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In Khrushchev's multi-story buildings, builders left a niche under the window in the kitchen (for heating radiators). But inventive people tried to save precious space and moved the radiator to the side, and placed a winter refrigerator in the niche.
- Pros and cons of a winter refrigerator under the window in Khrushchev
- How to deepen a niche yourself and do the finishing: installation instructions
- Doors and doors for a refrigerator made of plastic: insulated design
- Sequence of actions: built-in refrigerator
- DIY dismantling
In those days, branded refrigerators were expensive and consumed a lot of electricity, so the problem was solved in another way. The thin wall and its cooling during the cold months helped to cool the niche, so perishable foods and preserves were stored there, saving valuable space in the pantry and on kitchen shelves. The disadvantage of this design is the constant breeze of cold. In modern kitchens, the refrigerator under the window in a Khrushchev-era building looks specific, so it can be improved, decorated in a new way and used for its intended purpose.
Refrigerator under the window
We must pay tribute to the designers: the walls in brick houses of that period were built very massive.
Accordingly, the window sills were also vast, which residents, unfamiliar with the word “design,” tried to decorate by placing pots of flowers on them.
The wide window sill in the kitchen was especially convenient, which, given its small size, allowed housewives to use the window sill as an additional work surface.
You can find out how to make a beautiful interior design for a small kitchen and see photos of beautiful small kitchens by following this link.
A beautiful kitchen also means 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, a refrigerator was considered a rarity and was not found in every kitchen.
Considering 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, the residents of the Khrushchev were quite happy with it.
How to deepen a niche yourself and do the finishing: installation instructions
The main task of arranging a refrigerator under the window is to create a useful and convenient compartment that will fit into the interior of a modern kitchen.
The thickness of the walls of a brick house according to GOST varies from 0.51 m (2 bricks) to 0.64 m (2.5 bricks). During the construction of multi-story buildings, the thickness of the walls in a brick house decreases as construction progresses. The thickness of the brick outer walls of the building is about 0.6 m, and the thickness of the brick wall in the recess is 0.45 m (therefore it is cooler in the niche). In Khrushchev's buildings, well masonry was used (slag was poured into the resulting voids). It served as insulation. You can knock down the plaster, dismantle one row of bricks, deepen the space under the window and increase the capacity of the refrigerator.
Concrete lintels in the brick walls above the window maintain the integrity of the structure, so careful outside interference will not cause anything to happen. As a result, the wall will become 0.2 m thinner, that is, the outer wall will have a thickness of only 0.25 m. A ventilation hole with a damper is left in the wall. With this device, the temperature in the niche is increased or decreased.
The resulting thin partition between the street and the room is plastered with cement and sand. It is not recommended to apply putty directly to the masonry. Otherwise, a problem may arise that the wall freezes. There may be microcracks and gaps in the masonry itself, through which moisture can penetrate in the fall. In frosty weather it will freeze and tear off the putty.
A practical option for finishing the interior walls of an outdoor refrigerator is ceramic tiles. It is placed directly on the plaster using tile universal frost-resistant adhesive.
It is not necessary to buy expensive tiles to cover the device. The main requirement is the smoothness of the tiles. You can buy defective tiles, leftovers, or use scraps left over from a bathroom or kitchen renovation.
Full wardrobe
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 disappeared by itself.
But every housewife wants to make the most of the entire area of a small kitchen in a Khrushchev-era apartment building, using the niche of a seasonal “refrigerator” as an additional cabinet for storing a wide variety of kitchen utensils.
A refrigerator niche is quite suitable for storing a small supply of vegetables and pickles. To do this, you will need to insulate it, that is, seal the through hole in the wall.
Popular drywall will not be suitable for these purposes, since condensation will certainly begin to accumulate between the sheathing and the outer wall. In the future, this will lead to the appearance of mold and destruction of the casing.
To seal the hole, it is best to use brickwork.
The interior design of such a refrigerator will also not be superfluous: plastering, painting, neat design of the shelves, which you can do yourself or order from a specialist.
Another option: replace the old windows with plastic ones - order from the “window specialists” the finishing of the winter refrigerator.
