Raised Cutting Board for Tall People 5


Most kitchen countertops are 36″ high. This works well for 5′4″ people (average female height). For anyone taller, it is too low and can cause back pain. There are many solutions out there. Perhaps the best is the raised cutting board for tall people. In this post, I’ll show you how to build an inexpensive raised cutting board with minimal effort.

Raised Cutting Board for Tall People

Raised Cutting Board Legs

The first step to building a raised cutting board is to find some suitable legs. Furniture legs and their mounting hardware work great for this purpose (see image links below).

6″ Sofa Leg
15″ Leg (cut to length)
Leg Attachment Plates

The hard part is deciding what leg length to choose. One helpful tip for honing in on an ideal leg length is to gradually stack stuff under a cutting board until you’re satisfied with the height. One study found that slightly below elbow height tends to be preferable.1 For particularly tall people, this will seem awkward at first as we have grown used to working at improper heights. But after you get used to it, you will probably find it much better for your back. The universal object scaling calculator can also help you decide on a height.

Raised Cutting Board Top

As far as choosing a cutting board, just about anything works. Hard maple cutting boards that are at least 1″ thick do a fine job. A decent size is 18″ x 12″. But you can go much larger than that, creating a raised countertop essentially. You can then use a regular cutting board on top, which can be more easily washed in the sink.

36″x24″ Wood Counterop
Wood Cutting Board Various Sizes
Wood Countertop Various Sizes

Tips for Setting up Your Raised Cutting Board

Wood is prone to warping, and this can result in a bit of wobble. The simplest way to remove a wobble is to unscrew one of the legs just slightly. If this doesn’t fix it, you can add a washer between the leg and it’s mounting hardware.

Attaching Legs to Raised Cutting Board for Tall People

Another useful tip is to attach rubber feet to the bottom of the legs to prevent slippage. Alternatively, you can cut out a circular patch from some cork or rubber sheet with adhesive backing (double sided tape works for sheets without adhesive backing).

Fender Washer
Rubber Sheet with Adhesive Backing
Double Sided Tape

One of the great things about this type of raised cutting board is how portable it is. Just unscrew the legs and put it in a laptop bag or similar and you can take it anywhere!

Raised Cutting Board With Legs

Compost Bin Under the Raised Cutting Board

Where I live, we have a compost service that comes once a week. This is great, though the compost bin does take up a fair bit of counter space. For this reason, some people keep theirs under the sink attached to the cupboard door. But with a raised cutting board, there is an even better spot: Under it. It’s really handy as you can scrape vegetables directly into it. Just make sure the compost bin you buy will fit beneath your raised cutting board.

Compost Bin

Raised Cutting Board With Compost

 

1. J. S. Ward and N. S. Kirk, “The Relation Between Some Anthropometric Dimensions and Preferred Working Surface Height in the Kitchen“, Ergonomics, 1970.


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5 thoughts on “Raised Cutting Board for Tall People

  • Upstate6FT

    Ty so much for this post, i found this a few months ago and had the time to finally make one. Im 6ft female and feeling the woes in my back from everything being too short for me. I measured my counter tops. Stacked books to give a feel for what would be comfortable i think i ended making it 7inch high w sofa legs, w 1 in thick cutting board. A little wobbly on bottoms but nothing a rubber stopper wont fix. Nothing on the market for this. 1 no longer made raised board, was listed for $100 plus. This i made for 60. Makes meal prep so much more enjoyable. Also ***Wonderful website as im researching new car for me and the post on cars for tall ppl are perf. Great website for us tall men and women out here!

    • Tall Life Post author

      You’re welcome! I too am very found of my raised cutting board, used it every day for many years now, priceless. Good luck with the new car search!