You spent the money to make your outdoor kitchen look finished. The grill is built in. The cabinet doors and the trash drawer came with their own trim, and they all look like they belong.
Then there's the refrigerator.
It's sitting in the opening with a gap above it — or a gap on all three sides — sticking out like it was an afterthought. The contractor framed a rough opening for it, slid the fridge in, and that was that.
We get asked about this a lot. The good news is there's a clean fix: a custom stainless steel trim kit made to fit your refrigerator and close those gaps.
Why "custom" matters here
There are other companies that make trim kits for outdoor refrigerators. The catch is that most of them are built for one specific model and one specific rough opening. If your fridge matches that model and your opening matches their kit, great.
But a lot of outdoor refrigerators end up in a rough opening a contractor built — and that opening doesn't line up with anyone's off-the-shelf kit. That's where we come in. We measure your fridge and your opening and build the trim to match what you actually have.
Our kits are true stainless steel with a brushed finish. Not plastic, not a coated look-alike — real stainless that holds up outdoors.
Two options: flat profile or a return leg
Flat profile. This is the simplest version — a flat piece of stainless steel cut out to match your refrigerator.
A lot of outdoor fridges have exposed hinges that stick up taller than the door or the body. We work with you to measure those hinges so we can notch around them. That keeps the trim tight to the fridge instead of leaving an awkward gap at the hinge.
Flat profile with a return leg. A lot of people want a little depth to their trim instead of a flat sheet. For that, we add a return leg around the outside edge — usually 3/4".
That return gives you a surface that runs perpendicular into your stucco, brick, or stone. You can run a bead of caulk or mortar down that edge to close the line against an uneven surface. No gaps between the trim and the wall — that's what sells the built-in look.
How ordering works
Because there are a few variables, outdoor kits are quote-based. The main things we work through are:
- Flat profile or a return leg
- Whether you have an exposed hinge to notch around
- Your finish and mounting setup
You reach out, we work through the details, and we quote the final price before we build anything. We'll also send you a blueprint to review so you can see exactly what you're getting before it's made.
Mounting and pulling the fridge out
Most of the time, customers adhere the flat stainless trim to the surface with construction adhesive. Since we're usually dealing with brick or stucco, that works well. If your setup needs something different, we can work out a mounting approach based on what you've got.
A question we get often: can I still pull the refrigerator out for maintenance? Yes. We typically leave a 1/8" to 3/16" gap between the refrigerator and the trim so you can slide it in and out without fighting it.
Cost and finishes
An outdoor kit runs less than our full-size refrigerator kits — there's simply less material involved. So if you've been holding off on cost, it's worth reaching out for a number.
Standard is brushed stainless. If your fridge is a different color — black stainless, satin white, or matte black — we can match that too.
More than the refrigerator
One more thing. If you need stainless on other parts of your outdoor kitchen, send those over. We've made trim to finish out a grill, built stainless shelving for outdoor use, and handled one-off pieces that just needed to be stainless and weather-resistant.
If you've got a situation like that, reach out for a custom quote — we are here to help. You can also see past work and finishes in our gallery.
