Hello, bluekitobsessed! As a chronic lurker beginning this whole remodel process myself, I've enjoyed your postings a great deal. In fact, I actually thought about you yesterday when looking in a granite showroom yesterday and seeing a gorgeous blue granite. Unbelievably beautiful. And this is high praise from me, because blue is my least favorite color, one I avoid in all things (I'm a green gal!). Okay, enough intro...

In my opinion as a serial cook-for-one, and an obsessed one at that, I would never, ever put any spices near a heat source. And I think above a range is way too close. Further, I store ALL pepper-related spices (dried red peppers, red pepper flakes, cayenne, paprikas of all varieties) safely in the refrigerator. Where they will not get buggy. I speak from experience here, at least about the dried ristras (I think that's the word) from New Mexico. Not something you want in a Midwestern kitchen unless you like flying insects everywhere when they decide to join the world and make friends with your stored grains and other food.

That said, I do like the look of above-range shelves, but cannot think of any food product that I'd trust to store there. Not spices, not olive oil. Someone else may be able to comment on whether putting these items to the right is safe.

Do you have any special and/or functional ceramic or copper kitchen items or heirlooms that might look nice on a shelf above the range?

Just remember that anything you attach to the wall between the burners and the hood will get a coating of whatever the hood is sucking up: steam, grease, etc. I think it's a great idea visually and (for utensils) functionally, but I'd be afraid of how messy everything would become in practice. I might think of arranging utensil hooks along the sides of the wall cabinets, which also would put your arms more out of harm's way when you reach for them, but I still don't think they'd escape the daily coating of cooking residues.

I had a narrow shelf over the cooktop in my last house. It was handy to keep the salt, pepper, toothpicks & a timer there but I was constantly fighting the film of grease that accumulated on the shelf & everything on it.

Thank you Angelina! Thank you all for your helpful comments. I think you're talking myself out of a shelf. I wouldn't put a decorative object into this space at all.

bluekit,

I just spent the last week looking for the perfect shelf to put over my stove and under the hood. I wanted something shiney like stainless. I love to cook and I knew that this wouldn't really be the best place to store common spices etc. but I wanted SOMETHING shiney in that space and a shelf to store spices seemed like the perfect answer.

I found a small oblong mirror with a few words on it. I think I was inspired by another post on this forum from someone who had hung a mirrored tray on the wall above her stove. I hung it and thought it was perfect. I've cooked up a storm this weekend and it's just a mirror so I just need to wipe it with glass cleaner if it gets too grungy. (It's not, it looks good) I decided to keep my heavily used spices and olive oil on the counter to the right of the stove.

We're putting in a stainless steel 24" high shelf and backsplash above our rangetop. The hood has 2 warming lights. and we intend to use it as designed: to keep plates of food, or plates waiting for food, warm.

I agree with the other posters -- it's probably a bad idea to use the shelf to store food, although I can definitely see myself taking the oil from the adjacent cupboard and placing it on the shelf while cooking.

My stove with a 12" riser had to bumped out from the wall by 3-4" (long story); the bumped out area was built to the height of the riser. I had a piece of slate cut to cover the 'bump' & riser, giving me a 5" shelf. The only edible thing I keep there is a large covered crock of salt. Besides that, there is a small tea kettle, a timer, a crock for small or short utensils, & a large carving fork that I'm afraid to put in with the utensils for fear of stabbing myself! Things on this shelf do accumulate a slight greasy film - your situation may be worse because your shelf will extend over the burners - but it's not that bad. Usually I run everything through the dishwasher when I clean the hood.

"I wouldn't put a decorative object into this space at all."

We are planning to hang a large and (we think) highly decorative copper tray in the wall space above our range top. We had our builder install special blocking so that its hanging hook can be screwed into wood behind the backsplash tile and sheetrock. We expect the tray will just need to be taken to the garage from time to time to be de-greased and shined up. In fact, the tray may shield the mini-brick backsplash well enough that IT won't have to be cleaned very often, if at all.