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Help with Crown Molding

25 days ago
last modified: 23 days ago

The kitchen designer left our kitchen like this. How can we fix the molding so the ends don't look so bad? It is design flaw all around as the doors, from the side cabinets, hit the hood when opened. I have put bumpers to keep the wood from dinging.
First, thank you all for your comments. We got this designed through Lowes. They are aware of this problem, but their solutions will not work.
We did not request it look this way. We wanted a design that worked; according to their software, this would work until it didn't.
The space where the faceplate hood is 30" with a depth of 17".
Our contractor (now) has been wracking his brain trying to fix this. I have contacted Lowes as this problem has been ongoing for over a year.
Any solutions are being taken seriously
and I appreciate all of them.
I also have to figure out how to fix the end of the refrigerator cabinet. Lowes sent doors (we have a blue island), and if we put them up, there will be a 7-inch gap at the bottom. Any creative ideas of what to do with this space?
I will attach a photo.
Lowes refuses to help us because this issue is over a year old, and they have "tried" to make things right. The door panels are 30 inches tall, so a large gap exists. The store will not replace them so I have to make due. I have three white doors and four blue ones (why? I don't know), so if there is a way to put them together to make up the gap that looks cohesive, we will do that once we figure that out.
I am trying to find a number for Lowe's Corporate to try and get help so my kitchen, which started in 9 of 2023 can finally be finished.
Debbi Washburn we will use your idea. Do you know how not to have the upper cabinets bump into the hood when I open them? I am disheartened that we trusted the design program to work and for the Lowe's kitchen expert to point out the flaws. A big lesson learned, and our review will reflect the failures. Thanks all
Debbie Washburn
I am sending photos of the cabinet and the hood and the kitchen. Our kitchen venting goes through our wall which is behind that face plate attached to the exhaust fan.
There is nothing in that top cabinet except my slow cooker that my husband put up there. The doors left and right hit the crown molding. The doors left and right hit the faceplate hood below.
When this kitchen was being designed I was open to all kinds of ideas as I am not an expert. I wanted a kitchen that worked. And looked good.
I did not know we were getting a face plate Hood as we were not told. I did not care about the size of the cabinets above the countertop other than they were proportional and functional. Our budget was healthy and we were opened all kinds of hoods. We were told we had to go with this one because of how our kitchen is vented. Finding an exhaust fan for that faceplate Hood was hard and expensive.
I liked the look of different levels but I was not stuck on that. I know more now than I did back then and I trusted the kitchen designer to use a program that would show what would work and would not work in our space. Our contractor has visited with her at Lowe's many times and he admits that he should have not put that crime up but trusted her photo that it would work. In hindsight he feels like a fool and so do I. Lowe's executive customer service is now involved and I don't know what will happen. Fixing one thing is a domino to another such as fixing the doors that hit the hood. I appreciate your help more than you can know.
I was told by Lowe's customer service that is implied that a kitchen design will work and that it is not mandatory to use their contractors as their contractors only install they do know changes to walls or other areas.

Comments (26)

  • 25 days ago





  • 25 days ago

    Paint the section of wall above the cabs the same color as the cabs to downplay the contrast and they blend in together.

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  • 25 days ago

    That’s pretty bad. I would have them come back and use a flat crown.

  • 25 days ago

    Call them back don't start messing with it until you get their solution

  • PRO
    25 days ago

    That whole center section with the hood needs to be pulled forward deep enough so the crown dies into it. Or eliminate the cabinet you can’t reach anyway so the crown can extend uninterrupted.

  • PRO
    25 days ago

    IMO who ever designed this needs to make it right. That cabinet is all wrong there and IMO so is the hood and that bow really makes it worse .

    Beverly Hulick thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • PRO
    25 days ago
    last modified: 25 days ago

    This is a DESIGN issue. When you stagger height of cabinets, you must also stagger the depth. The crown projection has to be factored into the math of the whole. That over the range cabinet thing is way too shallow, and the "hood" thing is dysfunctional" and unattractive. Remove all of that. Replace with a real actual chimney hood in stainless. Then the crown will have a place to return.

