Be sure to plan for lighting in your upper glass front cabinets, and somewhere handy nearby to keep a light weight step stool.

I also didn’t want a gap above my cabinets. My ceilings are shorter at 10’ and I have tall, flat trim /frieze board (not sure the right term) above my uppers, dropping them to a height of about 9’. Even so, when I want to clean the glass on the uppers I have a hard time reaching the top and I’m about 5’11” (so now it’s hubby’s job.)

When I looked at my cabinet plans on paper I didn’t really get the scale the way I do standing in front of them. For example, I have one fixed shelf above my tray storage (in an upper in my oven/MW stack) that looked perfectly fine on paper. IRL it’s a stretch to reach the things I put up there. And I never use the cabinet above my fridge. You might be able to visualize better than me, but I’d encourage you to stand in a space with 11’ ceilings and imagine the height of your cabinets, and pencil in your own height on your cabinet plans. Maybe plan on a few pull downs. (Rev-a-Shelf makes one.) I thought about adding one over my fridge but the fridge is paneled and I’m worried about a pull down hitting the panels.

Nothing wrong with tall ceilings. We don't all live in cold climates.

Love my mostly 12 ft ceilings throughout the house we built in 2021 in Florida. Tall ceilings also allowed me to do tall sliders and windows in the house, like 10 ft high sliders and 5 ft high windows over the kitchen sink run.

I would also raise the distance between counter and upper cabinets to 20".

I didn't bother with glass on my stacked cabinets, because you don't really see the contents due to my u-shaped kitchen and no upper cabinets facing the living spaces. I also didn't own anything I wanted to put up there or have to buy anything. I store some rarely used outdoor party lanterns up there.

Get rid of those roll outs next to the range and do wider drawers.

I thought I had linked a bunch of photos in another post of yours?

11 ft ceilings

In the questions for these photos, the cabinet maker confirmed the cabinets were 11 ft tall.

You aren't going to get a better example!

TIBURON REMODEL · More Info

TIBURON REMODEL · More Info

This one said the ceilings were 12 ft and the upper cabinets were a total of 78" high

Builder also said the lower counters are at a custom 39" height. They had to build a stainless platform to raise the range enough.

North San Antonio Kitchen Remodel · More Info

Design the kitchen to be functional to keep your feet on the floor. Then if you want to add cabinets to the top of that to the ceiling, go right ahead. If you choose to add the cabinets that will require a stool or ladder to access, commission a local artist to produce a piece of art that can hang in or near the kitchen that tastefully and clearly conveys the phone number and directions to the local medical emergency center.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting I never thought of adjusting the starting height. We have changed cabinet makers and hired a new independent designer. I haven't sat down with her yet, but she has these plans as a starting point.

@Mark Bischak, Architect, this is a "semi-custom" home, meaning it was already framed when we walked in and purchased.

@chicagoans I currently have 10' ceiling with cabinets to the top. In this kitchen, with so many cabinets, I feel 11' could be much. Our new house is very sparse on kitchen cabinetry (more in the working sulley) so I think it might be okay!

@chispa thanks for these photo's!! If I posted a couple months ago, I can't find that soo thank you. I'm working with a new designer.

Is the house you are buying in a hot climate?

I guess it depends what you're used to, Mark. I grew up in a house (built 1853–54) whose ceilings are, from parlor floor to top floor, 14, 12, and 10 feet high. Over the counter, the kitchen has two stacked banks of cabinets on one side of the galley, plus a broom closet at one end, with a cabinet above, completing the top row. Items used most often are stored in the lower bank of cabinets. The upper bank provides useful additional storage.

We also had one of these:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/fAgAAeSw0LBpoL2-/s-l1600.jpg

In all the time we lived there, nobody required an emergency room from anything that happened in that kitchen.

When house hunting in Los Angeles, most of the houses with higher ceilings were older 1920s houses! It isn't some recent trend, specially in warmer climates.

