When designing a kitchen, you spend a lot of time analyzing the best style and composition, but often underestimate the height of kitchen countertops. It is not at all an aspect to leave in the background, because the kitchen is the most used working environment of the whole house and a wrong kitchen floor height would force us to take wrong positions that in the long run can have serious consequences.
In fact, a kitchen countertop too low would force us to bend our backs, while a floor too high would force us to get up frequently on the tips to see where the preparation of dishes is at.
What then is the ideal kitchen countertops height? Let’s find out together.
Height kitchen furniture: the basics
We assume that the total height of the kitchen top is the sum of three components, which can have different heights:
- Hoof
- Cabinet base or body
- Kitchen top
The sum of these three elements can vary quite widely. But let’s go in order and start analyzing the first element of this triad: the kitchen base.
The standard kitchen measures are mainly two. The most common bases have a height of 72 cm, but especially in the proposals of modern kitchens, the bases with a height of 78 cm are taking hold. Modern kitchens therefore have higher kitchen countertops in departure.
There are also proposals for particular kitchens with suspended bases, so that they do not rest on the ground with feet. In this case the bases can also have a lower height, for example 60 cm, because then they must be fixed at the height you prefer. In this case the kitchen countertop can be fixed really to the height you want, without having any limit, the important thing is to decide it during assembly.
Kitchen plinth height
The second element that we are going to analyze is the plinth. The plinth can have different heights: 6 cm, 8 cm, 10 cm, 12 cm, 15 cm.
As a rule, in kitchens with 72 cm high bases the 12 cm plinth is chosen, while in kitchens with 78 cm high shell a lower plinth is preferred, of 6 cm. In this way the design becomes minimal and the plinth is almost not seen giving the idea that the kitchen floats in space.
The middle heights are usually used when choosing a kitchen with a throat. The throat has in fact, depending on the manufacturers, has a height of 3 cm and this size is compensated by choosing a slightly lower base.
The height of the countertops can then be adjusted by a few centimeters going to vary the height of the kitchen top. Obviously the difference is a few centimeters and you can not adjust much.
Obviously, the depth of the kitchen countertops should not be underestimated. The standard depth is 60 cm, but if the room allows it is always better to choose a deeper kitchen. In fact, many companies now offer the basic depth of 65 cm because it allows you to better exploit the available space and improve the experience in the kitchen.
Kitchen countertop height
Kitchen tops are available in many different materials. We wrote an in-depth article to guide you in choosing the best plan, you can find it here:
Different thicknesses are available depending on the material chosen. In general we start from 1.2 cm of the tops made of ultra-technological materials, up to solutions that reach up to 9 cm. In the middle there are the most used top heights, then 3 cm or 4 cm.
Kitchen countertops are therefore the elements, attached to the bases, which can vary greatly the height of the final kitchen countertop. It is therefore good to carefully choose material and thickness of the top.
What height kitchen top to choose?
Now that we have analyzed all the components that help determine the height of kitchen countertops we can answer the first question we asked ourselves. What is the ideal height for me?
It all depends on the height of the person who uses the kitchen. It is easy to guess that a tall person will have to choose a higher kitchen than a low person. Here are the indications depending on the height:
- height between 150 cm and 164 cm ideal height kitchen top between 82 and 88 cm;
- height between 165 cm and 179 cm height kitchen top between 89 cm and 95 cm;
- height over 180 cm ideal height worktop between 96 and 102 cm.
If you take for example a person 170 cm high, the ideal height of the kitchen is around 90 cm, for example you can choose a 72 cm high base, a 12 cm plinth, a 3 cm throat and a 4 cm worktop for a total of 91 cm, the ideal kitchen top height.
If instead the same person loves a minimal style, he can choose the 78 cm bases with a 6 cm plinth, the 3 cm throat and the 3 cm top, reaching a height of 90 cm.
As you can see from these two examples the possibilities of combination are almost endless. However, it is really important not to underestimate the right choice of the height of the kitchen because other important design aspects depend on it. For example, the height at which to attach the cabinets, rather than the position of the sockets and the hole for the hood. All fundamental aspects for the correct design of the kitchen.
