Eureka!

I love these moments. Is it sad that my best inspirations come through accidents and the resolution of problems rather than pure vision? Oh well, you work with what you got.

I thought a bit more about raising the island countertop and realized I can make it a design element. Why try to hide or blend the spacer between the drawers and countertop when I can use it to create a "floating" countertop. This is just what this kitchen needed to make it less ordinary.



boring.



Not boring!

Without the floating spacer, the countertop would just sit right above the drawer (top photo). Now, since I'm raising the countertop, I can use a simple black material and recess it a little bit to create that floating look (bottom photo). Cool.

I'm gonna do the same thing for the main counter against the wall so everything matches. I just have to be careful I don't raise it too much. Not only are high counters a problem, but the hanging wall cabinets are already just barely high enough to maintain the desired 17" space between countertop and bottom of the cabinet.