[Lisa]

:::looks at Mr. T:::

I have an 18" "integrated" dishwasher and I have Capita legs. I'm thinking I can install my dishwasher in a 21" cab. Maybe flipping the cab upside down (i.e have the DW resting on the open supports at the top) to let the "stuff" hang down.

TheDWhas a door and then an area that seems to have nothing to do with the door function and then the kickplate that houses the stuff.

I figured putting the DW in a cab would make attaching the CAPITA legs easier and make the line of cabs line up. There is certainly plenty of room to install the DW in the cab clearance wise.

So...is this possible or do I just try to rig up the capita legs and some support for the countertop on the left side of the DW?

	DW definitions DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.

[jamie]

I'd love to see what this dishwasher looks like. Can you post a link to the manufacturer's website or some specs?

[Lisa]

jamie, it's an 18" Kenmore in black. If you go to Sears.com you'll be able to see all the (admittedly not much) specs there. It also comes in white, but the front panel is dead flat so you could use the stainless "skin" - or it accepts a panel. However, IKEA doesn't make a dishwasher panel...so I have no idea if you could rig something to work in that regard. I'd love a NUMERAR stainless panel for it if that were possible.

Interestingly, I can get just as many dishes in the 18" that I could get in my 24" Frigidaire.

[jamie]

hi Lisa,What is your cabinet style?

[Lisa]

ARLIG. I've gone round and round and then ended up with the cheapest door. But hey, with a dog and a 5 year old and doors that cost about $2-6 a piece, there's a lot less stress

[Tigratrus]

It's an intriging idea... I just looked at our DW next to a cabinet and the depth of the setback for the kickplate of the DW looks doable, I'm not too sure about the clearance of the door though. As the DW door swings down the bottom of it moves through an arc that would probably hit the front horizontal support of an inverted base cabinet. If you lifted the DW up high enough to clear the support you'd likely hit the countertop. In order for the DW ddor to clear you might have to either move the DW forward, the Cabinet back (which would kind of defeat thewhole point) or mybe cutout part of the horizontal support? Maybe replace the IKEA part with a narrower support? ::ponder ponder::

I'm guessing the "stuff" (I.E. motor, pump etc) would probably fit fine... It's a really good, creative idea, but I think you'd probably have to try it with an actual cabinet and see if it will work.

	DW definitions DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.

[jamie]

Normally, the dishwasher would be installed between two frames and rest on the floor. My thought is to not install a frame and insert the dw into the frame, but to build a floor ONLY that spans two ajacent frames. It can be supported by the legs and stabilized between the two cabinet frames by strapping that is installed to span the 18" of the dishwasher and beyond on both sides.Â*To build it into a frame, an 18" frame would be 18" OUTSIDE dimensions, so the dw wouldn't fit. You'd have to move up to a 21" cabinet frame and build in filler strips on either side, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a compact dishwasher for it to waste 3 more inches...hope this makes sense -- if not, i'll draw you something up. let me know. -jamie

	DW definitions DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.

[Lisa]

here's a picture of the DW in its cabinet run:



What you probably can't really see is that I have a pretty big gap to fill anyway, due to my wanting a "cool" drawer cabinet, rather than just a typical style one sans interesting interior fittings.

I have a perfect 21" space where the dishwasher is - but not 24", hence the micro washer.

I also have an inch to both the bottom and top (meaning the DW is an inch lower than the top of the adjoining cab and and an inch lower at the bottom, too) - I have no idea if this is normal. My last DW was installed pretty poorly, so I have no idea what it should look like...guess I should scope out other people's dishwasher installs.

The other hurdle is the "how to attach the countertop" since I've got that VARDE worktop there. It's a good bit higher than the standard top (but I like that) and I need to figure out how to bring my Formica up to blend in (but that's another thread or a job for the fabricator).

Explain everything to me slowly and like I don't understand. Seriously. Because I don't

	DW definitions DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.

