Cabinets are built as a system to aligned heights. That would not align at the top, and would be goofy.

Are you concerned about function or aesthetics? I'm curious about how the 3" toe kick would translate onto the other parts of the island where you don't show it, but I think you may have waterfall sides there. Aesthetically I think it'd be fine, since you won't really see the difference from anywhere else and, even if you could, I doubt that it would be something that would register. Our sloping and tilting old house has a 1" toe kick height difference in a 5' span and you can tell if you're looking for it but it doesn't leap out.

As for function, could you try taping a 1" board along the bottom of your current, presumably 4 or 4.5", toe kick to see if you bang into it? Our 70 year old O'Keefe & Merritt stove has a 2 3/4" toe kick, which I've never found problematic. In retrospect, I wish I had specced a lower toe kick for the bench by our back door, as the extra drawer height would have made a meaningful difference.

No one will ever notice it. Go ahead and do it.

I am concerned about both aesthetics and function. Primarily aesthetics, will it look weird if one side of the aisle has a 1" smaller toe kick + 1" taller cabinets? I am less concerned about function. I know I can't live with no toe kicks but I wonder if people that have 3" kicks found it problematic and wish they had higher kicks.

Pal - I was trying to spare everyone the details but since you asked I'll try to explain. If you look at the island view below, the cabinets on the side & front of the island have to line up. The white stone "wrap" around the cabinets is 3" and so I have two options.

1) I can make the recessed toe kick on the front of the island 3" high so that it's the same size as the stone wrap and everything lines up.

2) Instead of stone on the part of the island that is circled I can have a 4.5" recessed toe kick that matches the toe kick on the front and sort of wraps around that corner. I don't love this but I can see how it might work. It's the solution the Wood Mode designer came up with.

There are two other options:

3) I can make the stone wrap around the island 4.5" thick but this is NOT an option for me. Don't even mention it. Hard no.

4) I could make all the toe kicks 3" throughout the kitchen. This is the best option if 3" toe kicks aren't going to be hell to live with. But I don't want to do anything I'll regret, I'll have to live with this indefinitely. My current toe kicks are a tad over 5.5" so reducing that to 3" for "testing" won't be very easy.

Although 4" at the bottom would add a small bit of weight to that edge and it may look thinner than the counter edge if it is the same thickness And recessed especially.

That's an optical illusion that I always see when pictures are matted the same size all around. I always have art matted with a bit more width on the bottom edge--to prevent the bottom from appearing thinner.

I don't see why you can't tape something larger to your current toekicks to see of the 3" height would be an issue. Instead of the suggested 1-inch board, try something larger. :P

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying it's an optical illusion in the rendering or are you saying that, in real life, if the bottom edge is the same thickness as the counter it will look smaller?

I'm not using the rendering to make a decision on the thickness of the stone. I think it will look better if it is the same thickness all around the island; I want it to be 3" on the top, bottom, side, everywhere. I just posted the rendering to demonstrate why one of those toe kicks has to be modified to match the other. Either the front toe kick goes to 3" or the side toe kick goes to 4.5".

Fori - Sure, I could tape paper or some light weight object to the bottom of my toe kick but if I bang my foot into it, it will cave in. It won't give me the same effect as an immovable object. I don't know how to temporarily affix a 1.5" thick immovable object to my toe kick that won't give way when I bump my foot into it. Tape won't give me enough resistance and I can't glue/nail something into my cabinets...

To really replicate a 3" toe kick I need to be able to have the sensation of my foot banging into it. I'm open to suggestions on how to do that.

Sure. I am tall so in my last house the working L was raised up on 2x4s, but the island and cabinets on another wall that was just used for storage was normal height. No one noticed the difference in height of the toe kicks.

Can you post a picture showing the view where the stone and wood toe actually meet?

3" toe is too low. Toe stubber!

Giz - I'm not sure what you're asking. There isn't a wood toe anywhere. All my recessed toe kicks are brushed stainless and then there is the stone border around the island. Which meeting of stone and toe kick are you referring to?

Function - I assume your counters were all the same height even though your toe kicks were not?

The bottom of my current refrigerator door is about 2.75" above the floor and the top is 44" above the floor. I opened the door and stood in front of it as if it were a cabinet and kind of hovered over the top of the door as if I was working on a counter. I don't see a problem here. I had to stick my foot unnaturally deep under the door before it hit my shoe. Barefoot I can get my entire foot under the door and it doesn't hit me until the bottom of my ankle makes contact with the door.

This makes me feel like I'll be OK with 3" toe kicks all around. Unless someone sees a flaw in my methodology?

uscpsycho

I am saying in real life a border of 3" all the way around is going to look smaller on the bottom even though it is the same size. One you are looking down at it, and two a similar sized border around anything will look thinner on the bottom than it does on the top.

If anyone wants to argue about any of these optical illusions take a look at the various compensations made in classical Greek architecture to make various things look Flat, Parallel, Straight, the Same Size, the Same Distance apart by using bulges, tapers various sizes and uneven spacing. They had it all figured out.

Pal - I get it. But I don't know how much bigger to make the bottom so that it looks the same. I feel like making the bottom edge 1/3 larger is too much for something that you aren't looking at from a great distance. If the top is 3" and the bottom is 4" isn't that going to be noticeable?

It sounds like you've got some experience with this scenario so how do you compensate to make everything look the same? Messing around with this makes me very nervous...

Yes a difference of 1" or 33% would be noticeable but it wouldn't be unpleasant. A difference of 1/2" probably would look close to even all around

Then what would you do with the waterfall? 3" or 3.5" or in between at 3.25"?

I don't want it to look like a funhouse.

My tendency would be to do 3" on top and the sides and 3-1/2" or 4" on the base knowing it may look slightly thicker but it would not bother me. And 3-1/2 may not actually look thicker

I hope other people weigh in on this, but my strong tendency would be to make the base at least 1/2" thicker than the rest.

Uscpsycho the counters were different heights. The L was higher. The others were normal heights. A tall women bought the house and she liked the higher work area also.

I agree with pal - the 3" on the bottom of the island is cramped and will lead to hitting the bottom of the cabinets for anyone standing there with shoes. I think the 1/2" is a real minimum to increase the toe area - I'd shoot for 1"

Has anyone advising against a 3" toe kick actually tried to use one? My experiment with the refrigerator door has me convinced that 3" is sufficient unless maybe you are wearing work boots. Perhaps 3" sounds too short because it is less than the standard size but in practice I don't think it is. Is my experiment with the fridge faulty?

In any case, it sounds like it may be a good idea to make the lower edge 3.5" in order to make it look even all around. Does anyone disagree with pal about this?

If I make the base 3.5" I assume the horizontal waterfall should be 3" so that it matches on top where a variance would be more obvious.

My kitchen has toe kicks slightly less than 3”, I have never bumped it. I have a bathroom cabinet at 2 1/2”, that I do sometimes bump into.

My toe kicks are 3-1/8", never had a problem with hitting them other than with a broom or mop on occasion.

OK, I have heard enough and experimented enough to be confident with making all my toe kicks any size from 3" or larger. No need for two different toe kick heights.

Question now is how high to make the toe kicks so that the border around the island looks even throughout. Pal wanted people to weigh in on this and I'd like second opinions on that as well. Is 3.5" the way to go? Or 3" all the way around? Some other size?