Galaxy Horizon Refrigerator Wall Cabinets

Every box on this page is 24 inches deep, so it sits flush with the front of a standard-depth fridge surround. Heights run 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 inches. What the box leaves underneath depends on where the top of the upper run sits, and there are three common lines: 84 inches, with 30-inch uppers over an 18-inch backsplash; 90 inches, with 36-inch uppers; and 96 inches, with 42-inch uppers running to an 8-foot ceiling.

The table is simple subtraction, and that is the point: the number in each cell is the height from the floor to the underside of the box. That space has to hold the fridge and whatever air gap its installation guide asks for above the top.

Now put your fridge into it. Take the height from the spec sheet — to the top of the hinges, not the top of the cabinet, because hinge caps stand proud — and add the clearance the manufacturer specifies above the appliance. Find the row that fits. That is the box for today’s fridge. The next step is what this page is about. The dimensions a fridge opening depends on are laid out in the kitchen dimensions guide.

Once you have the row that fits your current fridge, consider going one row shorter than the tightest fit. Three inches of box traded for three inches of headroom is usually the right trade here, for three reasons.

1. Refrigerators vary in height more than the other big appliances. Two models of the same width and style from different makers can differ by a few inches, and the one you want in ten years may be the taller one.
2. The storage lost is the least useful in the kitchen. The shelf above a fridge is hard to reach from the floor, and a 15-inch box and an 18-inch box hold much the same set of rarely used things — trays, a roasting tin, the spare paper towels.
3. The alternative later is the expensive one. A box that has to come down means ordering a new one, finding a moment when the fridge can be pulled out, and hoping the new box is a close match to the ones around it.

The price step for going shorter is also in your favour: in the 36-inch width, GH W361824 is $419.25 and GH W361524 is $403.00, so the margin saves money as well as space. If there is a visible gap between the top of today’s fridge and the underside of the box, it reads as the normal air space above an appliance; nobody sees it as a mistake.

This is where the stain matters. A painted finish is a coating; a later batch of the same colour is mixed to a formula and lands close. A stain lets the wood show, and Fabuwood’s spec book says colour variation is normal for its stained finishes. Its warranty goes further, noting that replacement cabinets may not match display samples or existing cabinets, and that finishes may darken or lighten over time. By the time a fridge is replaced, the boxes on the wall will have had years of kitchen light, and a new one arrives fresh from the factory.

There is also the question of whether the part will be available at all. Finishes and door styles do get retired: Fabuwood is currently discontinuing its Onyx door, which is the other style this finish was offered on. There is no sign of this stain being withdrawn and it remains a stocked Galaxy finish today, but no maker promises a specific colour ten years out. The box above the fridge is the one most likely to need replacing, and it is worth buying the right one first. How long cabinets themselves last, and what wears first, is covered in the cabinet lifespan guide.

Three widths: 30, 33 and 36 inches, to suit the common fridge openings. The 30-inch width starts at 15 inches tall; the 33 and 36 start at 12. Displayed prices on the review date, low to high:

30-inch: GH W301524 $351.00, GH W301824 $370.50, GH W302124 $438.75, GH W302424 $497.25. 36-inch: GH W361224 $370.50, GH W361524 $403.00, GH W361824 $419.25, GH W362124 $487.50, GH W362424 $578.50. 33-inch: GH W331224 $455.00, GH W331524 $461.50, GH W331824 $468.00, GH W332124 $497.25, GH W332424 $546.00.

The 33-inch row is priced above the 36 at every height except the tallest, which is the reverse of what you would expect; we report the grid as it stands and would ask you to check with us before ordering a 33. And across every width, the step from 18 to 21 inches tall is the steep one — $68.25 in the 30-inch, $68.25 in the 36-inch — which is one more reason the margin advice above tends to point at 15 or 18. All sizes are on the refrigerator wall page. Over a 42- or 48-inch built-in style fridge, the lift-up boxes on the lift-up wall page are the ones to look at.

A fridge is the largest metal surface in most kitchens, and it sits right beside this box. Stainless steel is one of the pairings Fabuwood itself shows with this finish, alongside black countertops and gold or copper hardware, so it is a combination the maker designed for rather than one you have to make work. In our experience the warm undertone Fabuwood describes in the stain sits comfortably against cool steel, and if you want the grey to read warmer beside it, warm-toned hardware on the uppers does more than anything else. Those two points are our general advice rather than Fabuwood claims.

For a fridge in a built-in look, tall finished panels either side and the deep box over the top turn it into one unit. Order those panels on the same order as the box so they come from the same batch; the panels and skins are on the decorative accessories page, and the difference between a panel and a skin is explained in the skins and gables guide.

Order the box with everything else, with the fridge model number written on the order so the height can be checked against the spec sheet. Each box is the standard Allure build — a ½-inch veneered plywood box with a natural veneer interior and a solid wood face frame — with Blum soft-close hinges, and it arrives assembled in about 2 weeks. An extra deep shelf for the 36-inch box, AS-W3624D, is $110.50.

If you would like the whole wall drawn with the fridge in it, send the model number and a sketch for a free 3D design; a designer replies within one business day, and the full design and quote follow within 24 to 48 hours. Check the colour with a door sample against your fridge before ordering. Trade pricing runs through Captivating Pro. The other uppers are on the wall cabinet page, and the full finish on the collection page.