Yes.

Yes, it is, but, mostly because, everything you put in that niche gets greasy and needs to be scrubbed and cleaned so often. I wouldnt do it.

Agree wit Beth completely-depends on a style. If it's just stuck there for the sake of it and especially if not congruent with the style-I'd skip it. But some niches can be fabulous. Under certain circumstances

BTW if it goes with the kitchen and the kitchen goes with the house, and it looks like it belongs-even if I'm not a fan, in my eyes it won't affect resale value. Not a detail important enough to affect resale value. IMO. Again, as long as it doesn't look like it landed from outer space.

I'd consider carefully the space, kitchen's style, etc. Function, too.

Probably most designers will say that it is dated. From a purely style perspective it probably is. But I find it useful because we run a very busy scratch-cooking household, and I find it handy to put my olive and veg oil, salt, pepper, and a small mortar and pestle up on the ledge. If it's useful to you, do it. But if you're only thinking about style, then dont. If you decide to do it, make the bottom be a solid piece of countertop material like a windowsill or a shower curb would be.

@Beth H. : I have a window bump out where my sink is currently located. The sink will be moved and a new induction cooktop with wall hood will reside in its place. A was suggestion was to fill in the window, keep the bump out and make it a niche behind the cooktop. At first I thought it was a good idea but now I'm second guessing because I don't want it to feel dated. I'm using beveled white subway tiles as a backsplash and would put them in a herringbone pattern in the niche. White shaker 42" cabinets

I wouldn't want to be reaching over the stove to get things. And the heat from the stove is not really good for the freshness of the oils and spices. Also, things would get spattered and be a pain to clean. So I wouldn't do it.

My cooktop is induction. No flames, no problem reaching to get a useful item from the ledge.

why don't you take a look at 'cooktop niche' or search 'niche behind stovetop' , to get an idea of some of the styles and how they look? Then it's up to you. If you're living there and cooking, then do what you like and don't worry about resale. no one ever said, "I'm not buying that house because there's a niche behind the stovetop!"

Mick de Giulio puts sliding doors behind the cooktop. It's a cleaner look, but only works with slab backsplashes.

http://domicileblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/mick-de-giulio.html

If you cook with oils at all, don’t do it. And it is dated look.

There are no useful items that should be stored behind a cooktop.

I agree with those who've said it completely depends on the style of the home/kitchen - and also where you live. We did install an arched niche above our induction range, primarily because I cook so much and whilst cooking I wanted an extra area for oils and a jar of fresh herbs as I cook. I keep just enough oil in bottles that will be quickly used. I cook from scratch, and a lot. And most everything. I've used our kitchen for several months now without a backsplash other than drywall (tile backsplash is being completed as I type!). The inset has not gotten dirty at all, with the exception of a bit of pepper from the bottom of my pepper mill. The ledge will get no dirtier than a flush backsplash, and will require no more cleaning than a flush backsplash.

My oils have not once gone rancid, and while I could place them to the side as I cook, I use the side for other things. Also, the jar of herbs smells fragrant and it's pretty in the niche : ) As for reaching across the 'hot' range, it might very well be a problem with gas on high but I couldn't say. Our induction gives me no issues reaching across and I do a lot of high heat searing as I sous vide quite a bit.

Edited to add: I love our niche and think it's not only practical (for me), but also beautiful.

Yes, it's dated. It is also more to clean. Instead of just a wipe down of the smooth surface of the backsplash behind the cooktop, now you have to clean the niche's ledge and the inside sides and the back of the niche, but first removing any bottles or utensils you left there - which they themselves will need to be cleaned. Life is too short.

@Beth H. :I do really like how this niche looks it has a more current vibe. I really love the tile. I'd like to know what it's called and where to buy. My niche would only have salt and pepper shakers sitting there all the time. I like very clean counter space. Thanks for all the responses.

I like the look of a deeper shelf without the niche.

Bleeker · More Info

Edited to add: If you cook a lot you may also want to explore 'warming shelf' in the search bar. There's many old threads. We have a stainless Wolf Pro Hood with warming lights and used the Grundtal shelf from IKEA that is now discontinued. We use it every single day for warming plates, holding food, defrosting, and drying things. Our hood is mounted at 39" above the range top. The shelf is mounted at 24".

I like the niche. I think the "dated" feel of it comes from how it is finished an not the niche themselves. There are some great pictures posted already. It also depends on how much cooking you do. I typically use my front burners so anything sitting in the niche would not be having any more issues that the stuff that is on the counter next to the stove. I also like it even to just break up the backsplash instead of doing some sort of rectangular tile design.

You could also go wider than the stove so the heat sensitive items could be on the side.

Here are some that I like:

Don't worry about resale!

Good luck!

Terrible design choice to intentionally store items that require reaching over a hot surface such as a stove. 100% fail on multiple levels.

PMcG looks like an asian inspired type of mosaic. honed marble is what it looks like. Prob on the high end side. Ann Sacks, Walker Zanger,,,,they prob have something similar. if you go to a high end tile store, they should be able to tell you