The tops could all be in the same line - have a shorter raised cab above the sink, as you would over a range, if you are sure you want a continuous line of cabs. You wouldn't want the bottom to run as low as the others anyway - anyone that's at least 4- 41/2 ft tall would find it to be in the way.

I put one that was 6 inches shorter. I'm 5'10" and have no problem with bumping it.

Instead of raising the height on mine we had it made shallow so it just steps back but lines up top & bottom. It is perfect for glasses right over the sink. I didn't realize one thing, having it the same height did mean a goose neck faucet looked crowded and strange because it was so close to the cab so I picked another faucet.

Even if you had cabinets straight across with the standard 18" clearance between the counters and uppers, you won't hit your head working at the sink. You're not going to bend over any more at the sink than you would bending over to plug an appliance in under your other cabinets. You don't hit your head now doing that, do you? The issue isn't head clearance. It's clearance for your faucet. Lots of today's higher pull out faucet types will barely fit in 18" of clearance, and they don't look right with only an inch or so of space. You have to pick your faucet right.

The other issue that people think of is the claustrophobia of having a blank surface to stare at while you load your DW.Using glass, or open shelving can help with that, but even so, you don't spend as much time there as you think you do. With only 20% of your kitchen time spent cleaning up, that won't impact you greatly in your work experience.

Open Shelving.

{{!gwi}}

Now, if you prep right next to your sink, that's a horse of another color. Most time in your kitchen is spent prepping. That's when you look to see if you can add a second water source elsewhere in order to create a prep zone away from the cleanup sink.

One solution if you can't create a prep area elsewhere is to raise the wall cabinets so there is 24" of clearance between the counters and cabinets. Using shorter cabinets in a horizontal layout often helps this to look cohesive.

{{!gwi}}

Make all the cabinets on that wall high. Eek. I'm short and always lacking storage but that would give you the sleek look.

I ran mine straight across, although they are higher anyway because of the range (vent hood is concealed). I had the cabinets straight across at 18" in my previous, even smaller kitchen, and it was okay, too. (Tray is behind sink)

thanks everyone for all the feedback! i am leaning towards running all the cabs higher like at 24", but am wondering if it will look funny with a 20" high gooseneck faucet. how many inches of space should there be between the upper and the faucet to look ok? would 4 inches be enough? otherwise, i might have to go with the open shelves...

marcydc, how tall is your faucet? it looks pretty tall and like you have lots of room for it too.

greendesigns, i really like the shorter, horizontal wall cabs in your picture. i think it would also help to make my wall look longer too. do you know if the doors have to flip up to open or can functionally they still open to the right or left like regular wall cabs?

My faucet is 15.5" tall. so it has about 8.5" clearance. KWC ONO in stainless.

thanks marcydc! that is a very nice faucet too!