Standard tambour appliance garages are 18" high, as that's the standard space between upper cabinets and base cabinets. Countertop MWs are pretty deep (around 18" or deeper) unless you're talking a teensy one like you'd find in a dorm room, and those are at least 15" deep.

There's only so much that can be done with stock cabinetry, and if the cabinet line doesn't even have slide out shelves, it's unlikely that they carry tambour appliance garages or extra depth cabinets. You can find the hardware for the pocket door cabinet, but you'd need a very good and experienced cabinet installer to be able to create what you want when so little pieces are available from your cabinet line.

Really, you seem to want so much more than your cabinet line can offer that you might benefit from just accepting the stock builder's grade cabinetry and laminate counters (get a credit for the granite) and then ordering new cabinets from a line that offers exactly what you want from the beginning. Retrofitting cabinetry to the degree you're talking costs a LOT more than getting it the way you want from the beginning.

Posted by live_wire_oak on Tue, Jun 9, 09 at 12:08
"Really, you seem to want so much more than your cabinet line can offer that you might benefit from just accepting the stock builder's grade cabinetry and laminate counters (get a credit for the granite) and then ordering new cabinets from a line that offers exactly what you want from the beginning. Retrofitting cabinetry to the degree you're talking costs a LOT more than getting it the way you want from the beginning."

You are right, I do wish for more, but is that really an option for me? Because almost all of the cabinets that the builder chose have already been installed... And the granite countertops are also in. I assumed that it means I'm stuck with them.

If nothing else...since you already know your Vitamix is taller than 18", see if you can at least get wall cabinets that are 3" shorter and then have them mounted at the same top height as the other wall and tall cabinets. At least you'll have one counter you can use your Vitamix on!

Is a vitamix a heavy appliance and hard to move or is this light weight and easy to move? The reason I ask is that most appliances will fit in the 18" high garage space (actually depending on the door the usable space may not be quite that high)and doing a special arrangement for something easy to take out and put away may not be worthwhile. I decided to have appliance garages because I watched my dear MIL struggle in her later years with getting out and putting away heavy appliances. She loved to cook and had a full array of stand mixer, professional food processor, etc. She also hated having all the clutter out in full view when they weren't in use and eventually she just stopped using them. So our appliance garages are designed to house all that heavy stuff b/c I'm fast approaching little old lady status myself. Buehl's suggestion is a good one but with a higher garage the shelves for wall cabinets will be higher and they won't be easily accessible for a short person so make sure you take this into consideration.

Thanks for bringing up some great points, everyone!

flseadog: No, I guess the Vitamix is not terribly heavy; it's probably similar to a food processor. However, although I'm hardly an "old lady", I'm similar to your dear MIL in that I dislike taking out and putting away appliances and I hate seeing all the clutter, so eventually when they do get put up, I end up using them much less... Hence the desire for an appliance garage! (While the Vitamix will fit into the garage if I put the blender container separately from the motor, I think it's preferable to keep it together so that it can be used right inside the appliance garage rather than having to pull it out.)

I will ask our builder about getting shorter wall cabinets (Thanks, buehl!). While the cabinets will be high, I think there are enough other cabinets that I can just use the high one for lesser used items.

You don't need tambour doors either. I have short cabinet doors that fit between the granite counter top and the upper cabinet to hide mine. I prefer them to tambour doors in a classic kitchen and I think they would do well in a modern style one too.

Eleeny, I really hate to sound like a broken record, :) but with the appliance selection you are choosing (from you Appliance Forum post) it really sounds as though you have a BIG mismatch in terms of quality with these cabinets. If this is a home that you plan to stay in for some time, I urge you to not put a dime in "making do" with what you're being forced into by the builder here. Save that money and go with a higher quality product after you close--even if it's a year or two later. Yes, it will be more trouble and a bit more money, but putting luxury appliances into a kitchen with builder grade cabinets is like putting racing fuel in a Yugo. It might function for a while, but if you ask anything demanding of it, even the racing fuel won't help with it's basic nature of non functionality and poor build quality.