Kitchen Upper Cabinets that extend to ceiling

[greatscott]

I'm getting ready to start our kitchen cabinet project and I have a question about building upper cabinets that extend to the ceiling.  My wife loves the look of the upper cabinets extending all the way to the ceiling so I'm including that look in our build.  I have 9 ft ceilings in the kitchen and I currently have 36" cabinets in place with 18" space above the cabinets till you hit the ceiling.  The original idea was to just build boxes that fill in that space but I've decided to start from scratch and build all new cabinetry in the kitchen.  For these upper cabinets that are going to extend to the ceiling, should I build two separate boxes (36" box and a 18" box that sits on top) or just a single 54" box?  I'm not sure if there is an advantage to doing it one way or not.  When my wife was kitchen design shopping for a new kitchen, all the online companies who provided us a quote had 36" boxes with an 18" box on top.  I'm not sure if that's just because of convenience (they keep stock of 36" cabinets?) or cheaper to ship or what.  

It's probably a little less work (and less material) to build one 54" box over two boxes for each cabinet but I figured I would check with you guys as I'm sure others have faced a similar situation.  Appreciate any feedback you have and I'll be posting a build-along thread for the kitchen reno (as it'll force me to take pictures/document my progress which I don't do a good job at).

[MT Woodworker]

I would build one box, would be a lot more fluid in the look, easier to hang also.

Going to scribe to the ceiling or leave a little gap and then close out with trim?

[Danny in Houston]

Here's my kitchen cabinets with smaller cabinets above main ones, single box.  Upper smaller cabinets used to store seasonal items or rarely used stuff.

[Cooler]

Personally I am OK with a couple of inches of gap.  I don't know what about painting the ceiling later on though.

Tall kitchen cabinets come in 90" and 96" heights (stock sizes).

The 90" plus generous crown molding would leave about 3 - 4 inch gap at the ceiling.  That would allow a roller to fit in to paint.

[greatscott]

I would build one box, would be a lot more fluid in the look, easier to hang also.

Going to scribe to the ceiling or leave a little gap and then close out with trim?

Thank you for the reply.  I'll use some form of crown molding to tie in the cabinets and the ceiling.  I need to decide if the cabinet doors on those upper cabinets will be glass inserts or just the regular cabinet door I'm using for the rest of the cabinets (shaker style).  If they're glass, I will probably light them.  Since I'm building my own cabinets, I have a lot of freedom in the design of the cabinets but I want to keep the basic kitchen layout I currently have (thinking along the lines of maybe an inch or two deeper upper cabinets).  I do have a new space of upper/lower cabinets (formerly the pantry) that will kind of be our coffee/drink area so maybe a built in wine rack or display cabinet for liquor or the like.

[greatscott]

Here's my kitchen cabinets with smaller cabinets above main ones, single box.  Upper smaller cabinets used to store seasonal items or rarely used stuff.

Thank you for the reply and lovely cabinets!  I do think I'll stick with a single box as that'll make installation a lot easier (and no trim piece to worry about between lower and upper cabinets).

[KC]

I think one box might look better... but I'd also be more concerned with keep a 50+ inch door flat than a 36 and a whatever.  

And one man's opinion... I hate a teeny gap at the ceiling.  I know people do it all the time, but if you're building your own I can't see any good reaon to do it on purpose.

[greatscott]

I think one box might look better... but I'd also be more concerned with keep a 50+ inch door flat than a 36 and a whatever.  

And one man's opinion... I hate a teeny gap at the ceiling.  I know people do it all the time, but if you're building your own I can't see any good reaon to do it on purpose.

There will still be two doors for each cabinet.  One for the 36" space and one for the 18" space.  Just making the two spaces out of a single box.  As for the teeny gap at the ceiling, whatever crown molding I go with will result in no gap.

[CARYinWA]

If you are going from scratch I vote for 1 cabinet.  I just did our kitchen and chose to paint the existing cabinets.  I placed an 18" cabinet on top.  I filled the seam to make it look like one piece but it would have been easier to have it all one piece.  I also vote for no small gap between ceiling and cabinet..  Fill it with crown moulding.  Our ceilings are vaulted so we didn't have much choice.

[lift mechanic]

At 54" tall cabinets I would use 12mm x 60" x 60" baltic birch plywood for the boxes, not much waste. You can get in pre-finished or just sanded. Face frames are easy to build and you can get the look you want. I prefer stained glass inserts and inset doors using Blum hinges. Blum hinges have plenty of adjustment. Hange the cabinets as close to the ceiling and put a crown molding to finish off the top, ceilings are not always as flat as they look.