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Look! Hidden Electrical Outlets in the Kitchen

Take a look at this kitchen, part of a house created from an old railway station in England and featured in the New York Times. Over at Apartment Therapy they pointed out one very cool feature of this kitchen, and we're curious what you think about it. Take a close look - do you see any electrical outlets here other than the ones in use by the toaster and the ubiquitous electric kettle?

No? Look again...

 
 

They're hidden under the counter!

We love this space-saving device, which also makes the walls less cluttered. What do you think, though, and do you make use of anything like this in your kitchen?

• Full story: A Home on the Tracks at The New York Times

Related: Best Product: UtiliTea Electric Kettle

(Images: Jonathan Player for The New York Times)

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Kitchen Design, Slinks, appliance, electrical outlet

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Comments (5)

While cool, I can only imagine a giant puff of flour going down the hole while I had my mixer out or something of that sort. Blender spill, oops water and electricity don't mix, etc.

posted by sally599 on 2008-05-09 13:04:55
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Exactly what I was thinking. Looks like a major hazard in the kitchen. It would be cool on a computer desk, though...

posted by Aimi on 2008-05-09 13:58:29
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There is actually a kitchen and an office version of this. The kitchen version is sealed to prevent water from screwing it up.

posted by keltick on 2008-05-11 13:56:31
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After all the safety issues are dealt with, I'm still not going to rush out and sign up. Why? Because I don't want to design my kitchen with any functional secrets. I want to know that any guest can sneak downstairs for an early-morning coffee without disturbing his hostess. For example, he should be able to find the fridge. Do we really want to disguise appliances so thoroughly with matching cabinet panels that visitors have to pry on every cupboard edge? He wants to open the cupboard to get a mug without guesswork: knobs, please, instead of magic magnetic latches and/or concealed cut-out. And when he tries to plug in the kettle or coffee maker, he shouldn't have to pass a sunrise IQ test to guess where we hid the outlets.

Yup, I think outlets are kinda ugly. But invisible outlets are useless unless you know the secret. Save those tricks for hiding the safe, the spare key and the Batcave.

posted by lccarson on 2008-05-16 16:40:48
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I think it's neat (and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to tell your guest in advance or leave a note). I hate the clutter on the wall of ordinary outlets, though with this now the counter looks more cluttered!But it still seems preferable.

posted by nankie on 2008-05-17 12:14:23
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