Tall Kitchen Units & Larder Cupboards: A Buyer’s Guide

Tall units are the hardest-working cabinets in any kitchen, yet they are also the ones most people plan last. If you are laying out a new kitchen and wondering whether to squeeze in a larder, house your oven at eye level, or hide the mop and vacuum in a broom cupboard, this guide is for you. By the end you will know what each tall unit does, the sizes to plan around, and when every one is genuinely worth the floor space.

1. What counts as a tall kitchen unit

A tall unit is any full-height cabinet that runs from the plinth up to the top of your wall cabinets, typically around 195 to 235cm depending on your ceiling and the range you choose. Unlike base and wall units, which are split by the worktop, a tall unit gives you an unbroken column of storage or a single housing for a built-in appliance. That vertical run is what makes them so valuable in smaller kitchens, where floor space is scarce but ceiling height often goes unused.

There are three tall units most home cooks will consider: the larder cupboard for food and dry goods, the oven-housing unit for a built-in oven or oven-and-microwave stack, and the broom or utility unit for cleaning gear and bulky odds and ends. Some ranges also offer tall fridge and freezer housings, but those follow your appliance dimensions rather than your storage habits, so we will focus on the three you actually get to design around. If you are still mapping out the wider layout, our kitchen storage ideas guide pairs well with this one.

2. Larder cupboards explained

A larder cupboard is a tall unit dedicated to food storage: tins, jars, packets, breakfast cereals, baking supplies and the small appliances you would rather keep off the worktop. The best larders combine fixed shelves in the upper section with pull-out drawers or baskets lower down, so heavy items sit at a comfortable height and nothing gets lost at the back. A well-planned larder can replace two or three wall units and a run of base cupboards, consolidating your dry goods into one place you can scan at a glance.

Two broad styles exist. A shelved larder is the simplest and most affordable, giving you deep static shelves behind a pair of tall doors. A pull-out or “drawer-line” larder brings the contents to you on runners, which suits deeper cabinets where reaching the back would otherwise be a stretch. For most family kitchens a 500mm or 600mm wide larder strikes the right balance between capacity and the floor space it consumes.

3. Oven-housing units

An oven-housing unit lifts a built-in oven off the floor to a height where you are not stooping every time you check a roast. The classic configuration is a single oven at mid-height with a drawer or cupboard below and a further cupboard above, but the same carcass can take an oven-and-compact-microwave stack, or an oven with a warming drawer. Bringing the oven up to eye level is easier on your back and safer when you are lifting hot, heavy trays clear of the shelf.

The trade-off is that a tall oven housing uses a full column of your run, so it works best where you have the wall length to spare or where you are already grouping your cooking appliances together. In a compact galley you may prefer to keep the oven under the hob and use the tall space for a larder instead. Think about how you cook before you commit the wall: frequent bakers and anyone with back or mobility concerns tend to value a raised oven far more than the average once-a-week roaster.

4. Broom and utility units

A broom unit is the kitchen’s unsung hero: a tall, largely empty cupboard sized to swallow an upright vacuum, a mop and bucket, an ironing board, a dustpan set and the tall cleaning bottles that clutter the space under the sink. Because the interior is mostly open, it hides the awkward, ugly, oddly shaped items that have nowhere else to live. In an open-plan kitchen-diner, where every cupboard is on show, a broom unit keeps the mess genuinely out of sight.

You do not always need a dedicated broom cupboard. If you have a separate utility room, hallway cupboard or understairs space, your cleaning kit may be better housed there, freeing the kitchen column for food or appliances. But in a flat, a new-build with no utility, or any home where the kitchen is the only practical storage, a broom unit earns its place many times over. Fit a couple of hooks and a shallow shelf inside and it doubles as a home for tea towels, carrier bags and recycling caddies.

5. Sizes and dimensions to plan around

UK kitchen units follow fairly standard modules, which makes planning easier once you know the numbers. Tall units share the same widths as base units but run the full height of the cabinetry. Use the table below as a starting point, then confirm the exact dimensions of the range you choose before you order, as depths and heights vary a little between manufacturers.

Two measurements catch people out. First, ceiling height: a 2350mm tall unit needs clearance to be tilted upright during installation, so in a room with a low or sloping ceiling you may need the shorter 1970mm option. Second, doorway and corridor width for delivery, since a flat-packed tall unit is long and unwieldy. Our how to measure furniture before buying guide walks through checking access routes before anything arrives, and the Will It Fit planner helps you visualise the finished run.

6. When each unit is worth including

Deciding which tall units to include comes down to how you cook, how you shop and how much floor space you can spare. A few honest questions will point you the right way:

• Include a larder if you buy in bulk, keep a well-stocked store cupboard, or have few base units to work with. It is almost always the highest-value tall unit in a family kitchen.
• Include an oven housing if you bake often, dislike bending to a low oven, or have back or mobility concerns. It is a comfort and safety upgrade more than a storage one.
• Include a broom unit if you have no utility room or understairs cupboard, or your kitchen is open-plan and you want cleaning gear fully hidden.

In a small kitchen you rarely have room for all three, so rank them. Most people find the larder pays back first, the oven housing second if they cook a lot, and the broom unit last unless there is genuinely nowhere else for the vacuum. When space is tight, look at your wider layout too, as a nearby hallway cupboard or a home office nook can sometimes absorb the overflow that would otherwise force a fourth tall unit.

7. Fittings that transform tall storage

The carcass is only half the story; what you put inside decides how usable a tall unit really is. A shelved larder is fine, but the same cupboard fitted with pull-out drawers or wire baskets stops food disappearing into a dark void at the back. Corner and wide larders can take swing-out or carousel mechanisms, and even a simple door-mounted rack adds a surprising amount of space for jars and spice tins.

Think about weight and access as you specify fittings. Heavy items belong in lower pull-outs where you are not lifting them overhead, while lighter, less-used goods can sit on high fixed shelves. Soft-close hinges and runners keep tall doors and heavy drawers from slamming, and adjustable shelves let you reconfigure the interior as your habits change. If you are still choosing between styles across the whole room, browse the full kitchens range to see how tall units sit alongside your base and wall cabinetry.

8. Common planning mistakes to avoid

The most frequent mistake is leaving tall units until last, once the base and wall runs are already fixed. Because a tall unit needs an uninterrupted column, retrofitting one often means sacrificing cabinets you have already planned. Position your tall units first, then fill the remaining wall with base and wall cabinets around them.

Other pitfalls are easy to sidestep once you know them:

• Ignoring door swing. A pair of tall larder doors sweeps a wide arc; make sure they clear the oven door, the dishwasher and any walkway.
• Blocking natural light or thoroughfare. A tall unit beside a window or at the end of a galley can make a small kitchen feel boxed in. Position it against a solid wall where you can.
• Forgetting the plinth and cornice. These add a few centimetres top and bottom; check your final height against the ceiling before ordering.
• Over-deep placement. Standing a tall unit right beside a worktop run can leave the counter feeling cramped, as the tall unit is the same depth as the base cabinet below.

9. Buying with confidence

Once you have chosen your tall units, ordering should be the easy part. At Elystra Living your kitchen order is dispatched on fast tracked delivery, and every purchase is covered by our 30-day returns policy, so you have time to check dimensions and finishes against your space at home. You can also spread the cost with Klarna interest-free instalments, which makes fitting out a full kitchen far more manageable. Take a moment to measure your run, decide which tall units earn their place, and then browse the full kitchens collection to bring your plan together.