Great thread! Aloha, why not consider lift-up, tambor or other garage-style doors at counter level? We don't want it all the way around the room, but we're thinking of doing the same thing in two corners: 30"-deep bases, 15"-deep uppers from counter to ceiling but with the first 18" (vertical) of uppers having lift-up doors to hide appliances, canisters, etc.. (We want more than the standard 12" between counter and upper to accommodate taller items.) To fori and writersblock's concerns: The lift-ups won't have the swing-out issues of regular doors (nor the same issues of shallow drawers between base and uppers, which I often see in "inspiration" magazines, but don't understand for the same reasons fori and weritersblock mention). When the lift-up is closed, 15" of counter in front. Open, it's 30" deep of counter space!

One thing with a 10" overhang is that you're not saving aisle space because stool legs splay wider than the seats for stability. Your real usable aisle space is from the stool feet over, regardless of whether they're covered by counter or not. On the plus side, maybe you might as well create an overhang generous enough to tuck them all the way under? It'd not only be more comfortable but look a lot better and be safer. Of course, it also means you need to choose and measure stools before making your decision. These tradeoffs are all very personal decisions, but, knowing how much even shallow storage holds, mine would be to look to the cabinets for the extra inches needed to make this work. I purchased ready-made Ikea 12" drawers for the top row of a line of 12" deep bottoms, with shelves below, so I would imagine drawer and sliding shelf mechanisms are available in a number of depths. If needed, I'd also plan storage for the Christmas dishes and the 3-element slow cooker used maybe twice a year, or whatever as needed, somewhere else in the house. This post was edited by rosie on Wed, Jun 5, 13 at 8:13

I am not saying that this is what's right for your kitchen nor am I trying to push Ikea at all here (although I admit I am a "fan"). Just want to offer some pics and another, somewhat different perspective on Rubrik. You may like it or hate it. What I can say is, if nothing else, Rubrik is extremely DURABLE. My 24 hr veterinary emergency clinic has Rubrik cabs throughout the whole hospital - exam rooms, lab, treatment, surgery prep, ICU, radiology, isolation, wards, reception. We had them installed almost 7 years ago. These cabs are used a bajillion times a day, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, usually not gently, by dozens of different staff members - none of whom would ever stop to think once about worrying over a scratch or ding or whatever. Instruments get dropped, blood/chemicals/feces/urine gets spattered around, seizuring patients with exposed nails/teeth bang into, unruly dogs with nails jump up - you get the picture. The Ikea cabinets themselves function like they are brand new. The Rubrik fronts are easy to clean, and honestly IDK if they're scratched or dented b/c I've never stopped to look. But as a TKO person, you'd think I would've noticed if it were really bad (yes, I would've). I'll remember to look more closely tonight and report back. Anyway, FWIW, here are a few pics taken just a few months ago for another ikeafan. IMHO, they look pretty darn good for the abuse they receive.

I just placed my order for cabinets yesterday, our ikea did allow for accessories to be included to get you to the 20%. But this ikea does not allow for additional purchases to be made after the original purchase at the 20% discount. It kind of stinks...they said you get the one time purchase and that is it. The associate told me they used to allow people to come back and purchase additional items, but they had too many contractors taking advantage and making one purchase, then coming back over and over, so they decided to make it a "one time purchase" only at 20%. I had fallen in love with the Atlantic Salt Caesarstone displayed at our ikea...at $55 sq/ft with the discount, it would have been a great price. Unfortunately, I am 80 miles away and out of the range to have the counters fabricated with Ikea's fabricators. Locally I can't find it for less than $100 sq/ft, so I'm back to searching for different countertops....