IKEA kitchen wall units

[Colin Green]

I'm measuring up for a new kitchen and see that IKEA have some tall (92cm) wall units. I might be able to squeeze these in but I was wondering whether it's a good idea to fit them right against the ceiling or to leave a bit of a gap. I would guess you need some gap to allow the doors to open freely, however I was thinking a very small gap might trap a lot of dust, dead bugs etc. Perhaps closing the gap with some kind of strip and sealing it off is the answer? (The ceiling is quite uneven BTW).

Another factor is how much space I have between the work surface and the wall units. Right now this is 50cm which seems about right, however the IKEA floor units are listed as being 86cm high(same as my existing), but they also state that legs are not provided. Does anyone know if the legs are included in this height? The IKEA plastic legs can apparently be adjusted between 12-18cm, so does this mean my actual worktop height is 98-104cm?(+ a bit for depth of the kitchen surface) - note that the metal legs they sell are even longer.

If the work surface is 98cm+ then it might be sensible to move the wall units up a touch, but this means I'll have to go for the 72cm high ones instead.

Thanks in advance,

Colin.

[Tony Bryer]

Standard work surface height is 90cm - which would be your 86cm units + 4cm (40mm) worktop. I strongly suspect that the 86cm is with legs attached and adjusted to mid-height

[Tony Eva]

Base cabinets are 70cm high, legs are nominally 16cm, worktop is 4cm thick = 90cm total floor to worktop surface.

[chris French]

In message , Colin Green writes

We have some old Hygena units (1960's vintage in our kitchen) that go right upto to the ceiling, There is a small gap - max 1 cm, mostly less I guess. I guess it must have trapped alot of dust and bugs over the years, but seeing as you can't see them I don't worry about it. It looks fine. certainly better than finishing the units below the ceiling as is the normal modern way IMO.

[Chris Hodges]

Colin Green wrote: I know this is a nit of a duplicate but I've just put in an ikea kitchen, so it might help:

Units are 70cm high. Adjustable plastic legs are 16 cm high (preset). Plinth is 16cm high (and you'll want plinth if you use the plastic legs).

I see no reason not to put the cupboards up to the ceiling. I considered but rejected doing that on the grounds of wanting to reach the contents. You have some (+/- approx 1/2 cm) vertical adjust on the doors with the current hinges, which will allow you to make the door just not touch the ceiling.

A word of warning though - cover panels for the 92cm cupboards are a stupid length - they seem to assume you will fit decor strip across the front between cover panel on both sides.

Also for a large wall unit I added extra fixings (holding the top to the wall).

[Colin Green]

Ok thanks everyone for the feedback, 70cm (or thereabouts) was the answer I was hoping for.

I think I'll go right up to the ceiling rather than leaving a large gap. Currently I have a load of stuff sitting atop of the cupbaords and it looks messy. I really need the storage space though so I think this is the neat/tidy option, even if it is awkward for the height impaired :)

Sorry I'm new to this - which bit is the cover panel?

Understood.

Regards,

Colin

[Andrew Gabriel]

This can have a remarkable visual effect of shrinking the room. If you have a large kitchen, it probably won't notice, but it can make a smaller kitchen look even smaller than it is because you lose the eye-line to the wall/ceiling corners, which has the visual effect of bringing the walls in to the cupboard fronts. The gap on top of cupboards is also handy for positioning concealed indirect room lighting, bouncing off a light coloured or white ceiling, with no shadows. (A central ceiling light in a kitchen is usually remarkably useless, as whenever you are working around the edge of the kitchen where worktops, cookers, sinks, etc are normally positioned, you are working in your shadow.)

A panel which goes on the end of a run of cupboards, to hide the white cupboard carcass with a panel which matches the doors. If you aren't fitting the decor strip under cupboards, simply cut the top off the cover panel so it fits on the end of the carcass without hanging down below. ISTR cover panels for the base units are 70cm, but they're wider so you would have to cut the back off instead, but this can be better if you wall isn't flat as you can cut it to follow the curvature of the wall.

[Colin Green]

Interesting point. Yes it is a small kitchen but then it looks like I won't bo going for the IKEA units after all. Their sink base is 80cm and I need to fit it into a corner on the left hand side (with drainer on left). So in order to fit an inset sink I'll have to move the base unit out to the right, and fit another 40cm(smallest unit width) unit to fill the gap. This won't leave much of a countertop on the right hand side (2000-1200=800mm) and a little bit (approx. 200mm) of relatively useless counter top on the left right against a wall.

Nah, I'll have to go for a more mundane 1000mm base unit and a sink unit sat on top. Maybe I can get a sub 1000mm sink for a touch more counter space.

It might not look brilliant but it's the most practical option, cheaper & a lot easier to install.

Ahh I see. Well I guess too long is better than too short (I'm still talking about cover panels BTW). I was hoping to avoid that necessity by fitting one of those nifty end units with the exposed shelves.

Cheers for the advice. On reflection I think you're right about the tall units, I'll have to think about where else I can squeeze in some extra storage space.

Colin.