I'm sure others will chime in, but it doesn't sound like the stacked part below the crown will be that wide with the 42" cabinets. My personal opinion is I like the stacked molding, you can always do a little more than just a flat piece for the stacked piece, maybe some rope trim in there, look at the finished kitchen blog and see what you think. Also, if Boxer reads this one, I'm sure you will be in for a whole lot of photos!

And check out Houzz's kitchen section, maybe something there will help you too.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Houzz's Kitchen section[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_709)

I'm a little biased b/c I'm doing something similar to one of your options with 8'6" ceilings.

my vote is basically for option 3. I'd do the larger cabinets, with the strip. I'd skip the 3inch crown in favor of a 5"

thats what I'm doing probably 38 inch cabinets with a flat, then 5" crown.

in my last house we had 39" cabinets that stopped with a small crown within 3 inches of the ceiling, I didn't particularly like the look, it made the cabints look oddly out of proportion.

How big is your kitchen? Is it an L-shape, U-shape, square, what?

Regardless, I would cross off your list the 36" tall cabinet + molding option if you have 9' ceilings.

Also, check your math. The distance from floor-to-countertop (i.e. toe kick + base cabinets + countertop) should bring you to 36". There should be 18" between the counters and the bottom of the upper cabinets. The balance up to 108" (your 9' ceiling) is left for cabinets and crown molding. So your scenario #1 would be 36" cabinets + 3" crown molding leaving 15" space. Your scenario #2 would be 42" cabinets + 3" crown molding leaving 12" space. Your scenario #3 would be 42" cabinets + 15" crown molding which would be way overkill on the molding, expensive, and a waste of good storage space.

I have 9' ceilings. On one side of my kitchen is an L configuration. That L has 42" cabinets + 3" crown molding + 12" space up to the ceiling (I am not a fan of elaborate crown molding in the kitchen - for me they are too fussy and look better in libraries and dens, just MHO). On the other side of the kitchen I have 42" cabinets + 12" cabinets stacked above them + minimal crown molding touching the ceiling. I like having both styles, but if my kitchen were smaller I would have it all with 42" + 12" stack to the ceiling. It may seem counterintuitive, but the taller cabinets up to the ceiling make your kitchen seem larger. They also look more elegant - have you ever seen a traditional butler's pantry in an english-style mansion? They are usually small, and the cabinets go up to the ceiling, and they look elegant.

When you have shorter cabinets like 36", and a larger space between them and the ceiling, you are creating a large horizontal space atop your cabinets which visually brings the whole thing down and makes everything look more squat. The higher you go, the more you are taking advantage of the airiness of you 9' ceilings, plus there's that extra storage space.

If someone says they don't like cabinets up to the ceiling cause you need a stepstool, my argument to that is that I need a stepstool above the second shelf regardless of whether my cabinets are 36" tall, 42", or up to the 9' ceiling. I love the upper cabinets for storage of little-used-but-necessary items like holiday decorations, grandma's bowl and the like. Some people like to have glass doors on the upper stack and use them to display pottery. If you have a large kitchen that's a great idea, but if you need the storage then use those uppers for storage.

One reason why people don't like to have a space between the cabinets and the ceiling is that it's a grime collector, which, depending upon your personality, may bother you. My solution, for the side of my kitchen with that space, is to place wax paper up there, and a couple of times a year, remove the wax paper and put down fresh.

So get back to us about how big your kitchen is. Depending upon its size, and given your 9' ceilings, I would do all cabinets touching the ceiling, or a combo of 42" cabinets with space to the ceiling, and 42" cabinets + 12" stack.

I think you should do 42" plus 5" of crown, and perhaps in the corners stack your cabinets with a 3" crown. The corner cabs could be 30" with another shorter cab on top of it, and then crown to the ceiling.
Thanks for the cool idea about the wax paper, Akchicago!