Khrushchev refrigerator under the window in the kitchen options for modernizing a niche. Remove the Khrushchev refrigerator
The simplest option is to completely seal the niche. This solves the problem of heat leakage through a wall half a brick thick 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 will have to be filled with bricks. This is the only way to create sufficient protection from external weather. You can use SNiP 23-02-2003 (SNiP II-3-79), which provides calculations to determine the required wall thickness. However, it is already clear that for reliable thermal protection it is enough to either simply 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 bricks. Options for plasterboard sheathing using various heat insulators can subsequently backfire. This is mainly due to the principles of building walls as such, vapor permeability, etc. Without going into details, if you simply sheathe it with plasterboard with insulation, then condensation and frost will certainly begin to form between the sheathing and the outer wall, and 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 simply huge, is often used as an additional countertop in the kitchen and it is better to leave space under the window sill for the feet.
Old to new
It must be admitted that during the period of mass construction of the 60-70s, design was not a favorite of architects and designers.
Therefore, the interior decoration and decoration in the Khrushchev apartment were not particularly beautiful and diverse. The doors that closed the “refrigerator” under the window also looked boring.
Made of poorly sanded plywood, covered with blue or gloomy green paint, complemented by a primitive handle and a rough latch, the doors of the “Khrushchev” refrigerator did not even try to look aesthetically pleasing.
Modern residents, of course, are not satisfied with this design.
And today there are many possibilities for stylish and varied design. The doors can be made of plastic and ordered from the same company where the windows are made. Today their designs are very diverse.
The doors can be regular or sliding, made in any color scheme that fits into the overall flavor of the kitchen.
You can choose doors for the refrigerator niche in the style of the external panels of the kitchen unit , repeating not only the desired color and surface texture, but also the same handles.
Advice. Wooden or laminated facades can be purchased from specialized companies or stores that sell furniture. In this case, you should pay attention to the quality of the fastening hardware - it must be smoothly polished and free of cracks, nicks and burrs.
Do-it-yourself refrigerator under the window in Khrushchev. The history of Khrushchev's kitchen window sills
During the construction of Khrushchev houses, 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 small-sized kitchens in Khrushchev’s new buildings.
Refrigerator under the window under the kitchen unit
Plasterboard shelves under the window
Engineers found a solution: a refrigerator under the window in a Khrushchev building. For that time it was an ideal solution, although it had its own characteristics. 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.
Refrigerator under the window
Storing workpieces under the window
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. But the niche in the wall remains, and residents of Khrushchev’s apartments often have the question of what to do with this interior element. There are two options: repair the opening and use it as a refrigerator or kitchen cabinet with a reduced temperature, or remake the Khrushchev refrigerator and use it for other purposes.
Non-standard solution
In addition to the usual ones, there are many interesting ways to turn the “Khrushchev refrigerator” into a stylish piece of kitchen interior.
One of them is to arrange a car wash. At the same time, the internal space of the niche is perfect for placing water pipes.
Such sinks have many fans - it’s nice to wash dishes in front of a window where 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 glass.
Another non-standard solution is to install a home safe in the kitchen niche. The depth of the niche will allow you to place a fairly large safe box in it, and the massive brick walls will allow you to properly seal the external facade.
How to insulate a refrigerator under a window in a Khrushchev building. Pros and cons of a refrigerator under the window
The Khrushchev refrigerator can be a useful device when there is a lack of space in the kitchen. The ability to store food and other necessary things without cluttering the room with additional furniture is its greatest advantage. The benefit of the cabinet is that in the warm season it serves as a small pantry, and in winter it can cool the contents. But it is not a full-fledged refrigeration unit, in the usual sense of the word.
A refrigerator under a window in a Khrushchev-era building has one significant drawback, which is the loss of heat from the room. The cold from the street, which enters the kitchen through the ventilation passages of the structure, reduces the air temperature in the apartment. The back wall of the niche is thin, only ½ brick. Therefore, some owners of such apartments, in order to make the kitchen warmer, try to get rid of the window-sill refrigerator and install radiators in its place.
