39" tall cabinets with the rest of the space taken up by molding is the best look, IMHO. Any kitchen other than a stark modern one looks unfinished without crown molding.

But, where do you plan to actually work in this kitchen? It's a hike from one side to the other. I'm sure that this was a kitchen and breakfast area "opened up" because it's still two single rooms, not an integrated work space. And the fridge is in "the other room", not the actual kitchen. The fridge isn't close enough to the prep area. There's no island or cart to serve as it's landing spot where you need it to be. The space between the sink and range is like a punishment corner, but that's where all of the work will take place until you have to roller skate over to the fridge to get a forgotten ingredient. There's no room for anyone else to help either.

This badly needs reworking.

No time to comment on the plans
Here is our "in Progres" with our 8 foot ceiling and "crown molding" for a visual. We used to have soffits and loonnng gone!

Note that the second picture is our "bake zone" - which is in close proximity to fridge and oven.

Ignore the fingerprints and camera artifacts (fish eye look)

1) Agemini - your cabinets are really pretty, and don�t look too elongated to me. Can you tell me how tall the cabinet is, and how tall the crown is? Also - do you have exactly 8' ceilings?

2) Greendesigns - to answer some of your questions. I'll also post some more pictures of the kitchen plan at the very end of this post and maybe that will help. I do welcome all comments, helps me think as we'll be starting cabinet construction soon, but haven't done so yet.

where do you plan to actually work in this kitchen?
and
The space between the sink and range is like a punishment corner, but that's where all of the work will take place
and There's no room for anyone else to help either.

Wow, I'm really surprised by that one! Why do you feel it is a punishment area - do you think its too small?? It's a 24" cab to the left of range, then a 36" corner susan, and then a 15" cab before we hit a 27" sink base. I love to prep between a sink and a range, and I envision as that corner being great (not punishment). I had that same kind of prep space in our last house and really liked it. My mother lives with us and is often in the kitchen at the same time helping with prep and clean-up. She has a separate sink and prep space along the other wall, and no one will need to come into my cooking zone. Pots and pans I wash by hand, and those can be done at the sink by the range. If I stand at that sink, I can look to the left and see out the door into the sunroom / back yard. It seems there is enough counter space to the left of the range sink, and also to the right of the range, if someone else needed to be there also.

In my current kitchen, the range is by itself, with very little counter space on either side. I have to cross a heavy traffic path across the room to get to the sink (about 7' away) to dump hot pasta water etc. Frig is currently right in the main doorway to get to the dining room or family room.

I really want to keep the little table and chairs by the window, it is a nice view to the backyard, the kids can sit there while I cook and not be in the way, etc.

It's a hike from one side to the other. I'm sure that this was a kitchen and breakfast area "opened up" because it's still two single rooms, not an integrated work space.

I need to work within the existing footprint, its long and relatively narrow (27 long x 12 wide) not wide enough for an island and the kitchen is a major throughway from dining room and family room to bedrooms, study etc so it helps to have the center clear anyhow. It has always been one long room, but there was a peninsula jutting out (with both lowers and uppers) where a short 16" utilty wall is currently shown. I really hated the peninsula, it made the workable space too small, cut off the breakfast table and made the end of the kitchen just kind of a junk zone that no one could use.

And the fridge is in "the other room", not the actual kitchen. The fridge isn't close enough to the prep area. There's no island or cart to serve as it's landing spot where you need it to be.

Yes, the frig a little farther from the main cooking area, but I don't see other place for it that wouldn't be worse. I placed the frig there so people could come into the kitchen and get snacks, milk for coffee, etc, without having to go into the main range / cooking area, or to get produce for the second prep area. But that I could also access the frig from my main cooking / prep area with no one needing to get in that pathway. Also, there is plunk space to the right of the frig. I don't mind the extra steps really.

This badly needs reworking.

If you have suggestions on how to better place items, while still maintaining space for a second prep /clean-up helper, I am open to suggestions. Pics of suggested layout below, maybe will help all this make sense.
Detail of main cooking and prep area

We recently saw a photo of someone's single-door uppers with a glass pane set only in front of the top shelf of the cab--gives a double-door effect on the cheap. Anyone remember it?

Here are my 8 foot ceiling cabs--very minimal "crown" at top. Why sacrifice useful space? Yes, this is a nearly-mod or transitional style kitchen.

If the range and the full sink swapped places in your plans, at least you'd have the good work lineup--refrig then sink then range--and you'd have it on both sides of the kitchen, much like mine above. Additionally the sink will lie between the places that generate dirty dishes--the eating area and the cooking area.

I agree that kitchens need plunk space near any refrig. I think that you can rethink your planned kitchen for better efficiency, especially now that I know there are at least 2 cooks.

I also have a 2+ cook kitchen. My goal was not to say "excuse me" to someone else in my own kitchen when I wanted to go somewhere in it. My kitchen is a G-shaped kitchen with range at the bottom of the G--you can just see one of the burners on the range top in photo above on left, adjacent to the wooden countertop. The double sink at the window is on the long side of the G and the "prep" sink is on the peninsula or short side of the G at right in photo. This is a good config for two cooks--we can each use a different sink and approach the range from a different side.

