kitchen cabinet height question

[branimal]

I’m redesigning my kitchen and I have a kitchen cabinet layout question.

I’ve got 10’1” ceilings (121”).

My wall cabinets go up to 97”.

* cabinets 34.5”
* countertop 1.5”
* gap: 19”
* wall cabinets: 42”

That leaves 24” gap at the top. A 21” gap if i put crown moulding up.

My options are:

1. leave a 24” gap for decorative items
2. stack 21” cabinets on top and get the crown moulding to touch the ceiling for a clean seamless look. The top cabinets will probably never be used. but style is important to the decision.
3. build a 21” sheetrock soffit and cover the line with crown moulding


Any other ideas / options here?


Thanks



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[flat350]

I'm a believer in you never have enough storage,put the items that you use once a year all the way up top.

 

[Empty Pockets]

If it was me, I'd get cabinets that were tall enough to go to the ceiling. You never have enough storage.

 

[ssdave]

Been there, experimented with it. Don't put cabinets up high. You won't use them, too hard to get to the stuff and hard to clean off grease and dust. And, costs you extra for the cabinets. Plus, looks weird. Soffit gives it a modern look, crown mold and open looks more traditional.

Put inverted LED or fluorescent shop lights on top of the cabinets, all the way around. The indirect light off the ceiling looks nice, and gives an unbelievelably bright, shadowless room. The crown mold on top hides the details.

 

[rlitman]

My wife can reach the top TWO shelves on my cabinets that are past my reach. But IIRC, our cabinets are 42" tall. Can you get your cabinets in a taller body?

 

[PelicanPines]

Option 2

 

[never enuf time]

option 2 if its a big enough room. I have mostly seen it done with doors that accept glass on the higher cabinets.

 

[SuperD]

Put them to the ceiling, extra storage and one other thing, as I just built a new home 3 years ago and wish I had.

You would not believe the dust and kitchen cooking oils and **** that lands on the top of the cupboards that don't go to the ceiling. Don't ask me why I know.

 

[DC73]

Leave the gap, install the crown, install some hidden LED mood lighting at the top and put some art on the walls and/or decorative items on top of the cabinets.

DC

 

[Toolfool]

It depends on the size and shape of your kitchen. If your kitchen is somewhat narrow, taller cabinets will make it feel like you're in a canyon. If the kitchen is a wide open space, look into mixing up different heights and depths of wall cabinets.
I found a photo of a kitchen I did at least ten years ago. Goal was to use the height of ceiling and create lighted display area at top.

 

[6768rogues]

You covered the options. Which you choose is up to you. I left the open space where we put some fragile collectibles when our kids were small.

 

[climb.on]

I'm building a house now with 9' ceilings. We are going full height. If they were 10' I'd still go full height, but with a separate door up top like toolfool posted - it breaks up the long vertical lines. I've always loved the glass door up top with lights.

 

[marineman]

Depends on the style you're going for and how you add the personal touches. Friend of mine has vaulted ceilings in the kitchen with standard uppers, puts his tequila bottle collection on display on top and it works for his style. Real modern style seems to be floating shelves to the point you can reach then open above. Before that was glass doors on cabinets.

Most of it will come down to your specific space and style.

 

[Aaron_W]

Similar to my kitchen but we have 9',8"ceilings.

36" counter top, 13" between the counter top and bottom of the upper cabinets. 41" upper cabinets . The top of the cabinets are 90" above the floor leaving a 26" gap.


So we basically have your option 1 with a 26" gap. We use that top area for large stock pots and and other large items we don't use often.


We are not really a fan of this, but it is what was here when we moved in. It looks messy and as others have mentioned kitchens generate greasy dust. It is not uncommon that we have to wash the things stored up here before using them.

When we redo the kitchen someday the plan is to go to the ceiling with cabinets.


Whether you choose to put cabinets above or not I would avoid option 1.

Option 3 is a lot of lost space.


If you choose to use that space for display or lighting I would look at some sort of glass enclosure rather than leaving it open.
Personally I kind of like the lighting idea, I will have to remember that when we do ours someday. I could see leaving the last 6 or 8" before the ceiling for some kind of lighting system.

 

[Toolfool]

I should add that in my photo, the crown detail is actually four different mouldings built up to occupy about 6" of space above the cabinets. A simple crown moulding would have looked wimpy.

 

[ddawg16]

If it's an open space, it will fill with dust.

I build my own cabinets.....

My kitchen has standard 8' walls on one side....ceiling is vaulted so the other side is about 10'.

Most of my cabinets go up to 8'. I can tell you that last foot is hard to use inside the cabinet. I'm 5'12", wife is 5'9". Even I need a step stool to reach the top shelf sometimes.

