| First it was the paneled dishwasher and refrigerator, which seamlessly concealed themselves amid the kitchen cabinetry. Then pantry shelves began hiding in pullout walls, and knife blocks took cover in carefully camouflaged compartments. Now, the humble microwave oven has been banished to an under-the-counter drawer. Like the hapless inhabitants of "Lost," these erstwhile elements of the kitchen increasingly find themselves on an island where, one by one, they're disappearing from sight. It's a vanishing act that is spreading to other parts of the home, a trend fueled by our growing penchant for a clutter-free life. Just look in the bathroom, where toilet water tanks are slipping behind walls. There's even the new BenchToilet: yes, furniture that hides the entire commode. Credit — or blame — the clearing of the interior landscape on the kitchen island's ascension to centerpiece of the home. Once a functional workspace, the island has become a crucial design element — one that many homeowners do not wish to be upstaged. "Do you want everyone to come into this beautiful kitchen and just see all these appliances?" asks Poggenpohl designer Dana Clarrissimeaux. "I don't think so." We expose the ones we're most proud of, she says, try to disguise the rest. Call it Botox for the home — a way to eliminate visual distractions like wrinkles from a face. The result: a sleek, smooth, unspoiled look. "A fridge is not furniture," says Lloyd LeBlanc, vice president of kitchen and bath designer Julien. "Hiding it in a cabinet, it becomes furniture. Magically." Some things can't be hidden, of course — not as long as people still use the kitchen for, of all things, cooking. There's no way to make a six-burner stove disappear, nor do status-conscious homeowners necessarily want them too. Viking, Wolf and other high-end appliances are designed to "dominate the kitchen," LeBlanc says. "They own the kitchen, own the space. They come into your kitchen and want to show off." Which perhaps explains recent innovations from Sharp and Dacor: the microwave in a drawer. Lest cooks have to keep the appliance on the counter or mounted under a cabinet at eye level, the new microwave ovens pop out like a waist-high drawer, under the countertop and out of sight. Food loads from an open top instead of the standard front-facing door. The Sheer Kitchen from Imoderni goes even further. The design includes an island with a Corian work top, a double sink, three bottle coolers, a retractable table and four burners. When you're done cooking, a ventilation hood drops down to cover the entire mess, turning the island into a gigantic egg-shaped sculpture. At the other end of the spectrum, products as pedestrian as the kitty litter box are getting makeovers. Witness the Hidden Litter line of indoor planters, which have an alcove in which cats do their business. In the living room, the Air Shadow ceiling fan has blades that retract when not in use, leaving only the light fixture on view. For the bathroom, Topdeq offers the Flexible Bath turning shelf, a medicine cabinet that clings, remora-like, to the back of a body-length mirror that pivots from the wall. Even our old reliable friend the toilet has gotten a makeover from Troy Adams, designer
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