  • 25 days ago

    what did you request.....


    all you need is simple molding...the style would be okay on top of the hood cabinet only [maybe] if you want to leave that.....But Id yank it off the double door sections lower down..get a strip of something smaller that butts into the side of the higher up cabinet. A carpenter can do this and ask for credit unless you DID NOT specify or DID ask for this./ then the cost will have to be absorbed Its too much for the lower situated cabinets.


    Beverly Hulick thanked herbflavor
  • PRO
    25 days ago

    Oh dear! The issue here is that the hood portion is already projecting forward for the exhaust - it may or may not have been able to be pulled forward any further and still have the unit fit without changing the cabinets along side. That particular hood is attached to the cabinets next to it and is just a front as opposed to a whole box that could easily be brought forward.

    This is 90% designer error and 10% contractor for not picking up on it when starting to install the crown.

    If you don't want to rip that wall out and start again, have the installer set a piece of filler behind the crown and return it on itself.


    Good luck and make the designer pay for any additional material that needs to be purchased.

  • 25 days ago

    As usual, Debbi has covered everything + provided the solutions! You should print off her posts and head up to Lowe's + provide one to your contractor!

  • 25 days ago

    Debbi Washburn thank you for the photos. That is what our design looks like. We wanted a different hood, but the store told us it would not work. So, we had to get the faceplate hood or nothing. The store will no longer work with us since it has been over a year. They ordered us more crown and told our contractor to work it out....somehow. The panels are 30 doors as that is what we had to have for the panels to look balanced. They won't order more of anything unless I pay for it. I talked to them today. I am trying to find a number for Lowe's Corportate to try and get some help. I am at a loss.


  • 25 days ago

    We have staggered cabinets as well. The crown on the lower cabinets is much smaller.



  • 25 days ago

    None of these numbers worked when you googled Lowes corporate?




  • PRO
    25 days ago
    last modified: 25 days ago

    Y'all are missing that Lowes didn't physically do the job construction or cabinet install. They just sold cabinets. They aren't kitchen designers, and aren't even good cabinet sellers. She was the job GC and coordinated all the materials and labor. And reviewed the initial design, and signed off on it, to be ordered.

    The GC's (her) installer is the one that screwed up and didn't do a hanging chad return that would have modulated the look. This is a design and GC issue that should have been raised before the cabinets were installed, over a year ago. You sign a waiver that all the measurements are correct, and you accept the design, before they will order anything. They don't provide the labor, they don't provide solutions to issues either. It's the homeowners' job to figure out the stuff they signed off on. Over a year ago.

    The GC didn't understand cabinet design any better than the "cabinet specialist" person putting together the design. And not enough to instruct the installer how to approach the issue. Lowes might buy you a filler, but that's the extent of any help they would provide after a year, when they didn't even do the install. It's up to the GC to find a new installer, if the old one has washed their hands of the job.

  • PRO
    25 days ago

    Duplicate post too.

  • PRO
    24 days ago

    The easiest way out is to by a 6" filler. Use it as a base trim under the decorative door panels and space the doors out. Line up the top ones with the top of the ref panel and evenly space the rest. Then have our contractor do the molding return like the pictures I posted.

    Trying to do anything else is going to open a whole lot of issues and cost you more money.

    That would be taking down that whole hood thing and buying a cabinet ( modify the depth to 18 or 21" - whatever your vent size is ) and putting that in. The molding can land next to it and you can have a simpler style of hood. This will be dependent on the the size of the hood unit you have and the type. Photos would help.


    Now if you want to be technical, this is not the correct way - doing a 30" wide cabinet over a 30" wide stove because you have wood ( the sides of the cabinet ) over the stove - fire hazard. The hood really should be at 3 - 6" wider than the stove when dealing with wood hoods.


    Honestly - this is what I would do. Remove that higher cabinet. Put a horizontal filler above the hood to make it even with the cabinets next to it and just run the molding across. Forget the raised look.


    Good luck!

