Oh,

If I had tall ceilings and liked the look of short uppers, then I would keep the 30" and stack an 18 or 20" high cupboard with glass doors and interior lights on top. I'd then store all my 'pretties' in there. Love that look- I know there are several in here who have the stacked cabinets. Though proportion wise... maybe it wouldn't look that great,I'm not sure of the ratio of solid cabinet below to glass door cabinet on top.

Otherwise, I guess I'd make sure I had a fabulous paint color, maybe one of the new BM Aura paints up there.

I went back and forth on this and finally went all the way to the top w/42" uppers to get more storage space. If you have plenty of storage space, I think having 30" uppers with space above them gives a kitchen a greater feeling of depth and space. Also, I know many people who have shorter uppers and display plates, plants or other items on top of them. It was helpful for me on this issue to look through the Finished Kitchen Blog to see examples of both. HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to FKB

We have 9' ceilings in both the main kitchen and the lower level guest/parent suite kitchen. Upstairs we have 42" uppers with soffits. In the LL we have 36" uppers with soffits. Although we needed the soffits for duct work, I really prefer them, since I don't want to have to clean up there. Besides, I like having the extra shelf you get with the 36". Also, we built a more traditional style house, so they look fine.

In any case, I'd at least do the 36". I just went down to look at the 36" cabs, and IMO only 30" high uppers with the 9' ceiling would not look as good.

Anne

I have 30" upper cabs in my new kitchen, however, I have 8' ceilings in that room.

Reasons I went with shorter are: I have a walk-in pantry, so storage wasn't an issue. Add to that I'm 5'2", so reaching for things on high up shelves always requires a stool. Plus, my kitchen is open to dining and living areas, so I liked the idea of seeing painted walls over the cabinets to tie the spaces together.

My kitchen is in a lake cottage and, like you said, I saw something charming in the shorter cabs with a simple crown moulding that seemed to suit the space. I admit, sometimes I'm wistful when I see pics of the up-to-the-ceiling cabinets with the grilled glass on top...but I'm generally very happy with my choice because it seems a good fit for my home.

If I had 9' ceilings, though, I might consider going with the 36" to get the same effect. I have to agree with Anne that 30 inchers may look wanting.

thanks for these quick answers and opinions.

I have 8' ceilings and went with 30" cabs. I wanted my kitchen to feel spacious and I think having that negative space above helps. Also, my uppers are 30" wide in a Shaker style, and I thought the doors would look too "vertical" if they were any taller. I like the symmetry of a 30"x30" box.

The look I REALLY wanted but it didn't fit my layout was a single row of horizontal uppers. Oh well, next kitchen!

LIghtly starched,

this is what I wanted to hear - a validation of my feeling that some doors look "too vertical", and that the "negative space above helps" a kitchen look spacious.

Can you tell me what you mean by "a single row of horizontal uppers." By "horizontal" you mean say, 42 wide x 24 high?

As you can see, I'm still planning...

The horizontal uppers are a single-shelf-height cabinet that opens garage-door style. I'll see if I can find a good pic.

On the link, go to Products/kitchen/m series and look at the first one. Henrybuilt were what I really wanted. Sigh.

Here is a link that might be useful: Henrybuilt

As someone once said to me, make visual decisions visually.

This is not always possible but in this case maybe it is...draw yourself a mockup and you will probably know right away if you like it or not. If you don't have the neato software (I don't...yet) then draw it on graph paper. To scale, of course!!

FWIW, I have 9' ceilings and 36", and they are plenty boxy. (Actually soon swapping them, probably for 42" and bigger crown to go to the ceiling...but to each her own!)

Celiah,

In the end, unless you're very concerned with resale, it is just your opinion that counts. Who cares what anyone else thinks? It's just you (and your family) who need to be satisfied.

That said, I think 30" will look rather squat with 2' of open air above. You say it is a large space, and I think that may only accentuate the effect -- the short cabinets may look disproportionate in a room that is not only tall but large.

JMO -- again, it's your satisfaction that counts.

Amy

Done well it'll be charming, and since it's what you want--time to get drawing. Plus, the attraction for you seems to be largely sculptural, as are the issues raised, so you might also want to mock it up in 3D to work out proportions and so on.

Yes, you're nuts! Hey, you asked. :)

I got rid of my horrid little 30" cabinets in favor of some wonderful, big, tall, to-the-ceiling cabinets, so I'm probably just a wee bit biased. Honestly, I think my kitchen feels much more spacious with the taller cabinets. Well, that and the fact that I doubled the size of the room by knocking down a wall. :)

Seriously, though, all that matters is whether you like it. I agree that a visual of some kind is necessary to be confident that the proportions will look and feel right.

I don't like squares. So I wouldn't like 30x30 cabinets. (even if you had 15x30 doors, there's still an underlying square)

I went from 30s to 42s, and I have to say, the first 6 inches gives valuable storage space, and the next 6 inches isn't as powerful.

I agree w/ you that the space above the cabinets can make the room look larger. But I think, were it me, that I'd go w/ 36's.

I also have 9' ceilings, and my 42s don't leave that much space above; I think it would look funny to have such a short opening.

but I think the 30s left too *much* space. and the cabinets themselves would look squat and skimpy.

I'm sure that my answer will enrage someone, maybe everyone on GW...but you could have nice solid soffits so that your cabinets look built in. With that much space above the cabinets -- 2 feet -- you're not talking about some dinky soffit covered with floral wallpaper. I've seen it in an old house with tall ceilings and it looks great. As you say, lot's of "plain wall."

How about some that go all the way up and some areas completely without, or with only open shelves? Just a thought. (I don't know how the rest of your kitchen looks.)

I photocopied this from a book at least a year ago but I've never used it because none of my problems seemed to fit the rule. Maybe it will help you. "A proportion is a relationship between lengths that always stays constant no matter what the size. For example a 10 foot to 20 foot proportion is the same as a 2 foot to a 4 foot proportion. The proportion called the 'golden mean' is 1:1.6l8. The golden mean is also known by the Greek letter phi." The book goes on to say that if you follow this rule in designing your house then it will be spatially harmonious. I think this means you should find the ratio of your negative space to your cabinet height and compare it to the golden mean and if it's approximately the same then you'll be okay.