Niche under the window in the kitchen DIY repair

"Winter refrigerator" Khrushchev apartments - options for using a niche under the window

Moving to a new apartment has always been a joyful event for people.

And when, in the 60s, our compatriots began to actively move from their dilapidated wooden houses or densely populated "communal apartments" to separate apartments with central heating, their feelings were as if people were moving to palaces.

And none of them even thought of a desire to criticize their precious square meters and call them the offensive word "Khrushchev".

Moreover, each of these apartments had a lot of good things. For example, a niche under the window in the kitchen is a seasonal kitchen refrigerator.

We must pay tribute to the designers: the walls in brick houses of that period were erected very massive.

Accordingly, the window sills were also immense, which residents, unfamiliar with the word "design", tried to decorate by placing flower pots on them.

The wide window sill in the kitchen was especially convenient, which, given its small size, allowed the housewives to use the window sill as an additional work surface.

A beautiful kitchen is, among other things, beautiful curtains. How to decorate a kitchen window with curtains, choose the right fabric for curtains, curtains - you can read about all this here and here.

Almost until the 70s of the last century, the refrigerator was considered a rarity and was not installed in every kitchen.

Given this circumstance, the architects used a niche under the kitchen window to create a kind of refrigerator.

True, such a refrigerator was suitable for storing perishable food only in winter, but, for lack of anything better, it suited the residents of the "Khrushchev" completely.

Times have changed. Today, the presence of modern household appliances in the kitchen, including a real refrigerator, no longer surprises anyone.

Therefore, the need to put food in a niche under the window has disappeared by itself.

But every housewife wants to make the most of the entire area of ​​a small kitchen in the "Khrushchev", using the niche of the seasonal "refrigerator" as an additional cabinet to accommodate a wide variety of kitchen utensils.

A niche refrigerator is quite suitable for storing a small stock of vegetables and pickles. To do this, it will need to be insulated, that is, to close up a through hole in the wall.

Popular drywall is not suitable for these purposes, since condensation will surely begin to accumulate between the cladding and the outer wall. In the future, this will lead to the appearance of mold and the destruction of the skin.

It is best to use brickwork to seal the hole.

The interior design of such a refrigerator will not be superfluous: plastering, painting, neat design of shelves, which you can do yourself or order from a specialist.

Another option: change the old windows to plastic ones - order from the "windows" and the finishing of the winter refrigerator.

One of the options for using a niche under a window in a Khrushchev apartment is to install a heating radiator in it.

Moreover, among apartment owners there are many who prefer an increased air temperature in their home.

And although the alteration cannot be called petty, the refrigerator niche in the Khrushchev kitchen is perfect for installing a battery in it, and such a repair will justify itself.

To begin with, you will have to close up the through hole in the wall using brickwork, then proceed with the direct installation of the radiator.

To avoid negative consequences, it is better to entrust this work to specialists who are well acquainted with the process technology.

After the plumbers have installed the radiator battery, it will be possible to proceed to the design of the niche.

Advice. The design and decoration of the niche must fully comply with the overall style of the kitchen.

It must be admitted that in the period of mass construction of the 60-70s, design was not the favorite of architects and designers.

Therefore, the interior decoration and decoration in the "Khrushchev" apartment did not differ in particular beauty and variety. The doors, which closed the "refrigerator" under the window, also looked boring.

The doors of the Khrushchev refrigerator, made of poorly sanded plywood, covered with blue or dark green paint, complemented by a primitive handle and a rough latch, did not even try to look aesthetically pleasing.

This design, of course, does not suit modern residents.

And today there are many possibilities for a stylish and varied design. Doors can be made of plastic and ordered from the same company where the windows are made. Today their designs are very diverse.

Doors can be ordinary or sliding, made in any color scheme that will fit into the overall flavor of the kitchen.

You can choose the doors for the refrigerator niche in the style of the external panels of the kitchen set, repeating not only the desired color and surface texture, but also the same handles.

Advice. Wooden or laminated facades can be purchased from specialized firms or furniture stores. In this case, you should pay attention to the quality of the fastening accessories - it should be smoothly ground and not have cracks, notches and burrs.

In addition to the usual, there are many interesting ways to turn the "Khrushchev refrigerator" into a stylish object of the kitchen interior.

One of them is to arrange a sink. At the same time, the inner space of the niche is perfect for placing water pipes.

