Help - What to do with the narrow 6' gap in our upper cabinets

16 years ago

So, before I ask my question, let me explain the situation.

The wall containing our stove has a 12" bump out on the left side due to the shower in the bathroom. We decided not to redo our bathroom, so it stays.

Originally, before demo, we thought this bump out was 43", but it turned out to be 37". What we planned for this space was to leave the wall open and hang pots and pans and have a narrow 12" lower cabinet and countertop to the left of the stove. The lower cabinets are not a problem, since we gained the perfect room for a gas valve and can continue the counters backwards to fill the gap.

The upper cabinets were designed so that the hood and the over the hood cabinet would be flush with this bump out. Now, there will be a 6" gap between where the cabinet and the hood ends and the bump out starts.

The cabinets already arrived. We will be doing the sheetrock this weekend.

Now the sides of the stove were asymmetric to begin with, now they will be more so.

The options we considered to fill this gap

- Built-in shelves, painted wall color (to display like a pretty olive oil bottle)

- Built-in shelves, cabinet material (quarter-sewn oak)(to display like a pretty olive oil bottle)

- Fake apothecary drawers hiding a spice holder

- Sheetrock over (would give me some more space to hang pots perhaps. right now the bare wall will be 25" wide, since the cabinets on the joining wall come butt up to this wall)

In each case, it is also a question, how low these should go. Should it be 18" over the counter to match the other upper cabinets or should it be 30" of to match the hood line.

I can see problems with each case and i don't know what to do with a 6" upper cabinet space. Do you see any of these work? Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you so much!

I know I didn't put in plans, since we have them on paper and haven't scanned them. If this isn't helpful, I can try to draw something.

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Comments (10)

Buehl
16 years ago
How about a 6" pullout...can you order a 6" door and some sheets of plywood veneer w/same wood & finish as your cabinets?

If so, you could make your own pullout...Rev-A-Shelf hardware (Ovis is one source, there are others) is available to complete it...but, as I recall, it has to be done before the when the cabinets go in, not after. Either you or your GC/carpenter could do this. [The plywood veneer would be used to build the face frame, if needed, and, perhaps the bottom of the cabinets.]

See the linked thread as well. It has a lot of useful information and pictures.

[If you cannot get the door in time, you may be able to at least install the hardware when the cabinets are installed and just attach the door when it comes in.]

HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Rev-A-Shelf Spice Racks for Fillers -- Have you seen these!!!!
Buehl
16 years ago
Ouch! I didn't catch that big typo! It should read:

