Trying to decide between two of the most popular fridge styles? You’re not alone. The french door vs side by side refrigerator Duluth debate comes up in kitchens all over town, from Covered Bridge to Glenhurst to the big homes in Sugarloaf Country Club. Both layouts look sharp and both keep food cold. Still, they open, store, and reach differently, so one will likely fit your life better than the other. Here at Compare Deals, we stock both at 60–70% off retail, so once you choose, the price is the easy part.

Let’s break it down in plain terms. No jargon, no pressure, just the real differences so you can walk in knowing what you want.

How Each Layout Actually Works

A French-door fridge has two doors up top that open to the fresh-food section, with a pull-out freezer drawer at the bottom. So your everyday food sits at eye level, and the freezer lives down low. A side-by-side splits the fridge vertically: freezer on the left, fridge on the right, both running top to bottom. That means you get a tall, narrow column for each.

Both are common in newer Duluth builds near Shorty Howell Park and in remodeled kitchens closer to TPC Sugarloaf. The right pick depends on how you cook, shop, and move around your kitchen.

Freezer Access: Drawer vs Column

This is where a lot of people decide. With a French-door fridge, the freezer is a drawer you pull open at the bottom. It’s great for baskets of frozen food, but you bend down to dig around. With a side-by-side, the freezer is a full-height column, so frozen items sit at eye level and you can grab them standing up. If you keep a lot of frozen goods, that upright freezer is handy.

On the flip side, French-door drawers make it easier to see everything at once when you slide them open. So it comes down to whether you’d rather bend a little or reach up. Neither is wrong.

Shelf Width and Big Items

Got a party platter, a sheet cake, or a big pizza box? French-door fridges shine here. Because the fresh-food section spans the full width, you get wide shelves that swallow large trays with ease. Side-by-side fridges have narrower shelves on each side, so a wide platter may not fit flat. However, side-by-side units make up for it with lots of door bins and tall spaces for gallon jugs.

If you host a lot or cook big meals, French-door width is a real perk. If you mostly store everyday groceries and love organized door storage, side-by-side works great.

Quick Gut Check

Time for a fast re-hook. Picture your busiest cooking day. Are you sliding a giant tray into the fridge, or are you grabbing frozen veggies over and over? If it’s big trays, lean French-door. If it’s frequent freezer trips, lean side-by-side. That one image usually settles the french door vs side by side refrigerator Duluth question in about ten seconds.

Still torn? That’s fine. Come see both in person and open the doors yourself. You can browse our full lineup of refrigerators in stock first, then test-drive them on the showroom floor.

Kitchen Space and Door Swing

Space matters, and both layouts help in tight kitchens. Because their doors are narrower than a single big door, French-door and side-by-side fridges both need less room to swing open. That’s a plus if your fridge sits near a wall or an island. Measure the spot before you shop, though, and leave about an inch around the sides for airflow.

One roomy option to consider is the Amana ART308FFDW, a bottom-freezer model that offers French-door-style eye-level access with a simple footprint. It’s a smart middle ground if you like the drawer-freezer idea but want to keep things easy.

Energy Use and Cost

Both styles can be efficient, so don’t stress there. Look for the ENERGY STAR label on whichever layout you like, since a rated model trims your power bill month after month. You can compare efficiency numbers on energystar.gov before you buy. As for sticker price, side-by-side fridges often cost a touch less than comparable French-door models. Here, though, both come in at outlet pricing, so the gap shrinks fast.

With our 60–70% off deals and a 1-year warranty on new scratch-and-dent units, you can pick the layout you truly want instead of settling. And our no-credit-needed payment options make it even easier to bring one home today.

Come Compare Both From Duluth

The best way to settle the debate is to stand in front of both and open the doors. We’re an easy drive from Duluth by way of Abbotts Bridge Road and the nearby corridors, and we serve the whole area, including Suwanee, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Berkeley Lake, Johns Creek, Sugar Hill, Buford, Lawrenceville, and Lilburn. Whether you’re coming from a round at TPC Sugarloaf or a walk at Shorty Howell Park, we’re a quick stop.

Find our Lawrenceville and Morrow stores on the store locations page and come settle the french door vs side by side refrigerator Duluth question for good. Open a few doors, find your favorite, and drive it home for less.