Most refrigerators aren't all that beautiful to look at and can distract from the most beautiful features in the kitchen. Although I like an industrial look - I don't want the first thing you notice in my kitchen to be our fridge.
Here is how I concealed and customized ours....
You can do this too.....
(Read the original post about cabinet depth refrigerators.)
Making the side panel...
1 - Measure the depth of the fridge. Purchase three slats of wood to equal that measurement or a little more.
2 - I bought 3 pine wood slats for mine: 1x10x6, 1x8x8, 1x8x8 - The 1x8's will reach to the very top of my cabinets. The 1x10 I cut down to fit at the back under the existing 12 inch deep wall cabinet. A 1x12 would work here too but I left room at the back just in case I have to get to the water line or plug.
3 - One of the 1x8's I cut with the table saw down to 6 inches wide. The left over piece I used to attach as the front profile to make the panel look thicker and to fill in the space between the cabinet and fridge.
In the picture above the instruction you can see how I laid them all together - glued and screwed them tightly together with the piece that I cut from my 1x10.
(I am hoping the pictures do the talking here - as your measurements may be different than mine)
The side panel will look like this. The "L" notch is where the panel fits underneath the upper cabinets that are already there.
Give it a couple of coats of paint or stain. An accent color would look cool but I chose white to match my walls.
Once the paint dried - it slid perfectly into place. A bit loose, though, so I put a scrap piece of wood in between the dark lower cabinets and the panel to act as sort of a shim. It doesn't move now. See how the 1x8x8's reach the top of the cabinets? Our ceilings are 9ft tall so I wanted to box that space in also.
Box in the Top
On the wall above the upper cabinet I nailed in a support beam. It measures the same depth as my end panel.
Using my nail gun - I boxed in a 1x12 that was cut to size and painted white. I nailed it to the support beam and the panel. It secures the panel and makes everything become one piece.
I trimmed out the top box with left over moldings from previous projects. Only one mitered corner there.
A thin birch wood panel that is painted white just sits in front of the existing cabinets. I added a shelf to lay on the support beam on the wall and created another support beam on the inside of the homemade panel so that it will enclose the top.
Then I did the exact same thing with a 1x6 for a shallow middle shelf. Once the structure was put together I found other molding pieces that I had around to "bulk' it up - the middle shelf especially. The decorative iron scroll is screwed to the center of the 1x12 top box.
Don't forget to calk the seams and nail holes.
I hope the pictures show you mostly what I did as I know my tutorials are not very detailed. Most of my projects come together as I go.
There are many ways to build in your fridge but this is how I did mine. This is not my permanent residence so I have to be able to change this out to original when I move.
It sure does brighten up the kitchen and my fridge looks built in.
If this looks like too much work - HERE is another easy solution to conceal a bulky side of a fridge.
HERE are more photos of this project finished.
0 comments:
Posting Komentar