If it was me....I'd enclose the last 20" or so like the above photo...use it to store decorative items....LED lighting....glass doors....call it done.

Cleaning the tops of them is not fun....add in the grease you get in a kitchen...so not fun

 

[James-W]

I would go with cabinets all the way up. Even if you don't use them all, if you sell the house at some point down the road, the buyer might very well like the idea of more cabinet space.

 

[Nick Danger]

Mrs Danger used to live in a place with kitchen cabinets that were 12 feet high. For all the use they got, they could just as well have been false fronts. Nobody wants to drag an eight-foot ladder into the kitchen to get the holiday platter from the top shelf.

 

[hogdoc]

If I have the wall height I set the wall cabinets 22 to 24 inches above the countertop, makes a huge difference when your working at the counter compared to cabinets set at the standard 18"

 

[Aaron_W]

If I have the wall height I set the wall cabinets 22 to 24 inches above the countertop, makes a huge difference when your working at the counter compared to cabinets set at the standard 18"

Tell me about it, mine are set 13" above the counter top. I can barely fit a toaster under that.

 

[rlitman]

If I have the wall height I set the wall cabinets 22 to 24 inches above the countertop, makes a huge difference when your working at the counter compared to cabinets set at the standard 18"

At that height, I'd only be able to use the bottom shelf. I guess if you're tall, or if you don't have a lot to store, it works.

Tell me about it, mine are set 13" above the counter top. I can barely fit a toaster under that.

Yeah, that's crazy tight. I've got something like that in my basement.
My main kitchen used to be 15", and it drove me nuts that I couldn't fit my Kitchenaid stand mixer under the cabinets. Based on that minimum dimension, I've got about 18" of space now, and find it just right for me.

 

[yeldogt]

In kitchens where I do wall cabinets -- they go to the ceiling. Be careful using a stacked cabinet not designed for the top ... don't discount going custom. Simple custom cabinets with nice hardware looks better IMO vs a bunch of stock cabinets in a row .. and the cost can surprise.

 

[James-W]

Mrs Danger used to live in a place with kitchen cabinets that were 12 feet high. For all the use they got, they could just as well have been false fronts. Nobody wants to drag an eight-foot ladder into the kitchen to get the holiday platter from the top shelf.

Not too many people have 12 foot ceilings in their kitchen. We have 8 foot ceilings and we have cabinets that go to the ceiling. My wife can't reach the top cabinets but we have a small step ladder thing that she stands on IF she needs to get into an upper cabinet, which is quite rare. We put things up there that seldom get used, they are out of the way but are still readily available if we need them.

 

[rlitman]

Not too many people have 12 foot ceilings in their kitchen...

No, but if I did, I'd have a rolling library ladder.

 

[Aaron_W]

It sounds like you are still just in the planning stages. I would look around and see what you might want to store up top.

One of the things we have is a large hot drink dispenser, that gets used maybe once or twice a year. It is a perfect candidate for a top shelf, but is 18-19" tall, that could be a tight fit into a 21" space.

It would be terrible to get everything built and then find out you have things that would be good to store in a high somewhat difficult to access cabinet, don't actually fit your cabinet only by an inch or two.

It also could be you find you have little to store in an upper cabinet which might help you make a decision.

 

[branimal]

Some great posts here; I’ve made some changes based on the advice you guys have posted. I am going up higher with cabinets. They offer 24” and 18” cabinets.

1. If i use 24” cabinets there will be a 1” gap at the top. I could throw some cool lights up there, but how would I change the bulbs?
2. If I use 18” cabinets, There will be a 6” gap. Too large for the largest piece of crown moulding to cover (3 1/2”). I could build a 6” soffit and call it a day. OR I could build the soffit and cover the top with crown moulding.
I’m looking for a modern / contemporary look.

Here’s a rendering of the layout with cabinets going all the way up.

Thanks for all the advice!

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[engineer2]

For tall cabinets I would come up with some kind of fold-out step stool built into the toe kick.

 

[rburke65]

Option 2. Never been nough cabinets.

 

[ddawg16]

Use crown molding to hide the gap.....or....raise all of the cabinets 1"

 

[branimal]

Use crown molding to hide the gap.....or....raise all of the cabinets 1"

Good point - I can use 24” cabinets - raise all the wall cabinets 1” and they will fit flush with the ceiling. Maybe a 1/4” gap or so. Effectively the same concept as building a soffit without building a soffit.



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[rlitman]

You need a little of a gap. At least enough to compensate for any irregularities in the ceiling. And if the molding is coped to the ceiling and is too narrow, those irregularities will really show.

