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Nov 3, 2026
Frameless Kitchen Design in Chelsea, NYC: Hiding the Range Hood in Ceiling-Height Cabinets
Robert Scott
6 min read
In a New York City apartment, every inch of kitchen counts. On our latest kitchen renovation in Chelsea, Manhattan, the client's brief was simple: get the most storage possible out of the space, and keep it clean, warm and modern.
That meant frameless cabinetry, wall cabinets running all the way to the ceiling, and a range extractor hidden inside a cabinet above the stove. That last part turned out to be the most interesting problem on the job. Here's how we designed around it, and a few other details worth stealing for your own kitchen.
Why we went frameless
Frameless (European-style) cabinets have no face frame around the box. The doors cover the whole cabinet, so you get full access to the inside and a tight, even gap between every door and drawer.
In a small Manhattan kitchen, that matters. A face frame eats about an inch on each side of every box. Lose that, and drawers get wider, shelves get deeper, and the room looks calmer because nothing breaks up the run.
It also let the wood grain do the talking. The doors and drawer fronts run in a continuous light walnut-tone grain from the tall pantry to the ceiling cabinets. With no frames or trim pieces in the way, the kitchen reads as one piece of furniture rather than a row of boxes.
The catch: frameless leaves nowhere to hide anything. There's no crown molding, no filler strip and no trim to cover a gap, a duct or a mistake. Which brings us to the range hood.
The challenge: an integrated extractor in a cabinet that goes to the ceiling
The client didn't want a chimney hood on the wall. They wanted the extractor built into the cabinet above the range, so the wall cabinets could run uninterrupted from the fridge to the end of the run and all the way up to the ceiling.
An integrated hood (sometimes called a hood insert or power pack) sits flush with the bottom of the wall cabinet. From the kitchen, all you see is a slim stainless strip above the stove. The fan and motor live inside the cabinet.
The question is where the air goes. Normally you'd have two options:
Recirculate it. The hood filters the air and blows it back into the room. That needs open space above or behind the cabinet, which is usually hidden by trim or a gap at the top. Our cabinets went right to the ceiling, with no trim and no gap.
Duct it out the back. Behind this wall was a closet, not open space. Venting cooking exhaust into a closet isn't code compliant, and it's a bad idea anyway: grease, moisture and smells would all end up in someone's clothes.
Neither option worked. We had to find a third route.
The solution: venting up through the ceiling
The only way left was up. We opened the ceiling above the range to see how the framing ran. Fortunately, the joists ran in the right direction, so the duct could pass between them without cutting into structure.
Inside the cabinet, we built a slim plywood chase that runs from the top of the hood insert straight up to the ceiling. The duct runs inside the chase, then passes through the ceiling framing. To fit between the joists, we reduced it to a 4 inch duct.
The chase sits in the middle of the cabinet, which leaves usable space on both sides. It's the perfect spot for cutting boards, baking sheets and trays. Open the doors and it looks like a finished part of the cabinet, not a workaround.
Close the doors and you'd never know any of it is there. You just see two tall, flush doors running to the ceiling, with a stainless strip above the range.
A few things to keep in mind if you're planning something similar:
Check the ceiling framing early. If the joists had run the other way, this route wouldn't have worked without much bigger changes.
Match the hood's power to the duct size. A smaller duct moves less air, so the insert has to be sized for it.
In a co-op or condo, the building usually has rules on new ductwork. Get the plan in front of the building early.
Leave access. The insert's filters and the duct connection still need to be reachable for cleaning and service.
Other design ideas from this Chelsea kitchen
The hood was the hardest problem, but a few other choices are what make this small NYC kitchen feel bigger than it is.
An island that does double duty
The island is the hardest-working piece in the room. One side has seating for four under a deep stone overhang. The other side is all storage: wide frameless drawers and a built-in microwave drawer. Keeping the microwave in the island frees up counter space and keeps it off the main wall.
Both ends of the island are finished in wood panels that match the cabinets, with the stone top sitting on them. That ties the island to the rest of the kitchen.
Full-height Calacatta Gold quartz backsplash
Instead of tile, the backsplash is a slab of the same Calacatta Gold quartz as the counters, with its white background and soft gray veining. Quartz gives the look of marble without the sealing, and it stands up to stains and etching from everyday cooking. It runs from the countertop up to the underside of the wall cabinets, with no grout lines to clean and no visual break. Behind the range, it gives the stove a clean backdrop where a hood would normally hang.
Warm wood, brushed brass, stainless steel
The light wood-grain fronts keep the room warm. Brushed brass bar pulls add a little shine and repeat on every door and drawer. The stainless range and fridge cool it back down. Three materials, used consistently, is usually all a small kitchen needs.
Built-in fridge with storage above
The fridge is framed by a tall wood panel with a cabinet above it, so it sits inside the cabinet run rather than sticking out on its own. That cabinet above is easy storage for items you don't need every day.
Layered lighting
Recessed lights in the dropped ceiling light the whole kitchen zone. LED strips under the wall cabinets light the countertop and make the stone backsplash glow. A good kitchen needs both: general light to see the room, and task light where you actually cut and cook.
Defining the kitchen in an open-plan apartment
In an open layout, the kitchen needs its own edges. Here, large-format porcelain floor tile marks the kitchen, wood flooring runs through the living area, and the island sits right at the line between them. The dropped ceiling with recessed lights does the same job overhead.
Kitchen renovation FAQ
Can you put a range hood inside a cabinet that goes to the ceiling?
Yes, but the exhaust needs somewhere to go. With no gap above the cabinet, recirculating isn't practical, so the hood has to be ducted out through a wall, the ceiling or a chase. In this Chelsea kitchen, we ran it up through the ceiling joists.
Are frameless cabinets worth it in a small NYC kitchen?
For most small kitchens, yes. You gain usable space inside every cabinet, and the clean look makes the room feel larger. The trade-off is that install has to be precise, because there's no trim to hide gaps.
Can a kitchen exhaust vent into a closet?
No. Venting cooking exhaust into a closet or other enclosed space isn't code compliant. It needs to go outside, or be handled by a properly designed system.
Do I need building approval for a kitchen renovation in a Manhattan co-op or condo?
Almost always. Most buildings require an alteration agreement and drawings, and new ductwork or plumbing changes often need extra review. We help clients through that process.
Planning a kitchen renovation in Chelsea or anywhere in NYC?
The best kitchens in small New York apartments come from solving problems like this one early in the design, not on site. Say Construction is a general contractor licensed in all five boroughs, working on kitchen and bathroom renovations across Manhattan and Brooklyn.
If you're planning a kitchen remodel in Chelsea or elsewhere in New York City, Get in too and we'll talk through what your space can do.
