May 12, 2026

You have three options: run the cabinetry along the breast rather than across it, build tall units either side so the breast becomes a deliberate alcove, or remove it. The first is usually best, the second is the most attractive, and the third costs far more than people expect.

Roughly a third of the kitchens we build have a chimney breast in them, so this is not an unusual problem.

Option one: run along it

Take the cabinetry along the face of the breast rather than trying to work around it. You lose the depth of the projection, typically 300 to 400mm, across that section of wall.

The detail that makes this work is thickening the doors on the units either side so everything sits flush with the breast rather than stepping off it. On our own projects we use fronts around 40mm thicker in that run. It costs very little and it is the difference between looking designed and looking like a compromise.

Option two: make it an alcove

Put full-height cabinetry either side of the breast and leave the breast itself open. A range cooker sits naturally in the recess, and the breast above becomes the extraction route, which solves a problem rather than creating one.

This is usually the best-looking answer and it suits period houses. It costs a little more because tall units are more cabinetry, and you need the breast to be wide enough to take a cooker, generally 900mm or more.

Option three: remove it

Possible, and more involved than it sounds. A chimney breast is usually load-bearing for the stack above, so removal means a structural engineer, steel or a gallows bracket, building control sign-off, and making good across two floors if the stack continues upstairs.

Budget several thousand pounds and several weeks. It is occasionally the right call, usually in a small room where the breast is genuinely ruining the only usable wall, but it is rarely the cheap option people assume.

The mistakes we see

• Filler panels doing the work. A fitted kitchen has to bridge the gap somehow, and the result is a visible strip of panel where a cabinet should be.
• Ignoring the flue. If the chimney is still open, it needs to be capped and ventilated properly or you will get damp in the new cabinetry.
• Forgetting the hearth. Many breasts have a raised hearth that stops base units sitting flush. Check before you plan.

What we would do

Keep it. A chimney breast gives a kitchen a centre and a reason to be arranged the way it is. Once the cabinetry is drawn around it properly rather than fitted past it, most clients stop thinking of it as a problem within about a week of moving back in.