I've received a lot of questions about our stove hood in the past few years so I thought I should recap how we came to have this beauty. It's completely awesome. And it's also a DIY project. Unfortunately, we did this before I started writing the blog so I didn't take very many step by step pictures (or really any), so you'll get a brief explanation and no pictures.
When we were planning our kitchen, every kitchen I loved had a built-in stove hood. I love the stainless look but I have never loved big stainless stove hoods in modestly sized kitchens. I really prefer the wood look which coordinates with the cabinets although I don't think matching exactly is necessarily. Of course when I priced out the built-in options they were generally well over $1000 (not including the venting insert) and none of them fit our needs exactly, so we decided to build it. Well, Handy Hubby would build it and I would occasionally hold pieces and provide moral support!
We started with a Fujioh stove hood insert (around $250). We chose it because of it's good ratings, strong air pull, and it is relatively quiet on the low setting. The hood came with some specs on how far it should be from the stove (at least 24") and some other specs for installation.
I drew a quick sketch of the design I wanted and Handy Hubby went to work. The base part where the fan inserts, was relatively easy - basic a high grade plywood box. The same thing for the top piece below the ceiling. The challenge came with the angles on the top. There was a lot of trial and error and maybe a little cursing until the angles were just right.
Our contractor who built our addition came and helped out with the installation including punching the hole through the outside wall for the vent. It was painted using color-matched semi-gloss paint from Benjamin Moore. The final result is pretty fantastic we think!
