I'm 5'1". I'd hate it. My counters are 30" deep and I can plug things in on the wall fine. But. Your uppers would be near inaccessible not only for short people, but children, who I guess are also short people.

I think it's a bad idea to bump the bottom and not the top. :)

This is an interesting question. I never considered it and don't have any experience with it. On one side of my galley kitchen I extended my bottom cabinets out about 3 inches because i didn't like the look of my range extending out so far. I'm not convinced that the extra 3" of depth is worth the extra expense or even if it is possible unless you do custom cabs.

You can pull out standard cabinets rather than building custom deep ones, and then cover them with countertop. The improvement will be for more countertop space. The problem with lower cabinets is that they are a pain for deep storage unless you have a pullout drawer.

Make sure you would be getting deeper drawers. I have 27" on the base of my hutch and the drawers are the same as 24" depth. You might be creating an issue on the upper cabinets without getting a gain in the lower.

I'd rather have more depth in the uppers than the bases. Many dishes need a little more room and it is easier to reach them while 24" bases can be too deep if they don't have drawers or organizers to make the space more easily accesible. My cabinets came with 13" uppers and I put 15" uppers in the hutch. I like the added depth.

For what it's worth, I have 15" deep uppers and 30" lowers, which is the same proportionality, and have not noticed any difficulty reaching the uppers. I did mount my uppers slightly lower than usual (at 15.5" or so), so this may be a factor. I'm a countertop-storer and love the extra counter depth for spice rack etc.

I appreciate the input from CircusPeanut, Lascatx, Fori, Doraville, GizmoNike. Thanks so much.

Lots of agony, sturm and drang until midnight, but have decided with DH that the cupboards will not be extra deep. It was a long and gentle argument I won't bore you with. But just remember as you read further that I am the "Queen of the Tablesettings."

So...Now in the plans, there are two 20-inch pullout breadboards on that bank of lower cupboards to provide additional launching and "plunk space" and chopping/prep surface slightly lower than countertop and allowing stool use for long sitting if the boards are used for multi-cook occasions. One of them will have a direct view outside, perhaps centered on a bird feeder.

The upper cupboards as I said previously will hold everyday drinking glasses, wine glasses, dishes, serving pieces on lower 2 shelves; less used but attractive glassware and serving pieces on upper two shelves; fronts are rough semi-translucent glass. The window separates the two doubledoor upper cupboards.

The whole wall is designated in my plans as launching place for tablesetting and for a beverage/bar station and for sandwich making. In my G design, this is the top of the G. There is a lazy susan that turns the corner from top of G to side of G. Lazy susan will hold cereal and cracker boxes, hard liquor, canned appetizers and salsas, coffee and tea gear, teapot, canned beverages (we drink pop and juice only occasionally), auxiliary induction hotplate and electric warmer unit for serving,

At the top of the G, the lower cupboard has two stacks of 3 symmetrical drawers about a yard wide each. The top drawer closest to refrig and dining room will contain everyday flatware and napkins and other yet-to-be-named stuff. There's a possibility that I can fit it with silvercloth dividers to hold a set of everyday silverplate flatware that currently is stored in a box. The other top drawer will have a) beer/wine openers, a couple paring knives, tea balls, hors d'ouvres- and cheese- serving gear b) candle-related and flower arranging gear (matches, candles, short candlesticks, "frogs," bobeches, shears). Two sets of deeper symmetrical drawers below will hold some of my china and the offseason dishes destined to be used on deck/patio in summer, which can be rotated upward to more accessible places in season. I have given up the idea of making a tablecloth drawer--there just isn't enough room, I fear. Instead, the horrible former front hall closet on the far side of the dining room will be outfitted with shelves to make a storage closet for vases, awkward silver serving pieces, and tablecloths hung from dowels or hangers. In a great article I read recently, another tablesetting maniac suspended her tablecloths from a closet rod and had permanent pin-on lables to indicate tablecloth size. I might be able to put two very wide table leaves in here also, rescuing them from under my bed storage now.

I really wanted the deeper 27-inch drawers, but hey, Florantha, remember this mantra, "You can't have everything." I also tell myself when I get upset about all this, "If they had wanted perfection, they would have hired God."

Breadboards rule!

Your kitchen sounds like it will be beautiful -- I am jealous!

Be sure to store your table leaves flat -- if they are propped up, they will be prone to warping over time.

Please share pictures when your kitchen is underway .

thanks, Jenva...I think the leaves will be okay stored vertically--they have battens across the backs.

My father, the carpenter, built a custom vertical storage unit for his family dining table in my childhood; very useful but a space killer in the front hall closet. Not sure if we can build in a unit in my former closet for my table or not. Crossed fingers!

I really want to stop lugging them from the under-the-bed storage. I'm always afraid I'm going to scratch them when pulling them out...so easy for some wayward item to get caught between the two table top surfaces.