James' marble shelf

[Hendo]

James,

I notice in your photo of a packet of Pici that there is a small shelf at the rear of the benchtop. I think something like this would be very handy (is it?) - especially in my outdoor kitchen, where space to put odds 'n' sods will be at a premium.

Questions - how deep is it and how deep do you think it should be if you were installing one?

How high is it - looks like only a couple of inches but is hard to tell. Is it high enough above the benchtop or would you make it a little higher to make the bench depth more useable?

How is it supported? Has it been grouted into a rebate in the wall or are there other supports?

Grateful your input and further photo's if possible.

Cheers, Paul.

[Hendo]

James,

Are you able to help me out on this one?

Cheers, Paul.

[james]

Ciao Paolo,

Sorry about the slow response on this one. I have mixed feeling about the ledge -- as there are pluses and minuses. The kitchen is not terribly large, so the extra storage is helpful. We put herb jars, salt and pepper grinders, etc. on it, which is good. The downside is cleaning undernearth, and that if you put something in front of it (tea kettle or a jar), you lose a lot of prep space.

In this case it is laminate, not marble, so it is light. There are wooden disks that support it, but when you take them out to clean, the ledge is still solid.

It is about 4" high, and 3" deep.

What do you think?
James

[Hendo]

Ciao James,

Thanks. They certainly do wonderful things with laminates these days!

I’d certainly like to incorporate a small ledge in my outdoor kitchen. I was thinking of around 3-4” deep for items like salt & pepper grinders, dried herbs and the odd beer/wine glass, but perhaps a little higher so as not to interfere too much with prep space.

Electrical power points could also be located under the ledge which would offer them some protection from the lawn sprinklers.

Distinti saluti
Paolo.

[james]

Paolo,
Even in the modern world, I still like natural stone, tile and wood. Let us know know do you do your counters -- perhaps we will start a trend.

We are going to re-do the kitchen and install a new outdoor kitchen at a new house, so we have a lot of designing and bulding ahead of us.
James