I think your choice of cabinets should refer to the rest of the house. I'm not sure what a 1911 house in SoCal looks like - it's probably not a Craftsman style bungalow, but it could be I guess. Need more info! You might find the Old House forum on this website interesting, too.

We did a 1920 bungalow kitchen with inset beadboard cabinets from Ikea. They were white and we did not take them to the 10' ceiling (didn't seem to be useful space up that high and we couldn't figure out how to make the sizes work with the limitations of the Ikea stock cabinets at that time). I thought they looked great at the end of our job.

Can't help on #1 and #2.

On #3, I do think that, if you are restoring an older home, it is laudable to keep a period look. You didn't describe the style of your house - being in SoCal it could be a old Mission type for all we know. Would you want to post a picture of the house and the kitchen, and perhaps even a floorplan of the kitchen? I'm sure people would weigh in if there was more information given.

As for uppers to the ceiling, I think for a smaller kitchen that is often a good look that can help the space look larger. You want to get the proportions of the upper and lower doors to be harmonious. Some glass in the doors can also help with a spacious feeling.

I would be sure about the construction. I recently did a kitchen and have beautiful solid wood doors and drawers installed on stupid maples plywood boxes. I found out later that the people I ordered the doors and drawers from make solid wood cabinets, screwed together, built off site.
I and happy that I have them to the ceiling, the look is good, but I can't reach the top shelf. (maybe hubby can)

You might also look at Medallion - they people who make shuler. They have a pretty good inset line for semi-custom.

Ikea makes frameless cabinets with an appearance similar to full overlay, but alas, no inset.

The old house forum has some great kitchens on it - you might want to spend some time there. Also, there has been some interesting threads on the home decorating forum on if your kitchen fits with the rest of your house.

If you are not doing a true "period kitchen" (few people do) but want one sympathetic to the style of the house, I wouldn't get too hung up on inset, vs. overlay, etc. In my part of the country very few people so inset cabinets. This is probably a reflection of the extreme changes in weather conditions here. Focus in on size, scale and texture of materials you use. For example you could use tile, but don't use large 18" pieces. Sources like the magazine Old House Interiors can give practical advice.

Since your kitchen is small, you might want to consider frameless cabinets which can maximize you space. You can take your cabinets to the ceiling but most people only store lesser used items, or use the upper cabinet for display. Details like hardware, lighting and fixtures can set the tone for the style of you kitchen.

If you haven't already, don't forget to browse the finished kitchen blog here... You kind of have to surf around but there are plenty of vintage kitchens there for inspiration. I second the ideas of posting over in the Old House Forum and checking out lots of back issues of Old House Interiors (love that mag.) As others have said, it is hard to advise without seeing pics of your home or knowing the style.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog

I am almost finished renovating the kitchen in my 1910 home, so our houses are contemporaries! I'm in a traditional PDX bungalow house, and also tried to keep the overall look and feel of the period our house was built in.

Inset cabs were too much $$ for my budget, but I did end up going with "mission" style (full overlay) doors from Medallion. They are being installed right now, and I think they do a good job of balancing budget with a period "inspired" look. They aren't period reproductions or anything, but they maintain the traditional feel of the house. The materials (Quartersawn oak) and finish (light hazelnut) do as much for evoking a particular era as the door style (inset or whatever).

One of the things you can do is look at the rest of the trim and doors of your house. Unfortunately, there was no kitchen to speak of in the house when we bought it, so we had to look elsewhere. Our carpenter noticed that all of the interior doors in our house were original, and the raised panel on the doors and moulding on the windows were used to inspire the cabinet styles and type of crown moulding we eventually chose.

We have 99" ceilings 8 1/4 feet, and we took the cabs all the way to the ceiling. Part of the reason we took the cabs all the way to the ceiling is that my husband is pretty tall (6'5") and we wanted more space between the countertop and the bottom edge of the wall cabs. But, our kitchen is also pretty small, so taking the cabs all the way up makes it feel a bit taller, or at least I think so.

Well thank you all so much for the input so far. i am having some trouble uploading pictures but will work on it again tomorrow with a floor plan and some pics. but yes i should have included the style in. it is a 1911, craftsman style bungalow, arts and crafts home. lots of words i didnt know until a few months ago.