Your ceiling height probably isn't uniform in your kitchen.

When you install your cabinets you will have to decide how high from the counter top you want them. The minimum clearance above the counter should be 15" (NKBA). Most people go with more (I think mine will be at least 18" in this kitchen - my last kitchen it was 17" - because of not being able to remove a soffit - and it was too low).

Also, depending on the type of cabinets you choose, there could be options for the height of the upper cabinets. Since you have 9" ceilings you could get 41" uppers and still have enough space for molding above the cabinets even if your ceiling isn't uniform.

In this kitchen I could not go with 41" uppers b/c my 8' ceiling isn't 8' though out the kitchen. I had to go with 39" upper cabinets so my KD would be able to place molding at the top and be able to rip it to make my cabinets all be the same height. If I had ordered the 41" cabinets, the molding would be 1 inch or less depending on the ceiling height. It would be very obvious that the molding was a different height and it would look odd. Instead the molding will vary from 3" to 4" and it won't be as obvious that the molding is different heights.

I'm getting cupboards up to the 9' ceiling, with as little trim as possible. But I'm also resigned to living in the bamboo forest, and have put some variations to break up the lines.

One of the things the open area above cabinets does is provide visual depth. It makes the room look bigger.

Alternatives to regular soffits include installing grillwork (perhaps with glass or mirror behind to reduce dusting), interesting plaster detail, etc.

One of the looks I saw years ago and really liked was cubbies on top of the cabinets. These were like open cabinet boxes (no doors), painted wall color on the back. In them, the folks had put decorative baskets, bowls, etc. It had a lot of the depth of no soffits with the definition, and some of the storage space, of cabinets.

I have 9 foot ceilings and cabs are going to the top with two piece crown. I won't be able to reach them, but oh well. You could also do normal cabinets and the little cabinets on top with glass doors for display. This was more expensive than I wanted.

Base cabinets use 36" of room. You have 18" between the base and the start of the uppers. That leaves you 54" to play with. When you start having the upper cabinets be much taller than the base cabinets, the room becomes lopsided and heavy looking. That's why glass in the stacked uppers is so popular. If you did 30" upper cabinets, then stacked 18" glass cabinets on top, and then did 6" of molding, the glass uppers would keep it from looking so out of proportion. It will also more than double the cost of your cabinets. Having cabinets go all the way to the ceiling is VERY expensive. Glass cabinets are VERY VERY expensive. Only you can decide whether that is money well spent for you, or you'd rather get up there a couple of times a year with a ladder and a duster and just go with 42" high cabinets.

We're going to have 9 ft ceilings too. We chose 42" uppers and I really dont know what we'll do with the rest. I think we'll end up with about 12" up there. I cant afford stacked uppers with glass. The KD suggested a tall straight board with a thin piece of molding in the middle and then the crown on top of that to touch the ceiling. Im thinking that might look a little too weird though. I cant picture it. He said they have a kitchen in their showroom like that, so next time Im in he'll point it out to me.

Our ceiling is 9', and we're going with 42" uppers and a simple bevelled crown moulding of just under 2". I like the look -- clean and spacious. They are not all closed cabinets, though. There's a longish section of only glass and another of floating shelves. I think this keeps it from looking heavy and closed-in.

The other benefit is that in an older home like ours (~110 years), one needn't worry about wavy ceilings or the like -- not a huge issue with us, as we're gutting the kitchen, but certainly an issue for some.

We also have 9' ceiling and are going with a dropped ceiling around the cabinets and tray ceiling in the middle. It's sort of a variation on the soffit approach but looks much better. See examples at this link in 2nd and 4th rows from the top.

Here is a link that might be useful: Examples of this ceiling

Good points! I never considered the unevenness of the ceiling, it isn't even built yet. Hopefully, the sheetrock will be fairly flat.

I agree, 49' uppers can seem ominous, depending on the whole design. This is something to talk over with cabinet guy. Probably do 30"-34" max, with either cabinets on top, or some kind of updated soffit idea.

Buildinginva: I love the idea of a tray ceiling of some sort, but I couldn't view the photos in the link, page wouldn't open for me, no matter how I tried it!

Sorry the link didn't work, the pics are on our builder's website, which appears to be down right now. Try a bit later - www.builtbytradition.com, click on Image Gallery.

Have you considered another type of ceiling such as coffered? Some people are afraid that the ceiling will then look too low but the beams can be any size you want, so don't have to be too deep. It solves the problem of needing taller cabinets if you don't want to take them up to the ceiling and also gives you a design detail that's not seen in very many kitchens.

We have 9' ceilings and for task lighting purposes we put soffits around the perimeter of our kitchen and the cabs go up to the soffit. The soffit comes out farther than the cabs and that is where we put lighting. The lighting is great over our sink etc. We also have a coffered ceiling that butts right up to the soffits.

Aubie: Adding coffered to our list of options! Thanks.

Stiles: You have both!
Do you have photos?
I have seen soffits that come out further than the cabinetry, but not sure how to design that treatment in my kitchen. Maybe I'll post my layout again and get input on extended soffit idea, Thank you.

Hi the pond,

My kitchen is in the finishedkitchensblogspot.com website under stiles. I keep forgetting how to post pics here. Need to look it up. There are a few pics of the soffits that you might be able to get close ups of. Let me know if you need me to post here.