I have a recessed box out and I love it!! My bottles do not get greasy,but I must admit I do not fry on the back burners. My box out has marble herringbone tile and a marble shelf. I am really happy with it!! Here are the pictures - scroll down to see the box out. Good luck to you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Box out behind stove

Am seriously considering a tiled niche.

We are making a workshop kitchen, not a showplace. Nevertheless, it's got to be inviting. My goal is to keep the countertop on either side of the stove as clear as possible, to please the hubby.

Until it dies, I am not getting rid of my 30 inch wide range, a high-backed stove topped by a flat ledge-like surface that tends to accumulate salt, garlic head, pepper mill, fat drippings container, antacids bottle, vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, etc. in a junky line. If a niche were in the wall above and behind this, the same accumulation of sitting objects would look more intentional and less junky, I think, since the top of the stove would create a cleaner, horizontal line, echoed by the bottom of the niche. Also, the niche might prove to be a focal point without being particularly expensive and it would allow me to put out a narrow vase with a flower, or a little seasonal thing to look at sometimes, especially if the oils, etc. were stowed away for an occasion.

I was just looking at this today. I like the asymmetry, the simplicity. (OK, I also like the expensive range..)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I have one, but I haven't put in a backsplash yet, it's just painted. As to greasy/grimy...I don't get much in the way of grease on the things in the niche (my range hood does a great job of eliminating grease), but I do have the occasional chili or sauce splatters...nothing big and not a big deal to wipe down. Oh, and also some dust...as with anything that sits out on the counter (which is why my KA mixer has a cover!)

I have a lighted niche. Wish it could have been wider but supporting wall and such would not allow.

Jodi-

I very much appreciate seeing photos of niches. Keep 'em coming! I need to show DH how great they are.

florantha,

I am remodeling my tiny kitchen on a very, very, small budget but I wanted some "big kitchen" features. I have a new 30" stove and it has a back on it like yours. I added a niche behind my stove that is 26" wide and 11" tall. It's not picture ready yet because it is just roughed in but believe me it does not look out of place at all.

Decor8for2:
Thanks for your posting. We would love to look at a photo of your niche when it's ready.

I went to tile store today and brought home two readymade plastic niche forms for consideration by DH the sweaty equity contractor, both same width across but one half the height of the other. Not sure whether we might use one or two or build our own into the wall. We're approaching the moment when I have to make niche decisions (pun intended).

The forms could be use in bathrooms or kitchens or wherever. Both fit between 16" center stud framing, if you're so lucky as to not have to frame around a niche.

The niche is a plastic box with a 1" frame around the outside, with a few readymade holes in the frame for drilling into the interior of the wall through the frame. The frame is just the depth of the drywall which you would abut to it.

Sales guy says that people sometimes create custom shelves to run horizontally within the niche.

He also talked about mounting the large over the small or turning the small vertically to hold a tall bottle.

I asked him if you could saw one long frame side off each to merge them and he said, "yeah, I suppose you could do that."

He also talked about just building your own niche frame and pointed to examples in his display which had arched tops.

The orange one (smaller size) was $34.99 and it's 15 1/2 " the long dimension and 7 5/8" the short dimension. Mounted horizontally, it would hold a number of medium to short things, like salt and pepper, short bottles, garlic clove, etc. Inner size before any tile or adhesives or grouting or whatever: 5 3/4 x 13 5/8 on the frame and almost 3 3/4 inch deep. It bows in slightly so back wall is 13 1/2 across.

The yellow one (larger size) was $39.99. It's 15 1/2" square on the outside, with a 1-inch frame around it. Same depth of 3 3/4". Back side is 13 1/2" square, which makes sense and indicates that it's a little less bowed than the orange one.

