I won't have cabs on side but dh wanted a 48 over 36 I wish we had a 42.

I agree with lascatx - I don't think they need to match up exactly, but do post a plan if you can. There are some really sharp people here that may be able offer some suggestions.

I have a 42" hood over a 36" rangetop. I had the luxury of space to make some of the cabinets line up. I don't have a good picture of the range wall because I have a huge island in front of it, but here's a scan of the plans:

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Believe it or not, you can put a 36" hood over a 36" cooktop - especially if you have cabinets flanking the hood. I have a 30" hood over a 30" range and the side cabinets do not get greasy at all. Although an extra 6" of width is often recommended, I personally think the depth of the hood from front to back is much more important so that you have coverage over the front burners. If I were doing it again, I'd get a deeper hood rather than a wider one.

I agree that once the hood is up, you will not notice or be bothered by the 3-inch difference at all.

I have that in my kitchen, which has been finished for about 6 months. I NEVER noticed it. After reading your post, I had to go and look at my pictures to see if the upper and lower cabinets were different, and lo and behold, they are. I never gave it a second's thought until now.

I have a 48", high-powered, Wolf gas rangetop and a 48" hood with cabinets beside it, and I don't have a problem with grease or heat on those cabinets. Posts above have given lovely examples of hoods wider than ranges, but if you don't want to do it, I don't think you have to.

Symetry between upper and lower cabinets screams of a focus on form verses function. Both should be considered (have end runs end at the same spot, etc) but uppers and lowers all lining up in size....that's actually not the best way to plan a kitchen. Your cabinets should have some areas that line up (ie the tops, staggers on both sides if you're doing that, etc) but doors on the bottom and top...no way, that's not remotely necessary.

This is the only full stacked cabinets I have...notice the bottoms are not remotely the same as the top...and yet it flows fine. The top lazy susan is angled, the bottom on a corner. The bottom cabinets are large (36" deep with pullouts) and a small corner and stack of drawers, but they don't match the microwave and cabinet, and on the other side I have 3 doors that add up to around 42" over my 36" lowers. Do you really think that does not flow???? Symetry is ok, but don't go nuts with it :)

Thanks everyone, I think I am just second-guessing at the last minute, but seeing the pics really helps versus looking at my drawings.

If I can figure out how to post I will.

This is something that looks awkward in the elevation drawings but looks just fine in real life. We have a 42" hood over a 36" rangetop, but there is a 3" gap between the hood and the adjacent cabinets, so the space above the rangetop is really 48". I think it looks just fine.

Here is a pic of a 54" hood over a 48" range.

Thanks all! just agonizing over everything last minute...Alku05, yours is exactly what I will have, 36 range, 42 hood and extra 3 inches on each side!..So very happy and relieved to see yours which looks great as I only just realized that there is 6 inches extra on each side not 3.

Now if I can only decide on the hood, but that's for another post :)

Actually I think matching the width of the upper cabinets to what is going on in the lower is unesthetic. It is best to balance the uppers separately.

I will illustrate what goes on in the lower in a kitchen I am doing Base corner pullout with an 18" door/27" sink base/24" dishwasher/15" trash pullout...etc. So you have 18,27,24,15=84" ---while it functions on the lower, imagine the visual mess all those different sized cabinets would make on the upper. The upper works out better with four 21" cabinets.