How Can I Hide My Open Kitchen?

ByGlen Mcilroy Reading Time: 9 minutes

Having an open-plan kitchen has many advantages, especially when hosting an event or entertaining guests. The drawback to having an open kitchen is having unexpected guests while busy cleaning up or having outdated and damaged kitchen cabinets. These scenarios made me wonder how I could hide my open kitchen.

Open kitchens don’t suit all situations. There are a few ways to hide an open kitchen, like adding a partition wall or using a folding screen, or rearranging the furniture. For a softer look, add a thick curtain, install a frosted glass wall, add wooden columns or add a thick and wide pillar.

We had this issue a few years back when we moved to a new home. Open kitchens are great, but there are times when I want to hide my open kitchen. I didn’t know how I would do this, so after extensive research, I wanted to share the ways I found that have worked for others.

How Can I Hide My Open Kitchen?

Sometimes, you may not want anyone to see your kitchen; the big question is if you want a removable solution or a permanent solution? Below we will discuss temporary or removable solutions and permanent solutions to hiding your open kitchen.

Temporary Ways To Hide An Open Kitchen

Hiding an open kitchen doesn’t have to be a permanent thing. There are a few ways to hide an open kitchen temporarily.  

Using Folding Screens

If you like your open kitchen but find yourself in a bind with guests on their way and your kitchen not looking its best, you can use folding screens. Folding screens come in various sizes, colors, and styles to fit every home style.

If you are a fan of natural light, you can add a Shoji screen. These screens are not seethrough but are made from rice paper that will still allow the natural light to pass through the screen while still keeping your kitchen hidden.

Rearranging Your Furniture

If you have a budget that is already stretched and you can’t spend extra money on any screens, you can use what you have. Rearranging your furniture will help you keep the kitchen out of sight.

You can use bigger pieces like a bookcase or china cabinet to hide the most visible parts of the kitchen. You can arrange a huge bookcase, so it acts as a divider. Style it by adding a few decorative vases or classy nic nacks so it won’t look out of place.

Haning A Curtain

If you want to add a divider that is easy to move out of the way and gives the open room a softer look, you can hang a curtain to separate the kitchen from the living room.

You can install a railing that goes along the ceiling, making it easy to pull back if you don’t want the rooms separated. You can also use steel or wood rods to hang the curtain.

Tie it against the wall using a stylish band so it won’t look out of place. If you want to let in the natural light from the kitchen but keep the kitchen itself hidden, opt for a very light and almost seethrough material that will still allow the light to come through the curtain.

Adding Decorative Draperies

If you like the idea of simply hanging something to disguise your kitchen, but you feel that hanging a curtain won’t work with the style of your home, you can use decorative draperies.

These draperies come in modern or rustic styles. They hang on a rod just like curtains do, and you get a few styles that have small slits in the design to allow the natural light to come in from the kitchen.  

The only downside you might have if you use this option is that it might be cumbersome when cooking. So be sure to fully open the draperies when cooking so the air can properly circulate and the draperies stay out of the way.

Adding Blinds

It might sound somewhat strange to have blinds in the middle of a room, but if you choose the right kind of blinds, you can easily hide an open plan kitchen with minimal fuss. Using material blinds that roll into a ceiling-mounted case that you can hide behind moldings is a stylish way to conceal your kitchen.

You have a few different options that can make using blinds a great removable option. Some blinds can be controlled using a remote control or an app on your phone, making them go up and down with seamless effort.

These blinds come in different styles and colors, and some blind manufacturers will print a picture of your choice on the blinds so they can look like abstract art if you want them to. Some people want to add a family photo on the blinds or even a family tree picture. The freedom of choice is yours.

Remember that the number of blinds you will need will depend on how much of the kitchen you want to cover. So you might have one or four different sections. The blind manufacturers can make the pictures line up when installing the blinds.

Using these blinds makes it easy to keep your kitchen either hidden or open, and it will be difficult to see the blind holders if you hide them behind the molding. It’s a much less invasive way to hide an open kitchen and add a touch of art to your living room.

Permanent Ways To Hide My Open Kitchen

If you don’t like it when your kitchen is open for everyone to see, but you have moved into a home with an open plan kitchen, then there are a few ways to hide your open kitchen from view permanently.

Build A Partition Wall

If you want a permanent solution to hiding your kitchen from the living room, building a partition wall is a great way. You don’t need to build a traditional loadbearing wall because you will only use the wall as a divider to close off the kitchen.