Our refrig is positioned at the place where the red paint ends in photo above. My commute between refrig and range is 12 feet. It's not awful, but I wouldn't want a longer one. The eating areas are outside the G, so the refrig serves them also. There is a plunk space adjacent to the refrig at the top end of the G and one opposite it on the end of the peninsula, where someone would plunk stuff that needs to be cleaned, chopped and cooked. Distance from sink to sink is a little over 6 feet.

Have fun stormin' the castle!

Put the fridge next to the window where you currently have the microwave. Shallow storage cabinets can occupy the space below the window and the door to the sunroom. Put the range on the back wall as a focal point. Then create a peninsula out from the wall where the range used to be, with seating by the door. Put the sink in the corner of the peninsula. Now you can prep facing your seated kids, and another person can prep between the sink and the range. Pivot, step, and the prepped ingredients go to the range. It's a short walk to the refrigerator for more ingredients from the peninsula or a cookbook from the cabinets under the window. The peninsula protects your prep area from through traffic though, and you're not facing a corner. You are facing out into the room or able to see the view, with the water source right next to you.

Move all of the pantry cabinets to where the fridge currently is, or create a walk in pantry for greater storage with less expense. The secondary sink becomes the "butler's pantry sink" and is where the cleanup of the dishes from the DR happens and the wall between the window and the DR becomes where the dishes and serveware is stored. It can also serve as a prep zone for a third person if need be.

My kitchen is an 8 ft high room and my cabinets go to the ceiling. The cabinets are 39 inches with 3 inch crown molding for a total of 42 inches. Since your ceiling is 98 inches then you you could have the cabinets an inch or two taller or have wider crown or just have a little more space between you counter tops and the bottom of your upper cabinets. You should have about 18 inches of space there.
I don't know anything about layouts but know that Greendesigns and several other on this forum are very knowledgeable about good functional layout. It amazes me how generous they all are with their time and talents. I think you should try to follow some of their suggestions.
Just so you have another visual here are my cabinets.
{{gwi:1709850}}

Jenny
Ceiling in main kitchen is almost exactly 8 feet. I return home tomorrow to rescue DH and can give you exact sizes. I think they are 39 inch cabinet with a minimal crown molding. The lower molding has not been installed yet, but maybe I will be surprised tomorrow.
Florentha - love your kitchen - Love those counter height windows! what color is your wall?
Badger - very creative kitchen oooh!
Who made you pulls?

I'm posting a link to my lake house kitchen which has 98" ceilings as well. While the album is rather big, you can see the high cab walls on the first page. Stacking was actually more expensive than custom and I preferred the look al just one panel or door I guess, per cabinet face. I think with an 8' ceiling stacking gets awfully busy. Great on a 10 or above, but too much (for me) for an 8.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lake house kitchen

The other thing about stacked cabinets is that you minimize how much you can adjust the shelves in a cabinet. We have 42" tall cabinets and 100" ceilings. I love being able to adjust the heights of the shelves over the entire space instead of having a predetermined barrier creating 12" (or less because of the thickness of the frame) above and 30" or less below.

After living in our "new" kitchen for 6 years, we went around and adjusted all of our shelves and roll outs to make the most efficient use of the space as possible. We were able to find additional space by freeing up room in a lot of cabinets. We ordered shelves and I now have more storage without adding any cabinets. Even though this kitchen has a ton more storage than the old one, I covet every inch because I like spreading things out as much as possible and I enjoy having the space in the cabinets to put in a lot of shelves. We have many items that I only have to access once in a while and I don't mind grabbing a step stool to get at the top shelves.

btw, our old kitchen only had open shelves (similar to the left side of the plan on your original post.) The new cabinets, to the ceiling, made the ceilings seem much much higher. I love it.

a2gemini: my cabinet pulls are Hickory Hardware's Greenwich collection. Their website does not show all the sizes or the finishes that it comes in. I ordered them through a local cabinet and door hardware store. That store actually discounted them more the Internet sites that had them.

Thank you to those of you that posted pictures for me. It is a nice sleek look to go to the ceiling. I do agree some of the kitchens posted were more on the mod / contemporary side, and I am leaning for a rustic, country look. Igloo - I wasn't sure which way your kitchen skewed, as I only opened one photo with a cab close-up. I'm loving all the wood cabs because that is what we are going to do in our kitchen.
GreenDesigns - thank you for taking the time to post a suggested layout. Some of the items won't work - like where you have the peninsula, there will be no view out the window. Due to the way our house is built and the fact that we are on a slope, that is the only window with a nice view of the back area, azaleas, dogwoods etc. It is not something you would know unless you've been in the kitchen. However, your idea to move the frig, and the pantry areas got me thinking. DH and I did some brainstorming last night and I am going to work up a new layout based on some of the suggestions above. When its completed, I'll come back and post it as a separate layout thread. Thanks again.

Badger - what size did you use and how long are your drawers?
Jen - always good to get opinions on GW - wish I had found prior to starting my remodel!
Thanks

My ceilings are 8' and they feel so much taller with the cabinets going up to the ceiling.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Reno Blog

redroze - thanks for sharing your pictures. Your home is so beautifully coordinated and I think your ceilings look like they are about 9' in the picture. Would you be able to tell me how tall your cabinet is vs how many inches of crown you have?

redrose- I would love to know the same thing as jenny from the block asked. How tall are your cabinets and the crown molding. Your kitchen does not look like it is only 8 feet high. It looks amazing.