You might consider having the upper tier of cabinet doors have hidden top hinges and no door pulls or knobs (bottom indent in the middle of each door to open it). The objective would be for them to appear to be paneling above the cabinets that match the cabinets below -- no visible hardware = hidden storage primarily use for storing those items seldom used such as for holidays or picnics or for canning and/or freezing..

Mine will be 39 and 18 with 9” crown. It was 42 and 18 and I changed it on the advice of two pros here. The proportions look nice on paper. No real kitchen yet.

@ ILoveRed Before you set your mind on 18" cabinet, check with your manufacturer to make sure they make 18" cabinet in various sizes. The 18" cabinet usually goes above the Ref or the Stove, sometimes over sinks, so most manufacturers make that cabinet only in 2 sizes and that is 30 or 36" wide...Therefore all your upper kitchen cabinets will have to be 30 or 36" wide in order to use 18" stacked cabinets above them.

So check with your designer if the manufacturer makes 18" tall cabinet in different width sizes because if not, see if your layout will allow all the upper cabinets to be 30 or 36" wide.

The FIRST answer from Kyle is your answer. Or drop the ceiling to nine feet, have a great looking kitchen and a lot less expense in cabinetry. Ten foot ceilings require quite a BIT of breadth or the result can be a feeling of being hemmed in by looming cabinetry.

Thanks gn...cabinets are built. No changing things now. Just waiting for installation. But thank you for helpful advice.

Don't forget to show us some photos!

It’s amazing how many pros we have that have different opinions and they are all convinced that their opinion is the correct one! Maybe there really is no perfect correct answer.

Only very very very cheap lines only offer short cabinets in limited “refrigerator” sizes. Like cheepchinesecrapola ones.

Any decent mid grade to upper end line offers a full range of sizes in all standard heights. And some customizable components as well.

The ideal proportions are 1/3 to 2/3. The top cabinet should be the 1/3 and the lowers should be the 2/3 of the equation. And you have to factor in the crown molding as proportionate to the overall also.

So, if you’re doing semi custom, and not full custom. You’ll be dealing with 12”, 15”, 18”, 21”, 24”, 27”, 30”, 33”, 36”, 39”, and 42” heights.

And you have 66” to work with. At 120”, the crown molding should be higher than the typical 6” used in 8’ ceilings. But it’s not 18’ ceilings either, where a foot of crown starts to work.

So, you can use 39”+18”, and 9” of crown, and that gets you close to the 1/3-2/3 proportion. Or you can use 36”+18”, with 12” of crown and have the cabinets be in perfect proportion, but the crown be disproportionate. Or you can use 42”+ 15”, and be bottom heavy, with 9” of crown. Or 42”+18” and have skimpier crown and be bottom heavy.

This is my old drawing with the 42 and 18 combo. Second pic has 39 and 18 combo. Compare the two. I like both but just went with pro advice here. I wanted my top cabinet to look more square as well. Have your kd draw up the kitchen with a couple of different versions and you will get a better idea of what appeals to you. Good luck!

We have 9' cabinets with 18" uppers with glass and large crown. We have vaulted ceilings so did dimmable uplighting which we love at night. Something you could do in your extra space if you decide to do 9'.

Stacy...beautiful. What is your countertop please?

It's marble, Montclair Danby from Vermont.

ILoveRed...your design is a lot like mine. Did you go with the 39 or 42? You might have said but I missed it. Always had 42...any concern with losing those few inches? Someome mentioned about adding a soffit to reduce to 9 feet...but we are actually removing 2 soffits. This is a photo when the house we bought was for sale. So both soffits are going. White cabinets/black granite.

Due to angles of the kitchen..which cannot be changed, the width of the cabinets have a variable width, so whatever height of the upper cabinets they will look square..some vertical...some horizontal. Especially the ones on either side of the cooktop. Any suggestions on how I would have them look symmetrical? Im ok if the 2 on either side of the cooktop are the same..and then so are the others. Right now the plan has the 4 on the right being made into 3..did a lot of measuring and I cant get them close enough in width. Do have some space to play around with..further from vent or window.

You are focusing on the wrong things. A well designed kitchen can work very well without perfectly square glass uppers. As long as the overall proportion of top to bottom is correct, and things are balanced around a focal area, squareness is a silly detail to focus on that does nothing for either looks or cooks.

Balance is not the same thing as symmetry.

I did the 6" crown to mimic my 6" hatband. Since my hatband started 8' from the floor, the cabinets needed to be 42".

36" lowers + 18" backsplash + 42" uppers = 8'. My 18" upper uppers start at the bottom of the hatband.

CP, I just love your kitchen! what tiles did you use?

Thank you Beth. They are Jeffrey Court 3" x 6" field tile. I'm still waiting to do a full reveal as there are still a few more things that need to be fixed and completed.

cpartist-

What do you mean by a "hatband?"

There is something Prairie School about your kitchen -

Is it the rhombus column? The pendant lights?

Is that stained glass on the far wall? If so, did you design the pattern yourself or select a vintage pattern or rescue a piece of glass from a salvage yard?

What is the long flat white rectangular object on the ceiling near the vent hood?