If you have been keeping up on socials and some recent blog post, we have been doing complete clear out of, eventually, every space around our home. We are clearing them out to get a jump start on spring cleaning, but also we have some major remodels coming doing the line this year we want to get ahead of getting stuff out of these spaces. We really started in the kitchen, you can see the blog post, Full Kitchen Clean Out, to see a really cool before, during, and after of the space.
While we were cleaning out the kitchen, we wanted to take control of our fridge organization too. A little background about our fridge, we added a SMEG fridge in white, for 4 years now. I did an initial review of my SMEG fridge in our blog post, “Our Fridge Is In! SMEG refrigerator review,” and I feel, after 4 years we can expand a little more about our fridge with some real life/lived-in experience.
The fridge before:
The Fridge after:
Shop The Fridge:
The Pros
The Look
The obvious pro is the exterior of the fridge is hands down the real reason us SMEG lovers jump at their product. Their retro design is captured so perfectly we get asked often if the fridge is authentically old, a testimony to great design… I love the look of this fridge for many reasons, but as a designer, I love how SMEG can effortlessly fit in various design styles from cottage and farmhouse, all the way to a boho an even a little modern. When designing our kitchen, the fridge was the one item I didn’t want to settle on since the fridge was not going to be hidden & be a really big focus in our space.
The Size
This is our most frequent question. Some would look at the size as a complete negative, and for some families and lifestyles that could very well be true. For us, the size falls into the Pro column. The size of the fridge has kept us more intentional with the items we are putting in the fridge, and while we have changed our lifestyle to be more diet conscience, the size of the fridge has reduced the amount of waste we would somehow accumulate and accidentally allow to expire. Turning to fruits and greens, with shorter shelf-life, we find ourselves fully consuming those items, compared to eating about half of the container before they would go bad. Also, fully removing Soda, high calorie sauces and dressings, and most juices, we found ourselves with plenty of space for this family of three. Full disclaimer we do have a secondary fridge in our pantry, but that one is primarily a drink fridge with Alani Nu energy drinks, water, and of course Copey’s juice boxes. We purchased that prior to our diet change, and since changing we could easily have only the Smeg. If we didn’t have the second fridge we would load our Smeg with a handful of drinks and replenish as we use. The second freezer is filled with ice packs and occasional second bag of Copey frozen snacks if there was a sale at the grocery store.
The Color Options
If you are a statement maker, SMEG offers a variety of colors outside the traditional, white, slate, and stainless steel, even though they do offer those too. I love the fun pops of color in different spaces, like pool houses, our in an office setting. So fun how they can easily change the look and feel of a space. I of course wasn’t a crisp classic white in our kitchen, but I love seeing all the different colors in other people’s spaces.
The Cons
In most of the my reviews, I try to find something I think could have been done a little better or I feel may be a short step for the product. Finding those little “cons” of the product, may make or break someone deciding to get something, and we want to do our best to be fully transparent in our review so you aren’t surprised when you get your product in your home.
Plastic Drawers
The first, the plastic drawers in the refrigerator and freezer could be a little more durable. For the price point this fridge sits at, the drawers could be a little more thick to help combat any accident drops. Jose was cleaning out the drawer in the fridge a few months ago, and he had it pulled out while he was pulling things out of the drawer. While he was doing that, an item rolled to the front of the drawer, completely pulling the drawer out, falling to the ground. This led to a pretty large cracks and shatter of the drawer, you would have thought it was glass how it broke. Completely our fault for dropping it, but I think the amount of shattering that happened surprised us, leading to a wish for some stronger plastic in the drawers. We all have noticed surface fractures on some of the smaller ledges in the fridge and drawer fronts in the freezer. Something we only really notice when we pull everything out to wash in the sink.
No On-Demand Water and Ice
SMEG does make some other options for more traditional looking refrigerators, some which I believe have on-board water and ice options. Our version doesn’t offer any automatic or on demand water and ice. Not that we used them in our previous fridges, but that may be a deal breaker for others.
No Postcards and Pictures
The front of the fridge is not magnetic. This one isn’t a big one, I know, but you never know, someone might be out there dreaming of their cozy kitchen with pictures and postcards scattered all over it.
I hope this 4 year honest review of our Smeg refrigerator helps you determine if this is a good refrigerator for your family and your home. In our honest review, did the price tag for one of these fridges make it worth it… to us, yes! We absolutely love the refrigerator from color to size, and feel that it fits perfect in our kitchen style and our family needs. Please feel free to send me DM or messages on Instagram or Facebook if you have more questions. Thank you again for stopping by it means the world so much to us here on the farm!
xxLiz Marie
Looking for a “save” option for this fridge? Check out this SMEG dupe [HERE]
