I would do art on those spaces and the artisists in the Maritimes are fabulous to choose from. I hate open shelving in a kitchen just too much work to keep claen and on a wall with a range even worse .Just google New Brunswick artists there are tons and so awesome

So I think your hood and range backsplash choices actually emphasize the asymmetry. If it were me, I would have a much less noticeable hood and I would not have a strong contrasting black range backsplash. I would go for something that is more neutral and fades back in.

I agree that the tray ceiling is a large part of the problem.

Other thing that bothers me is that the scale of the hood is off relative to the cooker. Part of that is because the hood isn't wide enough (should be 6" wider than the cooking surface) and the tapered design isn't helping--making it look smaller than it is. The stove plus that big bold soapstone splash create a lot of 'bottom weight' visually and hood looks flighty in comparison.

How far does the hood project from the wall? Hoods should be 6" wider and project out far enough to cover the front edge of the front burners, i.e. 24" deep.

I agree that getting rid of the tray ceiling might actually help a lot.

palimpsest, your photoshop skills are so wonderful! I just love what you are able to do for people.

I think palimpsest nailed it.

If eliminating the tray ceiling isn’t an option, how about moving the left border of the tray so that the tray is centered on the hood?

A little bit of framing, some drywall, move some cans, paint - a pretty small job.

You could make the tray ceiling symetrical like you see below. At least you can keep the interest of the tray

Symmetry is overrated. It looks fine, tray included.

Your kitchen is gorgeous! I love the shaped hood. I would consider adding some artwork that reflects your style but only when you happen on it. You don't need anything unless it makes the kitchen more beautiful to you. You can switch out a that kind of "display" easily enough.

You need something much bigger on that big wall like this one

For a lot of people, lack of symmetry (or asymmetry not done well) isn’t bothersome. For me (and it sounds like you too), I can’t unsee it! So I sympathize with your post.

If you must do something, consider either (1) eliminating the tray ceiling, or (2) removing the black backsplash, tiling the wall in a color to match the surrounding walls and painting the hood in the same color. This will stop the eye from being drawn to the hood and downplay the lack of symmetry.

It likely won’t stop you from noticing but over time it should stop being the first thing you see when you look at the wall. Enjoy your beautiful new kitchen!

Isn't the island aligned with it anyway? If the range were centered on the wall it could not be aligned with the island and in L shaped kitchen you can't really have both.

Wow! What an amazing set of comments!

First, I wish I didn’t need a tray ceiling and agree it isn’t correct for the period. Unfortunately, we needed it on that floor to hide mechanicals (venting for our laundry which had no other option and air exchange). Picture below is a picture of the windows that surround the room and stripped and restored trim work. I debated dropping the full ceiling, but didn’t want to lose the height. I was playing around with adding some crown to it, but also can’t pull that trigger because I don’t know if it will at least mask the tray, or emphasize it! See photo below of a mockup from the internet, and the original crown which we saved in a different part of the building (it goes about 12” down the wall).

I do like the idea of adding to the tray on the one side to balance things out! It does seem to help. Thanks so much for the mockups!

I did wonder about the scale of the hood, and appreciate the comments. It is still unfinished (likely because it felt a little small) and so I still haven’t actioned the painting of it. I’ll take the tip and bulk it up.

Somewhat surprised that nobody suggested some cabinetry design that would fix the asymmetry…. I was expecting someone to tell me to embrace it. Back in the day I lived with some flooring paper on the wall for a while (pic below).

The soapstone behind the stove was remnant from the slabs I purchased and was a “temp” solution. Helpful feedback on it being too heavy for the space.

Really appreciate the thoughts!

Sorry for my terribly formatted posts!

Also, to clarify, I was planning to paint the hood the same as the cabinets. @Design Fan, good point about using all the same finishes to have it blend into the background!

If I were to do any sort of open shelving, I was thinking the same oak as the island, but with a furniture finish (nothing rough) and with the same beading detail used on all the cabinetry.

Thanks all for now! Any other thoughts are welcome and appreciated

With the shallowness of the inset of that tray, you would not notice the difference if it were filled in. You think you would, but you would not, once it was all one color. If were a foot, sure. If the ceiling below the tray was 8 feet, probably. But not as a differential between what? 6" on a 114" ceiling? You won't see it after a few days.

I lived in various units in an early 19th c. building. Most people could not tell any difference between the 9'6" ceilings and the 10'. Many could not tell between 9' and 10' they just knew it was significantly more than 8'.

When I had the 14' ceiling, which was lofted in one area, many people assumed it was 16' because it was "two floors" and they could see that the two were less than 8' each, but most people did not realize the upper part was a non-code compliant 6'6". Most people are not that "spatial".

Filling in the tray opening in the ceiling will not affect the ceiling height. Listen to Palimpsest!

Agree - fill in the tray or build it out more on the left side so the hood is symmetrical in the tray. The asymmetry would bother me too!