hello tadhg
We dispensed with upper cabinets,except for pullout pantries flanking the refrigerator and small cabinets over that where we keep things we never use, like monorail light transformer and fondue pot. I never have missed the upper cabinets we took out in the renovation -- we did replace those with open shelves, where we keep the dishes we use most frequently. It is easy to unload the dishwasher and to set the kitchen table because of these open shelves. The light in the kitchen is improved. No unexpected issues, but you have a perfect excuse to replace dishes that aren't pretty enough to live in plain view.
Lynn

what i think I understood is that you want no storage at all above the counter then that means bending down for every glass, utensil, plate etc... My back and I would hate that after a while.

I think Tad is going to include some storage on upper shelves... I agree that the biggest benefit is that the counters probably can be used for effectively without the upper cabinets. Maybe I notice more because I am tall.

We are in the middle of our remodel and one of the first things we had to remove were our upper cabinets (to move 2 walls). Can't tell you how much easier it is to work at the counter without them there. Seems like I have so much more room. In our new layout we will only have cabinets over the ovens and fridge. We will have a large pantry so I won't miss the storage and may put in some open shelves if needed.

We eliminated upper cabs, added shelving for dishes/glasses and have a wall of tall shallow pantry cabs. I still have drawers and pantry shelves that are not completely filled. I guess it all depends on how much stuff you have.

(was trying out seat covers...please disregard the multi colored chairs!)

I have a lot of drawers, deep and shallow. You can put dishes and probably most of your glasses in drawers. I did.

We went "topless" and love it. The kitchen feels so much bigger. We have all drawers in our base cabs and intend to add some shelves when our bs finally gets done (we bought the tiles and shelves, but the install needs to be saved up for). I love not having anything in my face when I prep or cook. There is the feeling of freedom. Our only "uppers" are over the fridge/freezer, oven cab,cleaning closet and pantry pullouts. We did not put uppers over any counter space. The closest we have is our micro on a floating shelf, but we pulled the cabs out from the wall by a few inches, so even when in front of it, it is not too close.

There was a thread a while ago about going topless on GW. If you use a google search with those terms, you may find it.

Malhgold -I love the clean lines and classic materials in your kitchen. I would never change a thing.... Those are some real inspiration pix!

Thank to everyone for your incredibly helpful posts! Ladyshadow is right - we are thinking about completely removing upper cabinets, but her issue with the back is well taken. We are actually thinking of something similar to what malhgold has shown (beautiful, by the way) and farmgirlinky described -- a pantry wall next to the fridge. Perhaps I can make that wide enough to include storage for well-used plates and glassware so my back doesn't go out on me.

Thanks again. I'll post photos of the job in about ten years when it's done.

I love mahlgold's kitchen, too! The mix of natural wood and grey is great.
Lynn

We put all our china in the middle deep drawer in our island. It is easy on the back.
We put glasses in the lower drawer because if you stack them and grab the top of the stack, it is not low down. We plan on putting up some open shelves once the bs is installed, so that was where we plan for glasses and cups to be long term. An open shelf will fee less restrictive and you if you go with only 1, you can put it up a few inches higher than an upper would have gone.
I am 5'5", so not short or tall and reaching in the drawers is no problem for me. If I had to dig back in a base cab, I bet that would get hard with a bad back.

We're topless and love it. Base cabs almost all full-extension drawers and a wall of shallow pantry storage shelves. Tadhg, the slight inconvenience from loss of some storage close in is SO, SO worth it to me. The openness is wonderful. I'd have uppers again if a kitchen was so tiny there was no acceptable alternative, and be glad of them. Otherwise--never! I have no open shelves, either, because it's all windows. Everything is below counter (or in the sitting room sideboard/hutch waiting for us to finally build in the banquette with drawers to hold some big occasional stuff).

BTW, is it just coincidence that topless is becoming a trend here in the US right after full-extension drawers on the bottom became common? Making the top 2/3 the very best, most easily accessed storage in the whole kitchen?

I'm guessing not. Especially as those traumatic memories rise yet again of kneeling on the floor searching the backs of cupboards. I suppose those won't ever go away completely. Memories of cabinets in my face seem relatively nostalgic in comparison to that nightmare. :)

I'm still in the design/planning process with my tiny 11x12 eat-in kitchen, and I think I will be going without uppers, as well. Every time I look at a rendering of my kitchen with uppers, they look overwhelming and imposing for the space. I have those Corelle dishes that make thin stacks so I think I can get all of them in a drawer cabinet next to my dishwasher. I have a hanging pot rack, and will use the cabinet next to my stove for baking stuff. There will be some shelves for anything else I need.

And besides, if I changed my mind later, it wouldn't be that hard to take down the shelves and put in the upper cabinets. Planks of wood and corbels are a lot cheaper to replace.

