A kitchen should be functional. Unless, of course, you don’t cook, in which case yes, go and create a dreamy showroom kitchen that values form over function.
For the rest of us, a kitchen needs to encompass practical things like electrical points, bins for waste and recycling, a dish rack, paper towels, as well as countertop appliances like the rice cooker. But these things aren’t very showroom-esque, which can sometimes ruin your stylish kitchen design plans.
To help your kitchen become great again, we’ve put together a few ideas to help make these functional eyesores less conspicuous.
Electrical Points
You can’t live without electrical points in the kitchen. They power up everything from kitchen appliances to our mobile phones. An easy way to make them less noticeable is to get outlet covers that closely match the colours of your kitchen walls. But if that’s not feasible, consider the following ways:
Tuck them underneath your cabinet: This location hides them away but still keeps the electrical points easily accessible without having to open your cabinet doors.
Design: The Interior Lab
Place them on your countertop: Electrical points are definitely less obvious when placed on counters than on walls. These mobile ones make things a lot more flexible in the kitchen too.
Design: Divine & Glitz Design
Conceal them underneath your countertop: A slight recessed area was created on a part of this kitchen counter to locate a couple of electrical outlets.
Design: Habit
Rubbish Bin
This is an often-overlooked item when planning out your kitchen, but it’s actually a very necessary part of the kitchen that gets used every day. If you also recycle, consider a matching rubbish and recycling bin to keep things looking on point.
Conceal within your cabinet: Have the bin attached to the other side of your cabinet door so that it swings out as you open the door.
Design: Divine & Glitz Design
Get collapsible bins: Rather than have your bins taking up floor estate, tuck them underneath the lip of your prep counters to make it easier to throw out refuse. These collapsible ones can be folded back in so they don’t get in the way after you’re done. You can get these here.
Image: Style Degree
Hide in plain sight: Get a rubbish bin that doesn’t look like one. Here, this vintage metal storage container doubles up as a decor and a bin.
Design: Monocot
Dish Rack
Unlike standalone dish racks, customised overhead dish racks squirrelled away in cabinets can free up countertop space and are less conspicuous. But if reaching overhead to stow away dripping, washed dishes is too much of a drag, think about these alternatives:
Grooves behind the sink: This customised dish rack located behind the sink not only makes things a lot easier to stow away your the dishes, but its location behind the sink also makes it less noticeable.
Design: Authors Interior & Styling
Pull-out dish rack: Close it back up when the dishes are dry.
Design: Fifth Avenue Interior
Fit a dish rack within the sink: You will want a larger sink for this. Get a dish rack that fits within your sink and leave your dishes there to dry.
Design: Square Room Interior Design
Small Countertop Appliances
From rice cookers to microwave ovens to air fryers, they are usually left on countertops for easy, everyday access. But they don’t always look the best, especially if you aren’t investing in designer style ones that sometimes look better than they work. We have a few tips that will make their presence less obtrusive.
Hide them by the side: We like this idea of creating cubbyholes by the side for you to stow away those smaller appliances out of sight.
Design: Adroit Interior Design
Pocket doors: Pocket doors don’t take up room when opened since they are tucked in. Notice also the microwave oven sitting on a slide-out tray. This makes it super convenient when you need to pull it out to use the appliance.
Design: Styledbypt
Lift up cabinet system: The smaller appliances are hidden behind this cabinet that features a lift-up system. It’s takes a lot less effort to open the heavy cabinet door, keep things more visually seamless (less joints) and you get to fit all your smaller appliances within. Love the additional of the electrical outlets inside since it means you won’t need to move your appliances around the kitchen.
Design: Lemonfridge Studio
Paper Towel
The location for the humble paper towel in the kitchen usually gets left as an afterthought. Most folks who use paper towels either have them sitting on the countertop on a paper towel holder or stashed inconveniently within the cabinet. If you are looking for ways to make this tiny detail less of an eyesore but yet still have it within easy reach, consider these solutions:
Have it embedded within the cabinet: Design a dedicated open section for the paper towel within your cabinets.
Image: Marie Flanigan
Conceal it underneath your uppers: Locate a customised paper towel dispenser within your uppers so you can pull down whatever you need at any time.
Image: Remodelholic