What about making the countertop flush with the cabinet edge just on the side? It's a nice clean contemporary look. That way, both the cabinet and countertop abut right up to the door casing.

I would not want either the door casing or the countertop notched to fit except as a last resort. I'd choose option 3.

#3

they can notch drywall or remove some..I'd want the side of cabinet behind door trim.....and without a gap at side end....snug cabinet in behind doortrim........is it framed cabinet with a reveal so door of cabinet will still open It depends on how much off this is. with sticking cabinet BACK, you have to have a logical spot in 8 foot run where this slight recess begins..I'd do it. ...no notching if it's avoidable of casing or cabinets......notch the drywall. .

This happened to me. I did not want the gap between cabinet and door trim, so I went with option 1. Don't have a picture to share, tho. It looks fine.

Thanks for your input.

mama goose - I think you are right about it having to be done right, and I do think that they can do it.

H202 - I hadn't really considered doing a countertop flush with the
cabinet. I do want an overhang on the front. Will it look okay to have
an overhang on the front but not on the sides?

jellytoast - I think that is my biggest problem. I have a bathroom
sink that overhangs the door casing, and it annoys me on a regular
basis.I don't really know why I am considering the notching option
except that I just want to get done and move on!!

zmith - thanks. How wide was your side overhang?

herbflavor - I am confused. The side of the cabinet is butting the side of the door trim, not the front plane of the door trim. Is that what you are describing? My brain is somewhat fried right now.

I googled and couldn't find any pics, but someone on this site asked the same question a few years back and everyone seemed to think it was a good solution (once they understood there would still be front overhang): http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2665693/countertop-flush-with-cabinet-no-overhang

But this probably only works if you were planning on doing a square or other simple countertop edge - but not if you're doing something fancy.

But maybe you're asking the wrong person.... I happen to love the square edged countertops and my entire kitchen is all flush countertops! So I think it is a great look.

Thanks H202. Fortunately for me, I will do a very simple edge. Probably eased.

I had this same problem in my old kitchen. We went with option #1 - notching the counter. (Of course it was tile back then so easier? to notch.) Our trim was old historic oak so we didn't want to notch the trim. To me, it looked and functioned fine. Not the greatest picture, but here it is, on the left. I would definitely not want a gap between the cab and the wall.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jenswrens/2536454575/in/album-72157608887602442/

Thanks jenswrens. I do have this situation in my kitchen, but have reduced the depth of the cabinet so as not to encroach on the door frame. This situation is different in that the door is on the same wall as the cabinets. Here is a picture of the area I am dealing with.

Sherri, my overhang is about an inch. Just to be clear, my situation involved the cabinet side butting against the door trim, not the front as in jenwrens case. But, I too have solid oak door casing that I did not want to notch. My counter is laminate.

I think the rule of thumb is you notch the more temporary or less permanent obstruction. In this case the door casing is more permanent than the counter. Think about having to replace the counter in the future. It will be more trouble if the door casing was notched. Hope this helps. :)

Oh wow. You're going to lose alot of cabinet width. :(

zmith - thanks. :(

Actually, the amount that we need to have the cabinets cut down is no more than a couple inches. The cabinet is currently 24" and we may have to cut it back to 21". The angle of the pic isn't the best.

It looks like the right side of the drawers are an enclosed or tall cabinet? Then I would definitely just do no overhang of the counter on the door side and make it flush. My kitchen has an end run very close to the door frame as well, the countertop almost touches the frame:

Replace the offending missmeasured cabinet by one 6" smaller. There's nothing worse that notches of any kind. They highlight poor planning. Second worst mistake is only leaving enough wall reveal around casings that you have to use an artist's brush to paint the strip. Negative space around room casings should be deliberately spacious. Not cramped. Not notched.

Is there any chance you could remove the door casing on the dining room opening and just drywall the opening-no casing on either side.

Otherwise, I think I prefer option 3.

I had the same situation in my kitchen. I would rather give up a few inches in cabinet and countertop space than live with something that looked like it was forced to fit into a too-small space. My countertop edge is about 1/2 inch away from the door casing. Having more space would have been better as GreenDesigns says, but then I would have had a countertop that was too small to be useful. It was a compromise and I'm quite happy with it.

Thanks navy momma. The right side of the cabinet in question is the
fridge. And right now I am leaning towards either what you have done,
with the small gap or doing a flush countertop install, so there is no
gap at all.

GreenDesigns - thanks, that would have been my first choice, but because the other cabinets are tall pantry style, I think having the small cabinet that much narrower says "oh look, we have a couple of extra inches, let's throw a cabinet there". :) Not really sure there is a good answer.

karen - i'll mull over the possibility of removing the casing all together. Thanks for that!

Another thought - I will be painting the casing the same colour as the wall. That may help visually?

To Green Designs comment, I feel the opposite -- that pulling the cabinet back 6 inches makes it look like your kitchen is not custom at all. It makes it look like you bought ready to assembly cabs in set sizes and that was the best size you could fit. Versus, if you bring the cab right up to the casing with a flush countertop also right up to the casing (no gap between the cab and the casing) it looks like a truly custom kitchen. Just my two cents.

It looks as if the door trim has already been cut back several inches--notching isn't going to make that much difference, and if you ever replace the cabinets, the trim is going to need to be replaced anyway. I like the added suggestion of the counter flush with the side, though.

Thanks H2O2, that is exactly my sentiment on pulling back the cabinet.

mama goose, you're right the trim had been cut back previously and now that we are replacing the cabinets the trim is being replace now as well. (It was one of my previous kitchen irritants).

Still deciding!

I love the look of your wide door casing with the taller molding and the crown detail above the door. That is beautiful.

However with the right side trim cut off so skinny it really draws attention to the mistake. That would drive me crazy even if the cab and counter was not notched.

Do you need that small counter space? I'd maybe do a skinny pull out pantry next to the fridge. Something like this?

My only other thought was lose the thick fridge panel on the right or maybe do a thin one?

I thoroughly disagree with Green Designs except in the case of a new build. Sure if this were a brand new house then it's 100% bad planning. But this is a renovation in an older home. Oopsies happen. In my case I planned it that way to have the widest cabinet possible. But my casing is just 2-1/4" wide, and a 1" notch in the counter is nothing to me.

Sherri, since your casing has a flat profile, I was leaning towards recommending leaving the cabinet and scribing your casing around it. However, a narrower casing on the cabinet side and a counter flush with the cabinet edge would be just fine.

Thanks everyone for your help! Yes, we have an older house and while I
have learned to love and embrace all its idiosyncrasies (it's called
charm, right?) I really don't feel that I need to create more. I'm
convinced that it is one of those things that will forever bug me if I
compromise too much. I've decided the cabinet must be remade to butt up
to the casing, preserving as much of its width (and visual weight) as
possible. The casing is also being remade so it is the same width on
both sides (3 1/2"), which is what we have throughout the house.

I'm so glad to hear you are restoring the door casing width on the one side. Great decision. Please share with us a photo when finished. Best wishes.

Sherri, good for you in making that tough decision. I'm also looking forward to your reveal. :)