Such sinks have a lot of fans - it's nice to wash dishes in front of the window, behind which trees grow, and you can see the blue sky.

However, before reconstruction, you should think carefully and weigh the pros and cons, because in this case, splashes and drips of soapy water will have to be constantly removed from the window panes.

Another non-standard solution is a home safe in the kitchen niche. The depth of the niche will allow you to place a sufficiently large safe box in it, and the massive brick walls will make it possible to qualitatively close up the external facade.

Another interesting option began to gain popularity, when all the brickwork from the niche is removed and a double-glazed window is installed in its place.

This option is relevant for apartments, the kitchens of which "face" the windows to the north and need an additional light source.

In this case, the glass unit can be small, repeating the dimensions of a niche, or have the shape of a circle (semicircle).

A large double-glazed window will add beauty to the kitchen interior if the kitchen window is "extended" to the floor by removing the brickwork.

Such work cannot be done with your own hands and you will have to invite professionals for the repair - master finishers and window installation specialists.

A double-glazed window, as for a balcony door, some housewives will consider inconvenient, because this will deprive them of the window sill area. However, the problem is easily solved by installing a single countertop with the kitchen set.

When renovating a kitchen, many questions arise. For example, what materials are best for flooring?

Which of the five ceiling options to choose for the kitchen? Read this article.

What is decorative plaster and how to use it in the kitchen? The answer is here.

In conclusion, we can say that a small kitchen in "Khrushchev" is not a sentence.

It is enough to change the view to a more positive one, think over and rationally use every centimeter, and a creative solution will certainly appear.

People have long had a need to keep food fresh and prevent spoilage.Actually, this led to the creation of such a necessary device in everyday life as a refrigerator. Long before the appearance of the modern "rumbling" cabinet of the familiar look, all kinds of methods of preserving food were used.

A possible prototype of a refrigerator under the window is the storage of food in cool basements and cellars.

In Russia, the appearance of the very design of the refrigerator under the window can be attributed to the 19th century. During the heyday of tenement houses, nobles rented such apartments (prototypes of today's apartments). Representatives of this class, who, as a rule, owned country estates, but wished to live in Moscow, had such kind of refrigeration units under the window in the "master's" kitchens. Subsequently, these buildings were converted into communal apartments and the presence of space under the windowsill in them compensated for the residents of the devices for storing food that were inaccessible in the Soviet pre-war years.

In the houses of the so-called "Khrushchev" layout (as well as in many "Stalinist" buildings), builders left a niche under the windowsill in the kitchen in order to further install batteries (heating radiators). However, many smart people used this space to install a winter refrigerator, and the battery was moved a little to the side.

The Khrushchev refrigerator, or rather the refrigerator under the windowsill in the kitchen, is an integral part of many houses inherited from the 50-70s of the last century. In those days, not many people could afford to have a real refrigerator, and this was taken into account by the designers and builders. A fairly large box under an equally wide and immense window sill allowed the people, even in the winter season, to store some of the perishable food in a cool and easily accessible place. It is about how to remake a Khrushchev refrigerator with your own hands, and will be discussed further.

Many will agree that in the modern world, such refinements are no longer needed, or at least require some refinement in order for them to fit into modern interiors. Although they are called "Khrushchev's", they also met in the so-called Stalinist era.

Actually, in any such apartment, the layout does not allow enough to place everything you need in a small kitchen. And as an option, you can use the cabinet space under the windowsill for more applied tasks. And most importantly, it is clearly necessary to do something with the thermal insulation, because now everyone already understands that the better the house is insulated, the less will be the cost of heating it. However, not everything is so simple with the possibility of altering or improving the Khrushchev refrigerator. It is important to take into account a number of very important points, which are often forgotten by many homemade products.

For the sake of order, consider the options for modifications that can be applied to the Khrushchev refrigerator and explain especially important points in the implementation of the selected method. It is reasonable to assume four options:

1. Completely or mostly fill up the space under the windowsill. Thus, a decent and high-quality thermal insulation is provided. As a result, the wall will be leveled or a small recess will remain sufficient for the installation of a heating radiator.
2. Modify and properly insulate the Khrushchev refrigerator in order to use it for its intended purpose and store food and pickles in it. Even though significant alterations are not required, there is still a lot to be done in order not to leave a chance for the cold to penetrate into the apartment and not to get a bunch of negative consequences.
3. This niche can be completely reoriented, for example, into a cabinet or under the place of installation of equipment that is unpretentious to low temperatures.
4. Dismantle the thin half-brick partition outward and glaze in the style of a French window. The most drastic solution. Perfect for cases when the kitchen window either faces the north side, or is closed from sunlight by buildings or trees, the amount of daylight coming through such a window will more than cover the lack.

