Perhaps you’re reading this and your curious what were talking about? This over looked design detail is key when dressing the floor cabinets.
A toe kick is a recessed plinth as the bottom of the kitchen floor cabinet which gives the illusion of a floating cabinet. The alternative is a plinth skirting which creates a solid base at floor level, this maybe the skirting board used throughout the room, adding this to the cabinetry will provide a cohesive, seamless built in look.
Toe kicks are growing in popularity, though it’s down to personal preference and perhaps the size of your feet. Toe kicks will stop anyone on the taller side or people with larger feet standing away from the work surface which has the potential to cause lower back and shoulder strain.
Keeping countertops at the optimum height is one thing but toe kicks will allow you to stand closer to the work surface and avoid poor posture, creating an uncomfortable angle in your back.
There is an unwritten rule that modern kitchen works well with a toe-kick, but a traditional shaker kitchens tends to look better with proper skirting board around the base of the floor cabinets.
As we continue to embrace open plan living more attention is being given to the kitchen, more often than not we want a kitchen to be an extension of the living areas which means one of the design criteria’s will be having cabinetry to resemble furniture pieces.
A skirted kitchen will create a cohesive feel thought room, which also provides a visually strong finish point to the room, though the deciding factor may depend on your shoe size..
Header image via Jake Arnold
