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Hood, cabinet, soffit issue....can't figure this out

9 years ago

I am down to the wire to try and figure out what to do with the cabinets next to my hood. Please excuse my IKEA drawings, but this was the fastest way I could make multiple mock-ups without bothering my real cabinet guy.

Here is my space:

Here is my horribly rough, somewhat accurate representation of my kitchen (it doesn't show the island or fridge but I don't think it matters for this discussion). The soffit on the main sink wall is around 24 inches deep, so the cabinets are set "in" underneath them. It is 12 inches tall.

All of the uppers are the same height. But that doesn't look finished to me. So I found an inspiration on Houzz that looked like it used small soffits above each cabinet:

Transitional Kitchen by Baltimore Interior Designers & Decorators Elizabeth Reich

Kind of like this, but I would add crown molding and a hood wider than the range:

Or, this idea, but more simple on the "soffit":

Traditional Kitchen by Portland Kitchen & Bath Designers atomic * design

Painfully represented with this:

I know a simple option would be to run the soffit across the hood wall, but I feel that with 8.5 ft ceilings, that it would feel very obtrusive.

Any thoughts???

Comments (13)

detroit_burb
9 years ago
I like the last option best.
_sophiewheeler
9 years ago
The cabinets floating in space are the problem. They are too disconnected from anything. You could continue the soffit around the perimeter to connect them, then use larger cabinets. Those are too small scale to balance the negative space you're leaving. Or, then you could use a conventional corner cabinet under the soffit to link the areas with more cabinets. That would give you more storage as well as have more continuity.

Or, get rid of those dinky cabinets entirely in favor of open shelving. If you have a pantry elsewhere, this would be a great look that's very now.
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This is a subject that deserves some research because you have many trade-offs. I can advise what the best thing is to do (functionally), but cost and aesthetics may force you to give up some performance. These are the basics for the hood: The goal is capture and containment. Capture means getting the smoke into the hood; containment means not letting it escape except to the outside through the ducting. Hoods do not have the flow rate to suck up the smoke from the stove. They depend on pulling it into the hood when it reaches the hood. This means that to capture all of the effluent, the hood has to overlap it. The smoke and grease effluent expands as it rises. The higher the hood, the larger the hood has to be to capture all of the expanded effluent. Commercial hoods are mounted seven feet above the floor and typically extend quite a bit beyond the cooking zone on all four sides. If wall and cabinets are present, they can act as "mirrors" to the expanding effluent and help duct it to the hood aperture. In such cases the size of the hood can be reduced somewhat. For normal 30-inch or so hood heights over the cooktop, the hood needs to overlap the cooking zone (the array of pan bases, not the glass surface) by three to six inches on all sides. For 36-inch wide cooktops, the recommended hood width is 42 inches at a height of 30 inches or so. (Even this width might not capture everything if serious frying or grilling is done on an edge burner.) Hoods placed higher should grow to accommodate the effluent expansion. The hood entrance aperture also needs to be deep enough (front to back) that it captures on those edges also. The hood center should be centered over the array of pan base areas. 20 inches is probably too small for a stand-alone hood. If the pan base zone is around 18 inches front-to-back, then one would want 24 inches at least for a hood 30 inches high, 27 inches if the hood is at 36 inches high. A 20 inch deep hood would need "skirts" of some sort to direct the effluent up into the hood aperture. This would be impractical relative to buying a larger hood unless working with an insert within a larger cabinet exterior. The CFM required is of the order of 90 cfm per square foot of hood aperture. This is based on a 3 ft/s effluent velocity from hot cooking. A lot of cooking is done at lower temperatures where this velocity is lower and the fan can be run proportionately lower and still contain the effluent. At lower speeds the fan will be quieter. The fan should be sized for 1.5 times 90 cfm/sq. ft because its rated performance is measured when it is hanging in the air (zero pressure drop) but the reality of the duct losses, baffle losses, transition losses, imperfect MUA cause pressure loss and hence reduced fan performance. I recommend spending a few weeks of spare time reading the various hood threads on this forum. kas
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Make the wall cabinets 3" smaller and it should be fine. As to BTU, you can still get a sear on steaks, but you will probably need to do them one at a time using something like a cast iron pan that has a lot of thermal mass to keep the heat drop from being so precipitous. As to what is "enough", it depends. Many people find themselves cooking more in their new kitchens. It's always easier to turn a burner down than to wish you had more power that isn't there. You should take a trip to a local appliance showroom that has a few ranges set up to be able to test drive. See what you think you need, based on what you cook now. Then, go one step up in power if you can afford it. The BTU power game costs money to play. So, if you rarely do stir frys or sear a steak on top of the stove, you can probably adapt to doing it in smaller batches. If either of those things is a frequent activity, you should really put some testers through their paces before making a decision. But, also remember that more BTU's means more CFM's needed for venting. And that can trigger makeup air needs. A lot of people do a lot of their high heat cooking on an exterior grill because it's easier to get the results that they want without having to deal with the smoke and grease in their kitchens. If you go "good enough" for inside the house, you might want a good grill for the patio next to the kitchen so you can have the best of both worlds accessible to you.
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You kinda have to be on point on this. A lot depends on what type of cooking you do and with what type of range. That sets the baseline for the needs. Your range or cooktop manufacturer will have recommendations that should be followed in order to comply with code as well. And, when you need to move enough air, that involves figuring out make-up air as well. Once you figure up how much air needs to move, then you need to figure out what route that air needs to take. That could be as simple as straight through the roof, or as complicated as straight up, 90 degree through the top shelf of some cabinets to another 90 to go through the back corner of the master closet on the second floor and then through the attic and roof. If it's not simple, that's when you involve the HVAC people for the route and the ducting needed. And you hire the best, because make-up air is still not that understood by many in the trade and you get lots of folks who just scratch their head and grunt at you when you mention it. After the how much, and where's are figured out, then you get down to the specific models and the look of the whole thing. Your own personal aesthetic and budget will be the main limiting factors there, so again, it's best if you are in the drivers seat on this, even if you have a GC or KD. Just be sure that you are in communication with all about the different aspects. That's the ideal situation. But for people who don't want to be as involved, they usually just pay the GC extra to be sure that it's part of their supervisory responsibilities. Then it's up to the GC and KD to coordinate the nitty gritty.
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Since your range placement is set, you have three options: move plumbing pipes ($$), hide with soffit as you mention, or change to under cabinet vent hood. Of the three, I like the under cabinet vent hood the best as you can then order the trim from Ikea to align with the other to the ceiling trim. That's provided your HVAC team can deal with either the pipes (10 x 3 inch ducts) or go lateral a bit. I know it's frustrating to be in your position. For a small kitchen, having cabinets over the range (30" above burner surface) offers space for cooking and baking items and helps to keep you from moving all around the kitchen. I found that handy in fact. Your kitchen designs look nice btw. Enjoy.
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agk2003
9 years ago
i think soffit with molding above each of the uppers is better. but that's because i like the wall space it gives you with the hood so that you can take your backsplash all the way up vs. the cabinet soffit.
OOTM_Mom
9 years ago
I dont care forthe chimney style hood below cabinets. Doesnt make sense. Have you considered built in hood? Like the one with the red range only hide the vent hood completely?. I agree the cabinets need something to tie in to...unless you could consider open shelving?
sixkeys
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all for your thoughts. Just to answer some of the questions.

