I had them in our last house and I put my crystal up there, like big vases, platters, etc... I used to have to put them on top of other items (upside down cup, coasters, etc..)to give them enough height to be seen well from below and get the right height since the items varied. The hi-hats above would reflect nicely off of the crystal.
I'd take them down approx every 6 weeks or so and wash them, but the tops of the cabs always had dust. It was no issue as it was hidden up high and the only one who noticed was me.
Of course, I had very tall uppers, but the ceiling on one side went up high so there was a few feet to a lot of feet before the ceiling.
I think it was a great "problem" to have and our new kitchen will have cathedrals as well. I have been using a normal height kitchen for 4 years and it feels constricted.

I forgot to mention that I would stand on my counters to access the area above my uppers. I am almost 5'5" and it was a stretch at some parts nearer the corner as the corner cab would hold me back. I remember having to tell my older son to never do what he sees mommy doing, lol....

I think one of the things to consider with high ceilings is flooring. The ceiling in my kitchen is a little over 12' and being that I'm in Florida I have the common ceramic tile. I don't notice it on regular days but when I have a house full of people it is LOUD. If I had higher ceilings and planned on entertaining a lot I would also think about a type of floor that did not magnify the sound.

Thanks, everyone!

dianalo: I love glass anything. One of my most favorite GW houses is jolsongould (Jay)...it's stunning & simple. He said he was inspired by the house in the movie "Housesitter". I love his above-door transoms & was thinking of maybe putting something like this above the cabs? What do you think? Maybe put lights behind. LOL @ the telling your kids 'don't do this!' BTDT!

Here's another example of his transom: I love this!

florantha: What an ingenious idea! No scrubbing...I'll have to remember that one! Thanks.

jterrilynn: We'll most likely have wood floors...do you think those would be fine?

Thanks for all your input :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Jay's house pictures...there are 2 sections in this thread

Oh boy do I love those transoms, what a great idea.

Anything would be better than ceramic with high ceilings.

I love your house already and I haven't even seen it yet... it's going to be a stunner!

Thanks, jterrilynn. It really is a small house, only 32 on the south side & 24 on the north & 40' long. This will be our retirement home. The tax rate is insane at 20 mill so we have to consider that as well. Thank goodness Alaska has a senior benefit at age 65...they will not count the first $150,000 for tax assessment purpose. We have a few years before that & who's to know if it will be there when we can qualify?

Living in snow capital of Alaska, we have so many considerations & building concerns. We have to consider a HUGE snowload on the roof, enough pitch to shed & the less angles the better. It's not a typical GW house :)

We have to design with bears in mind, too LOL We live on a migratory path & they are really active for the past couple years. We have people in the neighborhood who don't practice good 'keep away the bears' habits so it makes it rough on those of us who do. *sigh*

I don't know if you remember me posting our south view, but here it is again in case you didn't see it...the south wall will be mostly windows.

South winter view (there are mountains all the way to the east & west, too):

Summer view:

Hi jterrilynn,

I found a couple examples of a 'transom' like upper cupboard treatment - maybe I could do something like this.

or

Maybe these images can help you.
I love your view. Truly magnificent.

melaska,
if high ceiling:
+ spray some light upwards, at at least one place that doesn't need it for any other reason
+ circulate the air

I have a vaulted ceiling in my kitchen and ordered fully custom cabinets, never dreaming that I'd have to specify that I wanted the tops of the cabinets finished! I was shocked and angry to discover after installation that the tops above the crown were basically unfinished empty bowls for catching dust! You could see the shims used between the cab and walls to make sure installation was level!

At rather great expense we had tops made on site to cover this and to permit easy regular dusting.

The kitchen designer said he never finishes the tops of cabinets unless there is a second floor above the kitchen and the tops are able to be seen regularly. I told him it was something he should mention to customers and allow them to focus on and decide for themselves.

It would have been much cheaper, and a better fit, to have had the tops finished at the factory.

OMG - I love those photos boxerpups posted! The modern light green kitchen with the chrome sphere lights is out of this world! The "penthouse" one reminds me of the look we were trying to achieve in our first design for this project (that ended up waaaaay over budget). We were doing that by putting 14 skylights lined up along a ridge. Needless to say, our revised plan has 2 large skylights in the kitchen ceiling and no ridge, lol. Funny, but I like vintage yet those 2 modern kitchens were the prettiest to me...
I am not sure if you want actual transom windows above your cabs or transom looking cabs. Either one would be lovely.

Smarge - we had that issue in our last house because our upstairs was 7 steps up and as you came down the stairs you could see the tops of our cabs but they were ahead of you instead of directly below. We just had to hope that no one had good enough vision to see the dust, lol. The tops of ours cabs were not finished but since it was a distance away and the color was not far off from our cabs, it was not a huge deal. It is a pet peeve of mine when a house has a balcony or open staircase and you can see all the unfinished tops of the china cab or entertainment center (usually see wiring too).