The simplest option is to completely seal the niche. This solves the problem of heat leakage through a half-brick wall and unreliable wooden doors. For residents of the northern regions, this is actually a very rational option. Because any other modifications of the Khrushchev refrigerator will require too much investment to do everything right.

The niche is to be covered with bricks. This is the only way to create sufficient protection from external bad weather. You can use SNiP 23-02-2003 (SNiP II-3-79), which provides calculations to determine the required wall thickness. However, it is clear that for reliable thermal protection it will be enough either to level the niche with the rest of the wall or leave a smaller niche with a depth of no more than 12-15 cm.

Read and see how to lay bricks in apartment conditions here.

It should be noted that it is best to lay it with a brick. Plasterboard cladding options using various heat insulators can subsequently come out sideways. This is mainly due to the principles of building walls as such, vapor permeability, etc. If you do not go into details, then if you just sheathe it with drywall with insulation, then condensation and frost will certainly begin to form between the cladding and the outer wall, as a result, the wall will begin to bloom and collapse.

If a niche with a depth of 12-15 cm is left, then you can safely use it to install a heating radiator. Although the alternative would be to simply leave it unused, because the window sill, which is just huge, is often used as an additional countertop in the kitchen and it is better to leave space under the windowsill for feet.

The very idea of ​​a refrigerator under the window in the kitchen of a Khrushchev, albeit seasonal, is very practical, it is quite reasonable to try to leave a niche in the same quality. It is only necessary to bring it into proper condition, so that it will have a corresponding new repair and function better in appearance. We list the main points related to the Khrushchev refrigerator:

• The back wall is just half a brick, most often there is a ventilation hole for external cold air;
• From the inside there are only wooden doors that separate the interior from the cold outside;
• Due to the ventilation holes inside the Khrushchev refrigerator, for the most part, external air with a low absolute humidity from outside gets into, so that this prevents frost and condensation from appearing.

So, it becomes quite logical that the main alteration of the Khrushchev refrigerator may consist precisely in replacing the inner door. It should provide the maximum thermal protection that is appropriate for the location. An excellent solution for the task at hand would be the installation of a door with one sash made of metal-plastic. It is better to do one sash due to the fact that the profile will be selected the same as on the door or for windows, and it is wide enough. As a filler, you can insert both a single-chamber double-glazed window, for example 4x10x4, and a sandwich panel.

It is better to choose the fittings with the simplest functionality. There is no need to add a fanlight system, especially since the overall dimensions will not allow for anything significant to be inserted. The metal-plastic door will be fastened with anchors to the side walls of the Khrushchev refrigerator. Above and below it is enough to seal the space with polyurethane foam. The resulting door will normally support the weight of the window sill on top.

Hinged door option made of plastic profile

The second option could be a sliding door system. Again, it is better to order them from glazing manufacturers. In this case, the sliding door system will reliably isolate the apartment from the coolness in the niche. In fact, the result is a plastic Khrushchev refrigerator.

Having completed the lining inside made of plastic, a good well-groomed look is obtained at all, not far from the same in a real refrigerator.The main thing is not to skimp on the installation of a normal sliding door lock system with fine-tuning. Because such a system is significantly inferior in thermal insulation to conventional swing systems of plastic windows and doors. An incompletely closed sash will lead to a strong draft of cold air along the legs.

And what about the inside of the niche? The hole to the outside, if there is such a thing, it is better not to close it up, again because at low temperatures it is better to let the outside air flow inside, and not the hot and humid inside one. So you can be safe and prevent the formation of condensation in large quantities. It is enough to seal the hole with any vapor-permeable heat-insulating material, for example, mineral wool. Options such as foam or foam plug will not work. The inner walls can be sheathed with both moisture-resistant plasterboard and plastic, or even plaster.

Advice: As an additional "bells and whistles", you can bring the lighting inside. Again, given the peculiarities of this niche, it is better to use lighting powered by low voltage (12V, 24V) using buck converters.

A completely acceptable option would be to use the niche of the Khrushchev refrigerator as an additional kitchen cabinet. In this case, it is inappropriate to use its coolness in the winter, so you have to insulate the wall and only after that proceed with the installation of drawers or shelves behind the door.

