Dishwashers – to hide or not to hide?
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you probably know I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about focal points in kitchen design. I know for many (both?) of you readers this is old hat, but with new clients the question of whether it makes sense to make the dishwasher disappear behind a panel fequently comes up. The answer, of course, depends on so many things – they style of the kitchen, the location of the dishwasher, and where it will be viewed from, being the main ones.
As always, a picture is worth 10,000 words (especially words of mine!) Here’s a situation where I would have preferred to see an “incognito” dishwasher – centered in the cabinet run like this, and in stainless steel to boot, it becomes a powerful focal point. And a dishwasher just isn’t what I would choose for that.
Dishwasher as focal point
Now I realize that the other appliances are stainless steel, so there is an argument for matching the dishwasher to them. But if, as I’m assuming, the dishwasher wall is the main view from a living or eating area, I’d rather keep the view quiet, and focus instead on accessories in those open shelves, or on the counter. The fact that symmetry in the base cabinets does not correspond with the uppers bugs me a bit, too – and that would also be de-emphasized if the dishwasher disappeared. (photo via).
For comparison – a perfectly disguised dishwasher in this photo by Roland Persson (via) – even down to repeating the lines of the drawers in the panel. Keeping those horizontal lines going is so important in this modern European style.
Dishwasher disappeared
Incidentally, d’you see how the sink isn’t centered in the window? Obviously done for practical reasons - to allow some clearance between the dishwasher and the corner. Does it bother you? (Nor me).
So just one more picture (up to 30,000 words, now – a positive dissertation). Here are stainless steel dishwashers that are easy to live with. For one thing, they are behind an island, so are not able to dominate any views, and for a bonus, there are two of them, symmetrically arranged, so they actually emphasize the focal point at the sink and the window, rather than competing with it:
Victoria Hagan's kitchen via Architectural Digest
