askjake

Replace soffits with shelving?

Vijay asks:

Hi Jake, this is a fantastic blog! So we have soffits in our kitchen and we want to get rid of them. From what I remember looking in our attic above them, there is nothing there, but we don't want to buy all new cabinets for the top so we were thinking of just cutting out the dry wall soffits and making shelves there. 

Do you see this done and does it look "normal." Also would it be easy/practical to put other cabinets (smaller ones) up there or something like a wine rack? Thank you so much!!

Jake's answer:

Vijay,

If your ceiling height is 8’, you will only have 1’ of opened space above the cabinets.  This is not enough room to add any shelving.  Typically, I see people put knick knacks or collectibles above the cabinets.  Be prepared to do some dusting as this area tends to collect quite a lot of dust.

You could add some crown mold on top of the cabinets to “dress” them up a bit. 

I’m glad you enjoy the blog.

Another soffit challenge

Question from Sally: 

I have started the exciting task of removing the ugly soffit in my kitchen. I have knocked out about 5' so far and there is nothing to relocate but I've encountered a few things I don't understand: every foot or so there is a support board, about an inch thick, between the ceiling and the cabinets. Are these boards ok to take out or are they there for actual ceiling support? Also, I could really use some step by step directions...do you know of a good website to help me with the wripping down and then the building up of my endouverous project? 

Jake's answer: 

Sally, Thanks for writing. I assume those pieces you are talking about are the vertical members placed there to help stabilize the top and bottom framing boards. They shouldn’t have any structural need. Regarding a web site, try this. This site has some pretty good detail on how to lay out a soffit and even how to build one.

Designing a soffit

Question from Henri: Jake, With an 8' ceiling and standard 12" deep upper kitchen cabinets, what is the minimum total depth for a soffit with 4" diameter recessed lights AND minimum depth from center of lights to wall? I don’t want lights too close to cabinets or too far away either. Thanks, Henri.  

Jake's answer: Henri, It depends if you are putting some sort of trim, like crown, from the top of the cabinet to the bottom of the soffit. Lets assume you are going to use a 3 ¼” crown. The projection out from the face is 2 1/16”. I would allow 2” to the edge, or 4” to the center and 4” to the face of the soffit. Make the soffit 22 1/16” finished depth.