Architectural Soffit Detail- is it really a perk? or not?

13 years ago

Hello Fellow GWers-

I know that this is the kitchen forum, but most of you are so wonderful at visualization that I felt the need to post. This is killing me and I need to make a decision tomorrow when the framers return...

Long story short- the plans for our new house call for a 5' X 8' soffit (tray ceiling) detail in both the great room and the kitchen/dining room. It won't be used for anything but was added as a architectural detail (so they say). Our ceilings are 9ft to begin with, so I am worried that dropping the soffit lower around the perimeter is going to make our rooms seem smaller. Additionally, we now have another issue where the steel I Beam that runs down the center of the house (Dividing the great room from the kitchen--where the column is) is 3' lower than the proposed soffit. The way the kitchen cabinets are currently designed (and almost finalized) leaaves about 3' to this soffit which makes it look like a mistake.

If I haven't lost you yet, my questions are:

1. should we take out the soffit altogether? I'm worried about the ceiling height and window treatments, etc. And, I am worried about the kitchen cabinets. We could deal with the I beam separately.

2. Drop the soffit to cover the I beam and be flush with the top of the cabinets? and make sure that the soffit lines up with the front of the kitchen cabs, etc...

3. Leave the soffit where it is and wrap the I beam running between the great room and kitchen?

The soffit is the dotted line in the plan. The soffit is being called an architectural detail, but I'm worried its going to look cheap, not special. All opinions are welcome. Photos would be great too, if you have them :)

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Comments (9)

brianadarnell
Original Author
13 years ago
The steel I Beam is 3" lower...oops! thank goodness we don't have THAT problem :)
formerlyflorantha
13 years ago
I have 8 foot ceilings. Not sure why a soffit down to 8 feet would make the room small.

Would it be possible to make a curved cove where soffit meets wall to enhance the look? And could the cove be same depth even at beam?
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nini804
13 years ago
I am a big fan of openness...and I think the soffit will visually sort of "rope off" the rooms separately. If there is no reason for it...I'd get rid of it. I mean, if you want some differences in the two spaces, I think a coffered ceiling in the great room would probably look better than a soffit.
brianadarnell
Original Author
13 years ago
Nini, that was my thought exactly. By doing the soffit now, it really minimizes our choices for adding elements later (crown molding, coffered ceiling, etc.) If we leave it without the soffit and feel that it needs the added element, we could always add it.

Florantha- I agree 8 ft doesn't seem small. I just meant in comparison with the 9 ft ceilings. The cove idea is a good one...
pricklypearcactus
13 years ago
Exactly what nini804 said: if the soffit isn't required, get rid of it. I would much rather have full (beautiful) 9' ceilings with a single structural beam than to have soffits splitting up the space.
lilydixie
13 years ago
Lose the soffit. My kitchen has 9' ceilings and I'm imagining a soffit around the perimeter and it would just ruin the space. Definitely leave them out!
mythreesonsnc
13 years ago
I agree. My architect and my husband both convinced me that we needed to put a special ceiling treatment in our master bedroom. Since we have coffers elsewhere, they both thought a tray ceiling was the way to go. I didn't agree, but since I have been so picky about every single detail, I decided to let it go and let DH get a victory. Well, it is framed and we both hate it. It just lowers the perimeter and it would have been prettier to have a tall ceiling with a pretty crown --- I see soffit. There are lights in it, and they will put the rope lighting detail and all that stuff and I will always look at it and wish I'd stuck with my gut. DH even thinks we should have them rip it out!

My opinion is, if you love a tray ceiling, you'll love it, and view this as a plus architectural detail, but if you view a tray ceiling as a soffit, you'll always view it as a soffit, even if people call it a "tray!" Try to look at some and see what reaction you have....
artemis78
13 years ago
Just to weigh in on the other side...we have this in our "public rooms" (living room, dining room) in our 1915 bungalow, and it is by far the single most complimented feature of the house. It doesn't impact how big the rooms feel, at least not that I've noticed (although I also realize that I honestly don't know if our ceilings are 9' to the soffit or 9' to the center---the center is maybe 4" higher---so I'll have to measure this weekend and see!) Our ceilings are also still the original textured plaster, which undoubtedly helps. The soffits also parallel the inlaid trim in the wood floor, following the same lines in each room, so it does help the rooms look "complete." They're purely architectural---nothing in them. Wonder if this was the look your architect was envisioning? (We don't have them in the bedrooms, bath, or kitchen, though, and the house is Arts & Crafts style so there is no crown moulding in any of the rooms---just wainscoting and plate/chair rails lower on the walls.)

I think you could skip it in the kitchen and still use it in the other rooms if you like, though---that's how ours was originally designed and it's not something I paid attention to until we started working on the kitchen. For whatever reason, ceilings and walls in bedrooms/kitchen are also not textured, but just smooth plaster...I guess that was cheaper back in the day!
brianadarnell
Original Author
13 years ago
OK...decision made. Thank you all for weighing in. This has been absolutely killing me since this past weekend and the final verdict is that the soffit must go. I just hated it and mythreesons is right- all I could think was SOffit! I'm meeting with the GC tomorrow morning to tell him that it has to come out. We will deal with the beam separately. MY DH understands my decision but was definitely angling for leaving them, but he understands my dilemma with the kitchen cabinets, etc.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! you guys are the best. now I can sleep tonight :)

Architectural Soffit Detail- is it really a perk? or not?

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Architectural Soffit Detail- is it really a perk? or not?

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