Boy I'm going to have to admit I"m a soffit hater. I can't see the pictures (the hospital website won't let us for some reason) but for myself, I find they make a room feel more closed in, especially if you have just 8 foot ceilings.

Have you considered trying to do a big trim instead? I would think you could do a relatively inexpensive crown molding that would stick up a bit and might sort of hide the stuff on top somewhat.

Remembering I can't see the pictures...forgive me if this is stupid, but is it possible to put small cabinets on top of the existing ones to hide things in? Since it was recently done you might be able to find matching ones, even if they're quite narrow, you could do them on a horizontal verses a vertical (which would mean cheaper costs). Just an idea...

I wouldn't put in a soffit - I removed them from my kitchen. At some point you might want to put in new cabinets up to the ceiling and you'd just have to remove them. Soffits are mainly put in to hide pipes. If you don't like your decorations up there, just take some of them down and leave the space empty.

I'm a soffit hater too - if anything, some cheap stock molding up top would be nice if you can DIY and switch out the light fixture. If we got that kitchen when we bought our house, we would have been thrilled :)

Boy, with no kids or grandkids, this is all I have to do today. LOL, thanks for the advice. I don't want to spend any money on cabinets since I'm selling in a year. I'm in the process right now of remodeling the bath, it has those 12x12 sticky tiles o the floor, so a ceramic tile floor is going in in the next few weeks. Oh, the bath has no tile on the walls, the former owner thought it much nicer when the cast iron tub "broke", she had all the time removed and a one piece bath/shower combo installed. I just hate it. Back to the kitchen, there is not enough cab space to even put food away, so on the other side of the fridge, I have one of those white storage cabinets that HD no longer carries. I just want the kitchen to appeal to buyers. I hope the green does, I love it and don't want to change it. I also thought about the larger trim and will look for a taller moulding for the tops. Anything that will make the 30" cabs look taller.

The box light fixture will probably go also when I repaint the ceilings. Since that is the only bright light for the kitchen, what do any of you recommend for that light?

Karen

I think a soffit seems to close in a kitchen. I agree with the suggestions to try some inexpensive crown molding or just reduce the amount of decorative items you have on top of the cabinets.

Karen, you said, "I don't want to spend any money on cabinets since I'm selling in a year."

So why spend money on soffits? If you're selling in a year, why not concentrate on what you need to do to make the house sell? The walls and crown at the ceiling look fine. So box up most of the decor (which you should do, anyway, before showing the house), and they won't bother you :)

I don't have any suggestions for lighting, other than to say ugly fluorescent boxes often give better light throughout the room than a whole lot of prettier fixtures, so be aware of getting enough light :)

Especially if you are selling in a year, and that is your main motivation for the kitchen upgrade, I would *NOT* add soffits. I dont think they appeal to most buyers- open space is generally more appreciated these days, and if anyone were to come in later an remodel, they'd most likely pull the soffits out. I'd spend any money you plan to spend on lighting, maybe add a little accent trim up there, and would there be a not-so-expensive way to install upward pointing lights up there? If the box fixture is coming out, and you are re-wiring up there anyway, you might be able to get something hard wired in that would add nice accent lighting. If you are just going to replace the fixture (no new wiring), then you could even run rope lighting along the top?

Soffits are out of style right now so don't add. If they were in, sure. If you were keeping the house, I'd say paint those upper cabinets a pale version of the wall color and keep the decorations on top. To me, it's the willy-nilly blocks of brown, white, and green that making it look busy and chopped up, the decorations that are adding charm and personality.

I would also not get soffits - especially if you're planning to move in a year or so. (Disclosure: my kitchen has soffits and I want to take them out.) You have a nice looking kitchen - I would remove the the stuff from above the cabinets when the house goes on the market (and put the fourth canister with the others on the counter). Like Igloochic, I was also wondering if it is possible to add horizontal cabinets on top of the existing cabinetry. That would make them taller and add storage space.

A new ceiling light would be nice. Do you have undercounter lighting? If not, add that instead of replacing the ceiling light (if you want to keep costs down). Maybe uplit lighting on top of the counters or a pendant over the sink?

I just took out my soffits and am so thrilled that they are gone. The kitchen seems so much bigger and more open.

If it were me I would take down EVERYTHING from on top of your cabs and add molding. I would keep it simple up there, meaning molding and NOTHING else. I would also remove almost all the decorative items from your counters. If you do not use them, lose them. I'm sure all those items mean something to you, but in most design "less is more." There is generally alot going on in kitchens anyway, with all the cabs, ovens, microwaves, fridges, pulls, pots, pans, etc. I think all the extra stuff just makes the space seem chaotic and the eye doesn't know where to focus.

BTW, I like the green.

I agree, no soffits. I think your cabinets would look great if you added oak crown molding on the top of them. I don't think it would be very expensive. If it looks to busy up there try removing about half of the stuff and see how it looks. With crown molding on the cabinets it might look better competely empty.

I don't think it looks bad the way you have it now, however.

Hi Karen,

I have to agree with most of the above posts. Forget about adding soffits- there you've saved yourself tons of work and some money.

If you have the DIY ability, adding oak crown molding to your cabinets would add dimension and another interesting layer to your cabinets without being too busy. If you removed all the knick knacks from up top, and perhaps just kept the green plates and green jug, you might be surprised at how much you like it.