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Design Dilemma Building a Home

soffit or not above recessed cabinet

6 years ago

I’m building a house and wondering if I should put in a soffit to meet a recessed cabinet that I’m having built into the space. The cabinet is 3’ long by 18” deep. It will have crown molding on the top and I was wondering if it’ll look good to put a soffit to meet it or should I keep it open?

Featured Answer

PRO

The Bowman Group

6 years ago

I would leave it open and add a lighting feature... a 5' length of rope light will do amazing things in this space.

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Comments (8)

PRO
CCM Countertop and Cabinet Manufacturing
6 years ago
I'd say it depends on how much cleaning you want to do at the top of the cabinet - soffit = less dusting. However, it would be a nice display niche, if you leave it open.
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recessed lighting in soffit?
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Ugh, we have been going back and forth about vanity lighting with our architect, who specified low-voltage puck lights over our bathroom vanity, on a wood soffit in the ceiling over the mirror that's mostly hollow but hides some A/C ductwork. The problem is that she is specifying that they be recessed, when the manufacturer specs clearly say they cannot be recessed in a soffit; they can be recessed only if the top of the cabinet is not enclosed. And these things are uuuugly. Are there any options for low-voltage lighting that CAN be recessed in an application like this? Or maybe a puck or other fixture that can be surface mounted but looks a bit nicer?
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4 inches above cabinets...soffit?
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4 inches is perfect for crown moulding.
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How to resolve this soffit above the fridge/desk area?
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If possible, I would remove the soffits. However, if you cannot remove them, then I would put cabinets in front of them. Either: * put in cabinets that are deep enough to go from the outside of the refrigerator & pantry to the soffit OR * put in two cabinets, the ones at the top (in front of the soffit) would be only 12" or so deep and the ones below would be 24" deep and down to the top of the refrigerator & pantry cabinet. On the ends, simply put a finished panel to hide it...probably a panel the entire height to make it look like one piece rather than two different pieces. You'll have to do it anyway on the refrigerator end to enclose it. Just repeat it on the pantry end as well...it'll probably be approx 3/4". As to the rest of the kitchen, you could clad the soffit in matching wood panels or veneer--if they wouldn't stick out too far...it depends on the depth of the soffit compared to the soffit. You could then put in crown molding above all the cabinetry in the kitchen at the ceiling. Will you be DIYing it? If so, and there's nothing in the soffit, you might be able to take it down yourself and re-frame & drywall it. But, most likely there's at least plumbing inside soffits...that's usually the reason you have a soffit in the first place.
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Show me the soffit/molding/trim above your window!
Q
Comments (4)
Personally...I have to tell you, then when I see a window in the middle of a run, I do like to see that decorative board tie them together, so I'd take this as a design yea verses nea :) (Although I am known as the soffit police girl around my place). My plumbers kept telling me I was going to have a one or two inch soffit that had to run the legnth of the kitchen, including the window area, and I said "Nope" get rid of it...somehow they did (perhaps they just cut the pipes) :oP But it's gone. The way your's is though in my mind sounds ok to me. I think the trim idea you've found is a great option :)
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S K
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for the input. I mostly wanted to put the soffit in for the dust and cleaning reason. But the builder wants 300$ extra for it. I like the idea of the lighting up there. Maybe I’ll keep it open.
AnnKH
6 years ago
We have vaulted ceilings in our kitchen, so cabinets cannot go to the ceiling. When my neighbor saw the kitchen for the first time, she was delighted with the space above the cabinets. "Look at that beautiful space! You can decorate for every season!"

Some years I don't even put up a Christmas tree - I do not have decorations for any other season, and the thought of cluttering up that space makes me cringe. We're all different!

I do lay newspapers above my cabinets, which I change out... gee, I guess it's time to do that again.
rrah
6 years ago
No comment about the soffit or no soffit question--but darn, I wish I would have thought about putting newspapers above my cabinets years ago. The house I grew up in had cabinets to the ceiling so I never really "learned" tricks for the top of cabinets.
Suru
6 years ago
I've never heard about the newspaper trick either, good idea! In that case, I would leave it open without a soffit.
sprink1es
6 years ago
Plaster soffit looks 90s/dated to me. I'd either go to the ceiling with the cabinet, or leave it open on top. Yes it collects dust, but it's not visible, so you can clean it at the interval of your choice :D
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
6 years ago
Without a floor plan and an understanding of the architecture of your house, or the interior design of your kitchen, I'd say...

Yes...

No...

Mebbe...

Sell your house and live in a tent with no cabinets...

Have you considered a yurt?

Hope this helps. No need to thank me.

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