 6" has really made the space look bigger.

We have an old 18 cu. ft. Whirpool refrigerator and had to downsize not the appliance, but how my husband and I use it, because it's kind of broken. The fridge literally freezes the food on the bottom two shelves (including the fruit and vegetable trays).

Since we can't afford a new fridge right now, we've utilized the top shelves better and place foods that can freeze in the bins. We shop more often, plan our meals ahead better and we found that this is actually more economical for us. Bizarre, yes, but we don't waste as much food as we used to.

When we do have the money for it, we will definitely look into the european counter depth 24 inch wide models, because it makes sense for us.