If you've never been in a room that was badly proportioned due to too-high ceilings, you may not really believe there is such a thing. But there is, and it feels awful. Just very wrong -- but hard to put your finger on why. As a general rule, 9' is safe and comfortable for just about any room size. Higher ceilings can be are nice in large rooms; and 8' ceilings are wonderful for cozier spaces. One trick we've learned in this house is that a small area with lower ceilings at the entry to a larger space really 'opens up' the room with 8' ceilings. Our downstairs hallway has 7'6" ceilings, which we thought was a problem until we lived there a while. But now the 8' ceilings in the kitchen and den at either end feel much nicer, and the 'transition spaces' really function as transitions.

In my last home, I had 8' ceilings, and I had 42" cabinets with a narrow molding. Loved it! You can NEVER have too much storage IMHO. You THINK you'll never use those top shelves, but believe me, you WILL. I am not a fan of a lot of molding - just MHO and my own personal taste, but I think a big molding looks great in a den or library bookcase, but is too fussy for the kitchen (sorry!). In my current home, I have 9" ceilings, so I have 42" cabs, plus another short set of cabs stacked above them. I don't think it looks closed in at all; in fact I think it makes the kitchen look larger. Also, I toured a mansion (tour was for charity) that had a butler's pantry. The butler's pantry was quite small, but had custom cabinets to the ceiling - gorgeous, and the height really made it look elegant. Also, in my area at least, the realtors say that 42" cabinets are considered more desirable and "high-end". You may choose to believe that or not, but you will see real estate ads here that make a point of saying "kitchen comes with 42" cabinets". Sudiepav - I too am short (5'3"), and for me, I need a stepstool for anything above the second shelf (or even for the back of the second shelf), regardless of the height of the cabinet. So whether the cabs are 36" or 39" or 42", it doesn't matter, I'll need that stepstool. So not sure if a person's shortness would figure into this decision...I guess it depends on just how short they are!

Very pretty light. It will certainly not too much for an 8 foot ceiling. The rest of your plan sounds very sparkly and elegant. But, I'd check with others who own acrylic fixtures to make sure it will sparkle as much as you want. Dee

I saw a few flags go up: "in the midst of a major renovation" "trying to keep within budget" "raising the first floor to 9ft ceilings" "a very open floorplan on the first floor" "would it be simpler to reinforce the existing first floor 8ft ceiling" "second floor is going to be built the 9ft ceiling" All of these statements conflict with one another, and together they may say to tear the house down and start from scratch. If you have started renovation the questions you are asking should have been determined a long time ago. Generally raising the ceiling height on an existing home is costly. Large spaces call for more elaborate ceiling/floor structure above. Hire an architect, if you have not already; somebody has to protect you from you.