While I love the function of refrigerators (I’m dreaming of some ice cold lemonade right now), I’ve never been a huge fan of the sight of fridges. They always stick out from the counter and break up the look of all of that lovely cabinetry – unless they’re built-in fridges, and who can afford those? Not me!
That’s why I’m in love with fridge enclosures. Keep fridge enclosures in mind when you’re designing your kitchen – it’s so easy for your carpenter to build a little enclosure for your fridge that will hide the ugly side of the fridge and make it look like it’s a high-end, built-in unit. A little trickery never hurt anyone, right? Here’s the enclosure we had built for our fridge:
I think it really gives our kitchen a seamless look that can’t really be achieved without a fridge enclosure. And a great added bonus is that the cabinet above the enclosure is HUGE – I think we could fit an entire family in there!
What do you guys think about fridge enclosures? Think they make a difference?
I just glanced back at your Home Tour before/after photos and the “elevation” shot from the den really shows off the the fridge enclosure to great advantage. Raising all of the cabinets to the ceiling (ditching the soffit) was such a smart thing, too — you not only reclaimed a lot of wasted space but gave the illusion of height. Bravo!
To have a fridge “built in,” how much extra space does there have to be for air to the motor so it doesn’t overheat? Is there a special model (not Sub Zeros and ones like that) that is made to be built in, or can any refridge be built in? Can your fridge be pulled out from its cabinetry if it needs work? How did you find out about this idea? Thanks for a super suggestion. Sorry I have so many questions, but this is a most intriguing idea!
Joan,
So glad you’re liking the idea!! Each fridge will be slightly different as to how much space it needs, but you can easily find that out by checking out the manufacturer’s installation guidelines that come with your fridge. Happily, ours has very little extra room and overheating hasn’t been a problem. And the enclosure comes just to the edge of the fridge, so pulling it out for maintenance is a breeze. And the great thing about this idea is that ANY fridge can get that “built in” look – for example, ours is the Kenmore Elite brand from Sears. Hope this helps!!
~ Liz
You ask an interesting question because I never thought about fridges until I was in Germany. Now I love how they “hide” their fridges behind wood that matches the cabinets. Of course, their fridges are a lot smaller so it doesn’t look weird like a big fridge would. Hmm so maybe my comment isn’t as useful as the others–I really like what they’re all thinking!
Katie
Katie,
Love the idea of the fridges that are “paneled” to match the cabinetry – we saw some fridges that offered that option while we were appliance shopping, and they are really great-looking. By the way, I am seriously jealous that you live in Germany. :) So glad you stopped by!
~ Liz
I was JUST looking at our fridge the other day thinkinga bout doing this very thing!! Problem is we’d have to have it done professionally, so they could get the matching cabinetry. I love this!
Sarah,
Very true – stained cabinetry would be tough to match, but if your cabinetry is painted you may be able to create a DIY enclosure out of MDF. Thanks so much for stopping by!!
~ Liz