9' Ceilings- should cabinets go to ceiling?
Comments (36)
User
11 years agoauroraborelis
11 years agoRelated Discussions
9' ceilings - what size wall cabinets?
Comments (14)Very strange - I responded back to my post (at least I thought I did!) several weeks ago and I don't see it. Now I'm finally back on-line with a working computer - yippee! (It's been interesting not having a computer for several weeks ... I'm almost wondering if it's "easier" to do a kitchen remodel without one - you can't research every little thing on the computer(like I do and get overwhelmed) and you wouldn't know what you were missing if you didn't know about it!). Regina - I love the pics you found w/ stacked cabs w/ the glass and lighting. I showed DH and he says "eh, they're ok". Aaaahhh! So not sure I can convince him on stacked. enduring and breezygirl - I was excited when I first found out there were 48" tall cabs, but when I talked w/ the KD about them he thought the doors would look too tall and narrow(some of our cab are 24" wide, so the doors would be 12" wide and 48" tall). I think Rhome's works and looks really good by adding the extra rail at the top(great idea Rhome!), but doing something like that won't work with our door style. So the 48" tall cabs are out for us (that's at least one decision made!). littleitaly - sometimes I think there are TOO MANY options to choose from ;) With your 9' ceiling, how come the stacked cabs w/ glass/lighting wouldn't work w/ your layout? I haven't even asked the KD to price out the stacked option - that may not be an option just b/c of price (and that DH isn't too into the stacked cab look)! For the 12" molding above the 42" cabs, it would be the cabs, then a small piece of molding, then what looks like a facia board (like 8") in the same cabinet stain and then the rest crown to the ceiling. I've seen more pics of this with white cabs on this site, not so much with darker wood stain cabs. Does anyone have pics of this style with wood stain cabs?? doonie - I'm a little concerned too about cabs to the ceiling making the kitchen seem overwhelming and dark, although we do have a lot of natural light and it is an open area to the family room. Above your fridge and oven, how big is your crown? Is that like a flat facia board above the cabs and then crown on that (kind of like the 12" facia/crown option I was talking about)? And I know what you mean about the top shelves in cabs - we have 42" cabs now and the only things on the top shelves are those items which are rarely used (and since we don't have a step ladder to get to the top shelf, I end up standing on the countertop but from reading here on gardenweb, I shouldn't do that when we get granite countertops!) So I think the final 2 options for us are going to be: 42" cabs - with the 12" facia/crown to the ceiling (I would LOVE to see more pics of this style w/ wood stain) or 42" cabs - with regular crown molding and cove lighting above I am so bad at visualizing what our finished kitchen will look like esp since it's white and blah now and we're going with a darker wood stain! I think that's why I'm taking what the interior designer is saying should be done with cabs to the ceiling b/c she's the designer expert (and I do like the work I have seen of hers) but I'm just not sure I'm sold on going to the ceiling. Ugh!...See Moreceiling height cabinets? (9 foot ceiling)
Comments (10)If you go to the ceiling with all the cabs you can also create visual interest by choosing which cabs to put glass in and which not to. You can then use some of the non-glass uppers to store trays and platters. How tall are you? I'm 5'8" and can reach the vertical tray storage and the first row platter storage flat-footed, and the 2nd row platters on tiptoe. Since the fridge/pantry cabs aren't recessed back over a countertop like regular uppers they're a lot more accessible. So depending on your height you may be able to reach your over-fridge/pantry uppers without a step stool (unlike regular over-cab uppers which are generally a little higher plus set back)....See More9 ft Ceilings... Cabinets to Ceiling
Comments (28)In my old apartment we had 9 foot ceilings and single uppers that went all the way up--the top of the doors was maybe within 4 inches of the ceiling. The cabinets must have been nearly 5 feet tall. Yes, we used a step-stool to get at the stuff on the top shelves. We kept infrequently used things up there--the electric frying pan, some nice serving dishes that tended to only come out at holidays, things like that. I remember once reading guidelines about what the maximum cabinet height should be and ours were well beyond that. But we never had any issues, even though they were ancient (not sure if they were original to the 100-year-old house, but if they were installed after the 30's I would be very surprised), and had inset doors. Modern hinges should only improve the performance....See Moreshould cabinets go to the ceiling or not?
Comments (7)I think they should, for the reasons that they usually look better and provide more storage space. I was always bugged by the stumpy little builder grade cabinets in our apartment with 9' ceilings because they forfeited so much desperately needed storage space in the small galley kitchen. This was a hundred-year-old building and a couple units still had the original cabinets from 1915. These went all the way to the ceiling and I was soooo jealous. The old Victorian my husband and I recently bought has 9'8" ceilings in the kitchen. We will be doing stacked cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. The kitchen is not particularly large, so we want to take advantage of the vertical space as much as possible. The upper cabinets would only be reachable with the help of a stepladder, but that's okay. Perfect for storing infrequently used items and extra serving dishes and stuff. Sometimes you can't have to-the-ceiling cabinets due to a beamed/coffered/vaulted ceiling. I think the trick is to make the cabinets proportional to the room (definitely not too small/short) and make them feel actually built in and integrated so they don't come off like disembodied wooden boxes nailed to the wall....See Moreboymom23
11 years agoUser
11 years agoboymom23
11 years agobeekeeperswife
11 years agoboymom23
11 years agohobokenkitchen
11 years agoboymom23
11 years agoknwright12
11 years agoMy parents recently redid their kitchen. They have stained maple cabinets up to the ceiling and white crown in the rest of the room. It looks great! The cabinet maker actually added a piece to the end of their cabinets (stain matches the cabinets) where the crown moulding would start.
