We have that issue too and we could probably move one cabinet over slightly and fix it but we stopped worrying about it a year later - rarely do we have food spill and the only nice thing about the tiny gap is if we have to replace the range it gives us some room if the next one is larger.

When we had our house built we put in a Vulcan pro range. The Building inspector made us leave about an inch gap between the range and the cabinets. The formica cabinets are flush with the cabinets as well. They also made us put metal flashing on the sides of the cabinets. Over the years a lot of stuff has fallen down, but we try to keep it clean. I'm sure we'll be shocked when we finally pull the range out this month to install a new range hood and take of the tiles that have been there for 20 years. Ew!

I am thinking when we have new granite put in, we can have that installed closer to the stove and help solve the stuff falling in issue. At least with a 1" gap, most stuff didn't get stuck. I would think you will have to watch to make sure stuff doesn't stick on the way down.

We tried the plastic T-strip thing (purchased at the local hardware store), but in our case it was too bulky and didn't look good. Maybe, there are other brands and types that might look better. However, we tried something that may work as a solution for us using leftover strips of "Cushy Cupboard" shelf liner. We folded it to fit snugly in the space between the stove & counter. It is not effected at all by the heat from the burners or from the oven. It is white, but for some people, this can work out ok.

{{!gwi}}

Laurie, that looks great and would be ideal for us - thank you for posting that. Our range is white.

We have the same issue, our range is black and counters are ubatuba. HD sells the T shaped spacers, but only in metallic finishes and they are pretty wide. I have seen black ones online, the brand is Vance. Thinking of buying those. But for now, we have covered it with strips of 3/4" wide black electrician's tape, which is serving the purpose and kind of blends in with the colors. Slide-in ranges have a lip, but the freestanding ones don't... and the range I wanted was not available in a slide-in version.