You can opt for a plain interior stud wall that you can build yourself if you have DIY experience, but if you don’t have any experience, you should hire a contractor to build it. They will ensure the wall fits in with the rest of your home seamlessly and that it’s level, not skewed or leaning.

You can use the wall as a centerpiece of the living room by adding a fireplace or some pieces of art or a collage of family pictures. You can paint the wall to match the style of the rest of the home so that one side will fit in with the living room and the other will fit in with the kitchen.

Build A Partial Wall

If you don’t want to cover the entire kitchen with a wall, you can build a partial wall in the middle of the kitchen and the living room to hide the most prominent part of the kitchen.

You can paint the partial wall a darker color than the rest of the living room to make it a stand-out feature and add a fireplace or art piece. That way, it won’t look out of place and will look like part of the original design.

A partial wall can be functional and hide the biggest part of your kitchen. If you like books or have no place to put some decorative pieces, then putting some shelves on the partial wall can add a touch of style to the living room, and you can add shelves to store books, magazines or your favorite nic nacks.

Installing A Glass Wall

One of the more stylish ways to permanently hide an open kitchen is to consider adding a decorative glass wall to divide the kitchen and living room. You might think that glass is seethrough and won’t hide the kitchen, but if you use frosted glass, you can hide the kitchen, which adds elegance to the room.

The great thing about using a glass wall to divide the kitchen from sight is that you can have a custom-made glass wall installed. You can have a picture, different shapes, or specific style frosted onto the glass to fit in with the style of your home.

To ensure that the glass divider stands out, you can add steel or wood beams as a frame. The glass divider will look like it was a style choice, making it a functional way to hide your kitchen.

The frosted glass also allows the light to still come through from the kitchen side, creating a glow that will help warm up the living room during the day. And if you use the kitchen light at night, you can achieve the same effect.

Adding Sliding Doors

One of the most stylish yet best ways to hide an open-plan kitchen is to use sliding partition doors as dividers. What sets this option apart from the other options is that while the build is permanent, you can choose to close off the kitchen or leave it open just by opening or closing the doors.

These doors come in many styles and sizes, and you are sure to find a style that matches your home’s interior décor. There are barn-style doors, thin glass-paneled doors, big steel doors like you would find in a loft, and much more to choose from.

They are divided into separate sections, so you can store the sliding doors in an unused corner to the side of the living room if you choose to open the kitchen up. These doors work with sliding railings that you install in the ground and the ceiling.

Adding Columns

One unique way to hide your kitchen from the living room is to add columns. Adding columns with small gaps between them will break up the view of the kitchen without taking away some of the light that you might still want to shine through.

If you don’t like the idea of columns, you can add blocks that will have the effect of a decorative piece instead of a divider. There are many different ways to style these columns; you can use short or long wooden pieces or wooden, steel, or even plastic decorative blocks.

The ways to incorporate style while hiding the kitchen by using columns or other structures are endless. You can even try using round wooden or studded steel discs. It will serve as a divider and as the centerpiece of your living room.

Using A Wide Pillar

If you only have a small section of the kitchen visible, you might not want to build a big elaborate wall, so you might want to consider adding a wide pillar to the room. This pillar will look like it’s being used for structural support, but it will hide the kitchen.

As with the partition wall, you won’t need to build a typical load-bearing pillar, so use a plain interior pillar using drywalling. These pillars can be broad, or you can add a few thin ones to break up the width. Whatever will suit the style you are going for.

The pillar can be multifunctional if you want it to. You can build a stronger pillar, add a cabinet on the kitchen side for extra storage space, use the living room side to hang the television, or add a fireplace in the cold winter months.

Conclusion

Not everyone likes the idea of an open kitchen that anyone in the living room can view. There are many ways that you can hide your open kitchen. You need to decide if you want to hide the kitchen permanently or if you only want a temporary solution that you can add or remove when you choose.

There are great options that will add style to your home and won’t be an eye sore or look like a deliberate attempt to hide the kitchen. Some of the options can be multifunctional, like adding a wall or partial wall, as you can use the part in the kitchen to add cabinets for extra space.

References

Architect

I have a Master’s degree in Architecture.

My passions lie in the world of design and nature.

A nature lover through and through, I am passionate about animals and plants alike. Spending time in nature is always preferable to being indoors, whether hiking, on the beach, or simply hanging out in the garden with friends.

The design world fascinates me to no end, whether in buildings, furniture, or landscaping. A healthy lifestyle is something that I pursue in a holistic sense, emphasizing healthy food, exercise, and mental well-being.

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