Why not take them all the way to the ceiling? We have 8 ft ceilings. Our cabinets are 38.5" with crown molding filling the gap to the ceiling. Maybe consider a small cabinet stacked on top and then crown. I wanted nothing to do with a dust and grease collecting space above my cabinets.

I'm going to the 9 ft ceiling with stacked cabinets to maximize storage in my small kitchen.

Stacked is at least 1/3 to 1/2 again as much, so not really feasable for a budget projct. It IS the best choice if you can afford it, but not all can.

I have dropped soffits that meet the 42" wall cabinets. The crown molding follows the soffits. There is a trim piece that fills the gap between the soffit and the cabinet. It's an elegant solution. I'm going to incorporate the same method in my renovation. I think it would be less costly than a second row of cabinets. Talk to you carpenter.

If you can, I think you should take them all the way to the ceiling whatever method you use. I think they look so much better that way.

The link has photos of cabinets up to the nine foot ceiling. I think they look fantastic and we're planning/hoping to do the same once our glacially-paced renovation gets moving.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hunt7191's reveal

AvatarWait, I think those pictures say it all.

our ceilings are 9'4" and we decided to do stacked cabinets. If your cabinets are custom anyway, you can have them make 1 large cabinet box with 2 doors to get the stacked look, but for less work (and money). Here are 2 pics (kitchen not finished yet....)

We have ceilings that are 8ft 4 inches and a pretty small galley kitchen. We had it gutted and remodeled in 2013. We had sofits in the old custom kitchen that was done in the 1950's and didn't want to have that waisted space above the cabinets. We went with custom built ply cabinets and they made them 45inches high and added a crown molding to fill the tiny space between the cabinet top and the ceiling. The cabinet maker made the cabinet boxes one piece and divided them with two doors. They made them "Zero Line" to simulate the look of inset cabinets but for much less cost. (notice the tight space between the doors) The top door was inset with a seeded glass insert and the bottom ones solid shaker style with an ogee edge to match the edges of our original 1925 interior doors. We had the electricians add an LED strip of light to the interior of the top cabinets and can light them up. We had the cabinet maker leave the interior of the cabinets clear maple and the outside painted cotton white.

We are very happy with the outcome. The cabinets take advantage of the high ceilings and look very pretty when they are lighted up. The kitchen looks much more original to our 1925 craftsman house.

This post was edited by NWRain-Gal on Sun, Oct 12, 14 at 23:01

Another closer picture of the upper cabinets. The entire cabinet box is all one piece, with only a fixed shelf dividing the top lighted boxes from the bottom ones. The doors make them look separate. Love the stacked look!

This post was edited by NWRain-Gal on Sun, Oct 12, 14 at 22:52

I have 9 ft ceilings and went to the ceiling with the cabinets. The cabs are almost 47.5" and have a stacked crown. Love the look and don't miss the dust accumulation.

The size of uppers that you can use depends on how much crown molding that you want, as well as you understanding that tall doors have the tendency to warp over time. Which is why tall ceilings tend to have stacked cabinets over having taller single doors.

You can do:

42" tall cabinets, with standard or stacked crown, leaving space on top. Standard 42" cabinets with 12" of molding, which can be top heavy.

The corner cabinet shown below is 42", with about 6" of molding, and the lower wall cabinets are 36" with the same 6" of molding.

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[Traditional Wine Cellar[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-wine-cellar-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_755~s_2107) by Other Metro Kitchen & Bath Designers ProSource Memphis

54" tall single door uppers, with no molding, which can really highlight the unlevelness of the ceiling. 51" H cabinets with 3" of crown, which has the same out of level ceiling issue. 48" single door cabinets with 6" of stacked crown molding that disguises the out of level of the ceiling. Same with 45" H cabinets and 9" of a stacked crown molding. Lots of molding can be just as expensive as the taller cabinets. And tall single door cabinets can warp much more than their shorter cousins over time.

The corner cabinets shown below are the 48"H with the stacked molding to the "ceiling".

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[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Other Metro Kitchen & Bath Designers ProSource Memphis

30" cabinets with 18" cabinets stacked on top, and 6" of crown molding, which can be a more expensive approach because of the stacking. (Same with 33" cabinets with 15" stacked on top, which would be more proportionate to the 2/3-1/3 pleasing proportions.)

The pantries below show the 84" H cabinets (same top alignment height as 30"H cabinets) with separate 18" H cabinets stacked on top. The seam between the two on the side is concealed with scribe molding.

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[Transitional Laundry Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-laundry-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_753~s_2112) by Other Metro Kitchen & Bath Designers ProSource Memphis

"Prestacked" cabinets. that are 45" H (which in my medium priced line that I use, simulate 30" with 18" on top) This is my Kemper display with the "prestacked" uppers. Note that the oven cabinet had to have a refrigerator cabinet stacked on top in order to line up.

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[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Other Metro Kitchen & Bath Designers ProSource Memphis