I have fold down wire shelves, which I like because they're up out of the way most of the time. When up, there is a shallow shelf piece there for small things like S&P shakers. I was watching "Reba" the other day, and she has a such a jumble of stuff on that shelf over her range. If it were real it would probably be a fire hazard.

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:

I absolutely love the look of glass shelves in front of the window, and you can build a bracket that the glass slides into so you can remove the shelves when you need to clean the windows to make them more accessible. Also, my husband is toying with the idea of copper pipe run between the upper cabinets on either side of the hood, with hooks to hang utensils from. You could also do this under open shelving or glass shelves to hang coffee cups, utensils, pot holders, etc from, or suspend a spice rack ( I think I've seen a hanging spice rack at Ikea). You'll still get lots of light from the windows and not have to alter them, but it makes that dead space in front of the windows more useful in a kitchen with limited storage. If my kitchen window got as much light as yours seems to, I'd be lining up little pots of fresh herbs on a glass shelf. Not sure what your colors are, but I found really cute copper and teal (my accent colors) owl planters on Amazon that will look amazing with the dark grey cabinets and white quartz countertops I'm planning. Also got some large jewel toned blue glass jars to use for storage on open shelves. And a teal rectangular clay planter to stand rolled up dish towels in on a shelf.

If possible, try to get more landing space on both sides of stove. Ideally 15" minimum. But if it must stay then... Before making any decisions, check the stove and hood installation instructions to determine height and Spacing for combustibles (cabinets above) Then Try to keep some type of symmetry around the hood. Same spacing on both sides of hood. I prefer 3" of Spacing around hood. Then same width cabinets on both sides if possible. A 1 door wall cabinet opening away from hood is nice, to avoid reaching around door, if using while cooking. If the sketch you posted is the only option, then I would do 3" of Spacing then a 1 door cabinet then the 2 door cabinet to right make the door same size. Example if 12" x 2 doors = 24" wide cabinet with 2(12" doors) Also, if cabinets against an adjacent wall, don't forget the functional filler, so the door will open and the hardware won't hit wall.