I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel, and I've got a new breakfast room with some cabinetry set up. The countertops on my perimeter cabinets are standard 24" deep with a 1" overhang, except for the island where the seating area has an 18" overhang. For the new cabinets—two high ones on either side of a low cabinet (that's 72" wide and 18" deep)—I'm worried that the 1" overhang (making the total counter depth 19") won't be enough since one of my coffee machines is actually 19" deep. I'm considering bumping it up to a 2" overhang, but the general contractor thinks that's fine, whereas the templater says it might look odd compared to the 1" overhang in the kitchen. I'm wondering if anyone else has faced a similar situation and if I should just go for it or if there are better options?
3 Answers
In my opinion, it’s not a big deal at all. Just go with what feels right for your space!
If you're worried about how it will look, one idea is to add some wooden shims behind the cabinets to extend your counter depth to about 20-21 inches. That way, you can fit your coffee machine comfortably without losing depth when placing it. Just a thought!
Honestly, I don’t think anyone will notice the overhang unless you keep pointing it out. You might be stressing over something trivial. Just make sure it's far enough from the other cabinetry. Plus, if you need more depth, you could add some blocking behind the cabinets to achieve that depth while keeping a consistent 1" overhang.
See, that’s the issue. There’s really no easy way to pull the cabinets forward now, so I’m stuck deciding between a deeper counter with a 2" overhang or just going with the standard 1" but then compromising on coffee-making space.

We've looked into moving the cabinets out, but the added trim and labor for uninstalling and re-installing the big cabinets would be too costly at this stage. Our counters are square edged, so that part is fine.