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Ceiling height issue - help

15 years ago

Hopefully, some of you visionary GWers can help me (or at least give your advice/render your opinion) regarding an issue that came up during demolition today. To give you background - we have ordered (and they are in already) 36" high cabinets with a 4" filler piece and big crown to bring the cabinets up flush with our 8 foot ceiling. Well, lo and behold once demolition is done (at least first stage) it appears that our ceilings are really closer to 9 feet. Multiple cheapo renovations resulted in the original ceilings being lowered (they took 3 layers down) with no way for us to really know before today.

So here is my issue/question. Do we keep with our original plan and put in an 8 foot (or thereabouts) ceiling or do I keep the extra high ceiling and have either a soffit for the uppers or just leave space above the uppers?? Any thoughts/suggestions/opinions (especially with PICTURES) would be great. Thank!

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Comments (13)

smilingjudy
15 years ago
Ooooooh, lucky you. You found treasure!

I would keep the 9 feet and leave space above. Sorry no pics from me. My ceilings are less than 7 1/2 feet. :(
charlikin
15 years ago
I love high ceilings - keep them!!!
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astridh
15 years ago
You are lucky to discover 9' ceilings! I would definitely just leave space above the uppers. You could add a few extra inches of crown in the corners (If you have corner upper cabinets) or maybe to a few others. I have seen that done, and it nicely breaks up the long horizontal line of the uppers. Many people put fluorescent or other lights up above the uppers to bounce light off of the ceiling. I think you'd be nuts to soffit or bring down your ceiling!
larrylwill
15 years ago
With the space above you can put mood lights above the cabinets. I did that with mine, they look really nice even though my ceilings are 8ft. I have 12" on some and 7" on the bump ups. With just the top lights on its enough light for snack raids. My vote is keep it as is.
joebayarea
15 years ago
Fabulous. I'd opt to keep the design as is, but it
depends on the look of the cabinets and molding to
know for sure. If it's a sleek (sort of Italian)
look, then floating the upper cabinets would be in
the plan anyway.
Buehl
15 years ago
Hmmm....can you order a set of 12" high cabinets to put above the 36" cabinets? I've seen a lot of kitchens w/this arrangement and I love the look...but we only have 8' ceilings :-( I'm envious!

Ricklish has this

Here is a link that might be useful: Ricklish's Kitchen
afr66
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the thoughts. I'm still debating. I'm not sure about getting more cabinets (uppers) - not sure how many extra $$ that would be. We are getting pretty traditional raised panel cabs (stained maple) with a fairly substantial crown -- I really wanted them flush with the ceiling but I guess I can think of leaving space above to preserve the 9 footers.
Of course, that may be moot if we need to move some piping . . . (ah, the mystery stuff you find in an old house).
Just as an aside, town records indicated that the part of the house we are remodeling (an addition to the 1890 structure) was put up in 1958-can't see how that is judging by the scary old stuff we've discovered!
ci_lantro
15 years ago
You found buried treasure!

I would leave the space open--and, if the tops of your upper cabs are raw, consider installing lengths of that inexpensive melamine faced shelving on top of the cabs before crown moulding or whatever trim is installed. (Something I thought of after the fact & wish I had done when I pulled the soffits down in my kitchen several years ago...)
mary_in_nc
15 years ago
I vote for leaving the space open. Put some lighting on top. In my previous kitchen we had flourescents on top of the cabs. In my current kitchen we choose to not go all the way to the ceiling because it is an old house with sloping floors and likely the ceiling slopes. The tops of my cabs are just a few inches short of the ceiling creating a nice "shadow line."
karnog
15 years ago
Mary in nc, I like what I see in your kitchen! Any more pics somewhere? :)
mary_in_nc
15 years ago
karnog-

Here's the link to my photobucket. Sorry it's kind of messy right now. Haven't taken the time to organize it. The kitchen is pretty close to finished. I am waiting for some shelves to come in and a coat of paint before posting the finshed pics.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some pics of my kitchen
karnog
15 years ago
Thanks mary in nc. So what is the ceiling height in your kitchen? Looks like about 9 ft.?
larrylwill
15 years ago
Many cabinet makers do not like to touch the ceiling with cabinets because if the ceiling is not square the molding will not be square. If its white then it can be caulked, if it is stained or natural wood work it cannot. So they leave an inch to ovoid that problem. If you leave 12" or 8" then you can use that space for lights or nick knacks like glassware.

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