The New Year is quickly approaching, and with it brings the perfect time to start planning a kitchen renovation. Before you jump into the process, you might start thinking of the small details that make or break a design. The question on our lips is how much space should be between worktops and kitchen cabinets?
While deciding on cabinetry colours and surface materials will make the biggest aesthetic impact, it's the specific details, like the difference between a few centimetres, which will make your kitchen functional.
How much space should there be between worktops and kitchen cabinets?
It won't be until the later stages of your design process that you begin to consider the exact measurements of your kitchen, and this will be handled by your kitchen designer and tradesperson. However, it's still worth understanding these figures yourself, particularly if you're undertaking a self-build.
'In most UK kitchens, we work to a distance of roughly 450 millimetres to 500 millimetres between the worktop and the underside of the wall cabinetry', says Richard Davonport, managing director at kitchen company Davonport.
'It is a range that supports day-to-day tasks and gives enough room for the appliances people tend to keep out, while still ensuring the cabinetry remains practical to use.'
While this is the UK standard, it's not a defined measurement that has to be abided by.
'The final height is never a fixed figure. The stature of the homeowner influences where the cabinets sit, with taller clients often favouring a slightly larger gap so the units feel lighter above the counter, and shorter clients benefiting from a lower position that keeps shelves genuinely accessible,' Richard adds.
It's also important to take into consideration whether you have tall ceilings, the overall shape of the room and how much light it receives.
'The room’s proportions matter as well. In narrower kitchens, a reduced gap helps the cabinetry feel anchored to the worktop, whereas in spaces with generous ceiling heights, increasing the distance prevents the wall units from drifting visually,' Richard continues.
In areas where your worktops are just used for food prep or for everyday appliances such as a kettle and toaster, the standard height will suffice.
However, if you have a specific use case in mind for a particular span of worktop, you might need to increase the height. Whether it's an area with a hob or you have a particularly large appliance that won't be going anywhere, you could benefit from more breathing room.
'When specifying the distance between the worktop and upper wall cabinets, it’s important to consider the types of appliances you plan to use in this area. Above a gas hob, this should be increased to at least 750mm to meet safety and ventilation requirements,' explains Al Bruce, founder of Olive & Barr.
These measurements for the space between your worktops and kitchen cabinets should put you in good stead to bring your kitchen design to life. However, it's important to think about exactly how you intend to use each area of your kitchen so you can make sure the measurements work for you.
