A small kitchen design with a refrigerator can be visually light and convenient if you choose the right location. It is more difficult to do this in a limited space, since the equipment requires a significant area. Designers offer several universal ideas to solve the problem of lack of free space in a small kitchen.
Kitchen layout
Where the refrigerator will be located largely depends on the shape of the kitchen unit. You can’t really dream about island and U-shaped options - most apartments have two options.
Linear (straight)
The kitchen set, cooking area and sink are placed strictly in a line along one wall. In this case, the refrigerator, as a rule, is thrown over to the opposite side and installed next to the dining table. However, there are exceptions: if you remodeled and combined the premises.
Such ergonomics can hardly be called an optimal solution, but with skillful further design and proper distribution of the working compartments of the headset, you can achieve excellent comfort when cooking.
Corner (L-shaped)
A more common and advantageous option is to use an adjacent wall to extend the headset. This is advantageous because it allows you to place more cabinets in the kitchen, including for built-in appliances, which will help neutralize the effect of too small a space.
In addition, with such ergonomics, the refrigerator is located either at the entrance to the room or at the window - and the transition from one functional area to another becomes very convenient.
Results
I hope that after reading this article, you can easily decide where to put the refrigerator in a small kitchen. Now it all depends on your capabilities and desires. In addition to the article - our video. We resolve all issues clearly.
Location of the refrigerator in the kitchen - read our article.
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Tips for organizing space
Use the built-in refrigerator
The built-in refrigerator looks quite impressive, saves a lot of space and completely fits into the modern trend of minimalism. The photo below shows the popular model Liebher ICUS 3314.
Less bulky furniture
Don’t chase a large number of compartments in the headset - leave the essentials in the project. Especially if you have a small family and you don’t need to store a large number of cutlery and dishes.
You can save a lot on square meters if you put the refrigerator on the cabinets. Thus, you free up space for your maneuvers in a tiny kitchen, but at the same time get convenient access to all the necessary items.
Lockers can also be placed on top. Thus, the unit is, as it were, placed in a compartment specially designed for it.
Roller blinds or blinds - instead of curtains
Ordinary curtains in the kitchen hide a lot of space, and even when next to a freezing unit they provoke discomfort. Therefore, try replacing them with roller blinds or blinds. At the same time, free the window sill - it can also be used. Both for practical purposes and for decorative ones.
Choose the right device
The main selection criteria: spaciousness and compactness.
Two-chamber unit
A standard two-chamber device (pictured) takes up a lot of space.
Advantages:
- Spaciousness: the refrigerator is complemented by a spacious freezer.
- Convenience: it’s not for nothing that this design is the most popular.
- Variety of devices: you can choose a narrow high unit or a lower wide one.
Disadvantages : you will have to sacrifice some elements of the kitchen set to free up space.
Single chamber models
And a single-chamber unit can be spacious.
Advantages:
- The freezer compartment inside one chamber will allow you to gain extra centimeters for other equipment or a wall cabinet.
- Lots of placement options: this compact model can even be placed under a countertop.
- Takes up minimal space.
- Affordable price: if desired, it is possible to add a separate freezer to the refrigerator.
A small single-chamber unit is indispensable in a small country house.
For information about installation rules, see our article “Refrigerator in the kitchen.”
Advice! If you make large stocks of frozen food, you can purchase a freezer separately and install it, for example, in the hallway.
Flaws:
- A small volume is not suitable for thrifty owners.
- The depth of any refrigerator is always significant. Therefore, it may not be worth saving space in height and purchasing a narrow (50 cm) but tall model.
Popular installation locations
At the entrance to the kitchen
Not to say that this is very convenient, but sometimes it seems to be the only right solution. Judging by the numerous photos on the Internet, where people share their designs for small kitchens in Khrushchev-era apartment buildings, they are not bothered by the fact that a refrigerator placed at the entrance steals the space.
However, if you take a closer look, most often this option remains the prerogative of those who have chosen a kitchen set that is quite modest in size. Accordingly, the refrigerator itself should not break all records in terms of dimensions: an ergonomic and not too wide model with moderate depth would look appropriate. This way the unit will not interfere with the passage to the kitchen.
Near the window
The refrigerator is placed at the very end of the kitchen unit. Perhaps this is the most preferable arrangement for very modest kitchens, since there is room for all the necessary compartments and for a fairly comfortable cooking area.
An important point: the door should open from the furniture to the window in order to gain the most convenient access to the contents of the refrigerator - without intruding into the food preparation area and disturbing the household.
Opposite the kitchen unit
If the refrigerator does not fit in line with the set, then you can use an alternative way to integrate it into the kitchen space - place it exactly opposite the furniture. In this case, it will be adjacent to the dining area. This excludes the possibility of conveniently organizing it directly in the corner of the room, but it significantly expands your design tools when designing a set and other pieces of furniture.
In a niche
Typically, such niches are obtained as a result of the redevelopment of the premises. The refrigerator simply hides in this recess, thereby saving precious kitchen space.
Sometimes a niche is obtained due to the special arrangement of the elements of the headset. Perhaps this option is even preferable. Impeccable ergonomics.
Refrigerator in another room
With a very small usable area, it is difficult to even fit a set into the space, let alone a large freezing unit. Then you have to use corridors or balconies. The balcony adjacent to the kitchen looks like an excellent solution in this regard.
Or a corridor, if the layout of the apartment allows you to use this method of placement and maintain comfort during maneuvers.
There are also completely original design solutions, such as installing a refrigerator directly in a widened opening and framing it in a box from the side of the room. The solution is not ideal, but we have to somehow get out.
Refrigerator decor
The final touch, although not at all mandatory, is quite logical - if you want to make the kitchen cozy and truly homely.
There are also such purely conceptual solutions. An imitation of a London telephone booth in the format of a modest Khrushchev building.
Or you can simply take and disguise the refrigerator under nearby furniture pieces. This will not lose any of its functionality, and visually the room will look more harmonious.