 

[ddawg16]

Personally, I like crown molding...it finishes off the tops nicely.

Make sure you run any wiring you think you might want.

I'm doing some 12Vdc LED strip lights right now...you, the type that comes on a roll...cut to length (every 3 LED's). I stuck them to the inside bottom edge of the upper cabinets.

I wish I had ran wire behind the cabinets before I put them up.

 

[climb.on]

1. If i use 24” cabinets there will be a 1” gap at the top. I could throw some cool lights up there, but how would I change the bulbs?
2. If I use 18” cabinets, There will be a 6” gap. Too large for the largest piece of crown moulding to cover (3 1/2”). I could build a 6” soffit and call it a day. OR I could build the soffit and cover the top with crown moulding.
I’m looking for a modern / contemporary look.

You rendering looks good. Leave the gap above the cabinets and cover with a piece of square, rectangular or chamfered molding. I usually build my uppers with some sort of a scribe strip/nailer attached to the tops (and flush with the face of the cabinet) this gives you something to either scribe to the ceiling (rarely do) or gives you something to nail your crown molding, or whatever kind of molding you are using, that will follow the irregularities in the ceiling.

 

[branimal]

I pulled up some pics with cabinets to the ceiling and no crown moulding to finish it off. Not liking that look.


I think I’ll use 18” cabinets + 3 3/8” crown moulding. That leaves 3 5/8” of space above the moulding.

That will give me the option to throw up some cool lights up there which will reflect off the ceiling.

And I can hard wire those lights if necessary.

Thanks for all the help through this agonizing decision!! (First kitchen redesign).





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[branimal]

Another option is to attach a filler panel to the tops of the 18” cabinets and then attach crown moulding to that. That would completely close the top gap.


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[branimal]

So my cabinets workout to 136 3/8" in total width including filler panels, spacers etc. My wall is exactly 136 3/8”. See the weird angled wall in the diagram. It should fit if everything is plumb and level. Which is doubtful. What are my options to gain space if needed? Can I trim the corner of the last cabinet? Or notch the sheetrock on that weird angled wall?

Thanks

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[rlitman]

Don't trim the back corner of a cabinet! That's what holds it together.
Are there any spacers you can trim? Yeah, notching the wall may be an option, but can turn into a headache, since you still need to have sheetrock there.

 

[Aaron_W]

I pulled up some pics with cabinets to the ceiling and no crown moulding to finish it off. Not liking that look.


I think I’ll use 18” cabinets + 3 3/8” crown moulding. That leaves 3 5/8” of space above the moulding.

That will give me the option to throw up some cool lights up there which will reflect off the ceiling.

And I can hard wire those lights if necessary.

Thanks for all the help through this agonizing decision!! (First kitchen redesign).





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We bought some flexible led lights and put them inside the crown molding in our bedroom. It looks kind of like double sided tape, and you can link them together to create the length you need. They work off a remote and offer a variety of colors in addition to white as well as having a dimming feature.

We like them because it gives the look of a planetarium with the light source out of sight. Not bright enough for primary lighting but would be plenty bright to get something from the fridge, check something in the oven etc without worrying about tripping over things.

They were not all that expensive, we might have paid around $100 for 30 feet or so. I think they came as 3 or 4 foot foot strips. This was about 4 years ago so they are probably cheaper and brighter now.

 

[branimal]

Don't trim the back corner of a cabinet! That's what holds it together.
Are there any spacers you can trim? Yeah, notching the wall may be an option, but can turn into a headache, since you still need to have sheetrock there.

Good point... forgot the back corner holds everything together.

There’s a 3 5/8 spacer to the left of the fridge but that’s about as small as you can make it.

Why do I need to have sheetrock there? If I cover it up with a end panel no one will see it.



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[rlitman]

Good point... forgot the back corner holds everything together.

There’s a 3 5/8 spacer to the left of the fridge but that’s about as small as you can make it.

Why do I need to have sheetrock there? If I cover it up with a end panel no one will see it.

Yeah, you've certainly got to account for clearance of the fridge door.

Holes in the sheetrock is a fire concern. Though that is mitigated if you can keep a layer of sheetrock in there. I'll explain...

It looks to me like you will have a hollow prism of empty space behind the oven. Any ugly sheetrock there will not be seen. So, figure out where the cabinets end, cut the sheetrock, and either box in the corner with sheetrock (if the intrusion is more than the thickness of the sheetrock), or if the intrusion is just 1/2" or less, patch the cut with a layer of sheetrock placed behind the top layer. It's ugly, but simple, only intrudes 1/2" into the insulation space, and still maintains a solid wall (with a small step in it).