Hidden Dishwasher Tutorial How To

This hidden dishwasher tutorial is more simple than you might think. It took some brainstorming and creativity, but it turned out more beautiful than we ever imagined!

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”3vcNTHf1″ upload-date=”2023-01-20T19:01:43.000Z” name=”Hidden Dishwasher Tutorial” description=”Although they are necessary, appliances can take away from the overall design of a kitchen. This hidden refrigerator DIY with panelling is an easy way to turn something functional into something beautiful!” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

To view the entire YouTube video, click here.

So many of you messaged me asking for this hidden dishwasher tutorial when I shared our new sink and faucet earlier this week, and I’m so excited to finally be sharing it with you!

I will admit, we had no idea what were were doing when we started this project. We brainstormed for so long and came up with so many different plans that didn’t end up working out. There were a few times I told my husband just to forget it, but he persisted and found a way. I just LOVE the way it turned out! 

After installing our vintage inspired sink and faucet, the dishwasher stuck out like a sore thumb. The shiny black panel, the stainless steel…it just took away from the beauty of our new sink. 

I wanted the dishwasher to look like a little pine cabinet of some kind, so my husband went to the hardware just to look at materials and see what might work. 

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He ended up finding something by Designer’s Choice called Tongue and Groove Reclaimed Planking. We chose the “Vintage Wood” finish, and at just a 1/4 of an inch thick, the boards were very thin, lightweight and perfect for adhering to our dishwasher. 

We only used one box for this project, and at our hardware it was $29.99. 

Sadly, I could not find a match for these online. Larger home improvement stores seem to have very similar products, and I even found this planking on Amazon that looks similar to what we used!

If you are more of a visual learner like me, be sure to watch the video tutorial as well! 

Hidden Dishwasher Tutorial – Step 1

The first thing my husband did was rip pieces of the boards with his table saw to create a frame around the dishwasher. This frame was not attached to the dishwasher itself, but rather to the cupboards. 

My husband actually screwed the piece above the dishwasher to the countertop itself to keep it in place. He had to pre-drill into the countertop for this, but obviously every countertop is different so you want to be sure you use the correct bit for whatever material you have. 

He then put a nailer board underneath the dishwasher using a few 2×6’s that he ripped to the correct width with his table saw. That way he had a top and bottom piece that he could nail his side pieces to to create a frame (there is a closer view of this in the video above).

We made sure that the frame was wide enough so that when we placed boards on the front of the dishwasher, the sides would meet up with the front to look like one solid piece of furniture. 

This isn’t the best photo, but here is a cell phone shot that I took when the dishwasher only had the frame around it –

You can see how the side pieces almost looked like backward “L’s”, wider at the base for more stability.

Step 2

Now it was time to attach boards to the front of the dishwasher. Mike ended up using silicone adhesive to glue boards to the main, middle portion. 

In order to make sure the wood didn’t slide off, he created platforms out of stacked wood and leaned weights against the dishwasher to keep everything in place. Clamps could work too, we just didn’t have the correct size for this project. 

He then cut the boards down to 2 inch wide pieces in order to create shaker style trim, and used wood glue to adhere them to the other boards. 

He followed this same method for the bottom portion of the dishwasher, creating what looks like a faux drawer front. Instead of adhering the boards vertically, he attached them into place horizontally. 

For the bottom, was able to nail a lot of the trim into place due to the wood nailer he put under the dishwasher when he created the frame (again, refer to the video for more details). Anything that could not be nailed, he glued using Gorilla wood glue. 

Step 3

For the to portion of the dishwasher with the control panel, Mike created a another faux drawer front that could hinge down. He once again used two vertical boards and attached all of his 2 inch trim using wood glue and clamps. 

We used cabinet hinges like this that keep the panel in place when it is closed and upright. They are very sturdy and perfect for this project, and in order to attach them to the dishwasher my husband pre-drilled holes so that he could screw into the stainless steel. 

This will not cause problems with the function of the dishwasher in any way since there is enough hollow space between the stainless steel and plastic inside the unit where the dishes are washed. 

After the hinges were attached, he screwed them into the inside of our faux drawer front. 

The next set of photos will show you exactly how the dishwasher opens…

Hidden Dishwasher Tutorial – Step 4

We filled any gaps and holes with wood filler, sanded everything down and then I stained it using 3 parts Weathered Oak, 1 part Pickled Oak and 1 part Early American all by Minwax. 

Once the stain was dry we attached some hardware. A small knob was perfect for the hinged portion, and we used some antique hardware for the rest. A small clasp that came from an old cabinet door my grandpa gave me, and two antique cup pulls from a cabinet that Mike’s great grandpa built. 

The cup pulls were perfect because you screw them in from the front, and we positioned them low enough so that we were screwing into the wood nailer, not the stainless steal. 

I hope you enjoyed this hidden dishwasher tutorial! We just love the way this came together, it adds so much charm to our kitchen! I’m already thinking about following this same method for our fridge….hahahaha! We’ll see!!

Have you ever attempted to hide an appliance before? Let me know in the comments below! 

PIN IT FOR LATER

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