I am building a home with 9' ceilings on the first floor. I had fully intended to use 42" cabinets since I hate junk on the tops of cabinets anyway. I went to see the kitchen designer and he strongly discourged me, saying that I should use the 36" cabinets. He said it would defeat the purpose (spaciousness) of having 9' ceilings to cover them wtih cabinets. I say why waste all that space when I don't want anything up there anyway?