Ikea standard upper cabinets are now 15" deep.

@sushipup2 - but are they being used by builders in new construction homes?

Unfortunate not. But if a mass low-priced producer can do it, shame on the other parts of the industry.

Not enough people asking for 15" deep uppers for it to become more industry-wide rather than a specialty order. Supply and demand. Frameless cabinetry a good example - 15 years ago, they were less common in U.S. big manufacturers. Now most of them have a frameless line due to demand. Also Ikea is a European company who makes Euro-style kitchen cabinets.

We built last year and our frameless upper cabinets have 12" interior and 13.5" exterior dimensions. They were custom made by a local cabinet shop and the owner/KD made a point of mentioning their standard depth, so they could be used to store dishes. We prefer to store dishes in drawers, but still nice to have that extra depth for cookbooks, bowls, etc.

In our previous house we used Wood-Mode frameless cabinets, but I don't remember the depth of the upper cabinets. We didn't have that many uppers in that kitchen and stored our dishes in drawers.

Mine are just over 10 1/2 ” deep.

What is the diameter of your dinner plates?

What is the dimension from the back of the cabinet door to the inside back of the cabinet?

My inset cabinets are 11 3/4" inside, 12 3/4" outside. The dealer made a point of telling me they added space so the frame wouldn't take up interior space.

When you add detail to your kitchen like a change in height elevation you can mix 12 and 15" deep cabinets, usually, you would have a 15" corner cabinet or over the range to accommodate a range hood, etc the 15" cabinets will also be taller which makes crown molding on a lower 12" die right into it without projection making everything flow nicely.

Another thing to consider when increasing the depth to a 15" cabinet (on all uppers) is that most people will not reach the back of it and this is one of the reasons why the standard size of upper cabinets is 12" so it is easier to reach in.

You're going to be living with those cabinets. If you specified wide drawer base cabinets, you can store plates in the one next to the dw. Use the upper nearby for glasses. Drawer storage lets your kids unload the dw.

It has been my own personal experience that no mater how deep the wall cabinets are, the things I want to store in them will not fit the way I want them to.

Typical factory cabinet upper. Some manufacturers may offer deeper. Most custom fabricators build them deeper. More $$.

Stock cabinets are built in stock sizes, with fewer options, in order to keep price down, and production up. Building in cabinet alterations requires semi custom or custom cabinets. The build time and price both go up.

Years ago when I worked for a cabinet manufacturer, I ran across a couple existing houses that had wall mounted refrigerators that resembled wall cabinets. I thought they were odd, but as I encounter wisdom over time, I wish I had a wall mounted refrigerator that resembled wall cabinets. I would not have to sit on the floor to retrieve items off the bottom shelf and some items in the back would have less tendency to evolve into something that can walk out of the refrigerator on its own. Some of you may not be able to relate this, but I am sure some do.

Stock Chinese junk, probably on a moderate spec build?. I've got 10 3/4 inside and with a bit of tip up? Can get a CHARGER sized dinner plate in there.

Uppers are not great for anything but drink ware.

Try your drawers for all else ( hope you have those versus doors......or buy smaller dinner plates.

Thanks for this timely post. We have had our kitchens custom built and made sure the cabinets fit our dinner plates and large pasta bowls. We are about to put uppers and lowers in a guest quarters kitchenette and want to use stock - perhaps Ikea cabinets. It never occured to me that uppers wouldn't fit a dinner plate! Sorry for your shock. I'd be plenty upest too.

Our dishes are in lower drawers. Not sure I could go back to having dishes in an upper cabinet.

Uppers are mainly glasses and a few often used cookbooks.

My frameless 20 year old Ultracraft upper cabinets are 11.5 inches inside.

@Kendrah fortunately IKEA does offer 15" cabinets, so you're set if you go that route. But yes, 12" is standard for most lines unless you request otherwise, which can mean a 10-10.5" shelf depth.

I try to have as few upper cabnets as possible and to not have doors on them. I also pull the lower cabinets out 6" to allow more space at head height and more overhead light on the counter.

We have 10.5 inch depth cabinets which seem to perfectly for our plates as well as the duck brand shelf liner. If I had 15-in upper cabinets I would knock in my head on them.

I had no idea there was a turned up nose against upper cabinets. I don't have enough room for drawers.

Indeed a privileged conundrum, 10 inch versus 15 inch cabinets. Perhaps life is telling you to downsize.

Our kitchen was redone with custom cabinets about 10 years ago by a previous owner. Inside useable space is just a smidge over 11.5”. Exterior measurement from the wall to the outside of the cabinet face is about 12.75”.

"If I had 15-in upper cabinets I would knock in my head on them."

As I explained above, usually when people order 15" deep uppers, they also order deeper base cabinets so that the uppers are not in their faces when standing at the counter. An alternative that many people do is order 15" uppers, with standard base cabinets at 24", and a deeper 27" counter (27" not including the overhang). That way they don't have to buy the expensive deeper base cabinets.

Indeed a privileged conundrum, 10 inch versus 15 inch cabinets. Perhaps life is telling you to downsize.

First, it's 12" vs the alternative of 15" cabinets. Second, as I explained above, the better alternative would have been to order frameless cabinets. All the major manufacturers carry frameless now. That way, you have the standard depth of 12" with an interior depth of 11" or 11-1/2". Third, why the "privilege" and "life is telling you to downsize" out of left field? So judgmental on this forum. Sometimes older threads come up on the Kitchens Forum and it is noticeable how just a few years ago comments with a tone like that did not occur. No wonder the OP has not returned; comments like that, unnecessary, yet the commenter was compelled to write them.

