I’m in the middle of fitting out new (And not cheap) kitchen, and it’s going pretty well I think.

I was just wondering if there’s a recommended height for the wall units from the top of the worktop? Becasue I’ve ummed and ahhed and stood back and scratched my chin so much I can’t decide! 😕

(720mm high units, + trims top and bottom, lights underneath if that matters)

(not 100% sure about the 720mm bit mind, too much thinking again!)

You’ll probably find that the cabinet manufacturer also does tall/ full-height units. Now – imagine you needed to line up the top of your wall units with one of them……

Oh – some manufactures do two heights of wall units.

I would design (assuming you won’t need and full-height units as ^^^) around what you need – ie, if you are both short, drop the height slightly. Just ensure you can get to the top shelves easily and you’ll be right.

You’ll probably find that the cabinet manufacturer also does tall/ full-height units. Now – imagine you needed to line up the top of your wall units with one of them……

Yeah, I’ve put some tall units (1820mm + legs so about 1920mm) under the stairs in the corner of the kitchen. The slope in the ceiling limits that height though, and would be too low for the wall units at the same level. Already thought about that! 😉

MF – yeah, that’s my thinking, but since the sparky told me that wall sockets in kitchens are usually 1200mm from the floor, I thought there might be a standard heigt for wall units too.

I might just take a tape measure into the showroom!

Have a look here:

http://www.practicaldiy.com/general-building/kitchen/kitchen-units.php

Reckons 440mm unless above a hob.

At least 450mm above the worktop apparently….

We’re having a kitchen fitted soon, and in the planning stages the surveyor mentioned that the current kitchen had upper cupboards that were slightly higher mounted than the new ones would be, so I’d guess from a planners point of view they have an ideal gap between worksurface & cupboard bottom.

There are also factors like closeness of cupboards above cookers & hobs as well.

If you’ve got anything going at the end like an end cupboard or integrated fridge unit then the tops of the wall cabinets will need to be lined up with that. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter. (unless you’ve got a cupboard going over a hob).

If you don’t have any full height cupboards in the same row of units the exact measurement isn’t important, as long as it’s not too high or low. In my new kitchen I plan to put the top units at their lowest reasonable point as I’m not a beanpole (5’7″) and my wife is 4’11” so I want to make sure we don’t need ladders everytime we reach for the upper shelves.

Architect’s Pocket Book suggests:
FFL +000
Worktop +900
cl Sockets +1100
u/s cupboards +1350

505mm off cabinet tops (not worktop) is a usual height to the underside of wall units, this is assuming 720mm high wall units. This is mainly because it’s 3 courses of 6″ tiles with joints! There’s no fixed dimension though unless you have a tower unit on the same run, in that case level with tower is convention.

If you’ve got anything going at the end like an end cupboard or integrated fridge unit then the tops of the wall cabinets will need to be lined up with that

No, we haven’t. It’s all pretty simple really.

Are you putting tiles on as a splashback? Making the gap an exact number of tiles ( allowing for grouting) is a big help

Nope. No tiles. Quartz worktop with 100mm splashbacks. 🙂