Here is a picture on Houzz that has stained cabinets and painted trim.
[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Boston General Contractor Mitchell Construction Group
beekeeperswife
11 years agorhome410
11 years agoboymom23
11 years agobellsmom
11 years agoOK, I want to speak for staggered cab heights. (And, when I edited this post, a personal statement of bias against crown molding on cabinets that do not run to the ceiling butted its way into my message.) I staggered the height of my very limited cabinets. I would do it again. BUT I did it for a reason. I have a collection of old ''glug jugs'' that I love. I wanted to display them. My all wood kitchen needed a break from the wood.
Ergo: staggered cab heights made specifically for my collection. Notice how the fish fit into their spaces. Also notice that the only crown molding is the (admittedly rather oddly shaped) crown molding at the corner which is the only cab that touches the ceiling.) I have personal bias against crown molding on cabinets that do not run to the ceiling. To me, the purpose of crown molding is to ease the vertical line of cabinets into the horizontal line of the ceiling. I see no reason for crown molding sticking out like a hitch-hiker's thumb on cabinets that end well below the ceiling.The next guy/gal who owns my kitchen will have to find his/her own reason for the staggered heights.
It makes me smile to see the jugs glugging away up there. BUT I would NEVER stagger the height of cabinets if it were not purpose-driven--either a specific display or aesthetic reason. NEVER just for ''variety.''(And, by the way, the second photo was taken before I put the turntables in the corner cab and added an extra shelf. It is SO much fun to play with refining the storage and display of a working kitchen.)
This post was edited by Bellsmom on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 21:33
finestra
11 years agoseosmp
11 years agoboymom23
11 years agoLaura517
11 years agoicedC
11 years agojaynees
11 years agoWe have 9' ceilings and did not go all the way up. We also opted to have only 36" cabinets, no 42" because the top shelves were pointless for us.
We don't regret our decision at all. Our contractor did lovely crown moldings all around the room, and we did put trim on the cabinets as well.
Laura517
11 years agoCEFreeman
11 years agotheballs
11 years agomiruca
11 years agoquiltgirl
11 years agoMy side walls are 9'. Since the ceiling is cathedral, I will have more space above the front of the cabinets where the crown will sit. I have tons of 5" cove shaped crown that I want to use since it is the same crown in the adjoining family room. How much of a spacer piece of moulding should I leave between the crown and the top of the cabinets? My uppers would be 54" high I am figuring if I leave 18" between base and upper cabinets. What configuration do I divide that 54" into to have it look right? Below is a picture that has the same ceiling line just to give you an idea of what I am talking about.
[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Boston Architect ZeroEnergy Design
jakuvall
11 years agoHere are gray cabinets with molding, with a smaller white room molding and detail of the plinth block used for transition. This room only has 8' ceilings though. Often a larger molding is used on rooms at 9', which would start to make the plinth a bit massive.
quiltgirl
11 years agoJakuval: I like that plinth idea. How can I use that idea at the end of a run? On one side of my kitchen the side of the cabinets face the family room. Since the crown is so big, my return of the crown means I would have to pull that cabinet in from the end of the wall about 5" + in order to return the crown. The cabinet there is already not that wide and to take another 5" off of the width of it shorts me too much cabinet space. Here is a sketch. How can I finish the crown here and still bring my cabinet almost to the edge of the wall?
jakuvall
11 years agoSomething like this- there was a plinth close to a corner in the file from the job I showed you- I just did a quickie to lose some cabinets and move it closer to the corner.
Without looking at the actual molding your using and designing the plinth I can't tell if it works out or not. Ask your KD if you have one, and they know how to work with plinths. Gets harder as molding gets bigger.
Plinths can be designed to turn corners, sometimes that solves things.
This post was edited by jakuvall on Wed, Feb 13, 13 at 13:58
quiltgirl
11 years agomiruca
11 years ago
Sarah Cronin
11 years agoI have 9' ceilings and took the cabinets all the way up. The crown just went up on my cabinets today, and it goes from the stain to white.
seosmp
11 years agoknwright12
11 years agoI have 9' ceilings in the kitchen, and my custom built cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. The crown was attached after the cabinets were installed. The cabinet maker made the cabinet crown with the same profile as the wall crown, so they match up exactly. I'm not sure the exact height of my uppers, but they're taller than 42". The upper cabinets in my laundry room are 42", and they come down about a 1' from the ceiling.
Here are my kitchen cabinets.
This post was edited by buildinginal on Fri, Mar 15, 13 at 11:15
knwright12
11 years agoHere is my laundry room with the 42" uppers and a 9' ceiling. Please excuse the kitchen island that's setting where the washer and dryer will go. My daughter is checking out the dog crate built into the lower cabinets.
Sarah Cronin
11 years ago
Tim