It's definitely not for the indecisive. We are taller than average and raised our lower cabinets up to 32 inches high. The necessarily raised the upper cabinets to allow for appliances. Since we're taller, no problem. With our 9 foot ceilings we made the upper cabinets go from bottom to top with one door. We loved that from several standpoints. The best was we could open the door easily all the way to the top to see what was on the top shelves. Otherwise we would have been up and down a ladder all the time to open the high cabinet doors.

One box with two doors will cost you less than two boxes. If you are doing custom, then go for the golden ratio.

One box with two doors is pretty normal and less expensive.

I'm doing 15" upper but I'd do 18" over 12" if the uppers are glass.

DrB477 - 15" uppers with glass over a 33" might be a good compromise. I can see where an 18' glass over a 30" solid door might be more pleasing. When she calls back I'll have to ask her about that possibility.

Originally she suggested going with 42" uppers and just leaving it open above - but I really detest cleaning the tops of those cabinets. She did say that they could finish off the tops with a thin sheet of laminate that would be easy to wipe clean.

We had also requested that the upper glass cabinets swing up rather than open outwards but the drawings show them opening out like the lower door.

Maire

If the upper cabinets swing up, you'll have to reach higher in order to close them.

Beachem, what is "the golden ratio"? I know the experts here suggest a ratio, but IDK what it is.

If the top glass cabinets are to be a display case 18" will look better and will let you put a taller item in the display (such as a vase). However I'd also watch closely to make sure additional customization wasn't driving a lot of cost.

I would not do a flip up door that high up. You'd need a step ladder not just a stool to close the door plus the flip up door might collide with the ceiling or moulding depending upon your design details.

Emily and Stan - excellent comments about the swing up doors.

Stan - I can see why an 18" glass display might look better. When I told DH that I was concerned about losing that much storage he suggested going back to the 42" uppers.

I have a filler piece and a matching crown moulding at the top of my 42" uppers that fills the gap between the top of cabinet and ceiling. That might be a more traditional look than you want although there is a wide variety of mouldings to select.

pkpk23- a 42" with filler and crown molding would give me the most practical storage which is really the priority in this kitchen.

By any chance would you be willing to share a photo?

cpartist - your description is perfect - an 18 over 30 would be top heavy. I cut out some photos of cabinets from a catalog and matched up several cabinets for comparison. The 18 over 30 made the 30 look squat and unsightly. The 12 over 36 was much better.

As for the one box with 2 doors - DH reminded me that we're going with 3/4" boxes - and that one box would be preferable.

Thanks, Maire

maire_cate- can share photo if I can figure out how to do it.

My cabinets are made by Brookhaven and the three pieces that comprise the decorative fillers and crown moulding were all also made by Brookhaven and stained to match the cabinets. I would assume your kitchen designer can show you the various filler/moulding pieces available from the cabinet maker to add to the cabinets you are ordering.

I had to select the cabinet knobs and drawer pulls when the cabinet order was placed as Brookhaven drills the holes at the factory for precise placement. I selected from a different source than the ones they offered. Just FYI because I had assumed I would select cabinet hardware once I saw the cabinets in the kitchen.

pkpk - I'm still learning how to post a photo here - sometimes they show up, sometimes they don't.

Good point about hardware. The kitchen designer hasn't even mentioned that. I really don't want to be sitting in their office and having to do that at the last minute.

Unfortunately I've been having serious doubts about our designer's communication skills. She's young but doesn't always give us the details that I'd like. DH told the contractor today that since we're paying him for her design and cabinets that as contractor he needs to become more involved.

Thanks again,

Maire

I would not recommend the top cabinet being more that half the height of the bottom cabinet. It will look too heavy.

maire_cate, KDs often have a pretty limited selection of hardware available through them, and it's whatever is "hot" right now. I did NOT want what was hot - I wanted polished solid brass pulls as they worked far better in my kitchen and "warmed up" my gray cabinets. No one local had ANYTHING! Told me it was a "dated look".

To heck with that - it was what I wanted! And I knew it wasn't "dated" as polished brass was showing up in some UBER high end kitchens.

So online I went. I finally discovered Look in the Attic and found several contenders. When I called to order samples (Yes, one pays but there will be a credit if one returns them and buys from the company, which I did), the owner said that yes, he hears all the time that polished brass is not in style, but he sells more of it than any other finish!

I adore my pulls - just what I wanted. Solid brass, heavy, stunning...and they were about $10 each -- quite affordable. I did order extras "just in case"...

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I also have 9' ceiling and chose 48" uppers with 15" and 33". I was going to do 18" to match my other uppers but I wanted to do a different size in order to separate them as the 18" are full overlays and the other wall is inset. I left 6" for crown molding.

I did one cabinet 4 doors and customizing the inside shelves. I'm still organizing to figure out the different shelf heights for each side.

I put a divider between the doors.

Sorry for the mess, I'm still building things as I go.

Ah Beachem - that's one way to get exactly what you want - just build them yourself!

We had a long discussion with the contractor and kitchen designer and we've decided to switch cabinet companies. We're going with Signature Custom Cabinets and they'll custom size any cabinet and door. We'll finalize it on Monday but we'll probably go with 32 plus 18. It will delay the project but we're at least getting the door we want.

Thanks to everyone for their advice.

MC

My remodel is almost done... I have 9' ceilings and decided to go with cabinets to the ceiling. The uppers are 48inches with about 5-6inches of crown. I have a few cabinets that are the one-box-two-doors which have 18inch glass display on top and 30inch below. I didn't really have a choice. The kitchen isn't big and it's not very open either. The hood is a pro-style that is 18inches tall. After I did the math, the cabinet above the hood had to be 18inches high. I didn't want the hood any higher (hard to see control), and didn't want too many horizontal lines so I ended up lining it up so the glass uppers would be 18inches high too.

I like it. Mine probably works because I don't have the 18inches on top all the way, just a few. It might look a bit top-heavy if it were all the way around.

I suggest you make a mock out of paper with stile/rail width and hang it from the ceiling. You'll get a good idea.

Tish…do you have images?