There are a few things in the Sheridan House that I have spent literally hours trying to figure out the best way to make them work. One of those things is the kitchen cabinets. A few things we know for sure:
- We want to keep the existing cabinets
- We need to add a section of cabinets for the area next to where the stove will go
- The base cabinets are about 4″ lower than normal
- The upper cabinets come down lower than normal
- A dishwasher (we’re not 100% sure we’re going to add one) requires about 2-2.5 more inches below the countertop.
Here’s some photos. (click to see them larger)
So, we can leave everything as is and build the new lower cabinet to match, and have the stove surface stick up 4″ above the counter. Or, we can build the new section at normal height and have most of the counter low, but the new ‘end’ high. Or, we can raise the whole counter a full 4″ to normal height and the stove fits normal and there’s room for a dishwasher. But then there is almost no usable counter space because that leaves about 9″ between the counter and the upper cabinets. You see the dilemma? I’ve literally spent hours pondering this and trying to come up with a solution.
Here’s what I think will be the best compromise…Raise the counter 2.5-3″ so it’s barely lower than normal, probably not noticeably so. Shorten the upper cabinets by a total of about 2.5″. I should be able to take about 1″ off the top and 1.5″ off the bottom of the cabinet doors. I think that between those compromises, we’ll get everything we’re hoping to – a dishwasher would fit, there’d still be about 14″ of clearance between the counter and upper cabinets, the stove would only be ~ 1″ higher than the counter and the character of the original cabinets can remain mostly intact. There’s still the issue of how to raise the counter, but that’s another kind of problem that is more fun to figure out because one way or another it can be done.
Any other ideas? There’s a bunch more photos of the kitchen posted on Flickr.
Have you thought about the dishwasher drawers? I think you can install just one which takes up less space and does not require full height.
Thanks for the suggestion, John. I’ll stop by the appliance store today or tomorrow and see what I can find out.
Another idea… save the doors and drawers and make new boxes and face frames. Then you could have drawers above your doors.
Or could you build and island?
I just searched for ADA compliant dishwashers. This one is 32.5.. I bet you can find more.
http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=202096&cm_ven=Froogle&cm_cat=Appliances&cm_pla=Asko&cm_ite=Asko-Dishwashers-202096&cid=13FDABDEB5715205B424EB1D706956C4
Thanks for the ideas, John. Here’s my latest thought: When I double-checked the standard specs, the counters are 3″ too low, not 4 like I thought. That in mind, I think if I build a toe kick underneath them that is 3″ tall, it will add the necessary height to the base cabinets. As for the top cabinets, they’re supposed to be 54″ off the floor (~18″ above the counter). These are currently about 46″ and there really isn’t any way to gain 8 full inches. I can come up with about 4″ though, so I think I’ll trim them so they’re 4″ shorter and we’ll just have to deal with have less room under the cabinets. That’s the latest – it could change again tomorrow.
You could always add undercabinet lights to make the countertop seem more open. Just a thought…