Kitchen Tune Up: Why You Might Keep Your Soffit
By Leslie A.M.RefacingCabinet.com Columnist
It's the current trend to do away with soffits in kitchen renovations, but as you embark on your quick kitchen tune up, you might consider leaving it alone. Here are four reasons to consider keeping it.
1. Hiding Dregs of Kitchen Renovations: Wires and Plumbing
The soffit might be where the wires and plumbing were hidden from sight. This could have been in the original build of the home, or during kitchen renovations where other hiding spaces were less convenient.
2. Remodeling Kitchen Cabinets: Soffit as a Shelf
If you remove a dropped ceiling to add an open-air feeling to your kitchen, you might see that there is a top to the soffit that can become a shelf to showcase some of your special items. Adding this architectural element works like completely remodeling kitchen cabinets--it supplies a dramatic new look!
3. Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets: Anchor to the Soffit
If you are planning to build your own kitchen cabinets, or install stock kitchen cabinets in your kitchen tune up, you might want the extra security that anchoring cabinets to the soffit supplies. By doing so, the cabinets avoid sagging over time.
4. Kitchen Cabinet Repair: Extending the Soffit for Lighting
You can add dimension and great architectural style when the soffit extends out from the face of your cabinets. You can add recessed lighting that will highlight your custom cabinet doors, or you can add a rope light tucked above some crown molding where the soffit meets the ceiling.
Some might argue that a soffit dates your kitchen, but if it works well as part of your kitchen tune-up, keep it and bring it up to date.
About The Author
Leslie A.M. Smith lives in a 1929 house in Long Beach, California. When she isn't fixing things and redecorating, she is a freelance writer and public relations consultant.
