Well my isn't finished yet, but I do have a range in between 2 windows. I am anticipating loving it.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for. Our designer "balanced" the window above our sink by putting a tall glass cabinet on the other side. I like how it's symmetrical yet not perfectly so... The valance above the window isn't it yet, by the way.

Hi, thanks for posting your photos!

acountryfarm, your photo looks similar to how I am thinking mine would look: the hood along the left hand side of the window. As does the photo that mamadadapaige posted on the other thread (marylynnnc's kitchen).

However, my wall is more like redroze's is: not symmetrical. Maybe that's what is bothering the designer--that it won't look symmetrical.

mamadadapaige, thanks for responding. Your kitchen is one of my "inspiration kitchens"! I love your "wall of windows". I wish I had that much linear space. What I'm aiming for is a "half wall of windows", because the view out is so lovely in that direction. However, having so many windows narrows the choices of "normal" walls and where appliances can go. :-)

Thanks also for the reminder about the building codes and combustibles. I don't want to get into a pickle on that!

Just to round out the discussion, this morning I stumbled onto this thread that has a photo of a hood that might not look bad next to the window (I'm going for a white kitchen also):
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0718050421613.html

There's a photo of that hood looking from the side that doesn't seem jarring to me.

Thanks again everyone! The photos of real places help immensely.

la-koala - do you happen to have a draft or drawing you could show us - I think each kitchen is a little different so it would help to see something.

acountryfarm - I love your windows with the grilles only on top. Do you happen to have any patio doors in your new home? If you did have one would you put grilles in it or leave it plain? I don't know how to mix the top only window sash grilles with the patio doors.

Hi dreamywhite,

You are right of course. A drawing would help. I've done one in pencil and paper and it's kind of smudge-y. I purchased the BHG software and have managed to input the measurements so I think I can generate a drawing you all can look at. (Once I figure out the photobucket instructions for posting!)

Here's a pic of mine.

{{gwi:1579645}}

Some might say it's "awful" and I don't love it, but function was more important to me in this case. I really wanted to have a decent landing place to the right of the range so I slid the whole array as far to the left as possible.

It was a compromise worth making at the time. Now that I am considering my backsplash, I am more aware of the visual imbalance. I wouldn't change it though.

Mine is not symmetrical. We worked within existing window placment. Here's a pic:
{{gwi:1573341}}

Here's another kitchen with the hood very close to the window, and I think it looks great. (Hood seems to be placed very high up on the wall though.) It's from Hutker Architects.

{{!gwi}}

Are you planning a hood under a cabinet?

Maybe what your KD is talking about is how it will look from the side - you'll see the side of the rangehood, (which really aren't always "finished" on the sides) underneath the side of the cabinet.

It would look a little better if you can get at least a 3" filler column coming down along side the hood next to the window to "enclose" the hood. The issue with this is if the bottom of the rangehood is at a different elevation than the bottom of the cabinets on the other side of the hood - how long do you make the column?

A lot of the beautiful pictures above have just a stainless hood all by itself.. so it doesn't look out of place.

Hopefully, you're able to post a picture of your layout =)

I hope this isn't awful, because that's what I'm putting in. Something akin to amyrsq's. I had discussions with my gc and my husband about the "visual imbalance" issue, but eventually I decided that the hood has its own visual weight, as does the window, and that you don't need symmetry to have balance. By that I mean, you don't need to have the hood surrounded by cabinets to look right.

Anyway, I don't have either cabinets or hood up yet, so this is all abstract at this point. But those should be going up within the next 2 weeks. I'll share then.

That's what I'm doing too, hope it'll turn out OK. Range will be to the right of the window, with a hood in a cabinet. I'm afraid it will block the light from the window, but this is not a perfect world, nor a perfect kitchen.

Evilbunnie - we are on the same wavelength and schedule!

I can see why a homeowner could have a lot of ANGST over something like that (I know I would have, too!) - but all those photos above look BEAUTIFUL to me!

I'm still in the middle of my own remodel, but I think there comes a point when there really are only so many reasonable options and you just have to make the best choice from the choices available. I mean, if money were no object, or time, or whatever... then I suppose "anything is possible"... but IMVHO, we live in the Real World (at least, I do!) and if that means putting a range hood beside a window, in a new, wonderful, beautiful, functional kitchen... well, then... just look at the above kitchens to see how LOVELY it can be!

I think it's fine if done right (like in all the above pictures). And functionally, I'd love it, because I like to work by the stove and chopping stuff in front of a window is much nicer than under a cabinet!

Mine is definately not symetrical. And yet I think it's fabulous in it's location. I'm trying to find pics that show you just how close (couple of inches on the window side ad 12" on the wall side). I'll post a few to give you an idea hopefully, but frankly...we don't think it looks "funny" we think it looks fabulous.

I'm not sure I ever met a window I didn't like. Here's what we did.

I think it is a visual balance issue and probably a visual jar-to-a-stop-or-continue-smoothly issue. The pictures of hoods set between two windows wouldn't be much help in that case, but these last two would for sure. I really don't know what makes them work, although Igloochic's window is very large next to the mass of her hood, and Lisadelrio's hood is very light in scale, stepping down from the mass of the cabinet to the void of the window.

When you meet with your designer, why don't you ask what can be done to make it work or work even better visually? There's always something that can be done by those who know how.

I designed my kitchen, so I can give you the "designer's" perspective.

