Why do kitchen cabinets not go to ceiling?

Digital Society

Just wondering why kitchen cabinets waste so much space by not filling the gap up to the ceiling? Even in small apartments they waste that space and the top just fills with random crap anyway.

Is there a reason?

Lux23

Because most people can't reach that far?

Alun

It's always puzzled me too, seeing as on the continent, at least in Germany and Netherlands where I lived, they do exactly that. Maybe it's an odd UK/Irish thing?

Here's a photo of our kitchen in the Netherlands (taken as we were moving out to move here!) to prove the point ...

BrokenArrows

Alun wrote: »

It's always puzzled me too, seeing as on the continent, at least in Germany and Netherlands where I lived, they do exactly that. Maybe it's an odd UK/Irish thing?

Here's a photo of our kitchen in the Netherlands (taken as we were moving out to move here!) to prove the point ...

It looks weird in my opinion. Also makes the ceiling look very low.

looksee

My kitchen cabinets go to within two inches of the ceiling. Installed about 18 months ago. I had a choice between them and the 'normal' ones.

miezekatze

I used to live in an apartment where they went up to the ceiling. I couldn't reach the top shelves in the presses without a ladder so we basically used those to store stuff that we would now store in the attic. The top shelves are kind of pointless for storing actual kitchen stuff cos you can't reach them or even see what's in them.

PMBC

IMHO its money saving by suppliers; an idea imported from UK - generally a bad marketplace to be following.
The kitchen would be much cleaner at full height, no grease and dust on top, no room for mice to come down from attic through service opening and more space. For those of us of small size, only rarely used items to be stored at top level and use a chair, stool or hop-up to reach.

cruizer101

Its a ridiculous waste of space, the idea that its because you can't reach it is nonsense, how many people can reach the back of top shelf of standard cupboards without hopping up on a chair.

They can be got but you will probably pay a premium, it adds plenty of storage space and yes you might need to hop up on a chair to get stuff but there is plenty of things you do not need every day.

Alun

Yes, I currently have a row of plastic storage containers perched on top of my kitchen cabinets with all those seldom used, but essential bits and bobs, which just looks messy IMO.

We went kitchen shopping yesterday and asked could they build it up to the ceiling. They said they could but that often ceilings aren't level so it can look off/worse than when there is space left. That's perspective.

fred funk }{

Deleted User wrote: »

We went kitchen shopping yesterday and asked could they build it up to the ceiling. They said they could but that often ceilings aren't level so it can look off/worse than when there is space left. That's perspective.

Sounds like they were fobbing you off. A good fitter won't have a problem with that.

kupus

Deleted User wrote: »

We went kitchen shopping yesterday and asked could they build it up to the ceiling. They said they could but that often ceilings aren't level so it can look off/worse than when there is space left. That's perspective.

bit a caulk, be grand!

looksee

If you want a ready made kitchen, just go for one that will go near to the ceiling. It happens that our ceiling are the slightly high side of 'normal' so we have bit of a gap, but it looks fine. I think it would look peculiar if you were trying to bodge a standard kitchen to exactly fit.

Graham

Digital Society wrote: »

Is there a reason?

Most people don't ask for them.

Graham

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Sounds like they were fobbing you off. A good fitter won't have a problem with that.

I'm not sure how a fitter would work around an uneven/unlevel ceiling.

Take a look at Alun's photo, any adjustment in the door height at manufacturing stage to accommodate a wonky ceiling is going to ruin the line across the run of door tops. Even if you left a larger gap to keep the doors level, proximity would highlight any differences in ceiling levels.

B-D-P--

Alun wrote: »

Here's a photo of our kitchen in the Netherlands (taken as we were moving out to move here!) to prove the point ...

Bear in mind the average male in over 6ft1in in holland...

Alun

B-D-P-- wrote: »

Bear in mind the average male in over 6ft1in in holland...

I'm only 5' 10" and found it pretty useful as did my 5' 1" wife. All it needs is a little folding steps. Very handy for keeping all those seldom used kitchen gadgets without them gathering dust.

Alun

Graham wrote: »

Most people don't ask for them.

More likely most people don't even know they exist. A vicious circle.

Graham

Alun wrote: »

More likely most people don't even know they exist. A vicious circle.

I suspect that's a large part of it. You don't see many examples in the kitchen showrooms either.

Another part of it is no doubt cost related, larger cabinets and larger doors are going to add to the expense of a new kitchen. That premium is probably higher here where they would be much less common.

B-D-P--

Alun wrote: »

More likely most people don't even know they exist. A vicious circle.

Lucky the internet is making people think more and not accept that its just the way things are done. Hence now people are asking, Why leave a void?
Why not fill it.

Graham

B-D-P-- wrote: »

Lucky the internet is making people think more and not accept that its just the way things are done. Hence now people are asking, Why leave a void?
Why not fill it.

I'm fairly sure most kitchen companies would be only too happy to provide their customer with a more expensive option

Graham

Graham wrote: »

I suspect that's a large part of it. You don't see many examples in the kitchen showrooms either.

Another part of it is no doubt cost related, larger cabinets and larger doomzrs are going to add to the expense of a new kitchen. That premium is probably higher here where they would be much less common.

The kitchen guy yesterday said in terms of price the size of door didn't matter (I'm sure he meant within reason) and the way we could reduce the cost is by limiting the number of doors and making the existing doors larger.

jack of all

I once worked for kitchen supplier that supplied european-made kitchens; wall cupboards were available in 3 different heights and additional units could be added on top to boost overal height further- but this of course added to cost. You've got to factor in larger gable boards (and these really add to cost in some high gloss finishes). There's extra time and skill required of the fitter to scribe filler strips/ pelmets etc. Much easier to stop cabinets short of the ceiling, although I do agree that full height would make more sense in most kitchen layouts.

Sleepy

The cost difference is fairly minimal. We went with cabinets that went almost to the roof (about 4 inch gap in the kitchen) and about an inch in the utility room.

The fold out steps Ikea sell are handy if the other half is a short arse like Mrs Sleepy alright!

Graham

Sleepy wrote: »

The cost difference is fairly minimal. We went with cabinets that went almost to the roof (about 4 inch gap in the kitchen) and about an inch in the utility room.

The fold out steps Ikea sell are handy if the other half is a short arse like Mrs Sleepy alright!

What colour were your cabinets/doors Sleepy?

Sleepy

Grey. I can't remember the exact name of the colour in the Kitchen (which we got fitted). The utility room I did with the Grey IKEA Veddinge range.

peter bermingham

Graham wrote: »

I'm not sure how a fitter would work around an uneven/unlevel ceiling.

Take a look at Alun's photo, any adjustment in the door height at manufacturing stage to accommodate a wonky ceiling is going to ruin the line across the run of door tops. Even if you left a larger gap to keep the doors level, proximity would highlight any differences in ceiling levels.

You leave a 50mm or so gap between the ceiling and the top of the units then scribe a filler to the ceiling its an awful lot easier than cutting molding