Forgot to add pics. My kitchen is the sparse one.. the others are the ikea style I was thinking of using

The top cabinets can be moved down by an installer. They can be shimmed out to go over the backsplash tile, and a thin strip of wood added to cover the tile-thickness gap on the sides. The top can get a classic, plain crown molding to cover the gap between ceiling and cabinet.

Put some blue tape on the cabinet doors to show where your hand's top reach is. That's a good height for the second shelf. When you move cabinets down, put your tallest appliance (coffee maker, blender) on the counter to see how much space you need for it. There will be some fiddling, experimenting, and adjusting to get the right height for you.

Deeper cabinets will be harder for you to reach the back of, so I would consider apple_pie_order's suggestion before buying new cabinets.

Thanks for the replies. I definitely have considered this, but I also need more cabinet space.. so want to remove that left hand cabinet and put cabinets across the stove wall. I’ll get at least another 36” wide cabinet.

There will be a challenge with the backsplash I realize with moving cabinets to the other side.

Note: the cabinets are 23” high off the counter. Tallest appliance is 15” tall. Counters are a bit high at 37”.

My thinking is a deeper cabinet that’s lower will be closer horizontally to me, so I can easily reach all of the bottom shelf, front of the second shelf. Right now I can barely reach the bottom of the 2nd shelf with my fingertips.

Maybe I should consider just going with the current cabinet maker even though not as tall or deep. Just adding the 36” wide cabinet, moving it lower.. mmm perhaps that will be more appealing looking to future buyer. Hmm

Any other ideas welcome.

I'm shorter than you, I totally get it. I don't know what other parts of your kitchen look like, but you can steal lots of lovely ideas from https://www.devolkitchens.com/

You can take cabinets to the counter in a couple places if you can sacrifice the counterspace. You can make a floor to ceiling pantry wall with lots of reachable storage. You could put a plate rack and another open shelf maybe as a coffee center below your current cabinets. I would definitely replace that cabinet to the left of the window with a cabinet on either side of the range hood.

I would really try to stay with the same cabinets if at all possible. Unless you go for a completely different look on the hood wall (walnut?) it will look like what it is. I would definitely stay with the same quality of cabinets.

One thing I did when we remodeled was order extra shelves for all the upper cabinets. I put short things (plates, coffee mugs, etc) on the bottom and the first adjustable shelf, which allowed me to reach the second adjustable shelf. The top shelf was for rarely used things (or things my 6'4" hubby used).

I also got a 2-step folding stool that fit perfectly under the sink. It was so convenient to use, I had easy access to just about everything in the uppers.

folding step stool

If you are having access issues now, your idea will only result in worse access issues. Find a location for a pantry cabinet with roll out trays.