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Kitchen soffits are usually installed above your cabinets, closing the gaps between the cabinets and ceiling. While kitchen soffits were very popular in older homes, the style has fallen out of favor for many homeowners and interior designers. The lower ceilings create a cramped atmosphere that can feel restrictive.
What does a soffit look like in a kitchen?
Soffits themselves are often described as big, bulky, and box-shaped structures that are built to hide all of the wiring and mechanical components between your cabinets and your ceiling. They are most often seen in a kitchen, although soffits may exist in other parts of the home as well.
Are kitchen soffits out of style?
Kitchen soffits are out of style, with fewer people retaining these fixtures in their homes and fewer still having them installed at all. Their outdated look often makes a room look smaller, and when building new kitchens, it’s better to free up that space for a bigger and brighter feel.
What is the purpose of kitchen soffits?
What’s a Soffit? A kitchen soffit is usually a boxy structure built to hide wiring, pipes, or other mechanicals, or to fill the space between the top of your cabinets and the ceiling. Depending on the age of your home they may be very large and perhaps even extend out past the cabinets.
What do you put on kitchen soffits?
Here are some creative ideas for kitchen soffits : Add Moulding Border. Paint them. Add new cabinets. Cover Them With Artwork. Build a window. Place Plants. Cover Soffits with Beadboard. Use Sculptures or Books.
Are soffits necessary in kitchen?
A kitchen soffit serves a purpose, which is typically to cover up and hide the necessary kitchen wiring, ductwork, and even plumbing. If there is nothing above the kitchen, there is a higher likelihood that there is nothing critical inside the soffit.
Should I keep kitchen soffits?
1. What’s Inside the Kitchen Soffits. As one of the primary purposes of a kitchen soffit, there may be hidden electrical wiring, plumbing pipes, or ductwork within the structure. However, if the soffit conceals important electrical and plumbing lines, you will need to relocate them into the ceiling or walls.
How do you update a kitchen soffit?
8 Ways to Deal with Those Awkward Kitchen Cabinet Soffits Fill in the space with trim. Fill in the space with a furr down. Fill the space with trim in a contrasting color. Get some really tall upper cabinets. Add a second row of cabinets. Add a window. Paint the wall the same color as the cabinets. Embrace it.
Are soffits necessary?
Why does my home need soffit? Air from the soffit cycles to the vents to draw heat and moisture away from the house. Moisture is mold’s breading ground and the cause of roof rot and poor air quality. The soffit also helps keep pests from slipping into your home through the roofline or gutters and nesting in your attic.
What can I do instead of soffits?
Can you remove kitchen soffits? Extend cabinets to the ceiling. Without a bulky kitchen soffit in the way, one option is to extend your upper cabinetry all the way to the ceiling. Incorporate more storage. Another option when remodeling is to modify or replace your kitchen soffit with new cabinet boxes. Add crown molding.
What is the space above kitchen cabinets called?
It’s called a soffit, from the French word “soffite,” which refers to the underside of a ceiling. In common usage, however, it’s the word for the enclosed space between the top of the cabinets and the kitchen ceiling.
How much does it cost to remove kitchen soffits?
The national average materials cost to remove a kitchen soffit is $0.25 per linear foot, with a range between $0.24 to $0.27. The total price for labor and materials per linear foot is $8.20, coming in between $4.99 to $11.42. A typical 25 linear foot project costs $205.04, with a range of $124.64 to $285.44.
What do you do with empty space above cabinets?
11 Smart Ways to Use the Space Above Your Cabinets Display serving pieces. Use canisters to conceal clutter. Or bust out the baskets. Show off a collection. Display cookbooks. Store your wine. Grow something. Add another shelf.
Do kitchen cabinets have to go to the ceiling?
It is prudent to surmise that kitchen cabinets that go all the way up to the ceiling are great for aesthetic purposes. You can decide to have some lighting in the front cabinets in order to avail some modern look in stark contrast to working with the open space just above the cabinets.
What is a soffit?
The soffit is the material beneath the eave that connects the far edge of your roof to the exterior wall of your house. They are often vented. Besides being underneath your eaves, soffits can also be on the underside of a porch roof.
Why is my kitchen ceiling lower?
The kitchen typically serves more of a practical purpose than an aesthetic one. High shelves are impractical and the large fluctuation in heating and cooling the space given the activities being performed there warrant as low a ceiling as possible.
Can you tile a kitchen soffit?
Tile It. Tile can make your kitchen soffit feel like a more contemporary feature and add interesting texture and color to the room. If you already have a tiled backsplash, you can use the same material for the soffit to give your kitchen a cohesive look.
Is it hard to remove soffits?
If you choose to remove your soffit, cut a hole in the side and look in there first. If it’s empty, there is little difficulty in removing it. If it is full of pipes or duct work, the difficulty lies in rerouting these items. This means either opening the ceiling or the wall behind them to give them a place to go.
