Don't do 30"s over the sink! Talk about claustrophobic feeling. Our old kitchen had them and I thought it was miserable. And I'm not even the type to stand at the sink and wash things by hand or peel potatoes, etc. It just gives the room a closed-in feeling. With the remodel we went with some cabinets, because we desperately needed the storage, that were only 15" tall. It's *much* better now. Good luck!

old:

new:

My parents' home (my childhood home) is a galley kitchen where the sink faces standard (30"?) cabinets. I've never measured if the cabinets were installed higher than normal, though I find it doubtful considering my mother is quite petite. To this day the kitchen is this way and no one in the family has ever had a problem with the non-raised cabinetry over the sink. My father is now the official dishwasher (at 6' tall) and it does not bother him. My brother and I washed dishes there as children until we moved out of the house and it never bothered us. All pots, pans, prepping knives, and many other dishes are washed in that sink every single evening and sometimes multiple other times during the day. My parents cook every night and most breakfasts. Most meals include lots (and I mean LOTS) of vegetables and so a great deal of vegetable prep work is done in the sink as well. Overall, the standard cabinetry is very functional and maintains the storage my parents desire.

Some people may feel claustrophobic, though others might not. Can you try mocking it up with cardboard or something to see if it bothers you?

I happen to remember and quickly find a blog post on Things That Inspire about wall sinks. I personally think it needs to be a shorter cabinet that doesn't come down as far but I spend lots of time at my sink and would prefer not to have my face in a cabinet. On this blog post I liked the open shelving that isn't as deep as the cabinet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen wall sinks on Things That Inspire

u know i just got 30 inch over the sink just because i was ignorant, it is a bit tight get the smaller

We wanted a more open look and feeling, so our uppers are 21.5" over the counters (standard is 18"?), and we have an open shelf 31" over the sink. A row of glass-front cabs runs across the whole top line, over the open shelf and counter cabs) Wish I had a photo....

This works very, very comfortably. However, we have 30" deep bottom cabinets and the uppers are 15" deep, so the setback is 15" instead of standard 12".

Both my kitchens have been really small, so one had an 18" space between counter and all cabinets and this one has 24", because we didn't want to eliminate storage. It never really bothered me that much. If there was nothing to look at, like a window, I would probably do it again, if the kitchen was small. In a larger kitchen there is no particular reason not to leave it more open if it works well with the design.

I can't remember where I saw this originally so I can't credit the source (although it was likely here, as GW is the source of all things lovely and innovative for the kitchen!)

Anyway I saved it because it looks like a good example of using the space over the sink but adding interest and not having cabinet doors 'in your face'. I like that the back of the niche is a different color than the cabinets and walls -- makes the items on the shelf pop.

HTH

{{!gwi}}

I did standard height but had the one over the sink built with a narrow depth. It holds 2 rows of glasses very nicely and you don't feel closed in. That said I did it because I am so short. The only issue that came up after decision is a goose neck faucet looked silly so I had to find a different faucet.

I had huge cabinets over my sink in my previous remodel but had them hung @ 22 inches. It made a big difference.

Here is a link that might be useful:

PS: xand83 I remember when you first posted your renovated kitchen. It turned out so well and I LOVE those mango walls!

So many interesting ideas - and beautiful kitchens! It's interesting to hear the various takes on the issue. I'm not sure what would be best for me yet. We currently have the sink under 24" cabinets with a scalloped strip around the bottom that adds another 3 inches. I know I don't feel at all closed in at that height.

The shelves are appealing, aren't they? And the idea of going less deep over the sink intrigues me, depending on which cabinet line we end up going with that could be simple - or not.

My ceilings are short and so am I. Of course, I want crown. (I do have a way of making my life difficult with my wants) We contemplated making the whole wall of uppers 24"+crown, which would have been a nice height for the kitchen dimensinos but would have meant installing one of those library ladders on wheels for me to operate in the kitchen at all. I would then quality for the GW eccentric kitchen committee, I guess, but as appealing as that idea is, we are back to 30" uppers. ;)

I'm going with a backsplash window so I'll have a very strong horizonal line playing on that wall. I'll have to play with how to integrate that with the sink. Hm...

My Mom is 5'5" (accounting for shrinkage) and she is sort of old school so a lot of things still get washed by hand. She chose storage over the sink over the raised cabinet. It never bothers her and it doesn't bother me when I'm there - honestly if I'm stuck doing dishes the view or any sense of claustrophobia is going to be pretty irrelevant in comparison to how much I hate doing dishes. To each his\her own.

When we lived in a condo the cabinets over the sink were shorter. I prefer something other than a cabinet face to look at, like a picture or a clock. :)

Someone even put a little flip-down TV screen under the cabinets above their sink.

If you want to see more kitchens like that I'd try flipping through the Finished Kitchens Blog slideshow. That would be an easy thing to spot, as most probably have windows. Just stop when you come to one with the cabinets above and see how it looks to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchen Blog

That looks great, numbersjunkie.