12-13 inches is pretty standard. Wall cabinets are usually half the depth of the base cabinets. So to answer your question, accepting them depends on whether or not you signed off on 10" depth cabinets in the plans.

The point is really whether anyone checked actual cad drawings of the cabinets within the purchase. If all that was noted was "upper, 24 inch x 36 " whatever? You have what you have. A not uncommon happening.

Buy a rack for the inside, for plates to stand back to front, and adjust your shelves.

How big are your plates? Have you put a plate in the cabinet? I saw no mention of that.

Sorry if I missed it

My dinner plates fit nicely in the peninsula cupboard because the overlay doors on both sides give an extra inch. I just tried putting a plate in a wall cupboard and it would regularly touch the closed door. My previous plates were a tad smaller. Btw, I measured when buying the new dinner plates to be sure they would fit the dishwasher.

No one knows what else may be going on in the OPs life. I have been nit picking things lately at work and home while coping with the enormous grief of losing my father suddenly last month. If you don’t have constructive feedback for a dilemma posted here go spend your time doing more noble activities.

I never understand why someone comes on this site and then insults people who are asking design questions. The users of this site are here because they are interested in achieving the best desgn both functionally and aesthetically within their constraints or they are just interested in design.

Why is concern about skimpy upper cabinets a sign of moral depravity and why is anyone wasting time on this site if they feel this way when they could be saving the world?🤷‍♀️😂

In answer to OP’s question, my upper cabinets are 14” and the usable interior space is 13”. I think 10” are extremely narrow and limit storage. I didn’t specify this depth as this is how my designer ordered them. I don’t bump my head on them although admittedly, I do most prep by the sink area where there are no upper cabinets anyway 🤷‍♀️

I store all my dishes in pull-out drawers of the base cabinets. Upper cabinets only get glassware and mugs. It's so much easier for loading and unloading the DW.

Acceptable? Yes. Preferable? Definitely not.

Can you request to have your cabinet boxes remade? The cabinetmaker can reuse the face frames and doors but just rebuild the boxes and remake the end panels. There’s probably even a way to Jerry rig the existing boxes to be functionally deeper without totally remaking them. It might just take some new end panels, where applicable, and some thin veneer on the inside of the cabinet.

Back to the OP - HU-403168504

When you put one of your plates on the bottom shelf of the cabinet, how far off is it? It sounds like it is probably just a set of plates that don't fit. Can they go in a drawer instead? Show us a picture of the kitchen and lets see how to help you.

Our new cabinets are 10.75 and they feel shallow. But I moved our plates to the drawers below and I love it.

One thing I have learned over my over forty years of architectural experience is not everyone comes to the rodeo on the same horse.

Really, you can just stand the plates, front to back FACING you. . You can make something like this.....a good project for a rainy day : )

The cabs are in, you're not going to rip, you didn't have the details, assumed the 'NORM." ....

Doesn't mean you cant work with it. Yes you can buy them, but they are 12 and little bit of inches deep.

Customize to yours: ) or cut.

we had 15 deep glass front on either side of our exhaust hood because i knew that we had larger plates and in general plates are huge. They dont interfere with counter space, I saw that concern above. In our previous home we had Ikea cabinets and their uppers are deeper also. If you can make them deeper, do it. I probably upgraded every piece of cabinetry in our home including taller cabinets in our laundry room because I knew id be happier with more storage. It was worth every penny for me, build it to work for you.

I see a new discussion in our future, "Is 10" depth in kitchen cabinet drawer normal for new construction?"

Don't get me started on that one! Our hallway built-ins ended up much shallower than I expected. Why? Because I liked the pretty cove detail above, that matched my crown molding and cove above the kitchen cabinets. Well, having that cove above the hallway built-ins meant that I lost 4.5" in depth of drawers and shelves. Had I thought it through I would have skipped the cove and done the built-ins flush to the wall. Won't make that mistake again!

Hello all, I have removed many comments here that were not in keeping with the spirit of the discussions on Houzz. Please remember that we are all here for one purpose - a shared love of design. If you feel that you can not respond respectfully to a question, please move on and focus your attention on discussions that you feel you can contribute to politely. Thanks!

(also, please flag comments that you feel should be reviewed.)

For anyone that does not understand any of my comments because they were related to a comment that was removed, just pretend my comment was spot on.

In other forums I have participated in, when they sanitize a thread or posts, the admin usually inserts a disclaimer in red (or different font) into each post that was altered letting readers know that it was edited/modified by the moderator. Then Mark wouldn't have to be worried about people thinking he was crazy!

I am not worried about people thinking I am crazy, I worry about them knowing I am crazy.

" Then Mark wouldn't have to be worried about people thinking he was crazy! "

Too late, lol, we know he is crazy.........................................

Cat's out of the bag.

Just delete your comments if the original nasty one was removed.

I love reading posts with Mark and millworkman, lol, crazy is good stuff!!!

Was there ever a resolution to why the OP got 10” cabinets. I always thought 12” was industry standard for semi-custom upper cabinets?

@User 12" is an industry standard for the exterior dimension of the cabinet ( for many lines - some lines and inset doors will have a 13" deep box ) . The dimensions talked about are the interiors - which very from construction to construction.

Unfortunately, the OP has not come back to comment; I think they may have been scared away.

We just redid our kitchen and have 16.5" (exterior dimension) upper cabinet depth (frameless) over a 24" deep countertop. We hate it. It's way too deep for this countertop depth and the cabinets are litterally in your face when working on the countertop. It's uncomfortable and we're not even that tall at 5'6". We're going to cut this down to 13.5" to make it usable and more comfortable to work. A costly mistake but now we know. Please don't think deeper is always better. It really depends on the depth of your countertop as some posts mentioned.