[Tigratrus]

You probably just need to adjust the legs of the DW down an inch, so that it's raised UP an inch to match the adjacent cabinet? You should be able to do that by just spinning the feel of the DW, they should be basically long bolts with feet on the end.

Have you tried the putting the DW in an inverted 21" cab experiment yet? I'd think that it *might* work, though you might have to modify the horizontal brace that would be in front of the DW so the DW door doesn't hit it. You could also just put an end panel on the the sink side of the DWcut to the same height as the drawer stack cab to the right of the DW and use that to support the Counter (attachingthe end panel to the floor with L brackets would probably be a good idea ), that's the normal way to handle it if you don't have Cabs on both sides of the DW...

	DW definitions DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.

[chefklc]

Lisa, first off, I love the way you dropped that Varde sink top onto Akurum cabs, I had not seen that mod before, it looks beautiful and dropping it on an array of Akurum as you have gives you much more functionality and contemporary style than if on the otherwise ordinary and limited Varde line. Your idea opens up real possibilities for anyone putting an IKEA kitchen in, most of whom might like the sink but would reject Varde out of hand.

Also have to say I'm attracted to your idea of setting a dw inside an inverted base cab and retaining the look of thCapita legs all the way across--but then I've always liked how all the appliances in the Euro IKEA catalogs can be built-in--in the long run I'm not sure you'd gain as much as you think, though, by doing this. I also like Jamie's idea--and here's another option for you to get distracted by: if there's enough clearance all the way around and for the dw door to swing out and down, you could also try to put the whole thing behind an Arlig door, hiding it like one might position a microwave on a shelf inside a tall pantry cabinet. You wouldn't even need a full 21" cabinet frame in there--just one cabinet side piece or a strip attached to whichever side you wanted the door hinges on. But from your picture it looks like you don't have the clearance to do any of these mods AND use Capita legs in a way that makes sense. Why do I say that? Because I think countertop choice and height should be driving your decision-making in this space between your Varde sink and your stove--not a dishwasher mod. Figure out the right look, height and positioning of the countertop--then explore possible mods below.

Ask yourself what you're going to do on that countertop space--wouldn't you prefer your countertop to be the same height as your stove, or slightly lower, so you can easily slide pans to the left? Also, how tall are you? You might gain more by purposely designing a slightly lower countertop workspace here--possibly buying a less expensive remnant piece of granite (coordinated with your tile and wall) for this space even if you're going laminate everywhere else to save money, which 1) could withstand a hot pot and 2) also do double duty as a baker's space, which is usually an inch or two lower than standard countertop height anyway, for those times you'd like to roll out dough.

So, if anything, I think you might want to decrease the height of that 21" cab a bit and try tucking your countertop choice "under" the lip of the Varde. That would be a much cleaner look (I think) than trying to attach something to the stainless Varde--and easier to wipe clean.Even though you have a really big kitchen and a ton of storage and countertop space, you're probably going to do most of your work on this countertop between sink and stove, right? So make sure it is the right height and the right surface for you to work on. If you went with a granite remnant, you wouldn't need that much to "install" it--a piece that wide would be heavy enough that as long as your cabs are level it will stay put wedged in between your sink and stove.

Since your dw is all black, for now I think you'd gain more by doing a little less: leave the dw solidly on the floor for now, use it to help support your countertop, slap one of those peel-off stainless panels on the front to get it to blend a little better with your stove and sink, leave it exposed and direct your energies first to solving the countertop above it. Then once you have that worked out, see if it makes sense to do something else with the dw.

	DW definitions DW can mean Dear or Darling Wife (or substitute your expletive), or alternatively DishWasher. Take your clues from the context.

	Akurum definition Akurum is the North American equivalent of FAKTUM; that is the fitted, frameless, component kitchen cabinet line, which when paired with door and drawer fronts as well as interior accessories makes up the full kitchen cabinet system.