I don't know of any height limit for cabinets. It is pretty current to design them all they way to a 9 or 10 foot ceiling, with molding to cover and fill any gap. I think it seems more luxurious and design-wise, makes them seem custom.

Though my house was built 20+ years go, the kitchen cabs go all the way to the approx 10' ceiling. I use the upper cabs for Xmas and Easter table decor, and dishes that I can't quite bear to get rid of but probably will. I just get out the smaller ladder to get up there, a few times a year.

It would be nice to put glass doors and inside lights up there, in at least one or two of them, and have some pretty silver or china pitchers lit up.

The thing about cabinets lower than the ceiling is: what you going to put up on top there? You going to dust all that? And if you scroll through photos of gorgeous kitchens, designers don't currently do that.... and it doesn't seem custom either.

Now, who cares if it looks custom? Who cares if it looks current? I don't know. But you're going to the expense and trouble of a big build, so to me, the extra expense is worth it. Plus, who has too much storage?

I clicked into your link, and though I didn't read through the whole thing, I see you have an unusual clerestory window in the kitchen...not sure what you're doing with the blank wall just to the right/next to it, but if it were me, I'd look into having a cabinet custom designed to make it look like the cabinets were designed around it. Maybe that won't work, I'm not a designer, but that's what I would consider.

Mrs. S, you make some great points, thank you! Sorry for my late reply.

I 100% agree with you that I don't like the look of cabinets with empty space between the cabinet tops and ceiling. What I have is a cathedral ceiling so if my cabinets reached the ceiling they would be up to 16 feet high! Still, your points are valid.

In my case the cabinet height is established by the heel height of the cooktop wall, which is about 9-1/2 feet where the sloped ceiling hits the wall. There will be a wedge-shaped gap here unless it is filled with a wedge-shaped cabinet, which is not in the plan. The plan is to put up-lighting on top of the cabinets to create reflected light from the ceiling.

I feel better about the high cabinets because they are great for infrequently accessed storage, as you pointed out.

Below are drawings of the cooktop wall, and the wall with the higher windows. I revised one of the drawings to move the main sink from the island to the wall. The intention was to integrate the cabinets in some way with the windows, and I agree this has not been done effectively.

Cooktop wall below (I am changing the base cabinets to two 30" bases with four drawers each):

Side wall with windows below (old design):

Side wall with windows below (new interim sketch moving main sink and cleanup to the side wall):