Designing a Kitchen 8’ from Floor to Ceiling

When designing can be an interesting task, especially when you have tons of creative inputs. However, it can be daunting if you are not certain about the necessary measurements. When it comes to designing a kitchen from floor to ceiling, upper kitchen cabinets play an integral role. You can complete the task by opting between 2 kitchen design ideas. You can either opt for 36” tall cabinets or 42” tall cabinets. In this blog, we will discuss the important elements when you are dealing with upper cabinets for designing a kitchen. In this blog, we will discuss the pros and cons of both 42” and 36” tall cabinets. This will help you with your decision of choosing the suitable size for designing a kitchen.

Designing a kitchen using 36” upper kitchen cabinets

Going with 36” tall cabinets is probably a safe choice so far, among other options in kitchen design ideas. In this design, the cabinets do not touch the ceiling completely. So, you still get the space to add crown molding at the top. However, picking the size for the molding is up to you. If you choose to go with a smaller size, you will end up with a little spacing above your upper kitchen cabinets. On the other hand, if you wish to go with large profile crown moldings, you need to add a riser to fill in the gaps between the space. This will create an illusion that the cabinets are tall enough to touch the ceiling.

Below is a kitchen design ideas reference drawing for an 8’ ceiling kitchen. Here, you can see a crown molding aligning on the top of 36” tall upper cabinets. Also, there is a little space between the ceiling and the molding.

Let’s move on to the next drawing of the exact kitchen with an 8’ ceiling. Here, a riser is fixed beneath the crown molding, which uplifts the cabinets toward the ceiling. Refer to the Red Outlines to identify the riser.

Designing a kitchen using 42” upper kitchen cabinets

People who prefer utilizing space in their kitchen as much as possible prefer 42” tall upper cabinets. It surely provides more space and creates an illusion of making the kitchen look taller. Typically, these cabinets touch the ceiling, but this idea comes with some limitations. For instance, the cabinets will lack to make the ceiling look even. So you will need fillers and some extra effort to set the cabinets evenly. Apart from that, you do not get the space to fit crown moldings. This limits you from decorating the kitchen. As a matter of fact, crown molding is a decorative element that gives character to the cabinets when designing a kitchen.

Other things to consider

When planning a floor-to-ceiling pantry area in the kitchen, you need to figure out a way to make the process smooth and functional. For example, if you are using 42” upper cabinets in your space and the coordinating tall cabinet is 96” high, then you might find it hard to fix the cabinet all the way through the ceiling if it is 92” high.

In order to fit the cabinets in a 92” high kitchen, you will have to eliminate the toe kick area. You can cover the gaps with the help of cabinet risers. This can be hectic and will require a lot of time and effort. So, you can simply make sure to avoid this issue by picking 90” cabinets. They are a proper fit, and you get the space to use decorative elements like crown molding.

Get professional’s help from BuildMyPlace!

If you are still finding designing a kitchen hard, you can consider professional help. Our expert designers with years of expertise will help with your 8’ kitchen design ideas. We offer FREE KITCHEN DESIGN service, and the design includes 3D renderings, expert suggestions, 360-degree virtual representation, quotes, etcetera.