How big is the kitchen? Could you install a library ladder and rail system? I think that would be really cool! And I'd consider making a lot of those uppers have glass fronts, unless the kitchen is large enough not to need the feeling of being more open.

Here's a picture of one kitchen with a ladder. I'm sure boxerpups must have other great ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Library ladder in kitchen

antiquesilver has really high ceilings and cabs stacked all the way up. You might want to give a shout out in a new post for exact dimensions.

Here is antiquesilver's kitchen --

A wonderfully undesigned looking but extremely comfortable, cool, and idiosyncratic habitation of a tall space.

The size of the kitchen is kind of flexible (we're remodeling the entire house and everything is stripped to the brick), but I'm tentatively working with a kitchen plan that's about 15'8" x 12'9". We actually have relatively little room for upper cabinets, only about 9 linear feet split up into two areas. I'm actually thinking about having a freestanding piece of furniture instead of a built-in hutch for about 3 of those feet, so it's possible that the only uppers will be around the range. I priced out a library ladder a long time ago - yikes! If I had a lot uppers, I might be able to justify it, but not for the few we've got.

I would come up with a kitchen layout before finalizing your house layout. Otherwise for want of six inches, the function was lost.

So say the lessons of those who have moved into houses designed by high end architects and discovered the only place for their bed is against the closet door.

Thanks so much for all your replies and inspiration photos! How did people obsess over such things before GardenWeb? You've thoroughly convinced ME, now it's just a matter of getting DH on board... :)

Marcolo: That was my thought as well. The first floor is just living areas and kitchen. The bedrooms are upstairs and won't be affected by any of this. As far as the downstairs goes, we plan on doing the kitchen before the other areas for just those very reasons. I want to be sure those cabinets are going to fit where I need them to go!

We just installed our cabinets in a 10' ceiling in our butler's pantry. The crown moulding is not on yet, but I love how they look all the way to the ceiling! I didn't want space above because you'd be able to see the tops / dust when you walk down the stairs. For height reference, the doorway you can see is an 8 footer.

As high as you want it. If you love the look of stacked,
go for it. I personally love stacked.
Tall and handsome anyday.
: )
~boxerpups

I found it. TALL DARK AND HANDSOME!!!

I'd like to consider this too. Our ceiling will be 10'. Does anyone have any more pictures of this with non-white cabinets?

Good point. Our old house had 10.5 ceilings...we had cabinets that went up to about 9 feet then had a cofferd ceiiling which we eventually had taken out, they had painted it an ugly nat. oak color and we had built in small cubby type cabinets from the same kitchen people, Plato and it came out gorgeous..we didnt' use them a lot but it really looked pretty and gave the room extra drama to call attention to the height. I say go for it....

Funny while I am not that drawn to white kitchens the stacked cabinets with the dark finish are a complete miss for me in the pictures boxerpups provided (particularly the last one). It becomes very very heavy to me (might be the combinations in this kitchen).

I have always liked antiquesilver's kitchen though (I think her cabinets have a milk paint finish) so probably a question of moderation with the dark and stacking and to balance it with a bit of whimsy or stick to light or mid tones on the stacked uppers(for me anyway).

Looking great mythreesonsnc! I guess those are 18" cabs stacked on 42" uppers with a 6" space for the trim? I'm thinking in my case I might be able to use those same cabinet sizes and hang the uppers at 57" and have 9" at the top for trim. Of course by the time we install our floors (the original floors are heartbreakingly unsalvageable - 100-year-old quarter sawn red oak!) and level the ceiling, those few inches might be a moot point.

I'll be the one dissenting voice here. I LOVE the look of stacked cabinets, but they seem so impractical to me. I doubt I would ever pull out or pull over a ladder to get to the items stored at that height. I would rather have a pantry with storage within arm level. It's also additional expense for inefficient storage.

Like I said, I love the look, but it's not worth it to me.

ellaf: I'm planning on a walk-in pantry to make up for the lack of upper cabinets. Of course, the ceilings in there will be just as high, but there will be plenty of storage within reach.

O.t. into the world of the theoretical...
I've always wondered how it would look to cantilever a row of the "uppers above uppers" so they stick out, oh, say 2-3 inches. Oppressive or very old fashioned? It would make the uppers much more useful if you needed real storage.

As for the rolling library ladder, I suspect that unless you have a huge room and can dedicate one wall to storage, it's more fun in the abstract than in the reality.

We've been using a resident stool within our G kitchen. I'm willing to move it a bit if I need to get behind it, but I don't tolerate it very much if it seems in my way--I move it out of the G. But it's not hard to tote.

I had stacked cabs. They were extremely useful, especially in a smaller space. It's kind of hard to argue they're impractical for storing things like apple corers and fondue pots when the alternative is putting them in the garage or basement.

I vote for stacked cabs--no pause, question, or doubt. If you glass front them and put lights in you have a beautiful display for pretty bowls, plates, etc. If you put solid doors on, it's much better to store little used stuff up high in your kitchen than in garage or basement, as Marcolo said.

Dekeoboe,
Here are a few stacked. Caryscott may be on to something
because I have very few and have found very few images
of stacked black or ebony stained cabs. Perhaps it is
the big giant elephant in the room that looks imposing.
I still think Tall and Handsome is for me.
~boxerpups

Thanks boxerpups. Our kitchen will only have two walls (one with a 6 ft window) and an island, so I'm thinking that would help it from becoming too heavy. We are also thinking about hickory cabinets.

My ceilings are 10 ft and I'd love another six inches above them -- I could have made the upper cabinet a little taller and maybe made the crown a little taller too. I did put glass in all of the regular wall cabinet ones and use them for display.

I made the doors above the fridge and pantry solid (those are also taller since they come down to 84" rather than 96") as well as the one above the ovens. They are great storage for things like my canning pot, extra large trays, an extra coffee maker, the thermal coffee pump, extra water filters (used once every 1-6 months depending on which kind), etc. I don't have a walk-in pantry or a butler's pantry, so that is my extra storage space and I love it so much I'm going to add some like it I want to do something similar in my laundry room. I did include a tall 12" cabinet on the fridge/pantry wall that houses a narrow, lightweight folding step stool that makes it easy to reach anything.