I’m currently designing our new kitchen cabinets that will be going into our home that we’re remodeling. I’m the cabinet builder so anything goes. We have elected to use 30″ deep counter tops on two of the walls to gain necessary storage space on the top while preserving working area. I’ve never designed this arrangement nor has my wife or I used such a kitchen. So I’m wondering how the deep counter top will impact access to the upper cabinets mounted to the walls above. My current thinking is to simply make them a bit deeper than normal, say 14″ and to space them off the wall by another 3 or 4″. That will give us more storage capacity and place them so the reach isn’t too great.
Thoughts? I’d especially appreciate hearing opinion from anyone who has experience using this arrangement.
Replies
deep
Be sure to keep a nice step stool handy. ;-)
The practicality, I think is a function of your physical size, that of your wife, and the impact of the design on the potential eventual resale of the house. Deep cabinets work well for tall people with long arms, but not so much for average folks, and even less so for short folks.
You might try doing a mock-up of the counter and upper cabinets to see how well they will work for you and your wife. Sheets of plywood supported on ladders at the design height would probably give you a good idea.
FWIW, I'm a short guy (5'8") who thinks the ideal width for a woodworking bench is 36" - not the 22-24" width usually considered ideal.
thanks
Thanks for the reply but I don't think a step stool will be necessary. I'm certainly planning on doing some sort of mock-up of the upper cabs... their depth and placement. I think as long as I set their face 13" from the front edge of the counter top, then their access will be "normal." I'm hoping I can get some additional depth to them... thus this inquiry. The 30" counter depth is going to happen... that's a given. Many custom kitchens use this.
As for resale..... We don't give a hoot. We plan on staying here till they carry us out feet first. Hope that isn't soon!
we said the same thing 5 houses and 3 states ago, lesson learned, we had to go back and fix the things that didn't conform to standards, it is always better to take into consideration resale value (and we built these houses from the ground up ourselves)
I would certainly second the mockup idea.
My first set of kitchen cabinets looked great in sketchup. I had set the wall cabinets at 22 inches over the base cabinets to allow a more open feeling. Looking at the drawings, my wife said "yeah, that looks nice."
I hung the first cabinet and my wife, who is 5'12" said "Nope, gotta put those 4 inches lower so that I can use the second and third shelves. Rats!!
But, you have to please your customer. So, I have a 4" gap at the ceiling that I have to get creative about someday. (yep, all the wall cabinets had been made).
Had I made up a mockup using foam board from Michaels I'd have avoided that problem.
P.S. I also made them 14" deep, and that worked out just fine.
One side of my kitchen has a 30" deep countertop. It was initially done so that we could get a standard depth refrigerator and still have it look built in. The extra counter space is great for storing regularly used small appliances while preserving precious counter space. In my case, the cabinets are stock, so the base cabinets are just held 6" off the wall and a stringer was installed along the wall to support the countertop. The top cabinets are standard depth. Most of the regularly used stuff is kept in the front part of the lower shelves, though a small step stool is occasionally used to reach the higher or deeper stuff. I do periodically have to caution my wife about hanging on the cabinet while she's "shopping" in the cabinet. If I had it to do again, I'd do the same thing.
Thanks so much for this input. I was hoping for some "hands on" sort of experiences. I haven't decided yet if our lower cabinets will be actually deeper than normal or the standard size. I'll be doing the building so I get to choose. Probably will opt for deep. After all I don't like letting space go unused.
We already purchased a reduced depth refer before deciding on the deep cabs. But luckily we haven't taken delivery yet and the store will swap us for a standard depth unit. They want to keep us happy cuz we are still in the market for cooktop, oven, and dishwasher.
Thank you for the comments, Dusty. Not to worry... all the lower access will be by drawers. I gave up crawling into deep cabinets long ago.
Deep Counters
I first saw this in a kitchen designed by a good friend. It gives space behind the sink he said. You can actually clean the counter there. It also gives added space for all those things that sit on a counter and all and all a better idea than an appliance garage. You don't necessarily have to make the base cabinets deeper, just set them forward. It is an idea now that I often draw in plans.
The wall cabinets probably should be deeper. And it wouldn't hurt if they were mounted slightly forward of the wall plane by 3" as you suggested. If you want to test reach mount a board projecting three to six inches forward of your standard counters and see if you can reach. I bet three inches doesn't make much of a difference.
And as wall cabinets get higher a stool will be required anyway. There are many good reasons for 30" deep counters, Figure out how to make it work for you.
Peter
Thank you for your input, Peter. You suggested, "... Figure out how to make it work for you." That's exactly what I'm doing. Yours and others insights makes it all the easier.
These deep countertops are somewhat custom made for our kitchen arrangement. It's a "U" shape that is much wider than deep. The extra combined foot of counter will effectively reduce our commute from one side to the other without shrinking the "big" feel of the kitchen space. The longer, connecting, side of the "U" will remain a standard 25" deep counter. Too bad in one respect because this one will hold the sink. So no extra depth there for sponge storage. Ah well....
As to expense of countertop: It will only require a few dollars more in concrete, some extra melamine for the form, some time, and more beer for the counter top moving crew. I am fortunate to be able to do all this work (except the moving) by myself.
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