Cabinets Different Heights from Countertop!

14 years ago

Hi, I have a U shaped kitchen with upper cabinets on the long sides of the U, no uppers on the third wall (that's the sink wall). The kitchen is fairly small, about 9 x 12. The upper cabinets are going to the ceiling, with room for a 2-1/2" crown molding.

Now that the uppers are in place, my DH noticed one side is 16" from the countertop (2" trim for under cabinet lighting) and the other side is 17" from the countertop. It's because the ceiling is uneven.

My question is, is it better to have the discrepency where it is now, or would it be better to have the cabinets the same height from the countertop and have the discrepency at the crown molding? My GC says it's better to have it where it is now because 1" discrepency is less noticable over 17" rather than 3" at the crown. What do you think? Thanks for your help! Jody

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Comments (10)

bostonpam
14 years ago
My ceiling slopes every so slightly. I did not notice the 0.75" discrepancy from the countertops. (those cabs did "feel" higher but I pulled the lowers out 2" and so I thought that was the difference) I think it's less noticeable at the counters than at the ceiling. You will probably have different items on your counters and they will not all be the same height and help trick the eye. Also, your cabs are on opposite walls. If you have a gap at the ceiling it would be more noticeable in your case because the cabs are going all the way up. My cabs are right angled to each other with a doorway breaking it up. It took a month or two before I even noticed. I have to look really hard to "see" the difference. I have 15" from the top of my cabinets to the ceiling. Now that my frig is in place it's even less noticeable. The far wall with the farm house sink has the lower cabs. my kitchen is still unfinished sigh...
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dianalo
14 years ago
Why not split the difference? A half inch at bottom and top is less noticeable than 1 inch on either end.
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First, I would not go higher... Second, yes, the standard is 18"...regardless of the reasons why, it's still the standard.. What this means is that small appliance manufacturers often design their products to meet that standard...for example, my KA stand mixer (bowl lift) is around 17" and many coffeemakers and blenders are just short of 18". So, you need to be sure you have room under the cabinets + light rail to fit those appliances. Keep in mind that if you're using an appliance on your counter, you must be sure you have room under the base cabinets to move that appliance around easily. Don't, for example, tell yourself you're only going to use it in front of your upper cabinets so you don't need to worry about its fit. In reality, you will be moving things around on your counter while you work and most likely your appliance will be moved under the cabinets at some point. You don't want to tear your light rail off or damage it (or the cabinets). Also remember that "standard" upper cabinets are 12" deep + 1" for the door...so they stick out 13" over your counter...leaving you only 12" or so of workspace in front of the upper cabinets...not much room to work in by itself! (If you have deeper upper cabinets...say 15", there's even less counter frontage in front of your upper cabinets...3" less, so 9".) Another consideration is vertical work space for you and your family. Your family sounds somewhat tall (you're the shortest at 5'6"), so you want to be careful not to make the backsplash area is so short that it makes the work area cramped vertically. So, how do you determine the minimum backsplash height for your kitchen and how high to install the upper cabinets? Measure all your small appliances and anything else you'll be using on the counter, If they have a lid, measure with the lid open (i.e., the tallest the appliance would ever be). Not just what's planned for the space, but what could potentially be used....stand mixer, coffeemaker, blender, food processor, breadmaker, etc. Take the tallest measurement and add 1/4" to 1/2" (I recommend 1/2") Why did you add 1/4" to 1/2"? It's to give you some "wiggle" room in case everything isn't perfect...you may have slight differences in stone thickness or even how the cabinets and/or light rail was installed. It will also keep you from scratching the cabinets/light rail w/the top of the appliance (or vice versa!) This is the minimum height you will need for your backsplash But wait, you're not done! To be sure you have that space, you need to determine how high off the counter to mount your upper cabinets... Determine how tall your light rail will be. [Light rail is the molding that goes on the bottom of the upper cabinets that hides lights, differently-finished cabinet bottoms, and Plugmold (if you have it).] Now, add this to the backslash height from #3 This is the distance above the finished counter your upper cabinets must be installed.
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Buehl
14 years ago
What is the design of your crown molding? Is it a multi-piece crown with a "filler" piece?

Our kitchen ceiling is also uneven and our KD used our crown molding to mask the difference. Ours is a 3-piece crown with a "plain" filler piece in the middle. The top & bottom pieces are the ones w/the detailing and are the same height throughout the kitchen. What differs, is the height of the filler piece...and you cannot tell!

Here is our crown design:

The "Stock-S" piece is the filler piece.
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eustacem
14 years ago
Bostonpam, this is off topic, but your kitchen is lovely!
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bostonpam
14 years ago
Thanks eustacem - I wish it was done - sigh - but it's very usable. We're doing a major home renovation plus pool/patio. We converted our 1825 2 family house back into a single family. The push is to get my son back in his bedroom before school starts next week with pool parties every afternoon and evening. I have sooo many color swatches in so many rooms (I think I bought 60 pints of paint) and we're doing all the painting ourselves (I have over 60 six over six windows to prime and add two coats of paint alone!). The goal is to finish by Thanksgiving.
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welcome
14 years ago
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marcydc
14 years ago
When our cabs went in, we had a full 1.5" drop from one end of the run down to the other.

Contractor solved it by cutting off some of the bottom.
It's not noticeable at all - no one is down measuring toe kicks.

I'd have them do it that way. If you have tile backslash, you're going to see that difference.
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jodeby
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the replies!

bostonpam, I agree with eustacem, your kitchen is beautiful. And I can't see the difference in heights from the countertops to the top cabs. Did you have trouble getting your backsplash even?

One of the things I'm worried about is once the backsplash comes around the corner to the window, it'll be different heights on either side. I'm thinking beadboard backsplash, so it'll have a vertical line, but it'll still have a horizontal trim piece at the top.

dianlo, interesting idea. I don't think I have a straight wall, floor or ceiling in my house, so just making the difference smaller but not perfect might do the trick. My GC and DH might think I've moved to a new level of crazy to want to move the cabinets 1/2" though! :)

buehl, I've seen your posts with your 3 piece crown molding before and I think it's brilliant! I think it might be a little tougher since we only have 2-1/2" crown to work with, the filler piece might be in danger of disappearing all together, but I know it'll come in handy with our crazy ceiling!

marcydc, our GC had quite a time getting our base cabs level. I think we could nickname our kitchen Shims R Us!
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bostonpam
14 years ago
Our back splash started with a full tile on the bottom and then went up from there. The difference in height is under the upper cabinet but it's not noticeable since the two are not connected (doorway separating them). Also they used a full tile to wrap around the one cabinet. Looking at this close it does look a bit odd but I never noticed it until now. there is so much going on in the kitchen that this is not picked up.
sample paint in background - trying to pick a color in the mudroom.
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sue36
14 years ago
My BIL carpenter would say the difference should be accounted for at the ceiling, not at eye level.
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Cabinets Different Heights from Countertop!

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Cabinets Different Heights from Countertop!

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