Kitchen appliances usually take up a significant amount of space in the kitchen. As a result, the space can become smaller due to their inherently inappropriate or awkward positioning. This can happen whether your kitchen is small or large. Space in the kitchen is a highly valued commodity and is therefore in high demand. So what do you do with the appliances?
These are specially designed spaces where all the appliances you have in your kitchen can be conveniently located and stored. They can either remain visible or be hidden behind cabinet doors. Most importantly, they free up countertops and other surfaces in your kitchen, making it not only more spacious but also visually larger.
So what are the appliance garages? How should they be arranged in the kitchen? Where should they be placed, and how can they be decorated to keep the kitchen design clean and tidy? Let's take a look at 20 ways and ideas that will answer all these questions.
1. Appliance Garage with Pocket Doors
Pocket doors are an innovative approach to saving space and creating a minimalist kitchen look. When opened, the doors slide into hidden pockets on the side of the unit. It's as if the doors hide next to the unit instead of taking up space.
The appliance garage with pocket doors becomes truly functional as it gives the kitchen a clean and minimalist look and helps save space. In addition, pocket doors provide easy and quick access to appliances, so they are not an obstacle when you need something.
2. Appliance Garage with Lift-up Doors
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An appliance garage with lift-up doors is a cabinet or pantry space for small appliances, usually a toaster or blender. The mechanism of the doors is simple—they lift to allow access to the stored items. The lifting mechanism can be hydraulic or spring-loaded to ensure smooth operation.
This type of appliance garage is often used in combination with kitchen cabinets. They can also have sockets inside if they are not too high above the worktop, making them easy to use in the home.
3. Appliance Garage with Sliding Doors
This type of appliance garage is different from others because, as you may have already guessed, it has a special type of door. Instead of opening upwards, the doors slide horizontally, disappearing into the sides or recesses of the cabinet. If you're looking to maximize minimalism, i.e., increase the amount of space in your kitchen, a garage with these doors would be an interesting option.
Sliding doors work well in spaces where lifting or swinging doors are impractical or inconvenient. These are small, tight spaces where every inch counts and the lack of it can lead to clutter.
As an option, you can choose sliding doors that not only slide back and forth but also slide in any direction.
4. Appliance Garage with Microwave
It would be a good idea to have a special place just for the microwave. Of course, it can stand alone, out of the pantry or wardrobe, taking up space on the worktop, but you have to admit that sometimes a lot of other things start to gather around the microwave and you want to do something about it. Plus, you have to lift or move the microwave to wipe the countertop. You won't have to do any of this with a special garage for this appliance.
The most important thing about such a garage is that it should be located next to the countertop so that there is a place to put heated food. It should also have a socket.
5. Appliance Garage as a Coffee Station
To prevent your coffee machine from taking up space on your countertop, you can use the space underneath the coffee station. You can do this by using the space from the countertop to the upper cabinets or by creating a separate compartment in the pantry. Either way, it should be in a place where you can see it and reach it easily.
To make using the coffee station more convenient, you can also use this garage to store other things: coffee beans, sugar, and other items.
6. Corner Appliance Garage
It’s a smart solution for kitchen storage, especially if you’re looking for a dedicated spot for appliances.
Corners are typically spaces at the junction of cabinets that often remain unused. In minimalist designs, however, every inch has a purpose, and corner spaces are no exception.
A corner garage may not accommodate larger appliances, given the limited size and capacity, but it’s ideal for smaller appliances or other compact items. For easier access and a streamlined look, consider a minimalist design with simple doors and retractable mechanisms.
7. Open Appliance Garage
If you're the kind of person who buys stylish appliances to match your kitchen and doesn't mind putting them on display, this appliance garage idea is definitely for you.
As the name suggests, an open garage has no doors or barriers, allowing appliances to be easily accessible within the kitchen. It may take the form of a shelf within a specially designed upper cabinet or pantry. Another type of open garage can be a recessed space within a pantry or below a cabinet down to the countertop, defined only by its surrounding walls. This is where you can store your selected appliances and take them anytime you need them.
8. Double Appliance Garage
If you frequently use multiple appliances and need to swap them out during cooking, a double-appliance garage is a practical solution.
This type of garage can be installed in upper cabinets, with appliances placed side by side, or in adjacent compartments within a pantry. The doors can have matching or different opening mechanisms. For example, one compartment might open with a traditional swing door, while the other uses pocket or lift-up doors.
An added advantage of a double-appliance garage is that you can organize appliances by function, allowing quick access and reducing the time spent searching for items. This arrangement keeps everything conveniently grouped and easily accessible.
9. Stacked Appliance Garages
For added convenience, you can install (or stack) two appliance garages on top of each other. This system allows you to maximize storage space for different appliances.
A stacked garage is usually placed at the end of a row of cupboards or on a narrow section of wall between windows. Thanks to its vertical shape, the garage itself does not take up much space between the cabinets. This type of garage is ideal for compact kitchens or for those who want to organize their workspace.
10. Pantry with Appliance Garage
If you need a truly multi-functional space with an engineered storage system that successfully accommodates appliances, it may be worth looking at your pantry. This type of cupboard can incorporate a variety of storage solutions, so it's a good idea to implement an appliance garage within it.
With a pantry, there’s no need to carve out extra space throughout the kitchen for appliance storage. Instead, you can focus on selecting specific compartments that would best suit an appliance garage. If you’re designing a kitchen from scratch and considering this type of functionality, it’s worthwhile to plan the pantry and allocate space for the appliance garage from the outset. This way, the pantry becomes more than just a storage area—it serves as a centralized hub where all your essential kitchen items are within easy reach.
