There are several reasons to give the refrigerator a "Built-In" look. The first of course, is appearance. Hiding the huge sides of the refrigerator may be an excellent improvement on the look and feel of your kitchen.
Here is a drawing of a typical refrigerator
before and after being Built-in.
As you can see, the appearance is a lot different if the side of the refrigerator is hidden. The refrigerators in both drawings are the same size, but the refrigerator in the ' After ' drawing doesn't look as large because your eye focuses on the new wooden panel. You see only the edge of the refrigerator door instead of the large white side. Shown is a standard-depth refrigerator. Cabinet-depth refrigerators are also available, but are more expensive.
To accomplish this, we've added full-height matching panels on each side of the refrigerator, and changed the wall cabinet above from 12" to 24" depth.
You could also use the existing cabinet and install it forward 12", leaving a space behind it. (No one will ever know.) That way the only items to add for the new look are the tall panels on each side.
The other advantage to this method is the cabinet matches. You just have to make the tall panels match your cabinetry.
The change is a convenience as well. Now, when using the countertop adjacent to the refrigerator for meal or snack preparation, any loose items cannot fall between the refrigerator side and the cabinet. That makes the kitchen much easier to keep clean.
If your wall cabinets are 36" or 42" tall, (not the 30") that makes the cabinet over the refrigerator 18" or 24" tall. In that case you could add to the convenience by adding vertical dividers on at least one side of the cabinet above the refrigerator. We can store lids, cookie sheets, or any other flatware vertically in a cabinet 18" or 24" tall. That gets those troublesome storage items out of the regular cabinet space and makes more room in them for other items.
Copyright: Copyright © 2007-2008 Dan Stout
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