It can be done - my worry in a 50s house is that the ceiling is not level and straight.

a good carpenter can install the crown moulding properly. I like the idea and think it will really finish your cabinets

Love your kitchen. What is the flooring?

Don't do the angled crown....I've never been a fan of it.

Instead, look for a simple COVED crown molding.

Example of kitchen I did:

Shiloh Cabinetry: Modern Country Kitchen - Xenia, OH · More Info

Our GC took strips of light rail to make a simple molding, on top of our shaker cabs. Click to enlarge

I like @darbuka 's suggestion above. A flat crown that joins the top of the cabinets to the ceiling will look more finished. But if you like a traditional look, a standard Colonial crown molding would also be very nice.

I'd go with the flat crown. Seems more in keeping with the Shaker style.

JM$.02W

It would not look strange, as I have it in my house. We have shaker with a vertical stepped crown. Our ceiling is also not level so our crown height varies - but I didn't notice until we'd been living here for a couple years. You will notice right away but that's only because you have been looking at your cabinets for years. No one else will notice.

I really like both ideas of crown molding above! I love the more traditional look, but I think @darbuka‘s might work better, since it’s more simple and the whole house has clean simple lines.

We wouldn’t do it ourselves, but have a carpenter come in. The house was remodeled beautifully; actually we’ve had several workmen remark on how well everything was done. So we wouldn’t want to mess it up with something shoddily done.

@Allison Rogers Thank you! I actually hated the kitchen at first because it had dark cabinets and wrote the house off. But my husband promised me to get the cabinets painted white/cream, and now I love it! I don’t know what the floor is, some kind of grey tile. It’s a much more beautiful kitchen than I ever thought I’d have.

We did a cove molding above our white shaker cabinets in our house. I absolutely love it. There is no strange gap above the cabinets and we got them in the same exact color so it blends right in with the cabinetry. It makes it look very finished and like it was built for the space.

It is called a slab crown molding. I am installing it it on my shaker cherry cabinets.. I think with shaker you just need to keep simple straight lines for cohesive look.

My particular problem will be that my ceiling is vaulted.

The second one that @User posted is what we have in our kitchen.

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate all the different crown moldings! I’m going to go for it then.

ILoveMod & and_p , are the cabinets part of a brand or made by an individual cabinet maker? I love the simplicity of the design!

Our cabinets were custom.

I found them on google, so IDK! but it's such a simple design any cabinet maker could do it. you have white cabinets so it won't even be hard to match the color.

are yours painted old cabinets, or are they brand new and arrived already white? if new, contact suppliers of that brand for the easiest color match.

We had them painted Dover White so thankfully we do know the color already.

I don’t know, the more I look at cove moldings, the more I like them. The more old fashioned and traditional, the better! I’ve never been the least bit fashionable. In fact, I was surprised to have such a modern, updated house when we moved in. But never mind! I set to work making it look as old fashioned as possible, English cottage style. And I do think I’ve succeeded. At least my husband says so ruefully. I did have an English workman come in and immediately ask where I was from, if I was born here and where my parents were from, so maybe I’ve succeeded.

I just don’t want it to get too muddled.

the coved pic that The Kitchen Place posted is gorgeous. I don't go for the more traditional look, but I would happily live with that kitchen.