Where Small Appliances Shine

Moen - Waterhill      Kitchen Collection

While designers routinely arrange stoves, refrigerators and other large appliances to create a "composition," they tend to give scant thought to countertop gadgets. But that’s changing. With an ever-growing menu of mixers, blenders, toasters and cappuccino steamers in many homes, having a creative strategy for housing them can add value to a project and increase homeowners’ enjoyment of their kitchens. Some designers are even suggesting that, rather than hiding these items in appliance garages, builders create spaces to show them off.

One designer who has placed a spotlight on countertop appliances is Chevy Chase, Maryland, architect Bruce Wentworth (www.wentworthstudio.com), who has designed high-end display areas for table-top appliances, as well as in-home coffee centers. He believes that these features "provide a more personal and enjoyable experience in the kitchen and can greatly enhance the aesthetics of the space."

Best in show Wentworth says that while creating an elegant small-appliance display doesn’t require much space, it can save a lot of space on counters. The solution can be as simple as shelves. "For one client we created floor-to-ceiling shelving that was just 15 inches deep," Wentworth says. On this particular project, full-height doors swing open to display an array of appliances that can be easily moved to the countertop, but Wentworth plans to show them off on his next project. "It would be really great to see some of these beautiful appliances behind glass doors as if they were objects of art on display," he says.

Coffee House
One display that Wentworth says is a hit with most buyers is the coffee center – and it doesn’t have to be in the kitchen. For example, in one townhouse project, he transformed what would have been a plain hallway between the dining room and kitchen by building a coffee center on one side and a china cabinet on the other. Lowering the hallway ceiling and using custom wood trim details created a "portal into the kitchen," according to Wentworth. He says that using found space in this manner "is luxurious, adds fun and provides more variety to the living experience."

For the most luxurious coffee center, Wentworth says it is good to include a quarter-inch water line, a water filter, a small sink and perhaps an under-counter refrigerator for milk or cream. If the budget doesn’t allow for all that, adding a shelf and an electrical outlet in a breakfast nook or near the kitchen table can bring a new level of elegance to the morning coffee ceremony without breaking the bank.

Wentworth says that a small appliance display can be a good fit for an obsolete area in an older home, such as a pantry. "The efficiency of contemporary cabinets often makes small pantries useless for their original function," he says. "However, it is possible to take the door off, finish the interior like the rest of the kitchen and include either a coffee center or appliance display, or both."

*All figures are costs to the builder costs, not the marked-up cost to the customer.