Thanks for the compliments! We used the Belmont door style, in cherry, sorbel finish. We had a number of different pieces we used to build the hood. The sides are 9" cabinets with skins that cover back to the wall (there is a frame behind it to pull it out from the wall). The center section is a wainscoat piece (24x36 maybe). We used extra filler pieces ripped in 1/2 (down to 1 1/2") to build a frame for the center section to sit upon. The frame of the center section screwed into the side 9" cabinets and the panel is removeable to access the vent hood (we used industrial velrco to attach it). The mantel was built out of 1x8 with various trim pieces attached. The biggest challenge was underneath - getting it to fit with our hood. That was trial and error- design and build at the same time! There are also two small 9" cabinets at the very bottom (under the corbels). I had the depth reduced on them to 9" and ordered a plain slab door for those. The plan is to cut the slab door and make it an inset door so we won't see the seam where the current door overlays the cabinet. We ordered the corbels from another company and stained them ourselves. We didn't like the styles or the prices of the corbels offered by yorktowne. The single biggest factor in determining my hood size was the size of the vent hood - it was 42" and fits within the center section- that dictated the basic start size. In retrospect, I would have ordered the 9" cabients at the top deeper instead of building a frame to pull them off of the wall. It was a real PITA to do, and the extra depth would be handy for storing odd size baking/cake pans etc. We did a simular thing in our bathroom under the tub. We built a frame and used cabinet doors across the area. I don't have all of the exact measurements with me right now but if you need more details or pictures just let me know. Nancy

I feel your anxiety kksmama! I have done nothing but second guess myself through the whole process. In the end, after all the stressing, I am pleased with how it turned out. Sure there are things that bug me, but that will always be, no matter what decision I made. We have a few similarities, namely, weird ceilings, choice of two-toned cabinets, and hood. Here are 3 pics of my kitchen lined up, left, center right. You'll see that spreading the dark cabinets around the kitchen helped balance it. Google Sketchup helped tremendously here as you can see your kitchen in 3D and change the color instantly. Note that my wood hood isn't finished yet, It needs angled molding on top and the face will be finished like the cabinet doors. My stove is 30" and the hood is 50". Leaving space on the side is a good idea as stated above...your cabinets will not get spatter on them. It also helps to have that extra prep space for spices, oil, ladles, plating, etc. I don't have gas here so had to go electric and I wanted the gas knob look of the Viking range. It only comes in 30" but I purposely left 3-ish inches on either side if I want a bigger range down the road. So far so good though. Also that extra space on the sides makes it easy to slide out and clean down there. Lastly, the weird ceilings. The next pic shows the 2 different ceiling heights, the left side being almost 20 feet! Chunky molding seemed to help here as it doesn't seem like it's a cabinet just stuck on a wall, if you know what I mean. Having the chunky molding run all around the cabinets made it feel more like built in furniture. We are on a lake so I might toss a teak model sailboat up there that we have. Or maybe a large decorative plate or something. Hope this helps!

Thank you all for weighing in on this decision. I read each and every comment and you gave me a lot to think about! We ended up going to Bargain Outlet tonight to order different countertop. The Soapstone Sequoia tops that we bought ended up not being long enough (Big oops) and they won't work in the final layout that we settled on. When we changed from a range to a cooktop, we could no longer do the cut for the range, and it threw our measurements off. Somehow we missed that little detail until today until we set the counter on the cabinets and realized it was 6" short. : P (Must have been DIY dilirium.) But...we think it might have worked out for the best. We had bought the counters months ago when a local store was going out of business, and then more recently we got the cabinets. Seeing them together showed us that while they could work, they weren't a super match for each other. When we picked up the cabinets, they came with a few small sections of Bella Noche laminate, and they looked great together. Since we were going to have to order counter anyway, we switched directions and ordered Bella Noche instead. We never would have picked it from the little sample cards, but seeing the remnants with our cabinets helped us to know that we'd like it. While we were at Bargain Outlet, we ordered a 30" wide x 18" tall wall cabinet to place under the short wall cabinet in our layout. Our plan is to leave the doors off of it so that I can have a little bit of open shelving, but it will be boxed in along the side of the range hood like many of you suggested. Playing around with the shelf last night made me realize I could have a lot of fun with an open area there to decorate. We also ordered a glass door for the corner upper to help it feel airier over there om the sea of uppers, and it will give us another spot for displaying pretty serving bowls, too. Colors for the oven cabinet, hood and island remain to be determined. I don't really want to paint all of the uppers at this point. We have a busy family that the factory finish will probably handle better than a home paint job. Maybe someday, though! Now I have to see what colors look nice with both the cabinets and the new laminate. Should I keep it simple and do black? (Our fridge is black... and the cabinet doors have black lines along the details of the trim.) There are flecks of dark blue in this laminate too, although it's hard to see in the sample online. Bella Noche:

@Elizabeth C These are measurements of Athena’s kitchen you liked I’m copying the exact same kitchen off Pinterest for my reno. Wood Island. Crystal Quartz shelf and backsplash means we need a 3” shelf. I hope this helps. code is shelf has to be 24” above burners. If you have a finished picture to share I’d really appreciate it. I can’t figure out how stumpy our hood fan is going to look. Hope it went well.