You have low ceilings and high anxiety. Take a drink of wine, and take the cabinets to the ceiling as planned. You won't regret either.

Is it that you have too many upper cabinets?

Here's my kitchen before - with upper cabinets 30" tall:

Here's my new kitchen, with 42" uppers. I have vaulted ceiling, or they would go all the way up. I love the extra storage space!

Drawings, especially flat elevation drawings, always make things look taller and skinnier than you experience them in real life.

Haptic perception- perception of space- varies for people. It also depends on how wide the room is. A decade ago open tops were the trend, now it's cabinets to the ceiling.. In some cases I feel a room is too small for it but often "fashion" prevails.

Your ceilings are not too low to do open tops. As a general rule I like to keep a minimum of 8-9" from the top of a crown to ceiling. (an inch or so more can be cheated if using a more discreet molding with less protrusion.)

My own U shaped kitchen is wide enough as is but has 89" ceilings. We have a combination of open tops with a small flat molding and cabinets to the ceiling at the range and fridge areas. Wife had insisted on open tops so worked it out to 7", the least I've ever done. Also dropped those cabinets to accommodate her height. I mocked it up ahead of time since I was not sure I'd be ok with it.

It effectively hides the low ceiling. We emphasized horizontals, big window, large format tile, lot of glass...all in all it makes the room feel bigger. She got her open tops (and red walls:)

IMO the business about dust is nonsense in many cases. In a U shaped kitchen it is a dead end. Unless there is an air return at the top there is very little air flow. It's not like all the dust bunnies in the house get together "hey there's a place down in the kitchen where we can hide :) Decent exhaust over the range helps and we don't get any grease up there. It takes over 5 or 6 years to even have perceptible dust up there. (I checked every year so I'd know). Might be a little worse if stuff was displayed up there but I've been to plenty of homes that do that.

Not meant to hijack but I have to say "lovely kitchen" Jakuvall! I don't remember ever seeing on here before. Your tile is gorgeous and somehow you guys found a perfect red to go with your cab color... bet that took some time.

To the OP: Good luck on your decision, either way it'll be fine. I was dead set on cabs to the ceiling but circumstances wouldn't allow it so I'm staying below by 6 or 7", or maybe 8" now that I've read Jakuvall's post.

Here's my kitchen with 30" cabs and soffit and after with 42" cabs...Everyone thought my kitchen looked bigger without the soffit.

Sorry, but disagree with Jak about dust up there. That plate rail and the plates would get gross. When we decided we were redoing the kitchen, I let it go for quite a while....when we took all the plates down before demo, I was embarrassed at all the dust and dirt up there!

I would go to the ceiling with 36" cabinets, a flat piece of moulding and crown on top. Unless you are a giant most people can't reach the top shelf of a 42" cabinet and it does overwhelm the space of a house with shorter ceilings. As far as design trends go it is more common now to go to the ceiling when you have straight ceilings. It is a more finished look IMHO. It also will brighten up your kitchen, when the ceilings are short and there is only a few inches between the crown and the ceiling, forget the dust, what about the darkness and shadowing it brings? This is my kitchen, I haven't done the final reveal yet but you get the drift.

I have a small U with 95" ceilings and 42" cabinets to the ceiling. The cabs make the room feel taller. It looks different at first, but you'll quickly get used to it and enjoy the extra storage. I have only seven upper cabinets but several empty shelves.

With short cabs, you'll need a powerful exhaust fan and you'll have to use it religiously. You can't just simply dust cabinet tops. Our old cab tops had gooey greasy dust. I didn't cause it (prior owner), and I did attempt to clean it, which was impossible. When they came down, I had to tackle the goo so we could donate the cabs. After trying Simple Green, the best degreaser I know, I finally resorted to scrapping it off with a paint scraper. It took several hours, and that was working at floor level. If you go shorter, line the tops with paper towels.

. Wow this was the first time I've ever posted anything on the web. Amazed with the feedback. Jakuval my kitchen is very similar to yours. Thanks for the visuals. I still haven't made up my mind but at least I know no matter my choice I won't go wrong.

You're right, cfarr, you won't go wrong. Unless the kitchen reno is specifically to sell the house, you want to do what works for you, despite trends. I'm just doing mine now. It will have one wall with ceiling height cabs because they'll be nestled between two built in closets, but the others will be to soffit height, with shelved open tops to accommodate the display pieces, baskets, etc. that go with "my style". In lieu of crown molding (which I find difficult to keep clean in a kitchen if it isn't flush to the ceiling) the shelves will have routed ogee edges. (Because the shelves are finished, a regular wipe-down keeps them fairly clean. Despite designer objections, I also have one counter at table height (30") with a desk-type cabinet under it, so I can work with my tall KitchenAid attachments, despite having a bad arm -- which simply cannot reach the taller wall cabinets. It'll be my baking center...and if the time comes to sell, it can be used as a homework area, etc.

I look at all the pix here and for each one say, "Wow, that's a great kitchen!" But I have to be "me" in my own!

Good luck with your design!