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Our kitchens are full of secrets these days. Range hoods can be shrouded in tile or plaster, sink faucets swapped out for a discreet foot pedals, and knobs painted the same color as the cabinets so they basically disappear. And the one thing designers love to hide no matter the project? The refrigerator.
It’s rare that we see a shiny stainless steel fridge parked in the middle of a kitchen anymore. The pros use custom panels to their advantage, blending the appliance seamlessly with the rest of the cabinetry. The door size and handle configuration are the only giveaways of its location. While the custom touch is an extra splurge, it’s one designers keep on opting for to make our kitchens seem less, well, kitchen-y—here’s proof.
Swathe It in Fabric
You don’t often see upholstery in a kitchen aside from the occasional café curtain or dining banquette. Jessica Jubelirer is out to change that. In this space, she swathed the panels of the double-door refrigerators in painterly blue checks—the same textile she used to line the kitchen cabinets so that the whole space is cohesive.
Make the Handles Works of Art
There’s a lot to love about this butter yellow kitchen, but designer Sarah Sherman Samuel notes she’s partial to the custom refrigerator cabinet, made by none other than her dad. The bespoke sculptural handles (get the look with these similar ones from Curated Spaces) add dimension and character to the minimalist paneled doors, as does the arch at the top.
Stick to One Material
Aiming to give this New York kitchen a refined feel, James Veal and Christine Stucker, the cofounders of design firm Stewart-Schäfer, built the new cabinetry out of rift-sawn white oak and incorporated the pulls everywhere, even on the refrigerator. “They’re very ergonomic,” says Veal. The chunky, elongated handles help break up the monotony of all that timber, not to mention make the ceiling appear a little loftier.
Add an Old-School Accent
This grandma-chic Tudor home in Toronto kicks the nostalgia up a notch with its grooved cabinet doors, a nod to historical designs that used the detail for airflow. The refrigerator panels got the same treatment and paint color (Yukon Sky by Benjamin Moore), plus functional slots above for baking sheets and cutting boards.
Experiment With Materials
Worried all that opening and closing will damage painted panels? For this space, Marge Architects used Valchromat, an innovative wood fiber that involves bonding the paint color to a resin to make the fronts moisture-resistant and extremely durable. The handles, however, are a blast from the past—they’re sourced from Roctor DC’s collection of reclaimed and salvaged hardware,
Mimic the Cabinets in a Galley
If any type of kitchen layout calls for a paneled refrigerator, it’s a galley. By hiding the refrigerator and freezer behind painted, Shaker-style fronts, Edgar Bové, the founder of architecture and interior design studio Re-Shape Development, made this tiny space feel bigger and brighter without expanding the room at all.