Thank you so much. That is a good point. And yes - we are building a house to sell..

I suggest you ask the question on the kitchen forum.

If you are building a higher end house then definitely do the cabinets to the ceiling. If it's not, then I think you will be fine with the 36" cabinets

A 36" cabinet would leave 18" on top, vs. 12" for the 42. I don't think it would look bad if you have nice crown and maybe some lighting above.

But...

I would vary the heights of them. In ours we did the corner cabinets higher but typically I see cabinets over the stove, fridge etc. taller.

Depending on your area and potential buyer, it may be worth considering feng shui - in which case they should go all the way to the ceiling.

If you put things on those higher shelves - chances are you will never use them again.

If this is a spec house, I'm surprised that you don't know the exact level of finishings the market expects. You want your home to match what is expected without doing even a little bit more, unless you happen into a deal. For a higher end home up to ceiling would be expected these days - gaps above look cheap. But if it's a lower to middle end home you can get away with it. And your goal is to get away with spending as little as possible without turning buyers off.

Compromise and do 39" cabinets. With trim, they will go to the ceiling but with more usable space.

If the house were for ME, I'd go cabinets to the ceiling -- no question about it. I don't care if the things stored in those upper shelves are used only rarely (and I'm not quite 5' tall, so that's a real possibility ... though I have also planned a spot in my kitchen for my rolling kick-stool). I'd go all the way to the ceiling for exactly the reasons mentioned: No dust up top, extra storage, and I just like the look. I'd make this a priority and would splurge on the extra cost for the taller cabinets.

However, you're not building for yourself ... and that is a different ballgame. You will save money by going with 36" cabinets, and it probably isn't enough to prevent someone from buying the house.

What I would not do is build a variety of heights. I don't like this snaggle-toothed look.

Another option that hasn't been floated: Build a dropped soffit to bring the ceiling down to cabinet height.

I'm with the others that say it depends on what your market is like.

Here, people like the varied height design, so I'd go with various heights. Personally I like it all to the ceiling, but that just isn't what most people want here.

If it's in your budget, go to the ceiling. Educated homebuyers will perceive that as a high end feature.

freeoscar is right: you really need to understand the expectations in your local market. Suggest you consult the Realtor who will be listing the home for sale regarding local market preferences.

Personally I like it all to the ceiling, but that just isn't what most people want here.

I think that is the prevailing sentiment here, and it's practical -- the only negative being that it costs more.

We went all the way to the ceiling. We hated the idea of having to clean on top of the cabinets. It also looks way better.

rmverb - I'm assuming those are 9' ceilings correct?

Yes, 9ft ceilings.

We have 9 ft. ceilings and did 48" uppers. You won't regret it!

It looks fantastic!

rmverb - can I ask what the height of your doors are? Also what is the trim around your doors? Our cabinet maker is suggesting 3'' to break up the door a little more, and since finding this forum 24 hours ago, I am now thinking of doing cabinets all the way up, however I think he said they would be 47.5'' doors, I'm just wondering if this will look odd.

Two questions for the OP:

1.) What size is the kitchen?

2.) Does it have any exterior walls?

In my ideal design -- and I admit to being more than a little weird* -- the kitchen would have zero uppers and a zillion windows. But that only works with a generously sized, well-designed kitchen with drawers in lieu of lower cabs, for maximum storage. And a nice pantry. :-)

*More evidence of my weirdness... I actually very strongly dislike cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling, because every kitchen I have seen with this feature looks top heavy and out of scale, to me. I totally understand the practicality of it, I just can't get past the aesthetics.