Everyone Needs a Wine Fridge in Their Home, and This Is the Best One to Buy

If you’ve ever had a chat with a homeowner, chances are when you start talking about their house the conversation quickly leads to all the renovating they’d like to do it. I’m no different. I love my house, it’s my forever house, but holy cow do we need a new kitchen (and a finished basement and a bigger master closet and … okay, I’ll stop there!).

Until recently, I always assumed that I couldn’t buy a wine refrigerator until we were gutting our kitchen, and then we’d choose something custom to go undercounter. But (but!!), then I learned that there’s a wonderful sector of wine centers that can function both freestanding and undercounter — meaning I can enjoy the benefits of a sleek, mini fridge now and incorporate into my dream kitchen later. Yaaaaas.

After testing the Whirlpool 24-inch Wide Undercounter Wine Center, here’s what I found: First, these babies hold more than just wine! As mom to four kids, I can tell you that my main refrigerator is packed to the gills with groceries, leftovers, milk gallons and more. I placed my wine center in our dining room and filled “zone 1” (a.k.a. the top two shelves of the refrigerator) with water bottles, La Croix and other drinks my kids can serve themselves, alongside bottles of white, Champagne and beers. This has been a Godsend, people. It has redirected my children’s foot traffic to the dining room and saved me from finding them staring blankly into an open fridge 20 times a day. What’s also great is that when you open the door, the interior LED light is super bright, making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. Because, um, after a few glasses of wine, it can be really hard trying to read the cursive font on the next bottle you’d like to open. No more squinting!

My favorite feature of the fridge, however, is its dual temperature capabilities. I like my whites (and water and soft drinks) icy cold, so I keep zone 1 at 45 degrees, whereas I prefer my reds chilled … but not as cold as my whites, so I set zone 2 (a.k.a. the bottom four shelves of the center) to a sensible 55 degrees. No more luke warm red wine that’s been sitting in a rack for months! There’s also a built-in temperature sensor alert that will ding if your temperature rises for any reason.

More to love: The glass door is reversible — and I have actually changed it twice since receiving the appliance, and it only takes just a few minutes to do. Truly. When I first realized I wanted the door on the other side, I thought, “Sh*t, this is going to take forever.” But alas, the process was easy peasy. So much so, that when I realized I wanted it back to its original side (hey, don’t judge, I’m indecisive, okay?!), I did it again in under five minutes.

This feature, however, harkens back to my main selling point that the fridge can be incorporated into your future fancy kitchen, and will be adaptable to your design scheme and specs. Because let’s face it, when I get my all-white farmhouse kitchen, I really have no idea which way I’m going to want the door to open. What I do know now, however, is that I’ll want a stainless-steel fridge that looks clean and sleek, which is exactly what this Whirlpool brings to my dining room now, and will again to my kitchen later.

By adding this appliance to your living space, you’re expanding your cold beverage offerings in way that won’t completely take over your main refrigerator. Did I mention that the wine center is super quiet, too? Sold!