How to Hack an IKEA 35" Wall Cabinet

Don't you love IKEA's new 40" wall cabinets? The longer cabinets look clean and modern, plus they turn what would formerly have been wasted space above into usable storage. But with our 90" high pantries—4-1/2" with toe kicks—dictating how high we can hang our wall cabinets, we were left with just 18-1/2" clearance above the cooktop, when the specs call for 24". Bummer.

I went into my design appointment at IKEA Brooklyn resigned to the prospect that I would have to order all three sets of wall cabinets custom. But IKEA kitchen designer Deb (callout!) came up with this genius solution.

The answer to my dilemma? Stacked cabinets — 15s over 20s— covered by 35" doors.

Because I'm ordering the doors custom made by Scherr's, I'm not bound by IKEA's door sizes, so I can order the doors in whatever sizes I need — so 35" it is.

Sure, I could have used one shorter cabinet above the cooktop—many kitchen designers do. But I want to maintain the beautiful symmetry and uninterrupted line at the perimeter that makes this inspiration kitchen that I love look so harmonious:

Via Houzz

This will get us to just about 22" and my contractor will get us the rest of the way by cutting the center cabinet down a few inches to fit.

This whole design dilemma is a reminder of how important it is for me to read the specs and install instructions for all our new appliances.

Here's another thing that might have been a problem: The slide-out hood I'm using is intended to hang under 13" deep wall cabinets, but IKEA's are 15" deep. Turns out that's okay because there are products out there, like this cabinet spacer kit designed to cover the space between the back wall and where the hood starts with flame-retardant material.

This kitchen plan is coming together. Stacking 15" and 20" wall cabinets to get a combined length of 35" is just the solution we need to ensure the distance from our cooktop to rangehood is safe and up to code.