I was just looking with a friend at properties with no kitchen windows, and I definitely preferred it when they had a higher cabinet over the sink. Higher and shallower would be even better.

We are doing an open cabinet with a plate rack, shelf and mug hooks. Not done yet, but it will be shorter than the other cabinets surrounding. Here's a mock up:

Having had multiple sinks that weren't under windows, I can say open shelving, shallower cabs, or higher cabs are all fine. However, full sized uppers holding things that other people want to reach, like glasses, are a recipe for unscheduled rhinoplasty.

Marcolo,

Is that a pro or a con?

In my current rented apartment, I live with cabinets over the sink and DW. I actually just realized the distance between the counter and wall cab is 17", which is an inch lower than normal. It doesn't bother me, except when someone is trying to get something out while I'm washing dishes, but that rarely happens. Then again, I'm 4'11". What does bother me is when I'm trying to get something out of the wall cab above the DW while DH is loading the DW (every friday night), but, again, I'm short, so it may be just a personal issue.

DH is about 5'7" and the wall cabs don't seem to bother him. In remodeling my kitchen in our new house, I had to put the wall cabs over the sinks - space is a premium in that kitchen. I don't think it'll bother us, though, since we're already used to it.

If you have the space to highlight beautiful backsplash and raise the cabs above the sink, or do a flip down TV, I say why not?

Thanks for this post and the link that taught me the phrase "wall sink" something which is so profoundly non-normative here on GW-KF that I usually feel quite defensive about my choice to do it. (Only have limited exterior walls in my kitchen plan and having the range and its hood on that wall is a much higher priority for me than the conventional window/sink combo.)

Anyhoo, the one thing that occurred to me about fancy glass cabs or displayed stemware over a sink (or even a TV) is that the backsplash area and above and adjacent areas see a lot of spatter from water, soap and probably even greasy, sudsy droplets during the course of washing up in my kitchen. I don't use a DW so perhaps I am out of normal experience there - but I would hesitate to put a plate rack, or glassware etc., in an unprotected space right above the sink. Even glass-faced cabs would also require more maintenenace, I think. YMMV.

L

In Europe it is quite common to have a dish drain rack in the cabinet above the sink. Wash dishes, place in rack, close door, done. Gets the dish rack out of sight, which cannot be a bad thing.

As another, less salubrious inspiration picture - you'll have to imagine this one, ladies - in drinking establishments of the lower sort the men's restrooms often have the newspaper tacked up above the urinals. You see, the clientele are all avid readers, and like to keep abreast of world events as they do their necessaries.

So, we could apply the same principle to our dishwashing. How about a television over the sink, tuned to the program of your choice? An e-reader, displaying ''War And Peace'', a gripping tale that should last through 5 years of hand washing? Crossword puzzles, sudoku tables, mind twisters? A mirror to practice our winsome duckfaces?

Whatever strikes your fancy, but please don't stand there night after night, your French tips melting in dish soap, memorizing the pits and graining on a featureless cabinet door. That's why we remodel kitchens in the first place.

"Whatever strikes your fancy, but please don't stand there night after night, your French tips melting in dish soap, memorizing the pits and graining on a featureless cabinet door. That's why we remodel kitchens in the first place."

You can wear your nails anyway you like johnliu but my guy doesn't go in for French tips and doing dishes isn't woman's work at my house.

Oh, thanks Chicagoans! It was a fun project. I wish I had another kitchen to tackle!

This is a view of the cabs over the sink before the demolition of our old kitchen. It is a scene that caused my husband no end of despair as he washed the dishes there each night with his head jammed up into the cabs. He is 6' 2". I don't know the specific measurements of these cabs but you can probably figure it out. The glass fronts kept it from being too heavy looking. I am 5'5" and washing dishes there did not bother me that much - just the part about washing the dishes (smirk). It really is a man's job.

This picture also shows the ridiculous placement of the dishwasher on the island so that you had to dribble on the way from the sink to the dishwasher and could not walk by the darn thing while it was open.

We had a window in our first house over the sink. It faced the street so the blinds were closed most of the time for privacy.
In our current house, the old kitchen had a corner sink and a corner upper cab over it, with a lazy susan inside. I felt like it was too close to my face when washing up at the sink. I am not tall, approx 5'5", but it bothered the heck out of me. It was also a pain if someone needed something from the cab when one of us was at the sink.

In our new kitchen, there is nothing above the sink yet, but we will have a backsplash with feature tiles (our vintage stove has its own attached bs) and chrome railroad car shelving above that. I wanted an open wall behind the sink because it is an interior wall with no windows. I'd much rather have some space between my face and the wall and have something interesting to look at. If we had more money, we'd tile all the way to the ceiling but since the ceiling is a cathedral style, it would have broken the bank, lol....

In any case, unless you are stuck and need every single inch you can squeeze out, I'd keep the area over the sink as free as possible. I think an open shelf, a shorter cab placed higher or going bare are all good options if you don't have a window with a view.