Some of our cabinets have a soffit over them (the soffit has pipes close to the edges, and we can't afford to reroute them - so sadly they must stay). There is about .75" - 1" of space for a crown. I should also note that the soffit protrudes past the cabinets depth-wise.

However, on the opposite side of the kitchen - there aren't any soffits. DH is considering putting a larger crown on the non soffit cabinets, but I feel like they need to all be consistent, and should all be the same (although short) height.

What do you think?

Thank you! :)

[wheedle] maybe if there were some pictures....

april love - Your cabinets are beautiful! That is so fantastic that you could get them to the ceiling and allow room for the pipes. Our pipes come right to the bottom front edge of the soffit, so we couldn't do what you did. And, our cabinets are already installed. But - that is a fantastic idea for a future reno (when we can afford to reroute everything) and I will definitely save it in my files! Thank you!

So - here is what we're dealing with. (I should note that we have 8' ceilings and the kitchen is about 10' wide from the soffit side to the non soffit side.)

Huge soffits on left and back of kitchen:

No soffits and 9" of space above cabinets on right side:

These are the various crown options we've come up with:

Option A: Ikea bullnose crown (might paint it, since it is whiter and glossier than cabinets)

Option B: Bullnose with small vertical detail on bottom

Option C (only for non soffit cabinets): stacked trim - very rough mockup

And here are some of the details of our kitchen (it is still missing a white wide plank v groove backsplash, cover panels on the sides of cabinets and light rails, etc.)

Do any of these crown options work?

Thank you, again!

Here's a render of the left of the fridge.

And here's an actual photo. Side panel is missing, and the wall is angled where it meets the ceiling (top left).

Is the main problem having space above the cabinets in general, or having it unbalanced with a soffit on only one side?

Aside from a soffit, or additional custom cabinetry - is there any other way to fill and balance the space, while still retaining a sense of openness? Maybe pretty items could be displayed? Or - perhaps we could build some sort of cubbies? =/

You have a beautiful kitchen going on there and excited to see the finished results.

I searched "soffit crown" on houzz.com and got several results you may want to look at for inspiration.

And yes, the soffit does run over the breakfast nook as well. Here's a photo from a bit earlier in the reno showing it (all trim will be painted white - at some point!)

Our DIY kitchen remodel is being done on a strict budget. One day, for a future remodel, I hope to have enough funds to get custom cabinets (or at least custom doors) and completely remove (or at least shrink down) the ugly soffits. I can't WAIT for the day when I can take a sledgehammer to them!! It will be SO gratifying!! :)

I talked the ideas and photos over with my DH. He doesn't think the crown where the ceiling and soffit meet will work b/c our kitchen has some strange angles and opens up to both the den and foyer so we couldn't continue the crown to envelop the kitchen - it would have to stop awkwardly in a number of places. =/ Sigh - I think, in our case we are going to have to "embrace" the soffit. Maybe I can dress it up with some pretty decorative plates, and add some collectibles over the non soffited cabinets to try to make it look cohesive. Our kitchen is never going to be anywhere Near as gorgeous as the kitchens that are shown on here. It will probably look like most people's before photos. But, we just have to try to be grateful for what we have, and make the best of it.

Thank you again, for all of your thoughtful help!

I like the little detail for you (little bit more cottage than the plain bullnose). I think the no soffit looks cleaner than "total soffit", but that's my personal taste.

I have something called solid crown as part of the house casings and we added a piece to the top of the over the ref cabinet which is partly under a soffit. You can just see it in the photo. The whole top molding treatment is an echo of the door casings with a thin divider molding, then a plain board on edge with the solid crown on top.

I would paint the soffits the same color as the cabs. I am not a great fan of white cabs, but in this case, the whiter the better. Maybe cabs and ceiling the same color, even.

I would use the second molding to close off the gap between cabs and soffit.

Then I would install cabinets above the existing cabinets on the right all the way to the ceiling.

In my head this works.

Also, I have seen people put mock ''doors'' and hardware on soffits. You could do this with thin lath strips and knobs.

I do realize the soffits protrude slightly beyond the cabs, but I think I would ignore that except for the smallest possible trim to close the gap.