you'll have 36" of base cabinet, 18" of space, and then 66" of uppers... close to double the visual weight of the base. so yeah, its a concern.

a larger crown helps some (but you have to leave room for it over the transoms.) glass doors in the upper most cabinets helps too.

i prefer a 9' ceiling in the kitchen. space but not too much space.

How large of a budget do you have for cabinets? Upper cabinets and vertical storage units which go to a 10-foot ceiling will be very costly, and seldom used since you will have to have a ladder to reach the cabinets.

Are you sure you can't tolerate either a soffit or free-standing upper cabinets?

Your windows and doors/transoms will not provide any visual relief or effect on your cabinets, except if you align the cabinet tops at 96".

Good luck with your project.

Glo.... that first photo looks a lot like a soffit with some doors in it....if it was a kitchen i was working on i think i'd go for the look of the third picture.

Two identical kitchens, 10' ceilings, one with cabinets to the ceiling and one with 48" uppers.

Elegant Spec Home · More Info

Elegant Spec Home II · More Info

ninigret plus, the ceiling on the first photo looks more like 9' and not 10' even though the image comes up for "10' kitchen ceiling" search. Hmm...

Glo, i think the sorta wide lower-upper cabinets make them look like 36" , but i bet they are 42". its not a 9' ceiling, thats what i have. (9'2) i went with narrower doors which make them seem a bit taller.

I agree that extending cabinets all the way to the ceiling is a better look. I also agree that you will have usability issues with the very top portion of these cabinets. The way I dealt with this issue in my kitchen is giving the topmost part of the upper cabinets glass doors and using them primarily as display of my china collection. That way I get the aesthetic value without expecting much in use.

Just don’t do 42 inch cabinets with ten foot ceilings, I have that and it looks pretty goofy.

you'll have 36" of base cabinet, 18" of space, and then 66" of uppers... close to double the visual weight of the base. so yeah, its a concern.

Why do you assume the OP would have only 36" high cabinets? Really?

I have 10' ceilings. Cabinets are 42" high with 18" upper cabinets on top and a 6" crown. Windows are at 94" off the floor. (They were supposed to be 96". Long story)

Note that the majority of my upper cabinets are glass for displaying vases and other breakables. I have no intention of getting up there except to dust maybe once every other year or so. ;) Right now in the cabinets above the cooktop, I have nothing stored. Not sure I will at any point either since I have lots and lots of other storage.

Another ratio that works well depending on the style of your house is to do 39" upper cabinets with 18" cabinets above that and a 9" crown. I didn't do that because I have a 6" hatband tying together all windows and door trim and the crown molding matches my hatband trim size.

I will say though that my kitchen is a nice size 15'8" x 12' (dining area is 15'8" x 10') and as mentioned is connected to the dining area. If I had a small kitchen I probably would have lowered the ceiling to 9'. It's all about proportion.

the 36" was for the base cabinets, cp.

Oh ok. :) Sorry. Next time I should read.

i'm thinking, wow, cp must be really tall to have 42" for base cabinets.....

What color will your cabinets be? All of those pictures have light colored cabinets.

Why hate soffits? I'd rather have them then have to dust the tops of cabinets I can't reach -- or worse, pay for cabinets I can't reach.

9' ceilings are ideal for a kitchen though a kitchen in a taller ceiling looks elegant if properly configured. I see a lot of homes with a 9' dropped kitchen ceilings where the great/living room is 12' or higher.

We have a 12' ceilings, thank the stars I dropped it down from my original 22' ceiling design. Soffits can be challenging yet I have 30" soffits above one piece 60" wall cabinets 42" wall + 18" wall uppers (except over windows) . The way I designed it, particularly the soffits, leaves little margin for error although everything looks good dimensionally speaking. Allowing 7/8" for tile flooring, our wall cabinets will be 18 5/8" above countertops. We are several weeks away from cabinets install, hence far from done. Sorry only have renderings for our 12'.

lynn, try to find a set up at your cabinet company, etc, of your color stain at that height.... without glass, etc.... stand right next to them, as when you cook.... i ended up going with white on the perimeters, did the quarter sawn oak on the island, as when i stood by the counter i felt the darker cabinets really loomed over me... like alice when she ate the mushroom that made her small.

Lynn, even the photo you posted has some glass uppers to break it up. I absolutely would do some glass uppers with a lighter interior especially if you're doing cherry.

BTW: My kitchen is not monochromatic. My backsplash tile is green and above the cabinets the ceiling is BM Wilmington Tan and my quartzite is greens and other colors.