11. Multi-tiered Appliance Garage
Appliances can either be in the pantry or be a part of the pantry, in which case they are called built-in appliances. The idea of a multi-tiered garage is to dedicate an entire pantry to appliances.
This setup, of course, assumes you have a large collection of appliances, including some sizable ones that may not easily fit in standard pantry storage.
In a garage, as in a regular pantry, you can combine different types of storage. For example, in addition to compartments closed by doors, there are open shelves that can also hold appliances. Again, think about the items you use most often so you can keep them close by and at a comfortable distance.
12. Appliance Garage with Slide-Out Doors
Sliding doors are very similar to sliding doors. Both types are great for an appliance garage when you need quick access and a minimalist look. But what are the differences?
Sliding doors slide out and then back into a cabinet or pantry, usually along tracks inside the cabinet walls. In other words, they operate much like pocket doors. But in terms of design, sliding doors can differ from their predecessors. When deciding between them, consider convenience and appearance, and choose what works best for your design.
13. Appliance Garage with Tambour Doors
This is another door design that works well for an appliance garage and seamlessly complements any modern kitchen style.
These doors consist of slats that slide up or to the side when opened, offering the same advantage as pocket doors: they don’t take up additional space around the garage or countertop, maintaining a clean, minimalist look. However, it’s important to ensure that the tambour doors are properly installed and function smoothly. This will prevent any hindrance when accessing appliances, keeping the kitchen space both practical and aesthetically pleasing.
14. Roll-Up Appliance Garage
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Why choose a garage with a tambour door design? It offers easy access, and practicality, and adds a touch of industrial flair to modern kitchen design—a fitting choice, considering these are, after all, garages for appliances. Another type of door worth mentioning for this type of garage enhances both functionality and aesthetics.
Roll-up doors are similar in appearance, mechanism, and use to tambour doors. They open by rolling up and up, giving full access to the equipment inside the garage. However, there are some differences between the two. For example, tambour doors are more decorative, although functional in their way. Roll-up doors are much better suited to a garage that houses bulky equipment such as mixers or combine harvesters. In other words, they rely more on practicality than aesthetics.
15. Appliance Garage with Glass Panel Doors
Often appliances are hidden behind closed cabinet doors so that their appearance doesn't interfere with the aesthetics of the kitchen, or simply because it's more convenient to keep them out of sight. However, there is nothing wrong with putting appliances on display. Nowadays, manufacturers are producing models that you can show off. If this is your case, try building an appliance garage with glass panel doors.
This type of cabinet design will certainly increase your aesthetic enjoyment. On the one hand, the appliances look different behind the glass, and you can keep an eye on the order in which they are kept. On the other hand, glass cabinet fronts add a decorative element to the overall kitchen design. So this kitchen garage idea is not only practical for your kitchen but also visually appealing.
16. Pull-Out Drawer for the Appliance Garage
With this appliance garage idea, it doesn't matter where you put it—in a wardrobe or a pantry. This storage system works just as well in both places. We are talking about pull-out drawers.
Thanks to its operating mechanism, the drawer opens completely to reveal all the appliances or objects inside. They are easy to take out and put back in. You can also pull out the appliances and clean the bottom of the drawer for easy cleaning and organization.
17. Vertical Appliance Garage
The defining feature of this type of storage is its vertical design, which effectively utilizes space to accommodate appliances. If there’s space from the countertop to the top row of cabinets, it can be transformed into a dedicated area for frequently used appliances, such as coffee and tea makers or blenders.
In a designated storage area, appliances can be organized by function. The key is to consider their placement for optimal convenience—storing the most frequently used items on lower shelves for easy access while positioning less frequently used appliances higher up.
18. Heat Safe for Appliance Garage
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Some appliances work in such a way that they start to heat up. This can be more than just a microwave oven that heats food. It can also be a coffee machine or a toaster. The heat can have a significant impact on wooden cabinets. Therefore, the appliance garage should be designed so that it does not inadvertently damage the furniture.
You can create a space where appliances are easily accessible or can be pulled out using a drawer system. The garage can feature sliding or rolling doors made from metal or heat-resistant wood, ensuring the safe operation of the appliances while they’re stored inside. This design allows for secure storage without the risk of overheating, protecting both the appliances and the surrounding kitchen materials.
19. Appliance Garage Ideas for Small Kitchens
In small kitchens, an appliance garage can be a real savior from clutter and mess. For it to be really effective, you have to think about the design of the garage and the location of the garage.
You can create a special cupboard or niche with a sliding door, for example, in an unused corner or under a cupboard. Here you can store stacked appliances behind minimalist doors that take up no space when opened. At the same time, the appliances remain easily accessible.
The garages mentioned above also work for a small kitchen. Many are designed for minimalist design only. They eliminate countertop clutter, keep frequently used appliances within easy reach, and increase kitchen functionality.
20. Electric Outlets for Appliance Garagе
Based on the various ideas and options for an appliance garage presented above, you can add one more element that is just as important. You need to make sure that you have a power source nearby to use your appliances.
An electrical outlet for the appliance is an essential item in any shape or location. You can install one or more if you have multiple appliances in your garage. These outlets can also be used for other devices such as phone or tablet charging.
You can either add outlets to the existing space where you store your appliances, or you can install an appliance garage near the wiring. Of course, you can always use an extension cord, but if we want to keep the kitchen minimalist, consider the previous options.
As you can see, there are many options for equipment garages. They differ in their operation, design, placement, and capacity. What exactly your appliance garage will look like depends on what you want it to look like in your kitchen and whether you have the space to accommodate it.
Remember that anything is possible. You can create something special, like an appliance garage in a finished kitchen that serves both your design and your comfort.
