No, you are thinking about these measurements incorrectly. The standard distance from the counter to the bottom of the upper cabinets is 18”, regardless of the height of your upper cabinets. So the backsplash needs to be 18” tall no matter which upper cabinets you have.

Also note that the standard distance from floor to countertop should be 36”. This is important because appliance manufacturers make ranges and dishwashers with that 36” height in mind. Then the standard distance from the counters to the bottom of the upper cabinets is 18”. This allows appliances like coffee maker and blender to fit.

I will add, do not get 30“ uppers. That height is too short to be useful, and will make your kitchen ceiling appear squat, and that 30” upper cabinet height is dated from the 1970s.

Shannon, unfortunately in my case, it as I state because this is a retrofit of an old midcentury modern with authentic soffit lights that give us the two choices I mentioned and new ducting that goes down to the soffit inside the wall. It is a complex situation --repair of a house damaged in the wildfires. And to meet the insurance payment, these are ready-made cabinets. If they were custom, we could do what you say, but I actually have a choice --the third choice being cutting the cabinets to 33" --but everyone tells me that will look terrible.

Yes, 18” is what you want between counters and uppers. What kind of cabinets only come in 2 sizes? I‘ve done 2 kitchen remodels, and never been that limited in sizes. They all came in 3” size differences.

What is the dimension from the floor to the soffit?

In many places, 18” is also code. You need that much space for countertop appliances regardless. If you go higher then you are putting shelf 2 and 3 in the cabinet too high for most.

If those are the only choices, get the 30 inch cabinets. 15 inch space between counter and cabinet is not acceptable fir small appliances or comfort.

15" ?? no. 18" should be the min between cabinet bottom and countertop. you won't even be able to fit a blender if you do 15. toaster will even be tough.

what if you did the 30" and filled in the upper gap w/a type of crown or filler?

or, look for other pre-made cabinets from another vendor

my husband is a GC who works w/insurance companies after fire/flood damage. You should be able to get a replacement of what was already in place. if they're fighting over cost, hire your own adjuster to mediate. insurance companies will ALWAYS lowball the homeowner.

Here: https://www.cabinetcity.net/european-collection-rta-cabinets/. Our contractor insists this is the best price possible, but I can check on my own. He does seem to have a great deal for us and I would be hard-pressed to do better. I can get the 30" high upper cabinet and have a 20" backsplash. If as you are saying 18" is a minimum, 20" should be fine --or 21", should be fine. I will have enough cabinet space without the 6". Thank you all for your input, so much appreciated, you have helped me to think this through. The upper Cabinets come in two heights only and they cannot be cut.... so is what it is. As to fighting with insurance, they have released all, I mean ALL, our money to the limit. We were underinsured but luckly, the house did not burn to the ground, otherwise, we would have been out of luck. Yes, the cabinets come in MANY widths, but just two heights.

pamela, 20" would be fine. have a crown or filler trim piece put in between the top and the soffit.

just like this one. see the trim piece above the cab? use something like that to hide the 1-2" gap. crown along the soffit top is optional

no need to go right up against the soffit w/the cabinet top. if you guys are all tall people, it will be fine.

or, dress up the soffit w/crown and put a trim piecebetween the cabinet top:

not sure how far out your soffit sits. diff pics to show you options

Atherton, I think it is 58.5" from top of counter to soffit --does that make sense?

Those are bargain basement quality. You can do a lot better.

If you have 58-1/2” from countertop to the bottom of the soffit, you can do a 36” wall cabinet with a 4-1/2” crown molding like Beth shows. This will give you a standard backsplash height of 18” and stay within the limitations of your cabinet line.

here is a picture of the kitchen with original cabinets and soffits before it was destroyed in the fire in 2019. Soffits survived and they are one of our authentic midcentury details, do not want to ruin them. This is a post and beam and the ceiling goes up to about 12" way beyond the sofit. In the original house the sofit was right over the cabinet, and that is what 30" high cabinet would allow here. I cannot measure these, they are gone, but it looks like father in law had 36" cabinets and very low backsplash?

And here is a still-better photo of the original kitchen before it was dismantled.

and here are the heights --3 people have insisted I must have either 30" cabinets or 15" backsplash, including my designer. That is, IF I want to keep the soffits and as you can see from other pics, they run through the house as an MCM original feature.

cool house pamela.

this original mcm kitchen looks very similar to yours. I'd try and retain this style, but w/upgraded elements, naturally

do you have a pic of the cabinets you're getting?

some mcm slab front walnut cabs would be perfect in that space.

or any type of slab front style.

if you can swing, now would be the time to do an upgrade for this style home.