We have a half-topless kitchen now. On the open side, we gained more than just the newly-open wall surface where the wall cabinets had been before. We removed the soffit and the dropped ceiling that used to span the whole kitchen. Compared to what we had before, it feels 3 to 10 times bigger now.

On the wall where we have "uppers" now it all looks like one straight line, when seen from a distance. The exhaust hood is hidden inside and behind the "upper" structure. There is no jog up and around a hood, and in fact there is no visible hood (at first glance).

I've linked to a discussion of a hood (pull-out and blower). We built our own. An in-line blower is 5 feet away, so our hood is a transparent and empty air-capture volume, not a dedicated machine space.

On the open wall side of the kitchen we are still figuring out now where to place mirrors to get the most light and the best views. Mirrors, shelves, glass tile backsplash.

Stacked plates only need 5" or 6" height in a drawer, so don't worry about plates. We have drawers. They are behind 15" fronts. Each cabinet has two 15"-fronted drawers. Inside each set of 15"-fronted drawer are other drawers (called interior, internal or hidden) drawers. Plates are in the main drawer, below the (internal drawer) cutlery drawers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pull-out transparent sneezeguard hood (one example)

I guess it is my "old age", but I would never do without upper cabinets....the old back doesn't like to bend over to get in the lower ones :-(

phoggie - the upper shelves are easier to access than an upper cab. I don't see why it would be harder.
Many people put plates and glassware on open shelves....

phoggie, once you have large drawers that open and close effortlessly you won't want to put plates overhead.

I wrote a lot about my drawers because having drawers that really work well is a big part of the answer to the objection that one might not like having drawers.

I do not stoop to get dishes. The drawers that are 24" above the floor are not stoop-inducing.

Hth

I agree with davidro. You could even put your most used plates in the top shallow drawer, but it is not necessary.
I suggested the plates on a shelf, restaurant kitchen style, because that is a very easy to use set up. I'd use that if our drawers were not working out so well ;) It is also great if you have kids, or kid guests, to put it all in drawers.

I have a 30" drawer block below our 36" cooktop. The top shallow drawer holds an extravagance of stove tools with plenty of room left over.

The next down, 12" deep drawer holds 2 stacks of dinner plates (2 different patterns, bone china and earthenware), one stack of salad plates, and 4 stacks of bowls in about 10 patterns (I like bowls). This is very heavy, but modern full-extension/soft-close drawer hardware has no problem with it. Neither do I--back corners totally accessible, zero bending. The bottom 15" deep drawer holds a couple of my smaller soup pots with lids and my fry pans. Like the middle drawer but only very minor bending to reach. No knee flexing required at all as long as the spine can still flex a bit.

The 36" drawer block to the right holds more than my @52 cupboard with doors and shelves in an old kitchen because everything's available at a glance and nothing needs to pushed aside (into the empty gaps naturally left for that purpose) to find something else.

I really like the picture posted by PPS and is the exact look I'm going for. What is the mounting technique and hardware used? Looks great but I don't know what to search for - I have a similar setup with one wall that can provide support but needs to float on the other side.

Thanks so much!

We're getting into the last phases of building our house and I recently added another window in the kitchen rather than have uppers on that wall. It is hands down the best money we ever spent. It made my kitchen area even more wonderful.

I will have a few uppers but not many. It's more of a "hutch" type area. I'm planning on an island with lots of storage. I also have a large pantry room across from my kitchen for less used items.

I never liked working at the counter with uppers there, and I couldn't reach anything beyond the first or second shelf anyway.

All my base cabinets will be with pullouts and I will have drawyers where I don't want or need pullouts. I find it is only traditional base cabinets that have non-moveable shelves that kill my back. And I'm not a spring chicken. I'm advanced middle aged.

Rick, we used simple steel L brackets and screwed them into the studs and drywalled over them. Here's a closeup:

Another vote in favour of the topless kitchens. We keep frequently used glasses, plates and bowls on the shelves.

We moved the kitchen to the dining room area, and designed it with a window wall and no uppers. Granted, we have the cabs in the old galley kitchen (now laundry room, pantry and recycling & cat feeding area).
Here it is with our old stools:

I think we might be doing a "topless" intermission since we had an unexpected income reduction mid-reno. Hubby just gradutated from his education degree, just as the schools were making major cutbacks. The result has been a teacher surplus. Here we are with our kitchen ripped apart, and suddenly feeling a financial crunch. I've got all the materials for my kitchen already except for the cabs. I thought maybe we could get our cabinet maker to only put the base cabs in and put up a couple open shelves to reduce the cost of the cabs for now, and we could put in the uppers in a year or two. From what I am seeing on here, maybe I won't even want the uppers!

Htracey, you'll love it. Have your cabinetmaker put in full-extension drawers and you'll wonder how you ever did without them!

PPS7, where did you get those stools?