...but, as I recall, it has to be done when the cabinets go in, not after.
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So true, Chinchette. It's on point that our cabinets are white, flowing into a creamy white ceiling and cream walls. Heaviness just wasn't an issue. I might well have stopped the cabinets short of the ceiling if I had dark ones, especially if there was a definite contrast with adjacent surfaces. Even something this minor leaves SO much to personal preference and realities. I'm short and use a stepstool just to reach standard shelves. Okay that far, even if getting it out is a drag. I only wish...Marcolo, I think, had suggested climbable cabinets a couple of years ago. I might really have done something with that. I've spent my life climbing store shelves when the staff is hiding and really appreciate ones with good handholds. :) I might have stepped back the middle unit, with a short 15" base flush with the rest, another 15"er on that set back 4", which would give me a step to my very sturdy niche counter (that extra plywood raising the uppers). All that'd be needed would be some "decorative" details to hold onto. Sigh for what might have been... But, back to it--I do also have a basement with a room for my freezer, pantry, etc., and I already knew I'd always prefer strolling downstairs to grab something from a shelf there to climbing a tall stool in the kitchen. Lack of real need = lack of desire and empty shelves for me. Anne, seeing that a nice shadow feature is your own first choice, I say go for it. It adds depth and architectural interest, and just happens to be less popular than to the ceiling at this particular point in time. So what? I considered doing that for some time before choosing against it because I'm a bad housekeeper. By the time I get up there, it's always an unpleasant experience. BTW, if I went that way, I had decided I would box in most of the empty area with a vertical board set back several inches from the front of the cabinets, whatever depth needed so it wouldn't be noticeable, hopefully only 6" or so, so only a strip that deep would need wiping off. I also intended to top the cabinets with plywood to the height of the top of the crown molding so that, even if the molding looked as if it extended a bit above the top of the cabinets it was really a flush surface for easy cleaning. Regarding your question about the plywood between our base and upper-to-ceiling pantry cabinets, it's there to raise the uppers closer to the ceiling, but also to create a shadow line down there to break up the vertical surface. I had to keep it shallow for aisle-width reasons, so the top molding was also kept shallow to be in conformity. What is up is stock molding and a bit deeper, but you can't tell.
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I deleted my comment, toyed around with it in IKEA's website and realized that if I moved the stove to the fridge wall I'd have to get rid of my lower cabinet and add 2 12's.... Not nearly as functional. There would be a plus to being able to see into the living room, but the negative is that I would always be in the way when I'm cooking. Our fridge can't go into the corner because of our heater, even beside the window is out because of that. I think I'm just going to be stuck with some filler pieces. At the end of the day, it'll be 1000x more functional than it is now. I do think that I'm going to move the microwave beside the fridge, and put a nice hood over my range. Will just have to adjust the height of my cabinets on the basement wall. ETA: Weird question... if I use 20 inch cabinets above the microwave, can I line up the bottom of that cabinet with the bottom of the fridge cabinet and have them at different heights? I can't find a taller fridge cabinet.... is there one? Kitchen with hood
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pinar
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes, we can do this and have the front look like the apothecary drawers (they can't make it door style as it would be too narrow for the frame styling). This is one option. I don't know how tall to do it for the looks. I am basically worried that the asymmetry of a small 6" piece on the left side of the hood is not going to balance out the upper cabinets on the right. I am more worried about the looks than the functionality.

Nevertheless, I did check out that thread and have been looking at some options on kitchensource.com and there are some pretty cool storage solutions. Thank you for the link.
bmorepanic
16 years ago
A vote for sheetrock. Clean, simple and you can put shelves or pots on the front of it.
pinar
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you!

Any other suggestions?
pinar
Original Author
16 years ago
I had to bump this thread. Our sheetrock is going in in a few hours. Any other votes?

I like the clean of sheetrock, but then the stove would be right next to it. So, I like that I will have some room next to it, so I can at least move my pots and pans around.

I thought about building it out like a soffit further up, either at hood or upper cabinet level, but our cabinet maker seems to think it will look odd.

Any other votes?

Thanks!
p.
lyfia
16 years ago
wine storage or a place to put cook books.
jade.d
16 years ago
I'm not sure I understand the problem enough to make a suggestion but my advice is if you are undecided to go with whatever the cabinet maker recommends - he wants your cabinetry to look as good as you want it to.
pinar
Original Author
16 years ago
good point.

i am not sure i want to store wine right above the stove, but cookbooks would be a good use of the space. like four of them?

do i have the smallest kitchen in the world, i wonder...
pinar
Original Author
16 years ago
We have put up the sheetrock and decided to leave the gap and do something with it (mainly because I couldn't decide).

Ok, so I asked this question in the home decorating forum, too and somebody suggested that I put framed decorative tile in the gap. And I really like the lines they used with the cupboards in the Kemper Cabinets kitchen.

So, I thought maybe I can do a 6" pull-out with the framed tiles in the front panel and then hang another 6" high tile panel like that perpendicularly on the bare wall.

Can anyone think of what to store up there? I think spices and wine are out, since it would be too hot from cooking. Any creative storage ideas? Maybe I should post this in the Ikea forum!! :)

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

Help - What to do with the narrow 6' gap in our upper cabinets

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Buehl

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Help - What to do with the narrow 6' gap in our upper cabinets

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Buehl

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