My Honest Review on the New Luxury GE Café Appliances Refrigerator

Blogger Hoang-Kim with her Cafe Appliances refrigerator in matte white with brushed bronze handles
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When we started on our new home build one thing was clear: the kitchen is a priority for us. I did a ton of research looking for a refrigerator that would be functional and also beautiful. Let’s face it: most of us are looking for aesthetics nowadays, not just the features the refrigerator offers. I stumbled upon GE Café Appliances during my research and instantly fell in love. It’s a modern refrigerator and makes the most beautiful statement in our kitchen. The Café Appliances line is what you would call affordable luxury. It gives you that high-end designer look at a fraction of the cost of luxury or built-in appliances. I’ll be honest: the moment we found this refrigerator, we knew it’s what we would get and designed the rest of the kitchen with it in mind. Read on for my honest review of the Café Appliances Refrigerator!

Cafe Appliances matte white refrigerator with brushed bronze handles in a white kitchen with shaker cabinets and brass hardware

THE AESTHETIC

 I would absolutely be lying if I told you the main purpose of buying this fridge is how it looks. It’s probably hands down the number one reason anyone purchases this fridge. It’s gorgeous and will instantly add that designer look to a kitchen. If you want to make a statement and get that luxury look for less, you’ll want to get Café Appliances. They have a full collection of refrigerators, cooktops, ranges, dishwashers, ovens and more.

CUSTOMIZABLE OPTIONS

This modern refrigerator comes in three color options: matte white, matte black and stainless steel. What makes the Cafe Appliances line so different from other appliances is you can customize your look by choosing a color and changing the hardware finish. The are four finish options: brushed bronze, brushed black, copper and stainless steel. I have the brushed bronze, which can read a little more copper at times but I love how it looks with our brass cabinet hardware. This is perfect to match any color cabinet hardware you choose for your kitchen.

BUILT-IN LOOK FOR LESS

Gone are the days where you are stuck between choosing a basic refrigerator that’s a good value or spending a ton of money to get a built-in paneled refrigerator. Trust me, there was a point where Johnny and I considered getting our refrigerator completely built into the cabinetry with finished panel doors. Then, I saw the price for the refrigerator you need to do this alone. It was much more than paying for a Café Appliances refrigerator and I still would have to pay for the custom panel doors! This fridge has that custom look because it can seamlessly blend into your kitchen no matter your cabinet color at a fraction of the cost. We got counter depth for that flush look.

EASY TO CLEAN

I cannot express how easy to clean this refrigerator is. Not only is it already fingerprint resistant, wiping it down is a breeze. It doesn’t show streak marks and all of the shelves and drawers inside are easy to take out to rinse. I do want to note: if you are taking out the interior shelves and drawers, don’t submerge them into hot water right away! Do lukewarm water first.

Blogger Hoang-Kim with her Cafe Appliances refrigerator in matte white with brushed bronze handles Cafe Appliances refrigerator in matte white with brushed bronze handles in a white kitchen with shaker style cabinets and brass hardwareCafe Appliances refrigerator in matte whiteBlogger Hoang-Kim with her Cafe Appliances refrigerator in matte white with brushed bronze handles

FEATURES & FUNCTIONS

The Café Appliances Refrigerator is what I’d like to call feature-rich. We got the 23.1 cubic feet French door refrigerator and absolutely love it! We opted not to have a water dispenser on the outside because I’ve never liked water straight out of a fridge and I wanted the storage capacity on the inside. I did get that option for my parents’ house and while it is nifty, you do lose a decent chunk of space. On our refrigerator, there is still a water dispenser! It’s on the inside of the fridge on the lefthand side. Let’s dive into some of the features and functions!

STORAGE CAPACITY

I’ll be honest: this is not the biggest refrigerator, especially if you get the 23.1. If you’re looking for something with a ton of storage space, this is not the refrigerator for you. Or you’re going to need to buy a second fridge or freezer chest to put elsewhere. We plan on doing the later once we have kids or seem to have a ton of people over and need to store extra food. Right now, it’s perfect for both of us and we are shopping at Costco, so that’s saying something! You will not be able to fit a large pizza box into the refrigerator, so keep that in mind. We can fit medium size pizza boxes without a problem.

Another big plus to the storage capacity is since this is a counter-depth fridge, things do not get lost in the back, go bad and become a mess. I love how I can literally see everything inside so I know exactly what we have and what we need to use.

DRAWERS & SHELVES

All of the shelves on the Café Appliances Refrigerator have a drip-edge to catch spills from going everywhere in the fridge, which is a plus. I love how the French doors let you organize the fridge to fit your needs. We keep coffee and creamers along with water and drinks on the lefthand door.  The door on the right is where we keep butter, sauces and things we need easy access to.

There is ample space on the shelves for us to store fresh veggies, meats, leftovers along with milk and beverages. The inside of the fridge is usually the coldest, so that’s why we keep milk and Topo Chico in there, ha!

There is a full-width, electronic temperature-controlled drawer with LED lighting at the bottom. Store whatever you want in here, we have meats, deli and larger packaged items in here. Since you can control the temperature in here, it’s also great for keeping food chilled for guests before they arrive.

Cafe appliances in matte white with 23.1 storage capacity Cafe Appliances refrigerator in matte white with brushed bronze handles at 23.1 capacity  Cafe Appliances refrigerator interior storage capacity

LIGHTING

I love how this refrigerator is lit up. I never thought I would say that. Everything is so strategically thought out, there are no dark corners where leftovers can go bad. Cafe Appliances calls this their showcase lighting. Plus, no more pulling things out to actually see what it is! The lights are placed along the outer rim and the full-width drawer has its own lighting.

ORGANIZATION

I plan on doing a full blog post on how we organize our refrigerator in the future but I wanted to share a few things really keeping things in check. We take everything out of plastic bags when we bring them home from the grocery store. Any excess fresh foods we place in these glass storage containers, so we can see exactly how much broccoli, basil, etc. we still have left. We also use them for leftovers. To keep things streamlined, we also transitioned to only using the same storage containers. Plus, since we go to and from our family houses so often, it’s another way to know when Tupperware is ours, haha!

Blogger Hoang-Kim with her Cafe Appliances refrigerator in matte white with brushed bronze handles   Heartwater and Silk Oat milk creamer

All kitchen details including paint colors, hardware and more can be found in this blog post.

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