Our £41k fridge uses Nasa technology and holds 150 wine bottles
Karen Jackson, 34, works in education and lives in Great Baddow, Essex, with her husband Anthony, 41, owner of Arthur Anthony Interiors, plus their sons Arthur 11, and Woody, six.
She says: Our six-bedroom detached house is only 12 years old, but three years ago we did a £135,000 refurbishment so we could have the kitchen of our dreams. I reasoned it would be foolish not to tap into my husband’s expertise as a luxury kitchen designer.
I wanted lots of storage that would also look attractive, including the refrigeration. A fridge wall seemed the perfect solution.
Karen Jackson, 34, (pictured) works in education and lives in Great Baddow, Essex. She paid £41,000 for a fridge that uses Nasa technology and holds 150 wine bottles
We paid £41,000 for our luxury Sub-Zero fridge, freezer and wine cooler, which even includes a solid oak humidor — a humidity-controlled box for storing cigars.
While it was hugely expensive — and at 2.59m wide it dominates the kitchen — we see it as a great investment.
It features some incredible space-age Nasa technology, including temperature regulation and an air purification system which filters out bacteria and the ethylene gases produced by food as it ages.
This means that food remains fresher for longer, particularly salads, veg and soft fruits, so we generate significantly less waste than we used to and rarely have to throw things away.
The shelves are a shallower depth than normal, so things never get pushed to the back and forgotten.
Meanwhile, our wine cooler can hold up to 150 bottles and has two separate sections, each of them with their own temperature zones so that red and white wine can be stored at the same time.
Mrs Jackson said: ‘I did worry that the steel doors may be a nightmare to keep clean… But they’re surprisingly easy to maintain and have never lost their sheen’
There’s also another section for champagne. And in the middle of the wine cooler is the humidor where we store a few cigars to offer to guests if we’re entertaining.
I did worry that the steel doors may be a nightmare to keep clean, especially with two young sons who like to leave fingerprints everywhere. But they’re surprisingly easy to maintain and have never lost their sheen.
It’s a good thing too, because Anthony is a stickler for everything being in its place and likes the fridges to look neat and tidy inside, too. He keeps his coffee in the fridge — we also have a lovely Wolf coffee machine in our bespoke drinks pantry — and we both love chocolate so there’s usually a stash lurking inside.
Every morning when I go downstairs, and I see the stunning clean lines of the stainless steel doors contrasting with the bespoke oak furniture made by Royal Warrant holders Stoneham, I know getting a fridge wall was the right decision.
We have a his ‘n’ hers section
Lisa Atkinson, 49, owns a travel franchise, Travel Counsellors, and lives near Wakefield in West Yorkshire with her partner Peter, 58, who owns an import and export tree business. Lisa’s children Olivia, 21, and Harvey, 18, live with them, and Peter also has a daughter Francesca, 31.
Lisa says: There are only two walls in my kitchen: one is a bank of cookers, the other is filled with fridges. We wanted one huge fridge but couldn’t find what we were looking for, so went for a fridge wall costing £20,000 and measuring over three metres wide instead.
It features an extra wide Gaggenau fridge, a slimline freezer and a wine cooler, each costing almost £7,000.
Lisa Atkinson, 49, (pictured) lives near Wakefield in West Yorkshire. She paid for a fridge wall costing £20,000 and measuring over three metres wide instead
We built our five-bedroom home ten years ago with an ‘olde world’ stone front to blend in with other houses in the village. The £70,000 kitchen with two islands is the centrepiece. While some may balk at the cost, it’s been worth every penny.
The refrigeration is amazing, with various drawers at different temperatures. The shelving can also be moved up and down electronically if I need extra space.
The wine cooler can store up to 50 bottles at a time and is currently housing some lovely champagne, plus bottles of Peter’s favourite Albarino white wine.
Peter and I joke that we have his ‘n’ hers fridges because it is split into two halves by a ‘wall’. In my fridge you’ll find fish and prawns. On Peter’s side, there’s always traditional British fodder including cottage pie.
My son, Harvey makes a beeline for the fridge every day when he comes home from college. Francesca also heads straight for the fridge when she comes to visit.
The fridge wall gets more attention from the family than Peter and I do!
There’s a drawer just for tonic
Louise Berry, 31, lives in Norfolk with her husband Archie, 40. They are joint managing directors of Naked Kitchens.
She says: Our 2.5m-wide fridge wall features £30,000 of fridges with inbuilt, stainless steel fronted freezer drawers and a wine cooler in the middle. The stainless steel front creates a real wow factor, which is exactly what we wanted when we had the kitchen made 18 months ago.
The makers, Sub-Zero say the temperature control and air purification on our appliances is so advanced that we could leave an apple in the fridge for a year and it wouldn’t go off.
Louise Berry, 31, (pictured) who lives in Norfolk, purchased a 2.5m-wide fridge wall that features £30,000 of fridges with inbuilt, stainless steel fronted freezer drawers and a wine cooler in the middle
While I’ve yet to put that to the test, I’ve certainly noticed that fruit and veg stays fresher for longer. I keep it in compartments set to the optimum temperature and it saves us money and reduces waste.
I’m still getting to grips with the various settings, including one that allows us to have both red and white wine in the cooler. We’ve got a cellar where we store wine, but it was a pain to trek up and down to fetch bottles when we were entertaining.
We wanted easier access to our wine, hence the cooler built into the fridge wall, which holds around 86 bottles. It even has two cold drawers below, which are perfect for storing beers, soft drinks and snacks.
There’s currently an entire drawer just for tonic as we love gin, which is why the in-built ice-maker gets a lot of use, too. The fridge is so big that it rarely looks full, partly because I also have a walk-in pantry where dry foods are stored.
While I know that many people would say having a huge fridge just for the two of us is excessive, I have a large family who often stay in our six-bedroom Georgian mansion, plus Archie and I are planning to have children.
And as I’m currently trying a vegan diet, the space means I can keep my food away from the meat that Archie loves!