I'm such a dope, it is 2-3 Inches, not feet. I corrected the subject. If it was a bigger area I would put stuff up there but 2 inches isn't enough room!! Sheetrock is an option, I thought about that, definite possibility. Art, the rest of the kitchen is painted. I don't want to paint the cabinets, I like seeing the woodgrain. Ann, It's funny you mentioned that, about the colored board. I was doing picture searches today on the web and saw cabinets done like that and I thought that might be an option. Then when I was at Lowes, I grabbed a bunch of free cabinet books for ideas, and one of them showed that style. I wanted to incorporate more of the cranberry/ pomegranate color into the room and that might just be the place to do it... I'm definitely going to consider that!

Sorry for the lack of information...hope this helps - alwaysfixin - we have 9'3" ceilings (1906 Victorian), and 42" upper cabinets. They have already been ordered (including the moldings) and have been shipped to the local warehouse - so with 42" uppers, we are looking at them ending at 8', which leaves 15" to play with. The moldings are around 3" vertical, hence the 12" panel. Our contractor is going to make the upper panel, and hasn't made it yet - he is the one that brought up it being too large. He suggested open shelving/cubbies, but we sort of think it would be a hard to reach space that would end up gathering dust. Any other ideas?? Thanks for the great feedback so far!

Great kitchen. Please don't let anyone talk you into painting those cabinets. You're fortunate to have the extra ceiling height and it does NOT look like a warehouse. I'd probably want the base -- kick wall -- of the peninsula/bar to be wood paneled or painted a darker color less likely to show shoe smudges but, as long as that's not a problem for you -- "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies. If you want to minimize the visual impact of the space above your cabinets, consider painting that wall the same color as the ceiling. If you want to utilize the space for storage (and not necessarily for kitchen items), take some measurements and see if you can find wooden boxes or foot lockers to set in a row above your cabinets; or not wood -- perhaps boxes made of a lighter material and painted to add your favorite color to your kitchen. If the blank space is truly irritating to you, then adding interesting knobs to the cabinet doors could help draw attention away from the blank wall above the cabinets. and/or You may have room for a small rolling cart or wheeled table (round or square) painted in your favorite bright color to create a different visual focal point -- preferably a table or cart you could roll outside on a porch or deck or patio when entertaining outside. Alternately, consider maximizing the impact of that open space -- it's just two short walls. Are there any local artists you would trust to paint a mural -- even just paint a blue sky, perhaps with a bit of puffy white clouds and/or even a rainbow there -- over which you could add a row of small "windows"?

take the tile all the way up, (like this one. and you could do a pendant or a sconce) (I happen to prefer some type of blind instead of those shutters. the shutters seem to close off the space and make it look smaller. You could have a piece of your countertop cut for the window sill. do wood casing on the inside of the window, or have them tile the inside. Window casing and tile to the ceiling. sconce is nice. you have the space for it. you could do casing and tile.. I like the woven wood blind. you could also get a blind w/a larger valance to eat up some of that space above. OR, install some window casing that goes from cab to cab around the window, and take the tile up to the underside of cabinets. Like this one But, you have such a tall expanse above your window, I think you should tile it or it's going to look out of proportion. Tile and do the sconce if you can swing it. Would resemble this another idea is to get some of that wood crown and take it across the ceiling above the window like shown here: it will also eat up some of that tall space.