I took a champagne bottle to the top of my head when it fell off the top of my refrigerator around 6am a few years ago. Two amazing details: 1)I wasn't seriously hurt and 2)I caught the bottle! Really.

Haven't stored anything up there since. Or drank champagne. :)

My mom used to keep antique milk bottles on top of her cabinets and it looked really cute, but we live in Florida where we don't have to worry about earthquakes.

I really need to make some better storage over our fridge because it's cluttered and stresses me out. I'm hoping for a new fridge soon, though, and I don't want to build something and then have it not fit anymore.

I should add: I have a collection of vintage milk bottles on the top of our cabinets. But we're not located in earthquake-country.

Storing any food (even dry) in a place where light can get to it will degrade its nutritional value.

For decoration, it's fine. And if it's just the look you're going for and are worried about them falling, just hotglue those puppies in place.

I think your jars of staples look lovely, it just wouldn't work for me because I am short and it would be a pain to get on the little ladder to get them. Since heat rises, will that be a problem for the staples?

"the choreography of cooking ..." Lovely phrase!

My cabinets are much to high to reach anything stored there. I can barely reach the top shelf, as it is. (My 6' 3" hubby does that for me, but I think it would be a stretch, even for him.)

That being said, I'm a fan of Mason jars.

If you don't live in an earthquake prone area, that's fine, butyou need to be aware of your own limitations. If you're prone to injuring yourself doing simple things, you probably shouldn't keep glass jars on the top shelf. The only thing we keep on top of the fridge is cereal.

1) dry goods do better stored in a dark place
2) there will be earthquakes, many strong enough to knock the jars off of their precarious perch

I'm not a fan of this, I'd rather have things stored out of view.

What about open shelving? Where all of your stuff is out. I hurt myself all the time because I never close the cupboard doors. I know easy task right? For me not so much. With our kitchen redo I'll probably go with open shelving since I am too lazy to close the darn things!

It may be a little OCD on my part, but I did read that light does degrade the nutritional value, and the warm air on top can make essential oils turn rancid faster, but maybe most people cook through their dry staples faster than I do. As far as being short, I am too, but I get to things on the top cupboard with the help of my handy dandy Oxo good grips long tongs (meant for cooking, but they work for reaching).

If you deep-fry or saute often, your jars will be coated with grease.

I love the way this looks, but I'm barely 5'5" and the tops of my cabinets are about 7' off the ground. It's not even remotely practical for me, plus there's the bit about the food going bad faster when it's stored in the light.

But I would love to make use of the space on top of my cabinets for pretty things that are used less frequently... I think I may need to rearranged some stuff in my kitchen this week. :-)

I guess I am with the short crew, I would have to get an actual ladder to reach anything stored on top of the cabinets which is extremely inconvenient since I cook regularly. I'm also in the camp of people talking about grease, heat, and dust, it just seems very unsanitary if it's something you're going to use. If it's for decoration and you like it then have at it! I know I'd be up there once a week washing down bottles which is why I don't store anything above the cabinets.

Medeina @ http://whencatsfish.blogspot.com/

My cabinets have a lip on the top that I think would prevent anything falling off in an earthquake (not that we get many around here, but we're in the zone to be affected by a big New Madrid quake). But my cabinets are high enough that I only store infrequently-used equipment up there.

I hate having stuff ontop of my cabinets. I wish they went to the ceiling so I didn't have to worry about the awkward space. When I got married I moved into my husbands bachelor pad... he stored old bailey's bottles ontop of the cabinets...they got recycled and we opted for nothing in their place.

I am also vertically challenged...and a foe of visual clutter. I do not put anything on the tops of my cabinets, ever. For all the reasons cited above in previous posts.

I hate the cluttered appearance, I hate the dust and grease...
...but I haven't any choice but to use that space since my upper cabinets are so ridiculously undersized.

I too wish my cabinets went all the way to the ceiling like they did in my parent's old house.

Well I love them! I'm gonna put the dry goods I use in them in plain view! ;)

As far as "dangerous" goes, this doesn't bother me nearly as much as shelves or cabinets above the bed.

I used to use large jars for storing flour and such. Until I didn't have room for them. I started keeping such stuff in smaller round glass canisters with plastic lids that seal well. I can fit these in my cupboards easily. I keep the flour bags in a harder-to-reach cupboard, and refill my canisters as necessary. I gave away my large jars, and never looked back.

The new canisters are small enough that I can get my hand around them and carry them one handed. They aren't very heavy, being thin glass. And they aren't so tall that I can't fit them on the lowest shelves in my upper cabinets. I find cooking with them much easier. No far reaching for something heavy with two hands, no climbing up to high shelves. They aren't in view, so what's in them isn't subjected to sunlight, but they are readily available.

I keep decorative stuff on top of my cupboards. No way am I going to get out the ladder every time I want to cook with something. Stuff up there gets dusty, but I clean them not often, maybe once a year. I don't think gas makes the grime worse - I think it is the amount of cooking steam. Also, I think meat, cause it is greasier - or really, frying anything, even veggies, in oil - is what makes for the grime. Wonder if it is better with an outside vented range hood - have never had one since I left home, being an urban person living in apartments.

Darling.....

...and useful.

Although it looks nice, due to experience I store very little that's made of glass over my head.

I keep my high storage for lightweight things like colanders, or metal canisters holding pasta.

Nothing easily breakable or spillable has gone above eye level around here since the Great Disaster of The Nearly Full Bottle Of Cooking Oil That Fell Off The Top Of The Fridge.