@Mark Bischak, Architect I appreciate your thoughts, however many, MANY other architects clearly disagree and create homes with 11,12 or higher ceilings. Since I am a ceramic artist, I'll have no issues creating pieces to display. I'll hire a person to place them and avoid any ER trips. I'm obviously working with constraints since this home was not designed by us.

The vent hoods in the posted pics, are overwhelming. That, and the extremely tall upper cabs seem out of scale to the range and lower cabs.

@darbuka it's a very soft, not bulky hood design, the drawing doesn't reveal that.

@Kendrah - thank you!!! These pictures are perfect and will help with the new kitchen designer. Glass - is GONE! I first had added them, but after a few months of looking at kitchens, I agree - with all the points you just made. Thanks for such a helpful reply.

Glad my comment was useful. I hope things go well with the new designer.

@Kendrah your second picture (with the cabinets that have a raised X design) was one that I showed my designer and cabinet maker. I didn't want a soffit, and I wanted the flat trim to follow the profile of the cabinets where the depth changes. I wasn't sure how to explain that to others, and that picture helped me. Funny that we found the same picture!

"Since I am a ceramic artist, . . . "

What is the optimal distance and angle to view your art from?

That is the perfect height for pottery in a house with kids, dogs and definitely cats!

@Mark Bischak, Architect the OP has decided against glass uppers, but I'm giving bonus points for the picture, mostly because of the dog staring longingly at what I'm sure he believes is a bowl of treats, and perhaps a pie?

I’ve been enjoying @Mark Bischak, Architect’s humor for many years. 😁

@Mark Bischak, Architect - I adore that drawing and would greatly appreciate more of them in comment sections, please.

Sorry Mark, but some of us do love tall ceilings. For me, it's mostly because I can then have tall windows, and have a lot of natural light as well as see lots of sky, tree tops, birds, moon and sun rises/sets etc.

I think that if you use good insulation, good windows, have a properly sized heating and cooling system, and site the house with solar principles in mind as much as possible, the 11 foot ceilings won't be a problem. My monthly electric bill in my new home (with tall ceilings and good insulation, etc.) has been substantially less than it was in my previous home that had 8 foot ceilings and was about 500 sq ft smaller. Even the last month with the bitter cold that lasted for several weeks (but felt like months) the bill was about 1/3 of what it would have been in the other house. I have tall cabinets that do not go to the ceiling. I know that is a big no-no here, and Houzzers everywhere are horrified that anyone would do such a thing in a new build! Alas, while my ceilings are tall they are also angled, in that the house has a split shed roof design. Even if I took one wall of cabinets to the ceiling, the other wall run of cabinets would not go to the ceiling, so they stop at the same height. Instead the tops are just dust collectors. I'd like to tell you that I dust up there from time to time, but I wouldn't want to lie. Maybe some day I'll dust, then again maybe I won't...

As for falling from a step stool or ladder, it is ALWAYS a concern. Getting up on one must be done from time to time, whether your ceiling is 8 feet or 18 feet, so use them properly when you need to do so. I have seen a lot of injuries from ladders, as well as from bikes, snow, ice, flip flops, trampolines, and oddly enough, cows.

And Mark, I, too, think that it is an adorable drawing!

So enjoy your tall ceilings, and hopefully you are planning some tall windows to go with them!

You did not mention 'human scale' and 'ergonomic design'. How the space relates to the human body and psychological effect it has on the occupant has a greater effect on people than the view of fluffy clouds in a blue sky through a window; it is just easier to capture views than it is to shape a space to be comfortable. There is a psychology to spaces built by man, it is not just good views, short trips to the bathroom, grocery travel paths, refrigerator placement, and pretty colors. Much like the front of the house with the stone, brick, and three siding materials while the rest of the house is vinyl siding.

