Refrigerator door styles have become surprisingly diverse and a bit confusing. Once upon a time, you had a simple hinged refrigerator door on the bottom and a freezer door above that, nothing more or less. Today you have literally dozens of styles and configurations from which to choose. So how do you determine what’s right for you? Before you go shopping for your new refrigerator, read on to learn more about your options.

First, What Goes Where?

Start with deciding where you want your freezer. Your choices are above the fresh food compartment, below it, or to the left of it. (No models are made today with the freezer on the right and the fridge on the left.) The freezer-on-top style is the original design, usually not available with many upgrades, but it is the most affordable. The freezer-on-the-bottom style typically has a standard hinged door for the refrigerator and a slide-out-drawer-style freezer. Side-by-side models feature swing-out doors with center handles, and most have some available upgrades and features. But it is the freezer-on-the-bottom design that has gotten fancier of late.

Special Refrigerator Door Configurations

The most popular refrigerator design today is undoubtedly the French door style. In this design, the freezer is on the bottom and the fresh food compartment opens with center handle swing-out doors, much like the side-by-side configuration. The advantage to this design is that the fresh food section opens wide to accommodate the largest of platters and pizza boxes. Some models have even added a kid-friendly pull-out or reach-in food drawer, but the big thing today is the door-in-door models. These models feature two stages of doors, with the inner door being made of a clear material. This way, you can grab a snack or can of soda from the outer door or leisurely peruse the inner contents without compromising the temperature. You can even choose a dual freezer model with two separate drawers, allowing you to maintain two different freezer temperatures.

Refrigerator Extras, Add-ons and Luxury Features

Ice and water in the door used to be a pretty special feature, but today that’s standard equipment. Now you can select models with special zones (kid zone, family zone and cooking zone, each of which can have different temperature and humidity settings). Manufacturers are appealing to younger, tech-savvy buyers by adding all kinds of gizmos. Some models can make your grocery list for you, order your food from the market or track your dietary stats based on the food you’ve pulled out during the day. Other models offer a high-definition LCD screen in the door, complete with a digital tablet where you can write a note to the family. No more Post-its or refrigerator magnets needed.

Complete Appliance Repair has been selling and servicing appliances — new or old, fancy or plain — in Salt Lake City for decades. Their experienced technicians will provide an exceptional level of customer service and keep your appliances running like a champ, no matter what refrigerator door styles you prefer.