1. Open shelving - LOVE the esthetics, but I don't think it would be practical for our family. While I am neat and orderly, my DH is more...creative! I fear that I would constantly be frustrated by the disorganization.

2. If I did the two small soffits, can I run backsplash up behind the hood and have it at cabinet height everywhere else? I don't know if I want an entire kitchen of tile.

3. If I did the last option, I would definitely switch to a built-in under cabinet hood. These are really rough drawings, and I couldn't find the option to switch the hood chimney out so I just shrank it.

I am torn, because I slightly favor the two small soffit option, and my husband slightly favors the last option with more cabinetry.

Thanks again!
brightm
9 years ago
I like the last one, but I think it would need to have the type of hood that's in the picture, rather than the chimney style. If you're tied to the chimney style, my preference would change to the separate ones.

This post was edited by cal_quail on Mon, May 12, 14 at 20:46
scrappy25
9 years ago
I got a lot of help with a similar issue recently.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1120575620725.html?5
Gracie
9 years ago
I like your Houzz inspiration. I think it looks good because they've used a wide crown molding to minimize the blank space of the soffit. Would that work on the sink wall soffit too?

Then I'd use a chimney hood with a wide chimney. Some are just too long and skinny, and that's going to be accentuated by your tall and narrow cabinets--three in a row! I'd also bring the window treatment up to the crown as shown in the photo, though I bet your soffit interferes with that. Or I'd add the large top molding on the window as shown in the photo with the red range. You want to create the illusion of taller windows. I think all that brings a cohesive look to the soffits, windows, cabinets, and hood.

I wonder if someone with great spatial abilities could find a way to make both walls look like they were designed as a whole. The Home Decor forum might be helpful with that, but maybe moreso the Remodeling and Building a Home forums, which have some really talented posters. Post everywhere! You've been struggling with this a long time!
live_wire_oak
9 years ago
I think continuing the soffit on the other side, plus using an L shaped corner cabinet, and linking the cabinets together with a very minimal valance across the windows, plus a wood hood could work to relate one side of the space to the other. I'd inset the valances just a tad so that you'd get a bit of a jog in the crown molding to add interest, but not be too much detail.

{{!gwi}}
live_wire_oak
9 years ago
Trying image load again.
Mags438
9 years ago
Nice.
sixkeys
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all! I really appreciate the input. In the logical part of my brain, I know that extending the soffit into an "L" probably makes the most sense. From my emotional perspective, I don't generally like soffits and I am worried that I will be disappointed with the look of the extension.

The mock up really helps, live wire. If I do that, should I make the new part of the soffit 24" deep as well?

I am still torn, and I need to make up my mind! I feel like everything is a compromise, and I am sad to make a compromise on this kitchen. Sigh.
deedles
9 years ago
Rebecca, I so understand where you are right now and maybe this will help a little: I was absolutely sold on cabs to the ceiling. Done deal, nothing to talk about. Yup.
and
(without going into a whole boring discussion of why) we couldn't make the crown trim fit with the cab trim at. all. Tried and tried. But I had to have the cabs go to the ceiling. And then someone here (Jakuval maybe?) showed some pics of their cabs not to the ceiling and I allowed myself to realize how much easier it would be to let go of my imagined desire and embrace what the space and design was calling for.

Now I have beautiful uppers not to the ceiling and I think they look great. Maybe accepting your soffitt as necessary will help you, too? And maybe you'll find the right work-around yet!

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