I chose the best location for the stove first, and then we worked from there to the placement of the other items (previously the stove and fridge were on that wall). I knew that the stove and hood (big enough for it's own zip code) were going to be a huge "weight" in that corner of the room. To balance that out, I sort of divided the room up mentally in quarters. In the window quarter we have no uppers and very little visual weight. It balances itself well. The next quarter is the stove, fridge quarter. I knew we were going to do a large fridge in a small room, so I put it in that location to again focus the weight/scale into that quarter. I linked them with cabinets (that one above the door) but definately did't try to squeeze uppers up tight against the hood.

The other quarter encompases cabinets, which exend to the ceiling. This was done to balance the weight of the hood/fridge quarter. If I'd done cabinets with a space above it wouldn't have been balanced. The final quarter of my kitchen is a bay window with built in (if the contractor ever comes to work) seating. It's pretty much all windows and balances itself against the big windows of the sink quarter.

You can say, taking only that issue "a hood does not look good if it's not symetrical". But in good design, you can find symetry in many ways. Symetry is balance and it's important. I use weight to provide symetry in my kitchen, as does the poster below my kitchen (for a quick example) the mass of the chimney flows well with the cabinet bulk, but the lightness of the glass portion of the hood balances itself against the small window glass.

It takes imagination to produce good design....and a lot of Pinot Noir...perhaps you need to get your KD drunk and then talk about symetry? :oP

Wow, you all are AWESOME!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond with your perspectives and photos.

amysrq said: function was more important to me in this case.
I am more of a function gal myself when it comes to my kitchen. I am the chief cook, and in wanting the range next to the window, it's so I can enjoy the view out the window while I'm stirring. And chop in front of the window, like fori said. And because I'm less attuned to imagining interior design types of things in my head, I almost always have to see it before I can see if it would bother me looking at it day after day.

ofealia said Maybe what your KD is talking about is how it will look from the side - you'll see the side of the rangehood, (which really aren't always "finished" on the sides) underneath the side of the cabinet.
Yeah, I think that you are right that is what he is worried about. Your suggestion is a good one, and with all of the photo examples here, there seem to be tons of options for how to treat the space and look finished.

tiskers said I can see why a homeowner could have a lot of ANGST over something like that (I know I would have, too!) - but all those photos above look BEAUTIFUL to me!
They look beautiful to me too!
Yeah, I got angsty about it because when I asked the designer to try putting the range in that spot because I wanted to see out the window while I was cooking, he launched into his opinion about the hood. And I wasn't expecting *that* reaction.

igloochic: thanks so much for posting your photos, because that area of your kitchen matches how mine would be: the corner windows at one end, and the range on that wall with the window on the right side. The difference I have is that I have a wall to the left of the range where you have the doorway and fridge. (It's the wall that my fridge and range currently share. Today, my range is too close to the fridge, imo, and my back will be to the nice view out the window.) I get what you mean about the visual weight and aiming for balance over the whole room, and not just in one part of the room. And after reading your post, I think that that's the key aspect that I need to keep in mind and raise with the designer (Pinot or no Pinot :-)

rosie, you are absolutely right! (When you meet with your designer, why don't you ask what can be done to make it work or work even better visually?) I'm hoping that he comes back with some range treatment ideas (say like lisadelrio's airy-looking one or ofealia's suggestion). It's going to prove whether he's got the "know how". :-)

I'll post the layout when I get it done in the software program. Maybe in a new thread, so that I can get comments on other aspects of the room at the same time.

Thanks again everyone!

Koala, the other thing I want to point out to you is that my range/hood wall only looks "out of balance" to me when I look at a photograph. (I find it incredibly helpful to analyze my own spaces more objectively by looking at photos.) Day-to-day, and even right this minute from where I sit in the breakfast room, it looks fine.

Follow your desire for function. If it looks less than ideal, you'll hardly notice. If it works poorly, you'll notice it every time you cook. And that's no way to live life!

If it works poorly, you'll notice it every time you cook. And that's no way to live life!

omigosh, amysrq, that is SO TRUE. Why spend money on a re-do to get something that works poorly for me and I notice every time?!

Thanks for stating that so eloquently.

That statement about how things look standing back to take a photo is very helpful to me and I will use it in balancing my own layout plans--meaning, don't put all the emphasis on "the view" when there are lots of other needs to meet as well.

It is very helpful both ways--taking a photo can give perspective and help suggest new layouts, but planning the kitchen so there won't be a single out-of-place element in a photo shoot is probably not achievable for most folks, also. So the photo/perspective thing might also suggest how cabinet style, height, color, or even an accessory (picture or art object) could provide balance, focal point, or whatever might help make the most functional arrangement have the best possible "look".

I've noticed that BIGGER kitchens tend to photograph a bit better, 'cause you can see everything, but sometimes when you actually look at the work layout, it's not as functional. I'd wager that that's one of the real limitations of just looking at finished kitchen photos, too.

Of course, there might be a key "view" one is trying to protect, such as from the front door, or the den, or whatever, but still, have to prioritize and work with what you've got. My experience has been that "designers" don't put nearly as much emphasis on, hey, I like to reach up with my LEFT hand and grab that, so I want my cabinet right THERE, or I want to chop facing this way, I want only 3 steps from sink to stove, or whatever it is that gets you into the "state of flow". And yet things like that are what can make cooking a truly fun experience.