The kitchen is a modest size. Total sq footage, including eating area is about 260 sq ft. The main kitchen are is u-shaped (12'x10'). The remainder is 14'x10' and includes a telephone desk that we are going to convert to a bar area (wine fridge ...). Your #s are correct akchicago. 36+18.... I just measured and I have 53 1/2" from the bottom edge of the cabinet to the ceiling. So a 42" cabinet with 5" of crown still leaves 6 1/2" of space. I have seen the stacked cabinets but many of the pics were of very large kitchens so I wasn't sure if it would work. Definitely something to look into. I have also seen many pics of cabinet crown, a few inches of wall, then ceiling crown, and they look pretty good.... My gut tells me to go to the ceiling, but option 3 (having all of the solid wood trim above the doors.....just isn't sitting right..).
Thx for the advice!

I would take them all the way to the ceiling for sure. If not, it's just a space to collect dust. We have 9' ceilings with essentially "stacked" cabinets, although they are custom framed so they are built that way. There are smaller cabs on top of all of the large caps and then about 5" of wood followed by crown. We want new cabs just because they are old, show the hinges and have a stain I don't care for. But I'm definitely taking the new ones to the ceiling. I prefer stacked but depending on the price, I might do 42" with trim. I can't give up the storage now that I have it. I love all the space!! Good luck!

I like #3. There's nothing saying the filler area has to be cabinet looking material. What about a soffit look?

Why is the spell checker saying soffit is misspelled?

Why would you forego good cabinet storage space for an empty soffit?

I definitely think go to the ceiling - to me, it has a clean and custom look that it too good to pass up.

Another vote for to the ceiling. With a modestly sized kitchen, I would definitely maximize the storage with to-the-ceiling cabs. (That's what we'll be doing for exactly the same reason.)

Wish we had gone to the ceiling. Tired of cleaning above the cabinets.

I am also redoing our kitchen and went thought this same thought process. I have 9 ft ceilings. Currently the cabinets are 36" with a small crown moding. They just look silly with a huge space between the top of the cabinet and the ceiling. I wanted to go all the way up to the ceiling with the new cabinets. I looked that 42" with a wide spacer and crown and then found 48" cabinets. KraftMaid recently started offering these 48" cabinets. Some of the options are limited in 48" like open shelving, but all of the box cabinets are available. The additional cost was not significant. Maybe this is an option for you as well.

Hmm. Interesting. I have been cautioned about going above 42" due to potential warping of the wood over time. Any concern about this?
*The nicest option to us seems to be double stacked cabinets with smaller cabinets with glass as uppers, but I think this design may be above our budget ......
We have seen lots of pics with 42" doors, crown, a small space, and then the ceiling crown. We are seriously considering this.... The look with the large solid spacer between cabinets and crown just doesn't work for us....

Yes I have some concern about warpage on 48". I talked to kraftmaid about this. They said most likely some will warp a bit. They suggested to use magnetic pulls if I am concerned about it. They also garantee the cabinets for life. If some do warp they will replace them. I also considered the stacked. That is just a little too busy for me. I like clean simple lines. Just my preference.

We have stacked cabinets with small glass doors on the top, and I love them. We have 9' ceilings with cabinets that are 32" solid doors and 18" glass doors, topped with 4" of flat crown---perfect for our space, and not at all overwhelming for a small kitchen. (In fact, I think they make it look less small because in an odd way, the cabinets blend into the wall rather than feeling like they're projecting from it.) Notably, I can't reach the top cabinets so it does require a stepstool, but that was expected. We did custom cabinets which made it much more affordable than it would have been to do this with stock cabinets---ours are simple boxes with frames and doors dividing them, rather than each being individual cabinets. They're very solid, though we did go with plywood boxes which may have helped (since that's lighter than particle board/MDF). Our old cabinets were 70 years old and were wood versions the same height, and did not seem warped---doors still closed, etc. We do have magnetic clasps but that's to hold the inset doors closed---not sure how this would help with warping?

My architect had the concern about warping, but my custom cabinet guy who has been in the business for years did not. I went with the cabinetmaker. :-)

Our cabs are maple, not sure if species makes a difference? (smarter people than me may know this)