Here is the rest of the kitchen (view from above) for reference...

Couple of comments:

I'd go with a larger insert to increase your capture area above the range. A 40" insert would result in a 42" overall width will vastly improve your exhaust capabilities.

The hood is top-heavy to my eye and out of scale - could you increase the height of the side cabinets to the height of the oven cabinet to give it a bit more visual balance?

I agree with you to change the glass into something else.

Good luck,
Doc

@doc: Thanks for the great feedback. I have done a lot of reading and I am not going to go with a oversized hood or a huge CFM fan insert. I understand that this is recommended often on GW but I have read and been told elsewhere that this is somewhat overkill for home use. So I am sticking to a somewhat deep (relatively speaking) insert that is roughly the same width. We don't do a ton of cooking and aren't running a restaurant. Ventilation will be straight up and through the roof.

I really like your idea of increasing the height of the side cabinets. I am requesting to see what that looks like.

Thanks for the great ideas!

You may not cook much now. You, or your kids, may find that cooking interests you much more once you have a nice kitchen to do it in. And, I'd rather have a hood that was larger than to keep cleaning grease off of the cabinets to the side of the hood. Steam, grease, and smoke rise in a V shape upwards. That's why the larger hood is important. Sure, you can get by with less, but it's always much easier to turn down a higher capacity fan than it is to not have that capacity in case you burn something really big, or want to do a fish fry for the community in your kitchen.

With 10' ceilings, I'd also want taller overall cabinets, with several sections going to to the ceiling if you want the staggared look. Otherwise, do stacked cabinets all the way to the ceiling. It's less dusting, and a much more serene and less busy look than the up and down bit.

You are putting a 34" hood over a 36" range top? I have to agree with doc, mainly because I got the same advice. I had had a 30" builder grade hood over a 30" range top and the cabinets on each side had moisture damage because the hood couldn't capture enough.

I debated the pros and cons, and really wanted to be able to get all the smoke, smells, and moisture out of the kitchen before it went to the rest of the house. I grumbled because I didn't have space between my uppers. They had room for a 30" hood, so I rearranged all my uppers to make it work and put a 34" liner over a 30" range top with 600 cfm.

You won't be lashed with a wet noodle if you decide to keep the smaller unit. But that's why the people here advise having a hood that overlaps the range top.

As far as how your design looks, it looks top heavy to me too. And it has a stacked and mismatched look to me. The plate rail and the molding below the glass door section draw attention to that. I think it would look better if there wasn't a separation between middle and top section and the style was the same all the way up. JMO

Great feedback. Appreciate the opinions.

Just got off the phone with the cabinet designer. I am going to have him do stacked cabinets all the way to the ceiling to see how it looks. I will post some pics once I have them.

I will look for a hood that's slightly larger than 36". I also haven't found one I like for less than $1500.

This post was edited by building_a_house on Tue, Dec 18, 12 at 17:18

Just talked to the cabinet designer.

I have 48" above the rangetop. So there is absolutely no reason for me NOT to go with an insert larger than 36".

So I guess I am going to start researching larger inserts. Here I thought I couldn't fit one... Great news!

As an addendum, I'd also add a prep sink on the island. Otherwise, it's actualy in your way for most of your prep rather than aiding it.

Definitely. There is a prep sink. He just didn't include it in the drawing.

Do you think this hood would do better?

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/CP35I429SB.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Hood

10 foot ceilings, oh lucky you. My father has these and I love the storage offered (his go up to the ceiling). Definitely suggest you explore different cabinet heights.

Hoods - I think our 52" Prestige hood for our 48" CC was less than $1500. We've been pleased with it so far. We actually have a 62" x 31" capture area/sump.

