Hi Lancer,

One of my favorite houses has this --- I can't seem to link directly to it, but once in this website, go to residential, then new residences. The house is the Kent, CT one. There are 2 related pics....

Here is a link that might be useful: house pics

Here's a photo of our double-sided glass cabinets over our peninsula:

I'll try and find a photo that shows the top, how it is attached to the ceiling, but I have to run.

Wait, here's one, not very good one:

We love them. I was torn about it, because a lot of people seem to be taking these down, not putting them up, but I'm glad we did it.

We put glass on the end as well as the sides. We also have shelves with wood on the edge, and glass in the middle because they have lights inside, and lights underneath down on to the counter. They look really pretty, showcase our nice glasses, and do not make the kitchen feel closed off at all.

Thanks. Wish I had the ceiling height in the one Mythreesonsnc posted.

Jeannie, your ceiling is awesome. Your photos give me ideas on what to do with undercounter lights there. Talking with a custom cabinet maker today he said he's seen many taken out also. I think that is why he suggested 24" uppers in lieu of the 30" to my 8' ceiling I was thinking. He said they take them out because the block too much.

lancer,
i am one who just took the 'headbanger' down. i hated it! Everyone else hated it too. i found that not having it there really opened up my kitchen.

jennie-i love your kitchen too! its one of the ones that i have looked at many times on this forum, so please don't take offense to my not liking a over the peninsula cabinet. I have to admit though, the glass on it makes all the difference.

Teppy, may I ask what heights you had on yours? Cabinet height, height off counter, etc.

My layout has the peninsula separating the kitchen from what is the dining room that will now become a mixed use with the breakfast bar on the back of the peninsula.

lancer- i will try to estimate here for you because its no longer there now. my ceilings are 8' high and i am 5'5". my counters were 36". i never had a problem with hitting my head if i had on flats or if i was barefooted. most men always did. i hit my head more than a few times when i had on shoes with any kind of heel, even 1 1/2". I am attaching a photo of what it looked like for you to see. I only have two photos of 'before' that i took. this is one. you can see that the cabs were pretty high up. i would guess maybe about 2 1/2 feet above the counter. also, you can see how the upper cabs came out almost all the way to the end. this was high traffic area and where the 'headbanging' always happened.
{{!gwi}}

Thanks for the photo Teppy. I will re-look at my layout and may pull back the last cabinet so it sits well inside the edge of the counter to avoid hitting ones head as you walk by.

it was not really when walking by. it happened more when there were appetizers sitting there at gatherings when people would gather around the area leaning in and out. more so when stopping at the area and doing something than when just walking by.

We've had a peninsula for 20 years without any cabinets above. I love, love, love the open feeling. My stove is on the peninsula and I love working at the stove and looking out into the dining area beyond unobstructed. We also don't have a vent hood above the stove because we didn't want to block the open view. Not having a vent hood, believe it or not, has NOT been an issue. No soot, grime, oil, or stickiness underneath cabinets or on the ceiling as so many insist would be there without a vent. Anyway this isn't about vents it's about keeping the peninsula open. If you have the space to give up the cabs above . . . I'd say put them elsewhere.

Mine are 24" plus the molding but are not attached to the ceiling. We have 10' ceilings so they are supported across the top and with a twisted column that goes down to the countertop. They are glass on both sides but not on the end. We like them a lot and don't feel the block off the kitchen much at all. They have lighting inside and below and glass shelves. They are about 36" off the counter. Here are a couple of pics:

HTH,
Robin

We debated long and hard about having one BIG island, or two smaller ones. Finally decided on two smaller islands, and they ended up working very well.

The island with the range has a big Vent-a-Hood over it. (The range is a 6-burner Dacor Epicure, and we stir fry a lot. So a downdraft vent would have been marginal, at best.) To balance the look, we put a cabinet over the other island. It has fluorescent lights under it for task lighting. It has a smaller footprint than the island, so there is no possibility of 'head banging'.

Here are a few photos. Our house has a mid-century modern feel to it, so our cabinetry is intentionally ornament-free compared to others you will see here on GW. (And sorry for the lack of 'staging' in the photos... :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen photos

Hi

I have cabinets above the peninsula right now. Sorry to say this but I don't like them. I find it frustrating to talk to people when I am working at the peninsula - especially tall people. All I can see is their stomach and chest and maybe the bottom of their head! They have to crouch down to talk to me through the opening.

Our cabs are lower than yours -- only 22 inches above the counter -- so maybe yours will be high enough. I would make sure about that - especially if you have tall friends.

Good luck.

Jama

How tall are you? Others in your family? Are you all very short?

We talked about it but everyone, and I mean everyone, warned us that we would hate them b/c we're all tall enough that they would be in our way... We were warned, by people who have them and regret it now, that they're constantly leaning over to talk to someone in the other room b/c the cabinets are smack dab in the middle of the view. Glass would help...if there's very little in them...but not much.

We visited several people with them and they were absolutely right! They were constantly in the way...you may as well have a wall there.

No one that I talked to, in person, that had them liked them... Even my KD, who could have sold more cabinets, nixed the idea.

We tore ours out. Was a top priority on our agenda. This despite the fact that our kitchen is really small and has very limited storage. Thing is, he cabs over the peninsula weren't that usable anyhow.

Mom and Dad still have theirs. Having it there makes it really hard to socialize, etc. It's also in the way when you want to do prep work on the counter.

Here's what it looked like looking into the kitchen from the family room:

The guy on the left in the gray shirt (my Dad) is about 5'7' tall.

This is from the entry area of the kitchen looking into the kitchen area:

For reference, that cute guy in the blue shirt (Hubby) is 5 feet tall.

I went ahead and update my rendering to show 24" cabinets to the ceiling. It would be about 5'-9" or so to the bottom of the cabinets from the floor or 2'-9" off the counter. I also pulled back the end cabinet by 3" to keep it back off the edge of the counter.

This rendering is suppose to be from 6'-0" eye level standing in the dining room looking into the kitchen.