I like the way the sketch turned out too. Hopefully everyone recognizes the boy and dog from a photograph that I could not find the name of the photographer. It is not my creation, only my sketch to illustrate excessive height.

Our main floor kitchen under construction below an 11' bulkhead.

We've since tiled the backsplash and added a bulkhead with false doors at the top of the exhaust vent. The quartz counter is 17' long.

For those of average height--men 5'9"-women 5'3.5" in North America--it's absurd as a practical matter. At 5'6", I can't reach past the first shelf without a step up. In hindsight, I would have lowered the cabinet height if I had any say beyond "yes, dear" to mrs. worthy and 5'10"daughter

Library nearly finished under an 11'bulkhead.

The open shelves at the top will be fronted with dark green glass doors. More feature lights coming over the shelving and the centre area.

Mark, I love the drawing, and the original picture—which I confess was new to me. An image search informed me that the photographer is Howard Berman and the photo is called "Pie in the Sky."

My current kitchen uppers do not go to my eight-foot ceilings, btw. I was able to create storage space elsewhere, so I've reduced my need for step-stools and ladders. So now I've had the tall and the short of it!

My sketch is now called "Pie in the Thermosphere."

Thank you, everyone! I really appreciate the thoughtful comments, the humor, and the shared experiences — and yes, the dog may have stolen the show. It’s great to see lively discussion and different perspectives on design, human scale, and functionality. Your input is genuinely helpful!

Yes Mark, I agree that the human scale and ergonomic design are so important too. We do build houses to shelter. So maybe for some people, they prefer lower ceilings as a sense of sheltering. When I walk into my house, I feel happy and comfortable. I don't feel like the ceilings are uncomfortable or out of proportion with the rooms. We paid attention to this, because it can go all wrong. We dropped a portion of the ceiling in our bathroom, otherwise it would have felt like some weird shaft in there. The dropped ceiling makes it feel comfortable/relatable, and we still get light from the clerestory window. We also have dropped ceilings in other rooms as well. To me, it was a necessary solution for those spaces when we were designing the home. Mammoth ceilings just for the sake of having tall ceilings can be uncomfortable and unnecessary in a home. They can actually make a house feel unwelcoming and cold, but not every tall ceiling in every home is poorly thought out. Obviously, there are those that are, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.

For me, I find the outdoors inspiring. I try to get outside every day. This winter that didn't happen for a few days because of ice and temperature. So it was lovely to be able see the expanses of the outside. And the inside was comfortable and warm-yes I know I am greatly blessed and lucky, and I am so very grateful for these blessings.

I appreciated my previous home with 8 foot ceilings, because it, too, had its charms. However, that had very little to do with the initial design of the house, or the ceiling height. For me, a ceiling lower than 8 feet starts to feel cramped. Eight feet might feel cramped for those 7 foot something B Ball players. So as with so many things in design and art, people have different ideas of what they like. I do appreciate hearing other people's perspectives on these things.

I didn't realize the sketch was from a photo. But alas, that pie is really only about 7-8 feet high, and yet still out of reach!

Not "unusable". I have something similar in my kitchen with glass doors in the top cabinets, and I've stashed some of my Asian ceramics there so that they can be seen and enjoyed, rather than having them tucked into a cabinet in another room.

I just remembered that one of the guests (friend of a friend) coming to my house this week will really appreciate my 12 ft ceilings and 10 ft front door and sliders ... he is 7 ft tall and yes, he was a professional basketball player, with a few rings!

We only have 10’ ceilings and even then we have a soffit above our cabinets. I am 5’6” and cannot reach the top shelf, comfortably, even on a stool. I like the look of cabinetry going to the ceiling though. Our soffit has cabinet front on it not drywall.

Mark, your picture reminds me of this Far Side cartoon:

@Mark Bischak, Architect - I am not an architect or a kitchen designer, but have used the golden ratio in photography and art and know it is often applied in architecture.

