Awkward window height in kitchen

Not sure what to do. Our old countertop was level with the window behind the kitchen sink and so flowed seamlessly from the counter to the sill and were both the same tile. We ripped out our old counter/cabinets and now see that the base of the unfinished window sill is set at 36". The old cabinets were apparently a somebit taller than normal and no one noticed.

Now I'm installing standard 34.5" cabinets which after raising to account for the high spots will sit at about 35". I'm not sure where this leaves me with the window since the bottom is too high to naturally meet the cabinets and too low make a normal looking sill. I suppose I could raise the cabinets another inch or so but I'm concerned the 5.5" toe kick area might look off. Any advice on getting the cabinets to line up, or how to make the window sill look okay where it's <1" higher than the installed counter. We are going with silestone btw.

 

Welcome to the forums!

Since the new countertop will be lower I'm not sure what the issue is. The space below the window can be filled with either backsplash tile or piece of wood trim. Pics might help us better understand what you are dealing with How to insert pictures.

 

Yes, pics will help.
I have about a 2 1/2" space after the back splash and window molding is on. Looks normal.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'll try to get some pictures when I'm at the house later today (but I haven't installed the base cabinets yet since I'm trying to determine the best height). The main problem is that it looks like I will only have .5-.75" between my counter and the window bottom which I'm having trouble imagining could look normal or attractive.

 

Would that be the bottom of the window stool or the apron?

 

The sill. No room for much of an apron

 

I would not play with the toe kick on the base cabinets. Find an extra wide window molding if need be. If you can reduce the gap to 3/8 to 1/4 inch then caulking will fill in the rest.

 

At 1" I'd do like Norm suggested and rip some molding for an apron under the stool. I'd also prime all 6 sides before nailing it up, that along with caulking and enamel should give it enough protection from any water that gets splashed out of the sink.

 

You could also see if you could get a custom silestone stool made, maybe 1 1/4" thick, notched out 1/2-3/4" to fit over your sill. The sill nose would sit right on top of the new countertop that way and hide the step. Plus it would match, and wont be a problem if it gets wet.

 

Thanks so much everyone! Still not sure what I'm going to do with the window but it sounds like everyone agrees that I shouldn't go out of my way to raise cabinets, correct? I'm thinking to just install the cabinets normally and then post pics for some ideas on how to make the window look great.

 

I agree. Fooling with the cabinet height or toe kick will cause a non-standard installation that will haunt you or others later on. Install the cabinets and as you said,send some pics and we can all comment or give suggestions.

 

IMO the only reason to raise the cabinets above the normal height is if you are tall or have a bad back which could make the taller counter height advantageous. If that was the case I wouldn't let the kick plate height concern me as you could cut/finish one to fit out of plywood.