Your cabinet was probably installed too high. My guess is you lined the top of it up with the top of the upper cabinets? If so, it's a weird IKEA issue. The high cabinets never line up with the uppers unless you lower your uppers or raise up the high cabinet. I would say your best option is to just buy a piece of flat stock moulding at your local home improvement store and use that. It's cheaper than buying an IKEA cover panel and ripping a 6 inch strip.

There is a thing called a "cleat"--basically, it's a piece of wood screwed to the wall upon which you rest a shelf. You can put a vertical one in as well, but you DON'T want a 24" end panel, because then your filler will be TOO FAR FORWARD! Your filler strip is usually 3/4" thick. So you mount the vertical cleat at 23.25 inches from the wall, and attach the filler to it. And you install the horizontal cleat against the wall at the exact same height as the cabinets, and the end of the countertop rests on it. Aussies, you could, if you wanted, attach your filler strip w/ Velcro. Hinging it might be harder; though perhaps the hinges could serve as the "cleat"--you could have problems getting it to not wobble, though. If you have a 4" gap, you should go look at these things: pull-out broom closets Here is a link that might be useful:

hi mudworm! here is live_wire's post, and the link to thread below. RE: lower cabinet molding question (Follow-Up #8) posted by: live_wire_oak on 02.21.2009 at 09:44 am in Kitchens Forum A skin is not a "decorative" end panel exactly, it is a thin veneered panel that takes up the 3/8" gap from the cabinet box to the face frame and makes the cabinet sides flush. Cabinet boxes, even if they color match, are usually finished with a vinyl or melamine finish rather than real wood veneered plywood, and the skin not only takes up that gap, but it provides a real wood surface that will age similarly to the actual wood of the face frame and doors. WIthout a skin, the sides will stay the same color, while the wood changes color over time. This is one reason that I usually offer a different option for customers who are DIYing an install. I suggest upgrading to "furniture finished plywood ends" in which the cabinet boxes are made of plywood with a wood veneered exterior that is flush with the face frame rather than having that gap that you're dealing with. Skins are what I order when a pro is doing the install, and he just brad nails them in place and putty fills the tiny holes. Skins are usually about 15% cheaper than flush finished sides, but flush finished sides are easier for DIYers to deal with. This is definately something that your KD should have gone over with you before you ordered. THe decorative end panels that you ordered should have been applied over skins as well. There is less chance of them shifting over time as when they are applied and have that 3/8" void underneath them. Here is a link that might be useful: thread: ''lower cabinet molding question''

#1 YES. I would carry the same colored light warm wood flooring throughout the ground level. #2 Either remove or paint white ALL of the oak crown moulding. It is bringing down your ceiling height. #3 NO. Refer to #1