I would have said integrated 6 months ago, I have always has integrated appliances. My main concern with the American fridge freezer was the lack of storage on the slimmer freezer side. And the depth that they protrude from a standard kitchen. Then I discovered Fisher & Paykel. I have opted for the American look with 2x fridge freezer side by side. Using their connection kit and surround. I couldn't be happier.

I prefer to have mine integrated now because I just want to have a streamlined look for my kitchen design. I am now living on my own and only want other items to take centre stage . However I think some of the attractive coloured smeg fridges stand out as a feature when you have medium size family to feed. My needs and opinion s have changed alongside my changes in homes over the years . Also depends how much space you can devote to your kitchen design.

We have a two temperature zone under counter wine cabinet/fridge at home and a two zone tall standalone unit, which are both usually 3/4 full. We use the under counter wine fridge to keep beer, sparkling water, white wine and the odd bottle of champagne chilled and the tall wine cabinet for the longer term storage of wines and champagne. Its not just because we are wine storage experts, or because we drink a lot of wine! We find them a useful addition to our family kitchen to chill and store drinks, without taking up valuable space in our kitchen fridge. We've had these in place for around 4 years and wouldn't do without them, although we will consider upgrading to a newer model soon, with a seamless door front.

We've had our Fisher and Paykel fridge for about 10 years now and is still serving us well. No issues in all that time and it still looks contemporary as well. All the parts, rubber sealing etc appear and have proven to be of high quality. I doubt that is the case with cheaper brands. Furthermore the the air distribution in the fridge is particularly good meaning products really stay fresh for longer. We're particularly impressed with the vegetable drawers' effectiveness. Last but but not least the 'no frost' function does exactly that. We have never (!) had to clean away any ice in the freezer. This is not an ad for P&K (of course) rather an illustration that it probably pays (no pun intended) to pay a little more for a higher end brand of which I'm sure there are more.