Hi Lisa,
Our ceilings are also 10' (1889 house)and it is a small space. (Though no galley-style.) We dropped the ceiling about 4" then did 42" bases + 18" uppers + 5" ceiling crown. I really think it would look funny if they did NOT go up to the ceiling...just an icky dust-catching space.

It is not noticeable that the ceilings are slightly lower in the kitchen than the adjoining areas. And yes, I do have to get on a step stool to access the "upper-uppers" but I am so happy to have that storage space!!!

Good luck!

~Amy

Our kitchen is in an 1890 home and I used salvaged 48" tall windows for the uppers. The lowers are 36" tall. We have almost 11 ft ceilings in the kitchen as we put it back up where it is supposed to be, PO had lowered them. The ducts for chimney and cooktop vent had to go in the space so couldn't go all the way to 12ft. I left a space at the tops ,...it doesn't get "yucky" lol and I like the look and think it makes the room more spacious. I have a very tall area between counters and uppers also...24". Hope these pics help...

{{gwi:612474}}

Shanghaimom & Trailrunner---Thank you both!

Shanghaimom-- Would you have any pictures of your 42 inch upper cabinets with 18 inch stacked you can email to me at lblue3738@yahoo.com or post? I would love to see this height configuration.

Trailrunner--Your house looks absolutely beautiful! I LOVE the salvaged windows. How lucky you are to have found them! Are all your upper cabinets are 48 inches tall? It looks from the photo that the cabinets above your ovens may be taller?

Trailrunner, I was not suggesting that anytime there is space above the cabs it would be a dust-catching area--was referring to Lisa's specific question which would only leave a few inches up there. In her case, she may as well go on up! Your kitchen, along with Prettykitty's, were a few of my all time favorites and I think your cabinets look beautiful WITH the space above them. (-:

Lisa, here's my "finished kitchen" thread...some pics show the uppers better than others.

Here is a link that might be useful: shanghaimom's kitchen

Oh me and my 8' ceilings are feeling about four feet of envy reading this thread! I think cabs to the ceiling would look great. You see that look a lot in period kitchens, often with the library ladder.

I would go to ceiling. Do first 42 with regular doors and upper part with glass and then put pretty things in the top to showcase.

Shanghaimom---Your our kitchen is beautiful! It is much larger than mine will be. We are trying to avoid doing anything to our ceiling, that part of our kitchen is still the old lathe & plaster. We are keeping a pendant lighting.
Not sure if a 42 inch plus a 21 inch upper & 6 inch crown will be too much. I guess that is what will be needed to fill in the space.
I like the tall ceilings but wish we had 9 foot ceilings, would be much easier. We need to run stove venting thru the cabinets so can't do glass on one side of kitchen unfortunately.

Iblue the oven cabs are maybe an inch or two taller but not enough really to notice. Thank you for the compliments. We love it and feel that it speaks to the era of the house while being modern for all our cooking needs. I found all of my salvage at Nor'east Architectural Salvage and had it all shipped to me. I hope you get the design you want.

shanghaimom: not to worry, I know what you meant. I missed your WONDERFUl space because I was on my bicycle ride from St Augustine FL to San Diego CA> Your home is so beautiful ! I love all of your choices and stand in admiration of what you were able to do from afar. Just perfect. c

Lisa,
Thank you!
Maybe you could do a 9" soffit the same depth as the cabs all the way around? Then your range venting could run through that and you could have a more standard 42+15+3"crown arrangement. (And use some glass in the uppers!)

Just tossin' out ideas...sometimes someone will say something which leads you to the right solution!

Amy

(cross-post w/ trailrunner--thank you, too, C.!!)

I like the look of a second upper cupboard door above the lower upper door, usually a smaller size. The juncture of the two creates a line that runs horizontally around the upper area, cutting down the verticalness of the doors and carrying the eye sideways. Some people put glass in these high uppers.

In this example, although it is very modern, you will note that the design includes a decided dark line purposely introduced for this reason.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bendheim glass mod high ceiling kitchen

If you can go stacked, go for it. I think this is what
you crave.

I posted a few pics on your other post but those were
galley style kitchens without stacked. Here
are some other stacked cabinets.
I hope they help you,
~boxerpups

Amy-- Unfortuntately the idea of bringing down our ceiling does not work due to architectural constriants we have (stairs going upstairs run thru our kitchen) we can't lower the ceiling or soffit at all.
When I get home, I will post some pictures of our kitchen as it is now "before" so you can see the size & layout constraints.
Florantha, Cpartist, Sabjimata thanks for your posts & opinions as well. Yes, I agree & really like the stacked look & my kitchen can handle stacked, but question will be how high to stack & whether going to ceiling will overwhelm my space or not. If they were 9 feet it would be no question.