Where's the Refrigerator?
As the largest appliance in your streamlined kitchen, the fridge can mar the cohesive look – but help is on its way
Big and blocky fridges do little to improve the aesthetics of a kitchen, tending to interrupt otherwise sleek or stylish cabinetry with a rather functional facade. Most families need a sizeable refrigerator to accommodate their lifestyle with ease, and even one- or two-person households benefit from a fridge big enough to make things easy to find. The mystery is how to slip a fridge into an otherwise fabulous kitchen, without compromising on the space’s good looks. See which one of these nifty ideas could work well to hide the fridge in your kitchen.
Traditional or country kitchens can suffer the most when it comes to a giant white or stainless-steel fridge, but there are other options. A side-by-side under-bench fridge with built-in ventilation in the plinth allowed the owners of this kitchen to have the best of both worlds – modern conveniences and country-style charm in one, just right for a barn conversion.
14 Country-Style Ideas That Work Wonderfully in City Kitchens
14 Country-Style Ideas That Work Wonderfully in City Kitchens
If there’s no way an under-counter fridge could handle the appetites of your hungry household, secreting a second fridge out of sight in the wet kitchen could be a solution.
Bonus: you can go nuts displaying souvenir fridge magnets and family photos, without making your kitchen look messy.
Bonus: you can go nuts displaying souvenir fridge magnets and family photos, without making your kitchen look messy.
Seamless integration
The range of fridges designed to be integrated is not as extensive as other fridge ranges, but you will still have ample options when it comes to size, whether you want the freezer on the top or the bottom, and which side you want to open the doors from. This Liebherr fridge (left) has been tucked around the corner from a kitchen devoid of overhead or tall cabinetry … and the results are impressive.
The visual weight that can come with overhead cabinets and wall cabinetry is missing here, giving this kitchen a sleek and contemporary look enhanced with Cararra marble and Tasmanian oak veneer cabinetry.
The range of fridges designed to be integrated is not as extensive as other fridge ranges, but you will still have ample options when it comes to size, whether you want the freezer on the top or the bottom, and which side you want to open the doors from. This Liebherr fridge (left) has been tucked around the corner from a kitchen devoid of overhead or tall cabinetry … and the results are impressive.
The visual weight that can come with overhead cabinets and wall cabinetry is missing here, giving this kitchen a sleek and contemporary look enhanced with Cararra marble and Tasmanian oak veneer cabinetry.
Walls of wonder
Walls of cabinetry can disappear into the background when a bulky fridge doesn’t interrupt the flow. This Ariston fridge-freezer has been fully integrated into this Perth kitchen, helping it disappear from view.
Walls of cabinetry can disappear into the background when a bulky fridge doesn’t interrupt the flow. This Ariston fridge-freezer has been fully integrated into this Perth kitchen, helping it disappear from view.
Not only has the fridge been hidden away in this kitchen, the cabinetry has been designed to keep the microwave out of sight with a pull-down panel, as well as a washer and dryer!
Where’s the best place for your microwave?
Where’s the best place for your microwave?
In disguise
If your kitchen isn’t yet ripe for renovation or its proportions are humble, you can still make your fridge disappear with some visual trickery. In this kitchen, the off-white fridge blends into a same-coloured background, an illusion all the more effective because it sits just outside the exposed brick kitchen wall. Consider using paint, wallpaper or tiles in your own kitchen to help your fridge fade into the background, and give your well-defined cooking zone some serious personality in the process.
If your kitchen isn’t yet ripe for renovation or its proportions are humble, you can still make your fridge disappear with some visual trickery. In this kitchen, the off-white fridge blends into a same-coloured background, an illusion all the more effective because it sits just outside the exposed brick kitchen wall. Consider using paint, wallpaper or tiles in your own kitchen to help your fridge fade into the background, and give your well-defined cooking zone some serious personality in the process.
While not completely hidden out of sight, tucking the fridge (and the other functional appliances) under the stairs has worked wonders in this compact kitchen.
Shuffling the appliances off to one side frees the Scandi-style space of visual clutter, and allows the palette of timber, black and white to do its job – that is, to create a harmonious and restful scene.
Out and proud
If all else fails, why not take the opposite approach and give your fridge a starring role? This limited-edition fridge – a collaboration between Smeg and
Dolce & Gabbana – is hand-painted! Could you turn your own fridge into a masterpiece?
Photo courtesy of Smeg
TELL US
How have you made less of your fridge? Share your tips in the Comments below.
MORE
Give Your Fridge a Deep Clean
Read more kitchen design stories
If all else fails, why not take the opposite approach and give your fridge a starring role? This limited-edition fridge – a collaboration between Smeg and
Dolce & Gabbana – is hand-painted! Could you turn your own fridge into a masterpiece?
Photo courtesy of Smeg
TELL US
How have you made less of your fridge? Share your tips in the Comments below.
MORE
Give Your Fridge a Deep Clean
Read more kitchen design stories
Just as kitchen drawers have become popular for making things easier to locate than cabinet cupboards, a fridge with drawers that pull out for easy access makes perfect sense. The best bit about incorporating one or two of these babies into your kitchen design is that they can be integrated seamlessly, no matter what your kitchen’s style of cabinetry.