I'd do whatever I had to in order to keep this style cabinets/countertop in the home.

We are getting these --an atomic kitchen look with melamine white uppers and melamine medium shade wood lowers. The melamine will match the color of the light soffits,... more or less, and we are getting lighter natural wood floors.

looks almost like the first pic I posted.

I threw in some other pictures too.

I hope you pick a cool backsplash tile

love both of these

with your colors, this black would look great

I do a matte black faucet w/this tho.

Look at the Bedrosians Makoto tile in the matte black. do a stacked layout.

cement tile

or do a cool floor tile.

and btw, we are doing what insurance will bear. Our original kitchen is gone.... we are able to save the soffits, and a sliding door cabinet.

did you have your own adjuster come in or just go off what the insurance company offered you?

sorry you had to go through that loss. I mentioned some of these elements since you have to redo it. now is the time to get what you want if you can spare the funds. (are you going to live here or sell it?

Beth --Insurance did not fight us. We got the entire amount plus all the overage. $20,000 left on table ONLY but we can file for it and will get it. Does an insurance company have to pay you over the limit of your coverage --I know you can go to court for it, but I did not deem such a fight worth it, and not at all sure we would get anything more than our absolute limit. We are on a street of 12 burned houses in LA and we are the only house so far to even start to rebuild 18 months later. Many are sitting there as burned hulks --and it is a street of many mansions (not counting our little house.) I can only surmise these folks are STILL fighting with their insurance companies --but those houses were burned to the ground. We did not burn to the ground, and I believe it is possible to fix our house for the insurance limit if we do not get extras: ie, no to the 9k refrigerator; no to the 13k gourmet oven. We are replacing the windows in the majority of house that did not burn, and those, WE must pay for. This was a 70 year old house basically untouched since 1951. Our ability to restore it is a gift to us. Remember the credo of the midcentury modern: minimalist. For instance, melamine was much-used.

I remember the fires. at least your house was spared. I'm glad you're restoring it.

yes, melamine was used. as was color. I like your cabinets. I was just throwing out some simple tile options and a few other elements to go along w/it. if I overstepped, I apologize.

Beth --We are considering this tile in yellow or aqua for the backsplash, with the tiles turned so that pattern falls at various angles: https://www.daltile.com/product/Confectionery?color=Lemon-Drop&shape=Square

And the wall with the sliding door midcentury cabinet will be painted aqua with the sliding doors a range of midcentury colors.

OMG @Pamela Wildfires, pandemics, life in general, kudos to you for just being able to stand up straight! All the best to you!!!!

Beth, yup I am living apocalypse to apocalypse.

@Pamela, insurance agent here. No, they don't have to go over the coverage limit stated on the policy. Some policies will have a 20% buffer above the coverage amount that can be accessed if you prove that it's necessary- but that's an extra endorsement than many may not have. Unfortunately, some carriers just leave the coverage amount the same year after year, which means that loyal customers who stay with their carrier for decades might find themselves underinsured at the time of a loss. Ideally, seek out a carrier that automatically does an annual increase in coverage to stay on track with inflation. You'll see a slight premium increase ($30-50/year,) but it's invaluable in the event of a loss.

Meghan --Well, there you go. We received almost 25% above the coverage amount. We can submit again after the build is done if we go over legitimate alottments. So, I saw no reason to "flght." Just lucky our entire house didn't go down. Because this house was severely underinsured. We will not make that mistake again. I think it must be true for many neighbors because their houses appear to be just sitting there in ruins.

Beth --you certainly did not overstep, of course not! going to look carefully at your suggestions.

So sorry for what you've been through. Prior to remodeling the kitchen of my 1920 house, it had 15" between counters and upper cabinets - and I will NEVER go with that little space again. Not only could I not fit my blender under the uppers, but the kitchen just felt cramped. Post-reno, I have ~20" between counters and uppers, and I love it. So regardless of considerations as to how the uppers of the two alternative heights might look, I'd recommend against the shorter space for your backsplash.

I love Beth's most recent suggestions for tile and finishes in your space. Good luck with your reno - hope you don't have any more, um, excitement for a while and that you enjoy the end result.