Guides / Cabinets and counters · Updated
Upper cabinet height
Standard heights from KraftMaid. The range numbers are code, from the NKBA guidelines and the range makers.
Short answer
Hang upper cabinets with the bottom 54 in off the floor. On a 36 in counter, that's 18 in between the counter and the cabinet. Over a range, the cabinet bottom has to be 30 in above the cooktop.
Which cabinet reaches your ceiling
With the bottom at 54 in, here's how tall a cabinet has to be to go all the way up.
| Ceiling | Cabinet to reach it |
|---|---|
| 8 ft | 42 in |
| 9 ft | 54 in |
| 10 ft | 66 in. Taller than any stock wall cabinet |
KraftMaid's tallest wall cabinet is 54 in. Crown molding and an uneven floor change the math, so measure the ceiling at a few spots.
Can you hang them lower?
Some. NKBA only counts counter as work space if it has at least 15 in clear above it. Go lower than that and you lose the counter for anything tall, like a stand mixer or a coffee maker.
Going higher than 18 in makes the top shelf harder to reach. A microwave on a shelf has its own limit. NKBA wants the bottom of it no higher than 54 in.
Over the range
The bottom of a wood or metal cabinet over a cooktop has to be 30 in above it. With the right fire-resistant layer under the cabinet you can drop that to 24 in. Both are in the range makers' install specs and the NKBA guidelines.
GE also says a cabinet over the cooktop can be no deeper than 13 in. On a 36 in counter, the 30 in gap puts the cabinet bottom at 66 in.
Over a microwave or fridge
An over-the-range microwave follows its own sheet. GE and Whirlpool both want the cabinet bottom at least 66 in off the floor. The microwave over range calculator checks yours.
Over a fridge, KraftMaid sells 24 in deep wall cabinets so the doors line up with the fridge front. Take the height from the fridge's spec sheet, top hinges included, and hang the cabinet above that. The fridge fit calculator checks the width and depth.
Where the numbers come from
- KraftMaid kitchen cabinet sizes for the 54 in and 18 in
- NKBA Kitchen Planning Guidelines, guidelines 18, 21 and 25
- GE range installation guide for the cabinet depth over a cooktop
Sizes of the cabinets themselves are in standard kitchen cabinet sizes.