In many kitchens, wall cabinets are mounted several inches or feet below the ceiling with their tops exposed.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this cabinet layout.
That said, if you want a cleaner kitchen that offers more storage and design options, then it's time to take a look at ceiling-height cabinets.
Less Dust
Ceiling-height cabinets improve kitchen clean-up.
Kitchen dust isn't the dry dust found in most areas of a home. Instead, it's a sticky, oily and sometimes gritty accumulation that fails to simply wipe away with a dry cloth or duster. If you're like me, you must use some sort of slightly acidic cleaner that literally strips the dust particles off surfaces.
On the other hand, ceiling-height cabinets don't have a top surface where dust can collect. Additionally, when they're not open, they protect items on shelves from dust.
Better Storage
Cabinets that extend up to a ceiling provide you with a highly efficient storage solution.
When people use exposed tops for cabinet storage, they often worry about crowded items falling off and breaking and; therefore, don't use all available top surfaces. With a ceiling-height cabinet storage solution, the cabinet box protects crowded items. As a result, you can utulize the entire equivalent amount of surface area. Although it's true that an item could still fall off a shelf when you open a cabinet door, or if the cabinet has open shelving, this type of cabinet lowers the risk of falls and breakage.
If you use glass doors, ceiling-height cabinets also still provide a display area where items can be easily viewed without young children or pets reaching them.
Design Variety
Ceiling-height cabinets allow you to get creative with your kitchen design. For example:
- You can mount ceiling-height cabinets of different lengths on walls in an inverse stepped layout with the "steps" represented by the cabinet bottoms instead of the tops.
- If you don't mind cleaning up some dust, you can stagger exposed top and ceiling-height wall cabinets to create a mirrored or contrasting top and bottom stepped look.
- Lastly, if you like classic Greek or Roman stone columns, you can use ceiling-height cabinets to create the illusion of pillars. You simply border exposed top or ceiling-height wall cabinets, or the entire kitchen, with tall, narrow, floor-to-ceiling cabinets adorned with fluted filler strips or panels along the exterior surfaces and carved molding at the cabinet tops and bottoms.