Not sure if I have space for the taller one or whether we would mess around with customizing. We're not advanced woodworkers or tilers. I suspect that no matter how high a 30" range control panel and how low a range hood, we could buy two orange ones, cut one end off each, and make a shallow, long niche that would admit salt and pepper and other occasional stuff and would look very intentional, but it would be rather short for most olive oil bottles, so would need to rebottle my oils, not a bad thing, given the cautions people have made to keeping most oil away from stove heat. As for other cautions, same thing applies--I'm not keeping a year's supply of herbs back there, just the custom mixes I use frequently.

So it goes. This is the executive niche decision of the next day or so.

Here is a link that might be useful: two niche forms

I have taken a short poll of some ranges and find that the upright at the back of new ranges can be as high as 48 inches. Mine, an old Whirlpool, is 46 inches from floor.

The Broan Allure III range hood that I intend to purchase is recommended to be attached 24-30 inches above the cooking surface for best positioning. My cupboard shop likes to mount these higher, at 34 inches. The man says it keeps it from being in the way of your head, but I think the lights will be obnoxious there and that the thing will be too far up to use on the low setting, the whole reason for my purchase of this hood (extremely quiet lowest power mode).

Not sure what compromise height will be, but DH has agreed to hand-build a niche that runs horizontally across the entire width of the range. He is lobbying for 32 inch hood mount above stovetop. We're considering a 4-inch wide tile that has a bullnose variant also. The tiles around the perimeter and on the floor of the niche will likely need to be cut, since the niche space starts at 4 inches between walls and becomes smaller as we put in drywall and tile. I hope that the ledge will be wide enough to prevent things like the salt shaker from falling onto the cooking surface as they do now when balanced on the top of the high part of the range.

I think that this condiments and oil niche will give some visual distinction to a low-budget kitchen and will add to my "workshop kitchen" goal. Have been talking to a young neighbor who is just graduated from culinary school; he says "yeah, duh, it's a no-brainer" when I ask whether he thinks this is a good idea. He says that a working shelf above and behind the cooktop is standard in the restaurants where he's worked.

dianelouise,
What did you decide about your niche?

Update! We decided to go with a niche. During framing, we built in a niche using 2x6s so it will be deep enough to set things on. We covered the niche with drywall since it may be several months before we actually get to the tile stage! Right now, our hardwood floors are installed and will be sanded and finished next week. Slow but sure progress! Can't wait to begin "rebuilding" our kitchen!

good choice!

I love my recessed niche, I have a few more things in there now.. I wipe them off when I wipe off the backsplash, but it doesn't get too greasy.

{{gwi:1596268}}

Florantha, what did you decide to do about your niche? I have the same problem...range height total is 46". Hood needs to be installed 30" max. I am looking online right now at cruets and all seem to be 11-13" tall. I figure I could only go with an 8.5" tall niche for it to work.

Right now I am cruising backsplash/niche pics, counting out everyone's tiles and examining measurements.

What did you decide, Flor?

Sally, it looks lovely

I wonder about the olive oil and the heat..hmmm....

Okay. Here is my question. Really, it is my husband's question. Is it difficult to reach over hot stove to get stuff?

I just assume you get your stuff down off the ledge before you really get cooking.

Thoughts?

marciab10 I would like to know the specifics of your kitchen choices. I really like what you've done and the backsplash, sink, and faucet fit with the style we are going for and the tile we have already used in other parts of the house and plan to continue in the kitchen. Thanks.

sabjimata,
The olive oil bottles are empty ones and are just there to look pretty. I store my olive oil where it won't be affected by the heat. My two large burners on the cooktop are in the middle and on the right, so that is where the big, taller pans go. The salt and pepper are on the left and I can't remember ever getting burned or feeling concerned about reaching for them.

sumnerfan,

I have most of my specifics in the finished kitchen blog under my user name.. for the backsplash we bought all the tile from The Tile Store, they have locations all over. My husband laid it all out.. and also installed.. I have more pic on webshots - link below

If you have need any more info, feel free to email me @ marciab10@aol.com

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen pictures

Thanks.