The reasons why you should not insulate the wall of the niche from the inside and explanations on this topic may take a separate article. Everything is tied to the dew point and the detrimental consequences after condensation will inevitably appear between the insulation and the outer wall, and subsequently it is flexible and mold. You can find out more about this in the articles on insulating the walls of the house from the inside.

So what should you do? The best option is if the apartment is already insulated on the outside of the building with the help of sheathing with expanded polystyrene plates or mineral wool. Then the problem with the insulation of the Khrushchev refrigerator disappears by itself. It is enough to finish the Khrushchev refrigerator with plasterboard or tiles installed on the mortar, and proceed with the further installation of shelves or boxes.

Otherwise, if there is no external insulation, then laying at least one more layer of brick would be the most suitable option. At the same time, the opening for access of cold air is sealed for the entire length with a solution with brick chips, or blown out with polyurethane foam.

Important: If any through holes in a residential building or apartment are blown out with foam, then the protruding foam must be cut off from the outside and plastered with a layer of mortar of at least 3-4 cm.

On top of the casing, you can already install either a plug-in cabinet, assembled separately, or mount shelves or drawer guides directly on the walls of the niche. In any case, the depth remaining after the back wall is insulated is quite enough to subsequently add a lot of kitchen utensils to the resulting cabinet.

Using the Khrushchev refrigerator for storing kitchen utensils and non-perishable food

Alternatively, for any alterations of the Khrushchev refrigerator, do not forget that you can transfer the height of the window sill itself for one. For the most part, this concerns the process of replacing the window. Along with these activities, you can move the height of the window sill and equalize it with the height of all other kitchen surfaces. Often it turns out to combine the window sill with a single surface with the transition to the main cutting table. As a result, you will get almost 1.5-2 square meters of usable area, and this will be to the taste of any housewife. It is important to take into account the changes in the size of the ordered windows.

You can do it quite radically. A thin partition that defines the outer wall of the refrigerator and, in fact, the side walls do not bear any load up to the edge of the window opening.Accordingly, it is possible to completely dismantle these parts of the wall and perform glazing from the floor itself to the upper part of the window opening. The result is something that looks like a French window. This will significantly increase the amount of daylight in the kitchen.

In a simple version, of course, there will be no room for a wide and comfortable window sill. However, this can also be solved. It is enough to divide the window space into two parts and still mount the window sill. An increase in the usable area of ​​the kitchen will be a significant advantage. However, such redevelopment may not fit into every design solution. So you should think carefully and weigh everything before starting work.

Obtaining permits can become a significant challenge. After all, this is actually a redevelopment and, like any change in the plan of an apartment, this will require the design of the project and coordination with the authorities. In addition, this will affect the overall appearance of the building and city authorities may simply not allow such extensive changes.

As you can see from the proposed renovation ideas, you can usefully take advantage of such a gift from the past as a Khrushchev refrigerator. It is important to take into account those moments that can affect the comfort in the apartment or the thermal insulation; in all other respects, you just need to show a little imagination and equip your kitchen with another useful element.

Khrushchev apartments are still relevant in the real estate market: buying such an apartment is often very profitable, since their prices are very affordable. Residents of Khrushchev, and realtors know one feature of these apartments, this is the so-called refrigerator under the window, which was built in during the construction of the house. Modern designers have come up with many options for transforming this usable area, which will be discussed later.

During the construction of the Khrushchev households, household appliances were an expensive rarity. Not every family could buy a good refrigerator right away. In addition, the available models were very large and were not suitable for a small kitchen in Khrushchev's new buildings.

The engineers found a way out: a refrigerator under the window in Khrushchev. For that time, it was an ideal solution, although it had its own characteristics. The kitchens in Khrushchev were perfect for this design; in winter, in the part where the refrigerator was located, it was cold enough to store food.

After some time, household appliances became more accessible to the population, manufacturers began to produce smaller models, and the need for a built-in refrigerator disappeared. And the niche in the wall remained, and the residents of the Khrushchev apartments often have a question of what to do with this element of the interior. There are two ways out: to repair the opening and use it as a refrigerator or kitchen cabinet with a low temperature, or to remake the Khrushchev refrigerator and use it for something other than its intended purpose.

