I'll scout around, Aliris. This and a few other tips really helped make my kitchen the functional paradise it is (for me) today -- when I began, I was quite uninformed regarding design issues that are just accepted traditions and design issues you can change with impunity for the better. I'll quote the above Starcraft Builders article here just for reference: "The ideal maximum height of upper cabinets is about 32". The top shelf should be not more than about 26" from the bottom of the cabinet. Anything higher is "stool storage" -- you have to stand on a stool to get to it. There is no harm in having taller cabinets, even right to the ceiling, so long as you recognize that the top part of tall cabinets is usually unreachable and should be used to hold things only rarely used. Even the top shelf of a 32" cabinet is for most of us in the extended rather than the primary arc of reach. We can usually reach just the stuff in front of the shelf. (Lazy susans installed on the top shelf can remedy the problem, however -- everything at the back of the shelf can quickly be brought within reach with a little twist of the wrist.) The placement of upper cabinets can hamper efficiency. Most commonly they are placed 18" above the counter top. This has become the standard, not because it is the best height, but because it's where the typical 30" wall cabinet happens to fall when installed on an 8 foot wall under the usual 12" soffit and above a 36" high counter. This is, however, too high for efficient use by the most people under 6' tall. The best reach height for most people is just 57" -- about shoulder height. If the bottom of the cabinet is at 54" then almost everything in the cabinet is above the best reach height. Lowering the cabinet slightly makes the stuff in the cabinet more readily accessible. The best height for a wall cabinet is 14-15" above the counter top. A lot of countertop appliances, however, especially coffee-makers, assume an 18" height above the counter, and use every bit of it. If you have these tall appliances, then at least some of your cabinets will need to be placed higher than the optimum height. Lowering the upper cabinets just this 3-4 inches makes all of the bottom two shelves of the cabinet easily reachable, as well as at least the front half of the third shelf. Upper cabinet storage is now much more efficient with just this modest change."

I think you could do what Patti Bee did, and line up the marble tile to match the height of the tile under the window. This will give you more decorating options for that wall. You won't be limited to a small picture that has to hang up above the marble. If you extend the backsplash out, it may beg the question 'why didn't you make the cabinet wider?' If you have a shorter backsplash, it will look intentional.

Wow, this languished for a day or two and then really popped -- thanks! I LOVE all of these photos and am so glad to see such support. Pleased to see it even spawned. :P I now have a Thomasville quote from HD. (I know, but for a single mom with a limited budget and a tiny kitchen, it works.) I've got a warm-and-fuzzy from the KD and I'm enjoying this phase of the project, which I'd been dreading as something akin to buying a new car. In the past I've been put off by condescending or patronizing KDs so life's good. He's also steered me to a local installer (about whom I'd already heard good things elsewhere) rather than the HD outfit. I'm going for Cottage doors with white painted birch uppers and chocolate cherry lowers. Scoping out local granite yards this weekend, hoping to find something largely white (bianca something) with reddish brown. Decided on supergloss white-painted beadboard for the backsplash to tide me over for now. I'm with you on the appliance challenge with this mix. I plan to panel the dishwasher as my sink run is only 72" and stares you in the face when you enter the room so I don't want to break it up with an appliance, no matter what the finish. Decided my stove will be my splurge, a stainless dual-fuel slide-in. Leaning toward an over-the-stove stainless microwave so the vertical look over the stove will be conistent; plus, my white microwave yellowed and that'll look like crap in white cabinets. Totally torn with the fridge. Hoping for divine inspiration or at the very least a good slap upside the head. I like stainless, don't like its maintenance; the KD suggested a new finish that mimics stainless but isn't? Can't imagine it but I guess I'll look into it, otherwise I'll probably end up with white.

It's been a bit of an agonizing decision what to do with the cabinets. I could be swayed against uppers--but this is all a very big, long process for us. It's taken us a couple of years to even get this far with the cabinets. It's hard for me to visualize, and I need some design help. I was thinking white cabinets to the ceiling would look cleaner... often when I see no uppers it's on an entire wall, and I have a corner. If I would do no uppers, I'd do subway tile all the way to the ceiling and a floating shelf like the inspired room, and would need a lot of encouragement from the garden web. Otherwise, my default is uppers.