What beautiful kitchens and fantastic views, wish I could play up my high ceilings like those above but there is to much on my do list.
If I lived in Alaska though I would have to have some soft warm colors and warm wood shades in the kitchen to make up for the dark sun-less days. I would go nutty with a white kitchen and looking out at white or gray for several months a year. That's just me though, I'd have to have more color.

boxerpups: Thank you so much for those wonderful pics! That gray & taupe kitchen is stunning...I can see by the view of the skylight that it wouldn't work for here, though :) But, if I lived in a place where I could - this would be it.

davidrol: How would I 'spray' light upwards? Thanks.

smarge: Oh wow...thanks for the heads up...what a pain for you to go through that!

jterrilynn: It's a common misconception that Alaska is in total darkness during the winter. Alaska is a huge state - those small representations you see in the paper or the tv is not to scale.

I'll also link a weather & light chart below. We get about 5 hours of usable light on the shortest day. We are in southern Alaska.

I do plan on having warm colors but I do want a little white.

Thanks all for your input! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Valdez weather & sunlight charts

my sister has 14' ceilings. cabs unfinished at the top and she puts in boxes of different sizes to give different heights to things she puts 'on top' of the cabs. She uses the area mostly to display her Indian dolls/statues or those of cowboys/girls.

Thanks for the correction Melaska. My neighbors were just trying to talk us into an Alaskan cruise next summer but I�m not sure if that�s a good way to see Alaska.

This site is going wacky, it kept saying I was rejected but there it is.

We had high ceilings in a previous kitchen and put a big collection of vintage sap buckets along the tops of our cabinets. It looked cohesive bc it was one collection and they never looked terribly dusty - although they were - since they had that fabulous patina that comes from age (wait, I think I have that patina too...) Definitely not for an elegant home, but it fit that home perfectly and was fun.

desertsteph: Thanks for posting those pics - what a unique collection! From your screen name I gather you live in the desert?

Jterrilynn: Cruising is a great way...then you can get off the boat at each port & explore. Valdez is a huge tourist attraction so be sure & choose a cruise that has Valdez as a port of call. Even though I hate the idea of being on the water, I'd rather do that than drive the 100's of road miles. With all the RV's on the road, it can drive you bonkers. Oh, & when someone up here says, "It's just up the road a piece.", ask, "OK, just exactly how many miles are you talking about?" Our 'up a piece' can be in the 100's LOL Hope you go on that cruise! :)

I know what you mean about getting the 'rejected' screen. I've had to fight with that, too. I usually have to change the title of the thread to make it work.

laurainlincoln: Sap buckets - how charming! Patina can really mask the dust, eh? :) Dusting is one of my most hated chores...I'd much rather clean a dirty bathroom!

Thanks, everyone, for your great input. :)

I guess this relates to smarge's comment--are you going to be able to look down on the tops of the cabinets from the loft? Because that's going to affect your tolerance for dust, and limit options like aluminum foil. Basically, you will want the cabinets to look just as pretty looking down on them as looking at the fronts. I'm not sure how common this problem is, and whether there are any canned solutions to the problem.

Imagine light beams are water spray from a misting showerhead. Then, all words used to describe shower spray, mist, jets, etc, can be used to describe light beams.

You can wash a wall with light too. By placing the beam close to the wall and having it shine down next to the wall, most of the wall will be washed with some of the side spray. This works on "good" walls.

Thank you, davidrol...what kind of lights are best for this? Where exactly would I put them? Thanks for taking the time to give me input...I appreciate it! :)

A tight cone spreads light well to wash walls with.
The slimmer the cone, the more you get a waterfall stripe.
e.g.
https://www.solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/soluxbulbs.html

http://solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/infopages/home-office.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of degrees of conical spread

A tight cone spreads light well to wash walls with.
The slimmer the cone, the more you get a waterfall stripe.
e.g.
https://www.solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/soluxbulbs.html

http://solux.net/cgi-bin/tlistore/infopages/home-office.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of degrees of conical spread

Thank you david for that very interesting information. I'm going to look further into it. Do you have first-hand experience in this brand?

maybe one could use a woodtone shelf paper to line the tops rather than tin foil? if I had the option I'd rather have the tops finished off tho.

melaska - she also has a few pieces of her rooster collection up there. she has a lot of cabs.

yes, I'm in the desert, so is my sister. Some desert friends of mine moved up to Wasilla. Alaska is one place I'd like to see - my friends sent me a few photos that are just outrageously gorgeous!

Good idea, desertsteph.

Wasilla is a great little town (Sarah Palin was mayor there before her big move). It's far enough away from 'big city life' Anchorage but near enough to still be able to go when you want to easily enough.

Yes, it is outrageously gorgeous here - I especially love the summers. I'll post a link below for a really great place to see photos of any place in Alaska. Check out the "Northern Lights" section - you really do have to see these in person to appreciate them, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alaska photos

Also, with ceiling fixtures, the closer to the wall you put the light fixture, the more you get to wash the wall, highlighting that lit oval stripe, instead of putting a spot of floor into the light.

Someone I know well referred me to Solux but I've not bought any yet. He is a design professor and many other things.