Life really is Good.

Oddly, my second review of a high-end fridge in 2 years. We recently bought our dream home, and I replaced all the kitchen appliances. We searched and searched before deciding on the LG LFX25960ST Stainless Steel French Door Refrigerator, and after 6 weeks of use we're in love.

We really wanted a stainless French-door fridge, and we wanted the water dispenser to feature an ice dispenser. Research showed that this feature - the in-door ice dispenser - pretty much increased the price point by about the same amount, regardless of brand. Also, all the units we saw that offered the French-door with the ice dispenser were priced similarly. So what made the LG model special?

There were two primary features that put the LG unit over the top: the placement of the icemaker, and the tilting face on the freezer drawer.

The icemaker and water dispenser is a combined unit mounted entirely inside the left door. Other French-door units with the ice dispenser actually lose fridge space because the icemaker unit is placed in the fridge. This baby, however, features usable fridge space all the way across the upper compartment. It made a huge difference in available refrigerator storage space --- considerably more than other French door units with the same interior capacity.

The freezer drawer face tilts outward. I never would have thought to even look for such a feature, but once I saw it I had to have it. You can either simply tilt it open to "crack" the freezer open, or open the drawer fully and then tilt the face for better access, or for moving around large items.

Epinions product details has a great run-down of the vital stats, so I'll skip that and talk about usability. As a nice touch, this French-door unit does not require that the fridge compartment doors be opened or closed in any particular order. The fridge compartment features available shelf space all the way across, but the adjustable spill-protect glass shelves are half the width of the fridge space. You can keep them at the same height all the way across if you like (large trays of snacks, anyone?),or not.

The right hand door features 4 shelves which are removable; 2 are adjustable-height. One is designed especially for gallon milk storage, and is extra deep. There are 2 produce drawers with an easy slide control to adjust humidity for fruits and veggies, and a deli drawer.

Temperature control in both compartments is a breeze. The control display is above the water/ice , and features a glass panel with touch buttons. Temperature control for each compartment is accomplished with one touch of a button, and the temperature of each compartment is displayed at all times. (The display also shows room temperature.) Ice and water dispensing is controlled through a single dispenser, and one of the controls in the control panel allows you to toggle between water, cubed ice, or crushed ice. The control panel can be locked to prevent child access, and also features a "months to change" reminder for the filter. (The filter is also extremely easy to replace.) The unit took less than 2 hours to reach the appropriate temperatures, and the instructions indicated that you can actually place food in the fridge & freezer as soon as you plug it in. Additionally, as a nice safeguard against absentmindedness, the water/ice dispenser will not function if the other (right) door is open.

The freezer drawer is nicely designed. It features a top wire pullout drawer, and the bottom is divided into 2 sections, with an adjustable divider. I use one for bagged items, and one for boxed. There is also a small in door compartment at the top of the drawer door. It's not huge, but is the perfect place to store all those blue ice things you have for lunch bags and wine bottles.

It seems like LG has thought of every little thing in terms of usability of this fridge. The controls are very straightforward and intuitive, and everything is right where you expect it to be. What more can you say about the one appliance you use more than any other?

Oh yeah, it's pretty, too!