Galley:
Base cabinets are standard height (34-1/2"). Floor to top of counter is 36". If you are going to use floor appliances (like the range or a standard dishwasher) you need to have a standard height countertop
Standard height backsplash (distance between top of counter and bottom of upper cabinet) is 18" but I have a "light rail" attached to the bottom front of my upper cabinets dropping it down to 15-1/2" at the light rail and 18" behind it between framing (we did a reverse frame/frameless cabinet). I have thin linkable fluorescent lights behind the light rail (a total of five 13" lights one of which is over the range... I do not have a range hood, I have a thru-the-wall vent) If you plan on putting any counter top appliances (bread machine, crockpot, coffeemaker) on your counters, then you need to allow 18".
Upper cabinet notched out for the light rail
Here you can see the bottom of an upper cabinet and the re-enforced frame. The light rail also adds support to the thinner-than-normal cabinet floor.
My upper cabinets start at the top of where the windows would be (no windows in my galley). They are 18" deep at the widest point (the floor of the box) and 17-1/8" (18" including exterior frame) at the front (tallest point). Both David & I were cabinet makers and installers years ago. I was a kitchen & bath designer. We built our cabinets very differently than others. We also like modular cabinets. Easier to get them into the bus, easier to build them, easier to pull and replace if we ever needed to. Our goal was to make a strong cabinet as lightweight as possible. Hence the hybrid of reverse frame/frameless. Plus each of our cabinets is a single box. This meant we could make the sides thinner and once attached together the sides would be stronger. This pic shows the frame on the exterior of the tray base cabinet (gotta have someplace to put my pizza pans, cookie sheets and hamburger bun pan)
The bases were built with no toekick to save on money and for secure attachment.
Floor mounted toekick (screwed to floor - cabinets screwed to toekick)
Tray base with no toekick
The upper cabinets consist of a plywood floor, plywood ends and 2X2 rail at the bottom back (floor screwed to this plus this is the "nailer" that is attached to the nailer at the top of the windows) and a 2X4 rail at the top (screwed & glued to the ceiling).
Because we painted the cabinets, we went with a cheap plywood. Cabinet carcasses are 1/2" (15/32) RTD plywood skim coated with Durham's Rock hard putty then sanded smooth. I have since repainted the upper cabinet interiors with semigloss white. The blue was a bit too dark inside. I have since repainted all the exteriors of the cabinets with a brighter blue (Caicos Turquoise) and the walls a brighter yellow (Hawaiian Pineapple).
The weather has not been good enough for me to do the doors of the cabinets. I will be using
frameless full overlay hinges (and corresponding face plates)that I had salvaged off an old crappy set of pressed board frameless cabinets several years ago (they were the cabinets I used in my personal woodworking shop). All the drawer glides in the bases and the pantry are full extension. The big upper cabinet shown above is over the freezer and also gets a full extension roll out shelf in it (built just haven't climbed up to empty the cabinet out to install the shelf... my bread machine will be stored up there). I am a fan of roll out shelves and full extension glides. In a galley this small, every inch counts and needs to be accessible and utilized.