What is a soffit, you say? It is the drywall or plaster 'box' above your short upper cabinets that connects to the ceiling creating typically a dead space of six to twelve inches. Most soffits were placed in homes for past style trends and tend to bury either electrical wiring or plumbing, or both.
Typically in a remodel, my motto as a designer is if something can live in a soffit, it can live just as happy inside a taller upper cabinet.
So, what to do with the dreaded soffit if they are currently in your kitchen?
One option is... REMOVAL, people!
By removing the soffit (during demo phase of your kitchen remodel) your new kitchen cabinets can now extend to the ceiling, which will offer sometimes a foot of storage all around your perimeter.
When designing a kitchen, it's so important to think out of the box. Literally, your cabinetry arrives in a box. The cabinetry body is of boxes and doors but what can you do with that?
Plenty!
A kitchen designer can help you create unique looks by mixing and matching cabinetry styles, tones and elements.
In this beautiful "Medallion" kitchen, the larger cooking island is broken up by a smaller butter cream yellow cabinet. I love the way it creates a more casual feel and brings in a warm tone while acting as a dual function.
Our final question in the series from kitchen and bath designer Cheryl Clendenon.
"I think I can handle this on my own but just want you to come in later and help with the finishing details"
I can't say I will not do this because I am doing it now.
The client had already purchased many of the materials being used in his remodel including cabinetry for a kitchen that was not even roughed in! I tried to explain to him that really I thought it might be too late for my help. But I agreed anyway to take the job and now he is understanding oh so well why we are needing to dig up concrete to place the plumbing in a different location in his master bath, redo the lighting plans and move walls.
I thought he might balk at some of this but truthfully, he has been terrific about it all and agrees that he "thought he could do it alone because he had hired an architect to do the plans and he knew what he wanted" but realized he was spinning his wheels and was not going to get the finished look he wanted.
Our ongoing series from kitchen designer Cheryl Clendenon continues as she answers this common question.
"I have already thought everything through and won't have any decisions to make"
If you are someone with design knowledge or your architect, if you have one, has already walked through every detail with you, then great. In my experience, this is a fantasy people like to tell themselves.
Make no mistake, there are a plethora of decisions that will come up that are not finalized...or job site conditions dictate changes. The one thing I hear constantly from clients is "I am so happy I have you there to explain what this or that means or help me make sense of a particular decision that must be made".
