Thanks to all for taking the time to reply! taggie - yes, my cooktop wall runs into the sink wall (they are perpendicular) -- I was going to do that corner cabinet at 15", so it juts out a few inches from the adjacent 12" wall cabinets on the cooktop wall and sink wall --- this would be for looks only - to add some depth to the cabinetry. elofgren -- well I taped a ziploc box to the cabinet!! Not an issue at all! Thanks for the suggestion! Now, I'm thinking maybe I'll do all 15" cabinets, including that corner (as currently planned) and then maybe do frosted glass in the 30" cabinets that are on each side of the hood (stainless, not cabinetry). I'm just looking for some good design ideas to make it look good. I'll have a big 60" counter height bumped out window along the sink wall, so I'm thinking that's enough interest along that wall (i.e. no need for glass doors). I'm flying by the seat of my pants, if it's not obvious.... my cabinetmaker has got to be thinking I'm crazy! :)

There is a relationship between (1) the height of the upper cabinets above the countertop, (2) the depth (front to back) of the upper cabinets and (3) the depth of the counter top. With a standard 24" countertop, the maximum practical depth of the upper cabinets is 14" -- any deeper and you are uncomfortable working at the countertop because you constantly (if subconsciously) feel you are going to bang your head. We frequently use 27-30" deep lower cabinets with a 28-31" counter top depth, which allows up to a 16" deep upper cabinet. A cabinet with fixed shelves should be no more than 16" deep (14" is better) -- otherwise stuff in the back gets lost. But, if you are planning to use pullouts or other organizers, then a 20" upper cabinet is practical Sizing cabinetry for adequate storage is both science and art. You can search the phrase "iron rules of storage" (quotes included) to read several articles on how to size your kitchen storage. I would just give you the name of the web site, but every time I mention it I get an unpleasant note from the Mandarins at Gardenweb. While you are on the site you might do a site search on "Kitchen Ergonomics" for more useful information Since you are using custom cabinets, you are not stuck with pre-determined manufacturer dimensions, and the sky is the limit on creativity. Good luck with your kitchen.

You just have to saw off the tab from the leg connecting piece, since the shallow cabinets don't have the little indentation on the bottom. Ikea does sell what they call shallow base cabinets, which are just the wall cabinet + a set of legs. If you go to ikeahacker.com or ikeafans.com you can see many examples of how people have done this. Some have also used the mounting rail instead of legs for a floating effect.

I agree with Designsaavy. As you noted, 18" distance is standard, and that allows for a couple of inches for the light rail. Making that distance 20-22" means that you are foregoing those inches in cabinetry space. There's no rule against it, but you may need a stepstool more than you would with the standard 18" distance. You could put some painter's tape on the wall at that height of 20-22", stand in front of it, and imagine reaching into that cabinet, and see how it feels. If you want to "lighten the load visually" as you said, make some of the cabinet doors clear glass. There was a recent thread about glass cabinet doors, with a bunch of photos, if you do a search.