    Beverly Hulick thanked Debbi Washburn
  • 23 days ago










  • 23 days ago

    Debbi, I am in contact with Lowes Executive Customer Service and have also posted photos here. I did not know we were getting a face plate hood until much later. If we move it up, our contractor will have to install more backsplash, which is also expensive. I am hoping Lowes will help. I also see that our dishwasher has gaps on each side due to improper measuring, and I am seeking help from Lowes. Our kitchen is vented through the wall. There is nothing in the top upper cabinet but an appliance I found when looking today. Fixing one thing dominoes into another problem. I trust it will all work out. Thank you SO much for your help and advice. I knew nothing about a fire hazard either. Lowes never talked about that. We could have left a more significant gap for the hood. We have an invection 30-inch cooktop below the hood.

  • PRO
    23 days ago

    No one said to move the hood. Leave the hood, remove the cabinet above with nothing in it, and attach a section of matching filler to fill in the remaining 6” x 36” space. Now you can run the crown across uninterrupted. You’ve proven to yourself that high cabinet above the hood serves no function. At that point they will have very minor wall repairs and paint to hide their mistake. They owe you the cost of that cabinet that is now not going to be used.

  • PRO
    23 days ago
    last modified: 23 days ago

    Did the installer leave 24" for the dishwasher space? That is what is normally done. Some euro dishwashers are slightly under 24 and they come with filler strips to fill the space. Or you decide ahead of time to make the rough in for the DW what you want it to be.

    If you don't like the filler strips they provide, then get a filler to match the cabinets. It will look more built in...and can be removed down the road if you get a wider DW.

    How wide is the opening for the dishwasher? If it's 24"...then I would leave it at that.

    Agree with Debbi Washburn....take out the cabinet above the hood. And insert a horizontal filler above the hood....continue the crown across. If you need to "hide" any exposed ductwork....do so with framing and drywall....paint to match the walls.

    Having the doors open into the deeper hood is something that a good designer with experience would NOT have done. That's a pet peeve of mine. Avoid that if at all possible.

    You can learn to live with this set up...use bumper pads and hinge restrictors. Or you can have the uppers reordered so they open AWAY from the hood. What they did isn't necessarily "wrong".....but an experienced and thoughtful designer would discuss it with you during the design phase.


    If it were me....I'd get rid of the upper cabinet, use a horiz. filler instead and have the crown molding go continuously across.

    Hope this makes sense. Good luck Beverly....just an FYI...my best friend's last name is Hulick too! (From Ohio)

  • 23 days ago
    last modified: 23 days ago

    99% of everything shown is installer related. The DW legs aren’t even adjusted to have it be plumb! Or worse, the cabibrrs are installed out of plumb. None of that has anything to do with who sold you cabinets. That whole install is just bad. No professional did it, that is for sure. Either the homeowner or some low skilled handyman did that.

  • PRO
    22 days ago

    Question - where is the vent pipe for your hood? does it go into the wall?

    Here is my advice ( now that I have seen the whole kitchen ) :

    - Nothing else is staggered height in the kitchen - get rid of that cabinet and put a filler above it and replace that length of crown molding - this does not affect the splash

    - order several hinge restrictors and put them on any doors that open onto something they will hit. That will solve the issue by the hood.

    - Measure the opening for the dishwasher. If it measures 24" wide, then the DW is installed wrong. What brand of DW is that? Did the designer have the specs of the appliances when selling you the cabinets? If the space is wider then 24" , order a filler and have the space made smaller and reinstall the DW. Something is every off right there.

    Good luck

  • 21 days ago

    Yes, it is vented through the wall. The cabinet above the hood is empty.


  • 21 days ago
    last modified: 21 days ago

    Debbi: Yes, the dishwasher was paid for and held when the design was made. It is a standard GE dishwasher. We had all our appliances purchased and on hold when the design was drawn. Lowes Executive Customer Service is involved now. Thank you for all the help. I don't care if it is raised or not I care that it looks good. The dishwasher opening is 26.5.

  • PRO
    21 days ago

    26.5”? Idiots. Dishwashers have been standard at 24” forever. They at least owe you two fillers plus the crown fix. Bless their hearts.