Symmetry in upper and lower cabinets?

11 years ago

Hi everyone,

I am trying to decide between 2 plans from 2 different KD's. They are both using the same cabinet company, their designs are very different though...

The first design is what I would call symmetrical. The kitchen is a tiny "L" shape.

Basically the upper cabinets match what's on the base, 27" sink base with 27" cabs (2 doors) on top. Then there is the DW with equal cabs on top. On the base a corner cab with a piano-hinged upper cab on top. The plan is symmetrical although it perhaps makes for alot of small cabinet doors?

The second plan, the KD has 3 16" cabinet doors on top which go over the base cabinet of 26" sink base and 24" DW. Instead of the piano-hinged corner she has a 20" cab door which leads to a blind corner.
In this plan her cabinet doors on the upper are larger and therefore less doors.

My question is (if you've read this long, lol) is what qualifies as symmetry? Do most kitchen designs call for the same size cabs on the uppers to match the lowers?

Also is it better to have bigger cabinet doors in a small kitchen as opposed to more cabinets doors that are smaller in size?

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Comments (5)

palimpsest
11 years ago
Don't match the upper to the lower would be my advice. The lower needs too many various sizes for function such as a 24" area for DW, a 30-36" sink base, a trash pullout that could be 15"-18" and other sizes. Make the upper a nice even or balanced arrangement of doors.
okpokesfan
11 years ago
I agree with palimpsest. My uppers and lowers don't match--doesn't look odd at all. Go for function.
User
11 years ago
Your eye does not move up and down so much as side to side. It is not important to match the uppers and lowers. It is important that the uppers look right with each other.

In my small kitchen with cabinets on opposite walls, I selected doors widths (not too narrow, not too wide) that looked right to me for the height I selected. Then I made sure all the doors on a side were the same size. I'm happy with the uncluttered result.
artemis78
11 years ago
Mine don't match either. We did function over form, and I think it looks fine. I only think about it if I happen to be reading this forum and see posts like this. :) If symmetry happens to yield the best plan for the space, I think it's fine, but I wouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate it--especially not with a small kitchen (we have one too!)
angie_diy
11 years ago
One other argument in favor of not worrying about making them line up comes into play if your kitchen is small. Mine, for example, is only 8' wide, so there is only a 4' aisle. Thus, it is not possible to get far enough away to see them straight on. When viewed at an angle, even cabs that line up will appear NOT to line up, since they have different depths.