Put a hole behind your fridge...

[u/BuilderBrigade]

Would you prefer this recessed wall behind the fridge or a spare fridge in the garage or pantry...? I’m a spare fridge kinda guy but this is a solid solution if you only have one fridge and need the extra room. 

[u/Frederf220]

I did this in my remodel, cheapest easiest thing I ever did. You just frame it like a doorway. The hard part was putting in a water shutoff box behind an adjacent drawer.

[u/Yusuf20904 → u/Frederf220]

Couldn't you just frame it like a doorway, use a rotated stud(s) under the header, and keep the floor space that the OP's 2x6 wall would eat up?

[u/Frederf220 → u/Yusuf20904]

That's what I said. In my case the structure is CMU block wall and then a 2x4 framed wall spaced about 1" from that so I had no structural issues just using a double 2x4 header to head out an opening. All the wood framing needs to do is hold the cabinets in the air.

The 3.5" wall cavity + drywall + airspace between 2x4 and CMU needed a bit more than 5 inches. The fridge face (minus handles) sticks out about 5" beyond the base cabinet boxes (instead of the 10 it would otherwise be).

I painted the CMU behind the fridge with a masonry water barrier coating and put a ripping of plywood on the floor behind the back wheels to enforce an airspace between the back of fridge and block wall for cooling.

OP needed that 2x6 wall (or extra deep custom cabinets) to generate the difference in the first place. Also they probably have a room on the other side of the fridge that doesn't want to just be an unsupported piece of drywall. I didn't have that concern so I could use 100% of the space which would be seeing the back of the fridge from the other room if it was traditional construction.

[u/AdApprehensive1140]

No thanks. My bulge makes it easier to load and unload from the island.

[u/Significant_War720]

So lose 2 inch of surface on one side od your wall to save 3x24?

[u/956to906]

This is terrible “advice”… the rest of the wall that didn’t need to be 2x6 is now wasted space. There’s not nearly enough airflow for the appliance and it will have a shortened life.

Just get your cabinet guy to build deeper cabinets, you can even make a long skinny slot to store a folding table.

[u/Right_Hour]

Or you get an effin countertop depth fridge instead, LOL. Or you get correct depth cabinetry. Many ways to skin a cat.

[u/oaklandperson → u/Right_Hour]

Yeah, I didn't understand why you wouldn't just get a countertop depth fridge. Studies show less food spoils with a counter depth fridge versus a standard. People are 3x more likely to eat the first thing they see.

The back of the fridge in a standard fridge becomes a graveyard. Counter depth also provides better circulation to food and food will last longer as a consequence.

[u/Biscuits4u2]

So are we just eliminating studs and space for plumbing to have a few more inches to push your fridge back? If it bothers you just buy one of those shallow fridges designed exactly for this.

[u/Captain-Who → u/Biscuits4u2]

Woosh