DIY: How to Disguise a Kitchen Soffit
by Sabrina
4 Materials
A kitchen soffit (aka bulkhead) is something that majority of us have in our kitchens. They are often created to hide wires, pipes or other mechanicals in our kitchen. Sometimes they are even there to just fill the space above your cabinets. Either way, I personally find most soffits can make a home feel dated and extremely closed-in.
When it came to our kitchen renovation, we had no idea what was behind our soffits. I debated whether or not I should remove them or somehow just work with them. Ultimately, I really wanted ceiling height cabinets and finally decided that the only way I knew if I could get them was to remove everything. And that’s what we did.
As it turns out, we did have pipe work running behind our soffits in one area. So here’s how I came up with a simple yet effective way to get the look that I was after—all while trying to camouflage that dead space above.
To create our flush box, we used 5/8″ MDF board cut-to-size. Leaving about an inch from the top of the ceiling makes it easier to grip the panel when installing.
To install the box, we started with the front panels. You want to make sure the panel is completely flush with the inside of the cabinet (not the doors). To secure, use a nail gun from the inside edge of the cabinet shooting straight into your MDF panel above.
To add decorative detail, we added some left over baseboard trim to the top of the box. This will also act as a way to close the gap at the ceiling.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 of 17 comments
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Great job. Love your cabinets and backsplash. Thanks for sharing.
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yes I plan to do soon.
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This is very nice. My question is: duud u try building it in the ground (a table) then setting it up there.? My thinking, it would be easier. ?
Great job but I'm a little confused.. what did u gain by doing this?