Good luck and please do post pictures along the way. Best, oldbat2be

@oldbat: Been eyeing the Prestige hoods but they are $1724 (40 inch) and $1994 (46 inch) which is literally twice as expensive as the one I listed.

building_a_house - definitely visit AJ Madison and try to bundle your purchases. I just looked up our hood and a year ago, here was what we purchased from AJ Madison, salesperson: Jonathan Gold, (800)570-3355 x 106, jon@ajmadison.com

QTY Brand SKU Description Price
1 Prestige UIB521200 Custom Hood Power Pack Insert with Pre-Installed Blower, 3-Speed Control, Baffle Filters, Dimmer Light Switch and Reversible Duct: 52 Inch Width 1200 CFM Blower 1,800.00

When I started to research hoods, what resounded with me was advice to put the money into a good, adequately sized hood before even considering ranges/cooktops/etc. I took this advice to heart and have been very pleased. I still use the crock pot a lot :) (hey, I work and have two kids who play hockey) but when I cook.... my hood performs beautifully.

Trying to simulate a three-tier wedding cake?
It looms large, to paraphrase John Lennon.
I'd strike the top part with the glass doors. Use continuous panels all the way up, if you want to go to the ceiling.
Casey

Great feedback. Thanks for the opinion. Hope to post updated pics soon.

First go at the new plan...

Another angle...

The new plan looks much better to me. Much more balanced.

Thanks. I really think so as well. We are still working on the area directly above the hood.

Hope to have some updated pics today.

Shameless bump for my thread for the holidays. Appreciate any feedback as I am getting the updated design this week!

You're kitchen is coming along very nicely. I like the same height cabinets. I have just a few thoughts.

Would you consider bringing forward the cabinet above your wood hood and molding rather than current recessing of it? To my eye, a nice continuous flow of upper hood section to ceiling as well as from uppers right to left may be a tad more eye candy than three differing depths to uppers I think I see. Bringing the upper cabinet forward would not detract from your nicely designed upper hood columns (sorry, I don't know their formal name).

On the refrigerator side: is that filler on the left by the refrigerator? I can't quite tell if it's running the full height of the refrigerator cabinet side. Would you a consider furniture finish to this? What if you were to make the adjacent cabinet to the refrigerator the same depth as the end run upper cabinet on that side? Would that make the row of upper cabinets next to the refrigerator more symmetrical?

Your kitchen looks very nice. A great space which you're planning well. Happy Holidays.

@SparklingWater: Thank you so much for taking the time to post your thoughts. I have been checking in every hour to see if someone would respond.

Yes, I definitely want to bring the cabinet above the hood forward and make it flush with the hood below. I thought it looked odd as well and asked the cabinet designer to modify it on the next plans. He also is planning on adding glass doors in the doors above. We are going to use 6" upper hood columns (instead of 3-4" columns as pictured) in that area as well. I also am replacing the faux "legs" under the rangetop with 6" "legs" that will have a pull out spice rack on each side. I think that will match well with the new 6" columns above.

He has mentioned using furniture finishes to all the ends of all the cabinets although I did not ask him specifically about that area but will make sure to do so. We are using a counter depth fridge and that area you see will be covered. I hadn't thought about the depth of the cabinets in that area but will definitely ask (I hope the budget will allow it). My worry is that with the end bumped out, the middle pushed in, and then the one adjacent to the fridge bumped out it might look a little strange. Am I understanding you correctly?

Appreciate your great feedback. I hope to post some updated pics in the middle of the week. If anyone else has any thoughts please let me know! Thanks and Happy Holidays!

PS - Here's another view at that wall. You can see the furniture finish on the filler to the right of the fridge. Again, not sure on the left but I will ask. Sink wall/bar is open to the hearth room.

Beautiful kitchen! The suggestions from other posters are great!

I don't have much more to add, except that I noticed that there isn't a pantry in the kitchen. Is there a pantry elsewhere? If not, it may be good to consider adding one.

This post was edited by diy_gal on Tue, Dec 25, 12 at 0:26

We have a 10' x 4' walk-in pantry directly across from the kitchen. Through the door that's to the right of the fridge.

Thanks for the comment!

Great! I love walk in pantries!

Quick question: the ovens to the left of the stove. Is that a double oven or is one of those a microwave?

Double oven. Going to have a microwave drawer (Sharp).

I had to google that because I'd never heard of it... love it!!! So creative!