Are your cabinets ordered already because if they are, they are too tall to put additional cabinets on top. Additionally, those upper cabinets are very expensive. Ask me how I know.

Another vote for all drawers.

I was told drawers is even less expensive then doors. Also don't know the size of your double oven but we have 2 drawers below. Additional upper cabinets with glass are expensive, but make kitchen look bigger. It is not functional storage but nice decorating. Don't forget to add light there.

If you put in an additional row of "high" cabinet units, would you be able to reach and use them? They will be very expensive decoration...

The OP's question depends so much on her ceiling height, which we do not know.

Regarding Virgil Carter Fine Art's comment about being able to reach high cabinets - the average-height woman cannot reach above the second shelf without a step stool anyway, so depending on the ceiling height, the reach for the top cabinets may be no different. I have 9' ceilings and stacked cabinets. I don't have glass doors on the upper stack because I wanted them for storage, not display. I use the upper stack for rarely used things like holiday items, candles, shelf liner, and the like. I don't know where I'd put those things otherwise. However, if I had 10' ceilings I would not take cabinets to the ceiling, because for me, those would not even be accessible with a stepstool.

And unlike friedajune, I am taking my cabinets to the top of my 10' ceilings. I'm doing 18" uppers with glass doors. I'm planning on putting in their some of my art glass and other items I don't want touched or broken. It's for decorative items only.

Yes I'll also have closed uppers over the cooktop and oven, but I'm doubting I'll be using those for much of anything.

And just like frieda commented, I can barely even reach the second shelf in my uppers. I'm somewhat vertically challenged.

My experience is like @friedajune - I can’t reach above middle cabinets without a stool (or climbing on counter which I do sometimes but do not recommend!) anyway. I am 5’4”. So another row of unreachable without stepstool cabinets is for me not a factor.

OP I am also doing a new build and also dealing with this dilemma. We have 9’ ceilings in the kitchen. We are still waiting on quotes but I am strongly considering going with the bulkhead. One reason is I prefer the look as otherwise the extra cupboards to me feel a bit looming, but also as already added extra cabinetry elsewhere (laundry room, larger vanity in main floor bath, tall pantry cupboard in kitchen) so I cringe a bit at more money for cabinets to close that gap. I mainly just don’t want to dust up there (or put wax paper up there), otherwise I would leave them open. Bulkheads will resolve that dusting issue for me.

But I definitely agree with all those about lower drawers instead of lower cabinets. We are putting lower drawers in kitchen wherever we can. Good whether you are vertically challenged or blessed!

Amber...before you go any further ...is your builder or your lumberyard designing your kitchen?

“I asked the builder about filling the space between the top of cabinets and ceiling.”

How far in the process are you? How much input do you have in the process?

Do you have the option of letting a kitchen designer or at least the kitchen forum here at GW, help design your kitchen for you?

Are you ready to double your budget with stacked cabinets and glass? The lower cabinets will need to be shorter. 84” top alignment height. 18” cabinets above to the 102” mark. A riser, then crown to 108”.

Amber -

Ceiling height? Your pic looks like 9 ft. Generally stacked cabinets is too expensive to consider and not worth it for 9 foot ceilings. When I say - too expensive, I am making assumptions about your house and your builder and upcharges. On a 10 ft ceiling, it makes better sense but $5k is probably a good ballpark with a custom build. Add 50% for production.

The typical solution is bulkhead and crown. Soffit would be the next but they will probably quote what they want to do.

If you have the option to change kitchen layout, it would be nice. It is not generally a good idea to have an island between refrigerator and sink. Don't have an obstruction between ice and water.

A kitchen guy at a showroom is no kitchen designer. If you have options, get on over the kitchen forum and read some of the large threads on getting started.

Model, builder, "kitchen designer", my guess is this is a tract home. Have you asked how much these "changes" will cost you? Their business model is generally not "change" friendly if this is indeed a tract/developer home.

Then you want a 12” soffit and 39”H cabinets with 3” of molding between the cabinets and soffit. Or 36” + 6” of molding. And the room will have either no crown molding, or it can be installed on the soffit and all the way around.

Okay the first thing you need is an actual kitchen designer NOW not the builder. I dislike those bulkheads trimmed out with molding they look off and IMO a kitchen is a huge expense and needs careful planning and you can never have too much storage even if a couple of times a year you a stool to get to it. I love caniets to the ceiling , yes they are expensive but IMO wotrth it. Drawers for base cabinets are always the best and should be everywhere , your knees and back will thank you every time you use them. I have all drwaers in my kitchen, all the pots, my baking ingredients, everyday dishes and glassware all in drawers.

If you want zero moldings, you can use 42”. But that looks mean and squinchy in any but a very modern style kitchen. All cabinets benefit from the finishing touches of crown molding and light rail.

The pic of the cabinets with the green walls and the extended crown riser is just a very bad look. That is NOT what a soffit should look like. It’s completely out of proportion. A soffit is part of the walls and ceilings, not part of the cabinets. Be sure that you have your terminology correct here. Or you will get that disproportionate hack.

Yes, that is a soffit. With a small trim molding at the top. Not crown molding. You can do both a soffit and crown molding both.

Look at a tray ceiling detail if you want to make this more deliberately designed and intentional rather than just like you want the tops of your cabinets covered. All a tray ceiling no is is a wide soffit. It’s a great place to place small recessed lights to wash light down the fronts of your cabinets too. And the center of the tray can be an interesting detail with crown.

That will not work with your ceiling height unless you go to the expense of stacking cabinets. 48”H cabinets are unstable, and usually unwarranted. They’d be pretzels and potato chips up on your walls from the warping.

It’s not 12” it might be about 7”. Math rules here.

Just pony up the money for the stacked cabinets, it’s what you really want.

Bulkhead vs soffit. This is my definition.

Bulkhead is made of cabinet materials so it matches cabinet color. Soffit is framed and drywall so is wall color. In the end, it is really about color and sheen from a distance.

In my area (and I believe most areas) custom home builders do not have a model home. So when you say model home, it means production builder. If a custom home maker has an empty home, we refer to it as a spec home. Model implies that it sits there empty and not for sale. It is sold when the neighborhood is done. The spec home is for sale.

Now - a very large custom home builder might have a model. But most custom home builders are not very large - hard to be custom at a certain size.

There are some nice examples of trimmed soffits and bulkheads in these two threads. They are a whole lot cheaper than high up cabinets that you will access once a year, and can look just as good,

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/mirrored-upper-kitchen-cabinet-doors-anyone-dsvw-vd~2450012[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/mirrored-upper-kitchen-cabinet-doors-anyone-dsvw-vd~2450012) Some very nice bulkheads/hiddensoffits in these.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-with-soffits-and-hood-wall-design-dsvw-vd~2701140[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-with-soffits-and-hood-wall-design-dsvw-vd~2701140) (there is a link in the last response which is a good picture also).

Some of the pictures are no longer available but just roll down.

I was just having this discussion with a client. He wasn't visualizing the options very well, so I modeled the different alternatives. I recommended the second option.

The look of stacked cabinets is the best. You won't regret it. It is SO worth the extra cost if that is the look you love. If you want to save a bit of money do solid doors vs. glass. Find some pictures that you love. Send builder pics so there is no misunderstandings of your wishes.