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neetsiepie

Ugly soffit

neetsiepie
13 years ago

I hate the soffit in my kitchen. I always thought I'd remove it, but I've since discovered it would NOT be feasible. I recently ran across this photo and it really called to me

From kitchen reno

I love what they did with the tops of these cabinets. Now, I wonder would it be possible to add crown molding next to the ceiling and some trim molding to my existing soffits to look similar? Old pic of my soffits. I realize there is a bit of a ledge, but I might be able to fix that with other molding.

{{!gwi}}

Do you think I could pull off this look with the soffits I have?

Comments (20)

  • 2ajsmama
    13 years ago

    It's tough wit the door trim butting right up to the cabinet, but I'd add cove base to the underside of the soffit, with the back against the cabinet and the top against the underside of the soffit. Then a strip of half-round molding of some profile (round, rope, whatever, as long as it's flat on the back) to the edge of the soffit right above the cove base. Add crown at the ceiling and paint everything (moldings, soffit, cabinets) the same color.

    But what are you going to do wit the soffit over the window/sink? You could (should IMO) continue the crown and rope, maybe the cove to soften that edge, but it clearly won't be part of the cabinetry like your inspiration. Can you remove just that part of the soffit?

  • summiebee
    13 years ago

    I really like that look in the photograph. I tell ya what! I like the look of the doors off too with the baskets and colorful dishes!!! Maybe that would give you more of the look you want and take the eye away from the soffit if you cannot get rid of it?

    Here is a video on someone that did it. I think it looks great. IMO. They have no soffit, but they did some open cabinets and added some color with some pretty dishes and baskets.
    Good luck!

    Here is a link that might be useful: open cabinets

  • chinchette
    13 years ago

    Did you notice that bowl in Summiebee's photo is the same bowl as in psky's photo? An Ikat pattern. One in black, one in green.

  • awm03
    13 years ago

    That very thing was done by the previous owner to our old cabinets. It looked quite nice. If I have time today, I'll try to scrounge up an old photo for you.

  • gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
    13 years ago

    Candace Olson did that on one of her shows. She painted it to match the cabinets so it looked like all one piece.

  • awm03
    13 years ago

    Here, pesky, hope this helps:

  • dainaadele
    13 years ago

    How much room does whatever it is behind the soffit need? Part of what looks good in the inspiration pic is that it is flush with the cabinets below. Is is possible to take the drywall off and gain an inch? It would mean more work, but the result would be an exact replica of the inspiration.

  • neetsiepie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    AJs, This is why I love this forum. I need good minds to bounce things off. My DH doesn't care...in fact, rolls his eyes when I start musing.

    Summie, I would love to take the doors off, but I don't have lovely dishes! I have very limited storage in this kitchen, so I need to cram in my cabs as much as I can. That said, I'm seriously thinking of putting up beadboard inserts on my cabinets instead of the glass stuff.

    awm, THANK YOU! That gives me a good idea of what it could look like.

    dain...I never thought of removing the sheetrock. I can't remove that stupid soffit as it's part of the original build of the house. It's made of 2x16 redwood and has the original insulation behind it. I found this out when I tried to remove the one above the fridge. I think I could do something with that to make the one over the sink blend...maybe like a bridge look or something.

    You've all been so helpful! This has given me good food for thought, so now I have to do some scheming and planning.

  • awm03
    13 years ago

    pesky, I think that's just veneer over drywall in that old photo (previous owner's kitchen, btw. I took down that pink & blue miniprint wall paper, LOL!)

  • 2ajsmama
    13 years ago

    Redwood? Painted? Hard to tell from pics - how much does it overhang the cabinets? Maybe you can sand it since it's 1.75" thick? Or is it sheetrock over the redwood?

    If you could build out the one over the sink and trim it out like the others it might look like a bridge. I love crazyhouse6's kitchen

    Have you tried posting on Kitchens? I swear someone over there did something like this with a soffit a couple of years ago.

  • Jbrig
    13 years ago

    ajsmama,

    Maybe you're thinking of buehl's kitchen? She has a beautiful kitchen and has given so much of her time and insight on the Kitchens forum.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Buehl's kitchen album

  • annzgw
    13 years ago

    Have you had a carpenter look at the construction of the soffit? Most soffits have either plumbing or heating ducts running in them and if yours is just framing & insulation I see no reason they can't be removed.

    I'd have someone check it out before you go to the expense of trying to make what you have work when you may be able to get exactly what you want.

  • 2ajsmama
    13 years ago

    No, it doesn't look like beuhl has a soffit. It was someone else. I'm sure if pesky posts over there and/or searches the Gallery with the work "soffit" she can find it.

  • nanny2a
    13 years ago

    chinchette and summiebee, the reason the same bowl appears in both photographs of those cabinet renovations is because they are both from the SAME kitchen. That's Layla Palmer's kitchen from her blog, "The Lettered Cottage". She's a very clever designer and has done a lot of interesting renovations on her house, which she blogs about. You can get all the details of her cabinet renovations below. She transformed the cabinets from old builder grade stock, and has changed them two or three times in the last couple years, to adapt to different style trends.

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Lettered Cottage

  • pps7
    13 years ago

    Here is the picture from the kitchen forum. I'm sorry but I don't remember who's kitchen it was. We are planningo n doing the same thing in our new kitchen.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    13 years ago

    Hi,
    I'm casey, king of the soffits!


    I built them before the cabinets went in; or even arrived, actually.

    There is a 2x4 framework screwed together, wrapped in 3/4" plywood at the bottom and MDF board on the faces. then primed 1" strips for the "frames" and panel moldings around the insides.

    Casey

  • neetsiepie
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Oh that is gorgeous! Thanks for posting. Unfortunately, removing these soffits will be a MUCH bigger pain than it would to spank them up.

    I thought the one above the fridge would be a piece of cake, but I was dead wrong. It had plaster (I had done a plaster finish to cover up the glue from the plastic bricks that had been up there). There was also sheetrock, then beneath that, the 2x16..which was a true 2" x 16", installed with 5 inch long, thick old nails. A lot of those thick old nails. DH, being uberstrong, had a very difficult time removing those nails. Some just wouldn't come out!

    Then beneath that was probably 16-20" of ancient insulation. The cottony cellulose type and horsehair (no asbestos). It was then open to the attic.

    This was just the one area that I knew had no ductwork. The pic I showed has a vent fan, I think this is where the original stove location is. The soffit above the sink area is probably obstruction free, but then you come around again to where the stove is, so another set of ducts. So...long story short, soffits stay.

    But I now think, after seeing these photos, that I might look into some type of fixing them up. I just wish they weren't so deep, but I have a lot of molding on hand, so could play with what I have. Or as DH says...just leave it alone. What a concept!

  • Olychick
    13 years ago

    It's hard to tell your style...this is different than your inspiration pic - more informal for sure, but I thought it looked nice and pretty easy to do.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • Sheeisback_GW
    13 years ago

    Since beadboard was just mentioned... instead of messing with the real stuff you could get the famous (paintable & cheaper) beadboard wallpaper from Home Depot that lots of us love. Just throwing another idea out there.

    I'm excited to see how this turns out!

  • Oakley
    13 years ago

    I see Transferware plates lining the whole thing! Very inexpensive on Ebay. That's my vote. :)

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