Appliance Garage

Turn a space in your kitchen into an appliance garage for the storage of items you don’t use very often. With your counters cleared off of gadgets and infrequently used appliances, you’ll discover that an appliance garage is the same thing as happiness!

Kitchen countertops are notorious for being surfaces where clutter gathers – intentionally and unintentionally. Small appliances and gadgets are placed on countertops for easy access. And a large flat surface, well, just naturally is the convenient place to put papers, phone accessories, and other items that don’t have a designated place. It doesn’t take long for a kitchen to look messy, cluttered, and disorganized.

Making sure every item in my home has its own personal home is a mission of mine. I am intentional when I plan a space – how I will organize it and how I will use it. Moreover, I also consider how I want a space to look and feel! Kitchen organization is especially essential because the kitchen is the hub of the home.

I limit the items on my kitchen counters because I love a clean slate for dinner prep and baking. Clutter just isn’t my thing and that’s exactly what appliances like a toaster and microwave feel like to me. I just really don’t use them that much, so I’d rather conceal them while not in use. 

In our new kitchen, we added a microwave drawer and panel ready appliances. But in this kitchen, an appliance garage really worked beautifully!

What Is an Appliance Garage?

An appliance garage is a place where you can store appliances when not in use – usually behind doors. A common image of an appliance garage might be the big, bulky units with tambour doors – slats that are placed in a track to raise and lower on a curve – in a corner of the countertop. 

That certainly counts as a garage, but it isn’t really an attractive or modern storage system for appliances. There are currently more sleek and modern options for door styles on appliance garages. So if you’re trying to conceal appliances, you have plenty of door styles to choose from for countertop appliance garages. 

However, I’m trying to avoid having items on my counters, and countertop appliance garages actually take up counter space! 

Still in keeping with the definition of an appliance garage, other places can technically work in your kitchen. A pantry, cabinet, or deep drawer can also store appliances while not in use. 

DIY Appliance Garage

When it was time to update our kitchen I knew I wanted a place to store appliances that took them off of the counter.

I examined my kitchen and considered my options. The kitchen currently had a space for an oven and a convection oven. After researching the cost for a new convection oven and assessing whether or not I needed one, I decided to forgo a new convection oven. This left an oven-sized space that I could use as storage. It was really easy to create room for storage and makes a huge difference in my kitchen.

Steps for Building Appliance Storage

1. Build a shelf just above the oven, then add a 1 1/2″ wood piece to conceal the shelf and to allow a place for cabinet doors to close. Paint the interior white. 
2. Order custom cabinet doors to match existing cabinetry. This is really easy to do – right down to specifying widths of shakers, etc. We updated our built in bookcases with custom cabinet doors as well. 
3. Give the doors two coats of paint to match the rest of the cabinetry.
4. Drill hinges into the door, then use a level to attach them to the cabinet frame. Done!

Because this space was  previously used for an oven, I have the luxury of electricity in my cabinet. So I can use my microwave inside the cabinet and don’t have to take it out to use it. I also store my toaster in the cabinet. I love closing the door on these infrequently used appliances to help my kitchen stay clean and orderly.

With simple adaptations you probably have room inside your kitchen to keep appliances out of sight. Here are some places that might be potential appliance garages for you.

• Cabinets (lower or upper) – You probably just need to use one shelf. Raise or lower another shelf if the space isn’t tall enough for your items.
• Pantry – Clear a section of your pantry to store appliances.
• Drawer – If your drawer is deep enough for appliances you want off of your counter, this is a viable option.
• Buffet or Sideboard – Use furniture that isn’t built in. If it is close enough to your kitchen, then it could work for hidden storage.

Tips

• Store your toaster on a small baking sheet to catch crumbs.
• Wait until toaster (or other heated items) cools to return it to the garage.
• Keep cords tidy to keep them from tangling on other appliances.
• Appliances that are easy to store: blender, toaster, mixer, crock pot, toaster oven.

I love this functional space that makes our kitchen work for us. Technically it is called an appliance garage, but I prefer to call it “happiness!” I encourage you to look for a way to incorporate an appliance garage – happiness – into your home and see how it elevates your mood every day!

And because flowers make everything prettier…

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