Unsightly kitchen appliances

An open-plan lifestyle allows your home to have more light and space, and rooms to flow together more sociably. However, unsightly appliances can look disorganised and create an unstylish impression.

Plan around your appliances
Whether you are planning a new kitchen or renovating an old one, it is very important to measure your appliances and plan the kitchen and power points around them. It is tricky to hide appliances in a kitchen that was not planned with this in mind, especially when you're operating on a shoestring – after all, the kitchen is one of the most expensive spaces in the home.

If you do not want to have new cupboards fitted or make significant alterations to the plumbing, simply build a wall – provided the space and layout allow for this option. A dry wall, like those from RhinoWall (refer to www.rhinowall.co.za) can be installed quickly and easily.

The plumbing was left intact when the wall was built in the kitchen in our photo – it was simply erected along the length of the kitchen. The appliances were left in their original positions, but are now neatly hidden from sight. When building a wall like this, it is important to take into account, right from the start, the position of the windows and to consider how the new wall will affect the quality of natural light in the kitchen. A wall was erected along the length of the kitchen. The household appliances are still exactly where they had been before, but are now neatly hidden from sight behind the wall. The scullery is also concealed behind the wall, so the kitchen always looks tidy. The new wall in no way diminishes the natural light, as no windows are covered by it.