Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Fuzzy,

Why are you looking for such a high cabinet? That seems too high to work on, even for me, and definitely too high for most people. Are other countertops in your kitchen this high?

That "dead" area at the bottom, as well as a smaller area at the top, is also there to add strength to the cabinets. Are you looking for a face framed or frameless (AKA Euro) cabinet? The face frame, though it also creates some unused area, also adds strength, and you can use thinner plywood. I like Darcie's idea of getting roll out shelves. While not adjustable (you'd have to figure out where you want them, and that's final, for the most part), they are much stronger than the type that rest on adjustable clips, or something like that. I did this with some upper level shelves, which were impossible to reach to the back of. You just need fully extensible drawer slides, and make sure the weight limit is up there, to support your appliances. If you have a framed cabinet, you'll just need some wood shims, to bring the slide right to the inner edge of the frame.

I have a cabinet I have to make for my bathroom, since the size is unlike any I have seen, being in an old house. Not real high on my priority list, but hopefully, I'll get it done sometime this summer. Sounds simpler than what you are looking for, until I start fooling around with the plumbing!

Darcie,

Oooh, that looks nice, I wonder if they have a bay area distributor?

Stacking isn't out of the question.

Dave,

I'm taller than I look?

Seriously, my existing kitchen cabinet is that high, and I regularly put a 2" thick cutting board on top if it.

I already made my own bathroom cabinet, which is why I'm trying to avoid making this one. The other was about 100 hours of work.

Fuzzy, fwiw my local hardware stores bring in ready made cabinets a few times a year that are easy to configure. Might be worth a call to see if they have them.
I was thinking the IKEA pax line since it's pretty deep and configurable, but it's only in wardrobe height. We bought that for our boys' toy storage since it is so much deeper than a book shelf. We needed something that could store the bins of lego and dress up clothes.

A kitchen design center is likely to have access to semi custom cabinetry that can be configured with off the shelf components that will be very near the required dimensions.

If the cabinet will be free standing, two 18" island cupboards [toe kicks all around] with doors mated to a 27" x 36" Boos counter block, kick molding, and and either a back or more doors will fill the bill

A designer could pop out the specs on a coffee break and will be happy to take your $800 to deliver an attractive product. Increasing the height to 40" may even be possible.

Jim,

$800 is more than I intended to spend.

This made me laugh because I had no idea how tall you were until I saw your picture with Michelle. And even now that I *know* what you look like I still think of you as the picture I had in my head before I saw the picture.

On the upside, it is significantly less than 100 hrs of billable. Assuming, of course, that cabinetmaking is not a pleasurable hobby of yours, and that you could spend the time working instead.

Cabinets/desks can be heightened. Here's a modification made by my tall husband and sons. Not the most attractive but it seems to work.

Ikea sells a 39" tall by 36" wide wall-mounted cabinet. I assume that's 12" deep, since that's the usual. You could use them back-to-back, add some feet or a toe-kick, butcher-block counter on top. Bingo bango bongo? They sell "island solutions" that are basically their base cabinets on one side and the tall wall-mounted ones on the other to create a little shelf above the work surface, so I would think that you could just do the same thing with just the tall cabinet.

They even have wooden counter-tops.

If a laminated top is used instead of BoosBlock, there is $100 to saved. Another $100 by using a plywood panel instead framed solid wood.

OTOH, a kitchen island is of high asset value that is both long lasting and a solid contributor to quality of life. When amortized over ten years, it costs less than a cup of coffee per week and can be paid for in the out years by diverting funds from one's wine budget. Apothic Red, here we come.