kitechen cabinet placement -height

[tweety]

I am building a new kitchen and am thinking about moving my cabinets to 24inches high raterthan the standard 18 inches.

The kitchen guy is adiment about doing this and implied it is really "stupid" idea. My reasoning is that the kitchen will look more open and have a greater flexibility to use the counter space under the cabinets. I have 9ft celings and high 42inch cabinets so I do have space.

This way it will also reduce the amount of whitespace on the top.

I appreciate any opinions you may have onthis.

[Charles Spitzer]

how tall are you and your SO? you'll have a hard time getting to any shelves above the first one. it'll make selling your house to short people harder.

regards, charlie

[Joseph Meehan]

I think you should do what you want, but consider this before your decide what you want.

First I agree that it may well look better higher. It also will allow better access and use of the counter space.

On the down side, the usable storage space is going to go way down. Even the lowest shelf is going to be higher than most people are comfortable with. Try reaching for a shelf at 24 inches in someone else's home, then consider the next higher shelf. It will also cause some perspective buyers to shy off. Personally I don't worry about perspective buyers, but it is a consideration for people who move often. Last if you are going to have a range hood, they normally are designed to work with standard height cabinets. The higher mounting will reduce efficiency.

[3GCPO]

as long as it is figured in the planning before the cabinets are made. otherwise you will run into space issues where your appliances are. (hood,ref.,micro,etc.)

you "will" only be able to reach the bottom shelf with-out a stool (in your case maybe a 4' step ladder)

Final Thought: I think your cabinet guy is right ...............it IS a stupid idea.

[norminn]

Six inches difference? If a future owner wants them lower, it's not that hard to do. Just keep in the planning how often you might want to access stuff that is in higher shelves. Depends how tall you are. My hubby won't bend over to take anything out of a base cabinet, so he leaves stuff on the counter. :o)

[Frogleg]

I believe "standard" counter and cabinet heights were established sometime in the 50s based on the average woman's height (who else would be in the kitchen?) I just measured, and the lower edge of my cabinets are 20" above the counter, the bottom surface about 22". The total height of the cabinets is 30". Where available, the above cabinet space is open for storage of seldom-used or bulky items. I am

5'8" and can easily reach everything in the cabinets (bottom surface and 1 shelf). I use a kitchen stepladder for the above-cabinet space.

I don't think an "open" look should be the main consideration if you and others actually do a lot of work in the kitchen. If I'd been thinking clearly when my kitchen was redone, I would have had the

*counter* level raised an inch (from 35" to 36") so that I'm not slightly bent over during food prep or sink operations.

[EL]

We've done it and like it, but my wife and I are both over 6 ft. Our counters are also rasied quite a bit. When we have midgets visiting they complain.

Boden

tweety wrote:

[zxcvbob]

Sorry for the piggyback; I didn't get the original message.

Tell the "kitchen guy" to put the cabinets where you want them or he's fired. If he thinks you're stupid, he will do a shoddy job anyway 'cause he will think he can get a way with it. You don't want someone like that installing your cabinets; he will hang them crooked or not anchor them to the walls properly.

When my parents had a house built 40 years ago, (not a fancy one by any means) the cabinet installer measured my mom's height and reach and put the countertops and cabinets about 2 or 3 inches higher than normal -- my dad is 6' 6" and my mom is 5' 11". And they've been happy with them all this time.

Best regards, Bob

[tweety]

Thank you all for your help with this delima.

Everyone in my family is between 5-4 and 5-7 tall. If I move the range up by 6 inches would that be a big problem from efficiency perspective?

We cook a lot of food with onions/garlic and oil so I want the exaust to work at peak especially in the winter when I can't open the windows as much.