Has anyone ever made a bigger space in an existing built-in kitchen to accommodate a bigger stove?

[chipmonkey]

Current freestanding cooker is 60cm across, my dream cooker is 110cm across. I could lose a little cupboard space without too much hardship but my problem is that there is a wooden hood over the cooker which is also 60cm across and I imaging that removing it and putting in a metal extractor might prove messy. Has anyone done this?

bump as it was a bit unrealistic expecting replies at 2.53 am!

The wooden hood should be just a cupboard with the extractor in, if you look above you can usually see the plug socket that it is plugged into.

I don't know how old your kitchen is for replacement cupboards etc or whether you are willing to lose the cupboards above the intended dream cooker.

We removed a wooden hood in our last house as you had to pull it forward to engage the fans, fine for me but not fine for Dh being 6ft 3! Kept banging his head on it bless him.

The hood should be attached to the wall like any wall cupboard, removing it should be easy enough, just remember to look out for any connecting screws that attach it to the cupboards either side. And unplug the extractor.

If you were to do something like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=range+cooker+hoods&hl=en&safe=active&sa=X&biw=1111&bih=588&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=NQEO1i0c5XTyvM:&imgrefurl=www.armaghelectrical.com/blog/category/kitchen-appliances/cooker-hoods-kitchen-appliances/&docid=p0Lv1lQyx4vaLM&imgurl=www.armaghelectrical.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Rangemaster-Elite-SE-and-Cooker-Hood.jpg&w=489&h=600&ei=Jtf9TrPQJcmj8gO6jZmZAQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=428&sig=109607027754493980800&page=3&tbnh=109&tbnw=89&start=33&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:33&tx=41&ty=60" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this then the splashback would hide any holes in the wall.

The kitchen is 11 years old and I think the company may sadly have gone the way of many Celtic-tiger companies. I am not very attached to any of the cupboards, I have loads of storage and tend to fill it with crap!
That splashback looks like a good idea.