Kitchen Cabinets Ideas: Design Kitchen Islands With Wall Cabinets

Islands are a great feature in most any kitchen, adding both storage and counter space to what can be a cramped area just before meal time. In may cases, islands have taken the place of kitchen tables, but can be designed with more functionality than a simple table ever dreamed of having.

People will often congregate around an island if it's there, so it ought to be high enough. With custom cabinet lines, you can have special cabinets built to do this, but if you want to stay in the semi custom price range, there are other options.

One of the things designers will do is to put wall cabinets right on the floor. Standard wall cabinet heights in semi-custom lines are usually from 12” to 42”. The taller ones are 36” and 42”, though some manufacturers might have 39” wall cabinets in their catalog as well.

The items often included in islands are sinks and waste receptacle pull outs. Both of these types of cabinets are base cabinets, but what folks often do is have a two-level island, with sink and counterspace on the lower level, then a higher level, with more countertop, where people can sit or stand.  This is where wall cabinets come in...

First, you'll need to figure out just how high you want the raised section to be.  Some people are happy with regular countertop height (the top surface being somewhere in the 36" range) but that's a bit low for most.  Hypothetically, let's figure that you want it in the 40" range.  That means 36" wall cabinets.  "Wait," you say.  "That's short!"  But it's not, and here's why.

Base cabinets are 34 1/2" high, but 4 1/2" of that is toe kick.  Many companies allow you to get the toe kick shipped loose, so essentially you have a 30" high, 24" deep cabinet.  Wall cabinets don't come with toe kicks as an option, but nothing says you can't put one on.  This would bump our short (allegedly) 36" wall cabinet to 40 1/2", which is just about the height at which we hypothetically decided to raise our countertop.

Toe kicks aren't something you can use by themselves to hold up your wall cabinets in the island.  They are just a 1/2" piece of something; what they are depends on what you order, whether it's black laminated particle board, solid maple, or anything else a cabinet manufacturer might offer. What you can do is simply order extra toe kicks with your kitchen, enough to go underneath these wall cabinets in the raised section of the island, and bring those wall cabinets up to the correct height with blocks of lumber.  Attach the toe kicks at the proper depth, and you're off and running.

One of the drawbacks of wall cabinets is that very few come with drawers. If you want compartments within the 36", it's possible by STACKING wall cabinets.  We're talking 36", so there are a couple of ways to do it.  Three 12" high cabinets will work, two at 18", a 24" and a 12"... You get the idea.  Whatever is most visually pleasing, keeping what will be most functional in mind, is your guide.

Speaking of functional, remember that an island should be worth the floor space it's going to take up.  Keep function in mind when designing your island, and you'll be much happier with the end result.

For more information about kitchen islands, or to request pictures of different island designs, visit http://www.thecabinetfolks.com or email info@thecabinetfolks.com.