Is there an ideal way to use the golden ratio to determine the height of upper and lower cabinets based on the golden ratio and a ceiling height of 11' similar to this example of a full height wall unit?

Obviously applying ergonomics to the comfortable use of the space as well as the application of the golden ratio. (Don't want lowers so tall that they are unusable).

"Is there an ideal way to use the golden ratio to determine the height of upper and lower cabinets . . . "

Only if you are going to only look at the kitchen and not use it. Ergonomics apply in a workspace one hundred times more than proportions and aesthetics.

I'm with Mark -- just say no to 11' ceilings.

Yes, yes, I understand about tall windows, natural light and sweeping views-- but it's a matter of proportions. 11' tall in a private residence just doesn't make sense. At this moment I'm in a very large classroom, and the ceilings are 10'.

Over-tall ceilings create problems: Cabinets are just a start. Over-rall windows, window treatments, taller stairs, more difficulty decorating "up high". And then there's the cost that keeps on costing: Excessive heating and cooling.

Thank you for your response.

I have been noodling this post and trying to determine how I would want the kitchen designed if I had 11' ceilings and I keep thinking that the space will look top heavy with cabinets all the way to the ceiling.

I may opt for adding clerestory windows to allow more natural light to come into the space, but I am a great fan of clerestory windows.

All y'all with your "no 11-ft ceilings" have clearly never lived in a brownstone. I've no use for so-called great rooms in McMansions, but brownstones tend to be elegantly proportioned and lovely to live in. Whether or not an 11-foot ceiling will work well in a home is determined by context, not height alone.

I would recommend going up with cabinets only as high as you are comfortable using them.

Here's how to handle a 12' kitchen ceiling if you're not an NBA centre. Kylie Jenner kitchen.

Who sold her a kitchen with barely no drawers?

On the other hand, she probably isn't the one who has to get on her knees to find something at the back of a cabinet!

Definitely not taking any decorating/lifestyle cues from that family! lol

Here are pics from Brownstone kitchens with ceilings that seem 11-ish tall. The cabinetry looks more restrained and less fussy than some of these McMansion new build kitchens.

It also really helps that the windows and doors are proportional to the ceiling height. Noticeable light fixtures help draw the eye towards the center of the room and away from the height of the perimeter cabinets.

(A loft space, not brownstone)

@chispa - Her sister Kendal even managed to engage Heidi Caillier to make a home that looks unappealing. I didn't even think that was possible.

@Kendrah, the photos you posted are perfect examples of why I'm always repeating on these forums that people need to spend the money on proportional windows and sliders/doors when they choose high ceilings.

Lovely windows on those old brownstones. I wonder when builders switched to short/squat windows in so many houses? Technology has allowed windows/doors to be built taller than in the past, but home buyers haven't benefited from that.

When we bought our multi-slide doors in 2021 the company (Euro-wall) could only make them 12 ft high to meet hurricane/impact ratings. When I last looked they can now do sliders that are 16 ft high and meet those ratings.

@Kendrah "It also really helps that the windows and doors are proportional to the ceiling height. Noticeable light fixtures help draw the eye towards the center of the room and away from the height of the perimeter cabinets." I think these are very good points. It's easy to focus on one aspect of a design, but all the pieces play a part in the overall look and feel.

"It also really helps that the windows and doors are proportional to the ceiling height."

It helps even more if the space is proportional to the person in the space.

Did you say "turn it up to 11"

Proportional windows and doors and eye-catching light fixtures still fail to extend my grasp!

11 foot windows are proportional to my love of natural light.

In a society of increasing random violence, I find myself preferring a little less visibility. Unless it's armoured glass!

According to Google, overall property damage crimes have decreased and there have been surges in specific areas. I am all about glass and light. Love these very tall windows and doors.

@Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor LOL to the Spinal Tap reference!

We have 12' ceilings (at peak), We used 8' tall cabinets. As to proportions, I installed transon=ms over regular size doors to be proportionate to the hall height.