THE BIG CHILL
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. 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!