In one particularly humorous episode, the old television program Candid Camera tried to sell a house that had no toilets. (It was remarkable how many potential buyers didn't notice the defect.) A Paris apartment's kitchen, designed by Amsterdam-based i29 Interior Architects, is even better at playing tricks: it does have a kitchen, but one that practically vanishes.

The clients, a Dutch couple residing in Paris, initially desired an open kitchen at one end of the living room. “We felt that it would dominate the living space,” says i29 cofounder Jeroen Dellensen. “So we went to the other extreme.” When not in use, the kitchen is hidden behind a wall—in five sections—that is finished with decorative paneling and molding that mimic the circa-1905 apartment's original plasterwork.