The main disadvantage of the space under the window is open ventilation and condensation. And modern repair and decoration of the refrigerator under the window, respectively, have the following goals:

• make the temperature difference on the walls less;
• keep the temperature low under the windowsill;
• to make this element of kitchen design as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Maintaining the desired temperature and eliminating condensation can be done in two ways: using moisture-resistant and heat-insulating building materials or installing closed-type ventilation. Chillers and air conditioners for such a small space are difficult to find and are expensive to install. The easiest way is to insert a small fan into the ventilation hole: it will not only allow cold air to pass through, but also prevent it from stagnating in a small space.

However, it is even easier to insulate the outer wall, and use thermal insulating materials for finishing: plastic, polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, expanded polyethylene.Tiles keep cold best of all, but condensation forms on it, therefore, for finishing with tiles, you will need to use special thermal insulating additives in glue or cement, and ventilation should be of very high quality. As a heater, you can use mineral, glass or foam wool, heat-insulating concrete or the same foamed polyethylene.

It is important to completely prevent air exchange between the refrigerator and the kitchen, for this you need to make tight-fitting doors. Ordinary wooden ones are not very suitable - they need to be adjusted very precisely so that there is no heat leakage. Plexiglass or plastic doors are ideal. Sliding metal and plastic double-glazed windows are also hermetically sealed, which can be made to order in firms dealing with glazing of apartments and balconies.

However, the glass in such doors will be very cold and reduce the air temperature in the kitchen. To avoid this, it is necessary to order double insulated double-glazed windows or replace the glass in them with transparent plastic.

Since nowadays almost no one needs a refrigerator with open ventilation and cooling, the opening under the windows can be converted into a kitchen cabinet. In this case, ventilation is no longer needed - the hole can be sealed with polyurethane foam or concreted. The outer wall may not be insulated if condensation is weakly formed on it, or a thin insulation with high thermal insulating and moisture resistant properties can be used.

To reduce the likelihood of condensation, the doors must be sealed, as in the case of a refrigerator. If you order double-glazed doors, you can make a backlight inside the cabinet, it will be practical and beautiful, especially if the glass is made translucent or stained glass. Also, instead of glass, you can use mirrors: there is little practical value in such doors, but this option will visually increase the space of a small kitchen.

An alternative to doors can be a wardrobe with drawers - this is no less practical, but this option will reduce the thermal insulation of the opening, since it is quite difficult to choose hermetically sealed drawers.

If apartment owners are most worried about the temperature in the kitchen, you should refuse to use the opening for storing food or kitchen utensils. Instead, the opening can be completely or partially closed up and a second heating radiator can be built in or one larger one can be supplied. To fill the opening, you will have to perform neat brickwork, then plaster and putty well. The window sill may need to be replaced.

Many people dream of having a real fireplace in the house, and the opening under the windows in Khrushchev allows you to fulfill your dream. The outer wall of the opening will also have to be insulated and finished with materials with low electrical conductivity and moisture resistance - and you can put there an electric fireplace that imitates a real fire.

But if it is not the appearance of the electric heater that is more important, but its power, then an oil heater or a stone quartz heating panel can be built into the opening. But reflectors and fan heaters are not recommended to be used in the opening - they require free air exchange, which will not be possible in such a small space.

Such a kitchen design will require the creation of the correct wiring and grounding scheme.

A sink in a small kitchen takes up a lot of space. Moreover, a problem arises if residents need a dishwasher. And the opening under the windows will save usable space. Washing by the window will require reworking the sewer and water pipes scheme and replacing the window sill in order to build a sink there. To finish the opening, moisture-resistant materials and insulation will be required to avoid condensation on the walls and pipes.

To install a dishwasher, it will be necessary to change the electrical supply of the kitchen. In the same way, a washing machine can be installed under the window.

The window opening in Khrushchev's kitchen is very small and gives a little light, especially if the apartment is located on the north side of the house.In this case, natural light can be increased using a French window. The main difficulty lies in dismantling part of the outer wall. For such work, not only qualified construction specialists are needed, but also an official technical permit for redevelopment.

The French window can be supplemented with a classic balcony: it does not require a special concrete platform, it is very narrow and is built into the wall. But you can also get permission for a modern French balcony, which requires a concrete platform no more than half a meter wide. Such a platform can also be partially built into the wall. The railings for these balconies are usually wrought iron and are very beautiful.

From the above, we can conclude that even a refrigerator under the window in a Khrushchev apartment can be used if you approach this issue wisely. There are many options for using it, the main thing is to choose your own.