Have you considered a Quooker boiling (not hot) water tap? There are videos that show they work and their safety features if you worry about having 100C water on tap. The house I am buying comes with the tap- so we'll see once we move in. At any rate if you eliminate the kettle, then you can have a dedicated cupboard for the teapot, teas, cups, small plates, spoons, sugar cubes, a toaster and most importantly cookies! I plan on using a breakfast cupboard thusly. I am pretty excited about it actually. Good luck with your plans.

You can either put in a hot water spout. We used to have that. I plan to line the bottom of the cabinet to handle the steam and put the kettle in an appliance garage.

I just have mine on the counter near the sink and pull it out so it's not under the cabinet when I'm using it. Tea is in two canisters in the cabinet above and glass mugs are there as well.

You could put it on a pull out shelf so that the steam doesn't hit the inside of the cabinet or the doors.

We have an instant hot (Franke) and love it, but my English family doesn't approve. Depends on how picky you are about your tea. :)

We're pretty picky (my husband especially) so the hot water tap probably wouldn't cut it, but I'll have to look into the boiling water tap. I also like the idea of lining an appliance garage so that the kettle can go there, or putting it on a pull-out shelf (though that would require us to remember to use it :-). And, of course, just pulling it out from under the cabinet to use is always our fallback solution, but I'm hoping to find something more elegant. Thanks, all, for your ideas!

Same here - the Insta-Hot faucets aren't hot enough for tea, especially black or white tea. It might be hot enough for green tea, but I doubt it. (I'm a tea person as well; no coffee for me!)

Like Anglophilia, I just pull my electric tea kettle out from under the upper cabinets. Actually, I've started to pull it out and put it on my cooktop so the steam hits the stainless hood above the cooktop. I also store my various teas & related supplies in a cabinet near the kettle.

Stan's idea of a pullout shelf is a good one if you want to hide the kettle when not in use.

I agree, instant hot water taps are rubbish for making tea. The Quooker tap makes boiling water- 100C/212F. I've included a link a publicity video for the Dutch company that makes the product. The taps are available in the US, though the video is obviously for the UK where the taps are more commonly installed. Just a point of information. I have not used a Quooker tap yet and while I am pleased they boil water, I am skeptical about how fresh the water will taste- though I make five pots of tea a day, so the water should not be sitting in it's tank too long.

http://www.quooker.co.uk/enuk/collection/fusion-info

We have one of these for our coffee pot, have to pull it out to add water, simple solution to moving the kettle out from under cabinets and easy to slide back without touching hot sides.https://www.amazon.com/HANDY-CADDY-SLIDING-COUNTER-TRAY/dp/B0058O87R6

My tea station is a 30" bank of drawers. The top drawer is 8" to accommodate tea canisters (most tea now comes from various sources, but the canisters are consistent - just need my chalkboard labels to arrive!). It also fits mugs, the honey jar, strainers, and tea spoons. The drawer below is for tea pots and extra mugs. I have a Breville glass kettle that heats water to different temperatures which is nonnegotiable for me! It's unobtrusive enough that I'm fine with it just sitting on the counter - I use it so often taking it out of anything would drive me nuts! Tea cups are in the glass door cabinets above.