Counter culture

Closing a cabinet door and having your kitchen instantly be clutter-free sounds like a dream, but a survey of 10 Peninsula kitchen designers found one clear conclusion: The appliance garages that were popular more than a decade ago (sort of like a roll-top desk that sat on your counter, just below the upper cabinets) are no longer in favor. Instead, appliances have found new hiding places in recessed alcoves tucked behind backsplashes and lower cabinet doors.

There are numerous reasons for the appliance garage’s decline in popularity, said designer Ken Rose who, along with his colleagues at Gilmans Kitchens and Baths, hasn’t installed one in 10 years.

If the kitchen is small, appliance garages take up valuable counter space, and often interfere with the area’s “flow,” he said. Appliance garages also must be installed after the cabinets and countertop, requiring the installer to make a separate additional trip. Putting them between the countertop and the upper cabinet is tricky.

Generally, the old-style appliance garages were not tall or deep enough for larger appliances, such as the venerable KitchenAid stand mixer or large rice cookers. Often people end up leaving the appliance garage doors open all the time anyway, he said.

The newer design of many small appliances also is much more attractive than in the past, so many people don’t mind displaying them, he added.

The best solution for storing appliances is to create a recessed alcove or niche, using space on the other side of a wall. Rather than a garage that sits on top of the counter, you have sliding or bifold doors in the backsplash wall to access the alcove. Usually, this cavity is integrated into a cabinet on the other side of the wall, so it may not work for all kitchens. You get the use of the full countertop but can still access your appliances with a slightly longer arm reach.

Lila Levinson, another Bay Area kitchen designer, likes to use glass panels in these doors for their decorative features. Another trick she uses is putting a shelf on heavy-duty full-extension sliders so that it’s easy to pull out a heavy mixer, for example, and push it back later.

Getting rid of appliance clutter, especially in a small contemporary kitchen, can be very challenging, but possible with some creativity and a bit of luck.

If you can’t find a spot for a recessed appliance alcove, you can look at swing-up shelf hardware, such as that made by Hafele, for heavy appliances like a stand mixer. Here, the mixer lives on a shelf in the lower cabinet that easily can be swung up to countertop height after you open the cabinet door. Usually, there is an electrical outlet inside the cabinet, so the appliance stays plugged in full time.

If that’s not an option, you might consider replacing your rolltop appliance garage with bifold doors. Don Segale, owner of a large high-end cabinet shop in Hayward (Segale Bros. Wood Products), said of the few appliance garages that he sees, he prefers a bifold door, which can fold up against itself like an accordion. This type is best against a tall, deep cabinet or a refrigerator, keeping it out of the way when opened. Segale thinks the best place for a standard appliance garage is usually between two tall cabinets, maybe 3 or 4 feet apart, and isolated from the main counter space.

Richard Morrison (aka “The Kitchen Architect”) is a residential architect and interior designer with a Bay Area practice specializing in home remodeling. His website is richardmorrison.com.

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