Warm feelings for a cold box

It was love at first sight. Across the room, among all the others, I knew I had found The One.

Still, knowing I wanted a long-term relationship, I did my due diligence. I googled the object of my affection. I searched in vain for other women who had complaints, and found none.

We moved in together immediately.

May I introduce to you, my sexy but sturdy, my Mr. Reliable, my "fits-me-to-a-T"...

... my refrigerator.


As a tall person, I never understood the appeal of top-freezers. To get to my most gotten-to items I had to hunch down and bend over and would STILL not be able to see. Side-by-sides have the same problem -- half my stuff would be lower than waist high.

So I've always been a bottom-freezer gal. Position the things I need most often within my shoulder-hinge range.

We moved into our new (used) home two summers ago. It came with a top-freezer. I spent two loooooooonnnnnng months accommodating this unwieldy appliance. It has since been banished to the basement, and now holds beer, Mike's Hard Limeade (which I use to make mojitos when I'm out of fresh limes), other party refreshments, and Costco-sized boxes of the kids' chicken nuggets.

I was thrilled to see the then-latest design for refrigerators: the French-door bottom freezer. We ended up with an LG brand, and we chose one of the larger sizes in cubic footage.

Let me extol its features:

• It's roomy.
• You can open just the half that houses the item you want. Not only does that save energy, but it requires less room space to swing the smaller door open.
• Adjustable and pull-out shelves.
• Two drawers for fruits and vegetables, with adjustable humidity chambers.
• There is also a wide drawer that goes all the way across the refrigerator. We keep meats and cheeses there.
• Shelves can also go the width of the fridge. If I were the Martha Stewart type, this means I could fit a 30" platter inside, something not possible with side-by-sides.
• The entire freezer is a drawer. The whole thing pulls out so that I am looking down ON it rather than bending over and looking INTO it. It's well lit and easy to see.
• The freezer also has an upper drawer to keep some items easy to find.
• There are two bins in the main freezer compartment.
• The freezer has a tilt-open feature. Rather than opening the drawer, you can simply tip it back to access items kept close to the top. My kids can grab their popsicles or boo-boo bags quickly (and by themselves -- woo-hoo!) without letting all the cold air out.
• We got ours in Titanium, which offers the look of stainless steel without the fingerprint-ability.

While we did get an automatic icemaker, we chose not to get an ice dispenser. It simply took up too much refrigerator door space that we need for milk and condiments. We didn't need the ice dispenser, but it may be a preferred option for others.

We did opt for a water dispenser, however, because I am a coffee snob and wanted an easy way to get filtered water before I am quite awake.

This was not an inexpensive purchase -- just over $2000 at the time.

But this appliance, the one my family uses dozens of times a day (or hour), this one should be something we love and that works for us. And I expect it to last for a dozen or more years longer.

I give my LG French door refrigerator a whole-hearted two-thumbs up.

And if I factor in the thumbs of the other people who live in my home, you can consider this an 8-thumbs endorsement.

Check out either Home Depot or NexTag.com the next time you're looking for The One.

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