Solution over peninsula

Lance nall · Jul 5th, 08, 10:28 pm

I have a galley shaped kitchen however most of the cabinets form two parallel peninsulas. We are going to remove the uppers over one peninsula to open up the kitchen to our family room. Any suggestions for the uppers over the other peninsula? Does IKEA offer a solution for upper cabinets that are only mounted to the ceiling? Thanks.

kelly · Jul 5th, 08, 10:48 pm

Hi LAnce- this is a fairly common question- IKEA cabinets are just not made to hang from the ceiling. You would have to do some extra building to create a frame or "sling" from the ceiling joists (cutting into the ceiling) to create sturdy and safe modifications for IKEA cabinets to hang from the ceiling.

HTH,

Kelly

Lance nall · Jul 5th, 08, 11:15 pm

Does anyone have any examples of how to get around this? Because we can't afford to give up any more storage space. We currently have 74" of upper cabinets that are secured to our ceiling.

kelly · Jul 5th, 08, 11:18 pm

Try the search function on the site to see if you can find some hits- there may have been one person who has done this, I can't recall who. It's a lot of work and you need to know what you're doing to make it safe...You might consider another alternative- like building open shelving from scratch.

Good luck!

Kelly

Lance nall · Jul 6th, 08, 12:20 pm

I haven't had much luck using the search function for this scenario. Unfortunately there isn't a wall to secure the cabinets. If anyone has installed upper cabinets over a peninsula or island, I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

fisheggs · Jul 6th, 08, 12:41 pm

Would you be okay with a floor-to-ceiling post at the end of your peninsula? Something like that could serve as the structural support for either open shelves or a 2x4 structure that the upper cabs could mount on to. You need attachment points on the back side at the top (for the hanging rail) and bottom edges (although bottom edge is just for stability, no screws).

Another idea - on the side of the peninsula where you want hanging storage- how much could you gain by putting back-to back shallow pantries in the inner part of your "L" and just having an open peninsula on the end with no cabinets above it?

Lance nall · Jul 6th, 08, 1:39 pm

Fisheggs,

Thanks for the suggestions. A support post at the end of the peninsula is a possibility however we don't have a wall behind the upper cabinets for the support rail.

I thought about adding more base cabinets on the other side of the peninsula however we are trying not to take away anymore space from our breakfast area if we don't have to.

fisheggs · Jul 6th, 08, 2:14 pm

Whoops, sorry about that - I wasn't clear in what I meant by a support post. Imagine the post with two 2x4's attached to it and to the wall at the other end of your peninsula. The top 2x4 is where you attach the hanging rail and the bottom one is what the bottom lip of the cabinet rests against. You'd have to cover the back and sides with a panel or drywall or something like that.

Effectively, this would be like building out the essentials of a upper "half-wall" that the cabinets would be hung on. Depending on how long your peninsula is, you might need to go into a lot more in terms of structural stability than I've described here. kellybmw is describing the same sort of thing, I believe.

You might be able to rely on steel ibeams or other metal supports instead of 2x4's for added strength in a smaller space.

yankeelawyer · Jul 8th, 08, 1:14 am

Are you opposed to open shelving instead of cabinets? Something like the below could work. You could close off parts of it to make closed storage.

nigel-bigel · Jul 9th, 08, 5:44 pm

How about hanging a pot rack over the peninsula? It couldn't be easier, and would free up all of that cabinet space previously dedicated to pots and pans. Plus, It will still have an airy look and won't make your kitchen feel as closed-in as an actual cabinet would.

Nicole