You could stack a 36 and a 12 to get your height. I'd do mullioned glass on those (it's a more casual feel). Personally I absolutely HATE dead space above cabinets...it's a dust magnet. I love my cabs to the ceiling...I'd take that extra foot any day!

We have 9' ceilings as well and I do not like the look of dead space either. To me, it makes those nice high ceilings seem to descend( sort of defeats the purpose).

Anyhow, my choices were to do a stacked upper OR a whole lotta crown moulding. I ended up going with 12" of crown. Can't post any photos as we are anxiously awaiting our cabinets still! Insulation goes in next week! :)

Igloo - Love your kitchen. Do you think the stacked upper would look funny with if the cabinets were: 2- 12" pullouts (flanking 42" hood with mantle), 1 24" Cabinet,and 1 21" Cabinet.

Whidbey - Did you consider doing the stacked?? If so was the cost significantly different?

Thanks

I have nearly 9 foot ceilings and 48" uppers. I wanted stacked but I am on a tight budget so they got cut. My kitchen isn't finished but I really like the look of the tall cabs. This may be unique to me and not apropos of your situation, though, because I have a tiny galley kitchen and I think they emphasize the height and make the whole room look bigger. This may not be a concern of yours.

I haven't gotten to use them yet, but I admit, when I open a door, it feels quite heavy in my hand (but no pulls yet) and I have no idea what's going to go up top. Obviously, things I don't use very often.

Here's my "still lots more to go" kitchen with the 48" uppers. Crown molding is also yet to come.

Thanks becca! Can I ask how wide your 48" tall doors are? It may help me visualize what mine might look like.

I think I have plenty of things that could go up high that I use once a year.

I think it also helps to have a footstool handy! I think that will be an essential part of my new kitchen. :D

They vary, but the widest one is 23" wide. My contractor wasn't happy about that, he said they would warp, but he tends to say things like that after the fact, when I can no longer do anything about it. But that's something to think about if you're doing a painted finish.

The 23 inchers are hidden behind that fridge (which is being replaced) so you can't see, but the ones dead ahead, above the sink, are 16" wide. The corner one is also 16" wide.

Thanks becca that helps. I'm debating splitting my 24" cab into 2 -12" doors. Then they would match the 12" uppers flanking the hood. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the painted cabinets.

I do have one cabinet in my current kitchen that is wide....may 23" and it's hinges have bent so the door hanges crooked.

I have 12 foot ceilings. It was difficult to figure out how best to utilize that space. We were going to do very tall doors with glass at the top, but felt they would be sort of unwieldy, so we decided to do stacked, with glass at the top. But that would still not get us all the way to the ceiling, so we ended up also installing a coffered ceiling to bring the ceiling down to the top of the cabinets. We got this idea from a kitchen showroom we visited. Because our ceiling is so high, it would have been too costly to bring the cabinets all the way to the ceiling, as much as I love that look, so we did the ceiling, which I love.

I put a link to my inspiration kitchen below, which is not an actual kitchen, but is the showroom of St. Clair Kitchen and Design in NJ. (I wanted to hire them to do my kitchen, but I couldn't.) Scroll down to the last magazine cover, and click to enlarge it. That kitchen has a single door with glass at the top, and a shallow coffered ceiling. I would bet that the ceilings in that space were about 9 feet. For a more casual feel, I would bet you could do something similar with rustic beams, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen with doors with glass at top