Hi all:

I am designing a new kitchen in a room with 10' ceilings. I plan to
run the cabinets up to 8' and then have 2' of soffit (12" deep) around
the perimeter of the kitchen. In the one corner where there would be
cabinets, however, I had planned on having one of those specialized
wall corner cabinets that runs at a 45 degree angle in the middle
rather than an "L" shaped cabinet. The only thing is that if I choose
such a cabinet the part that runs at the 45 degree angle would extend
beyond the bottom of the soffit. Since the room is a blank slate
right now, I've got a lot of options, but I don't know which would be
best. As I see it, the main options would be:

1) make the soffit run at a diagonal over that corner (and probably
other corners as well, just so it matches)
2) just go with an "L" shaped cabinet
3) make the soffit deeper than the cabinets.

Any input? This is just one of those things that I never thought to
look at in houses I've been at.

Thanks in advance for any help.

"none" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all:

I am designing a new kitchen in a room with 10' ceilings. I plan to
run the cabinets up to 8' and then have 2' of soffit (12" deep) around
the perimeter of the kitchen. In the one corner where there would be
cabinets, however, I had planned on having one of those specialized
wall corner cabinets that runs at a 45 degree angle in the middle
rather than an "L" shaped cabinet. The only thing is that if I choose
such a cabinet the part that runs at the 45 degree angle would extend
beyond the bottom of the soffit. Since the room is a blank slate
right now, I've got a lot of options, but I don't know which would be
best. As I see it, the main options would be:

1) make the soffit run at a diagonal over that corner (and probably
other corners as well, just so it matches)
2) just go with an "L" shaped cabinet
3) make the soffit deeper than the cabinets.

Any input? This is just one of those things that I never thought to
look at in houses I've been at.

Thanks in advance for any help.


Personally I would forget about the soffit and install lights on top of the
cabinets instead. I did that for a few customers and it looks good and
makes a good night light.

"John Grabowski" wrote:

Personally I would forget about the soffit and install lights on top of the
cabinets instead. I did that for a few customers and it looks good and
makes a good night light.

Rope lighting on the top and zenon puck licks underneath, both on a dimmer will
make any kitchen look amazing...

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars

"Rick Blaine" wrote in message
...
"John Grabowski" wrote:

Personally I would forget about the soffit and install lights on top of
the
cabinets instead. I did that for a few customers and it looks good and
makes a good night light.

Rope lighting on the top and zenon puck licks underneath, both on a dimmer
will
make any kitchen look amazing...

Agreed that open above makes the kitchen look bigger. And a sofitt taller
than it is wide will look wrong to most people. But keep in mind you now
have a horizontal surface 7+ feet above ground. People WILL try to use it
for storage, and women, who tend to be shorter, will shy away because they
are the ones that usually get stuck doing the dusting.

I'd also look at maybe an 18x18 floating soffit, with indirect lighting in
the top of that. If the top surface is over 8 feet, people won't try to
store stuff on it. Taller upper cabinets with an extra shelf might be
indicated. Hard to say without seeing the space, the windows, and how it
flows into the rest of the house. This is an expensive remodel- maybe a
consult with an actual designer would be worthwhile (one that isn't paid on
commission for pushing what their employer sells.)

aem sends....

On Aug 11, 8:06 pm, "aemeijers" wrote:
"Rick Blaine" wrote in message

... "John Grabowski" wrote:

Personally I would forget about the soffit and install lights on top of
the
cabinets instead. I did that for a few customers and it looks good and
makes a good night light.

Rope lighting on the top and zenon puck licks underneath, both on a dimmer
will
make any kitchen look amazing...

Agreed that open above makes the kitchen look bigger. And a sofitt taller
than it is wide will look wrong to most people. But keep in mind you now
have a horizontal surface 7+ feet above ground. People WILL try to use it
for storage, and women, who tend to be shorter, will shy away because they
are the ones that usually get stuck doing the dusting.

I'd also look at maybe an 18x18 floating soffit, with indirect lighting in
the top of that. If the top surface is over 8 feet, people won't try to
store stuff on it. Taller upper cabinets with an extra shelf might be
indicated. Hard to say without seeing the space, the windows, and how it
flows into the rest of the house. This is an expensive remodel- maybe a
consult with an actual designer would be worthwhile (one that isn't paid on
commission for pushing what their employer sells.)

aem sends....

You need to shop at Home Depot!



----------------------------------
www.tawny-kitaen.com

Thanks for everyone's input so far. Yes, I guess not having a soffit
at all is one of the options as well. I've been told by both numerous
people though that in the kitchen that is being designed, a soffit
goes best because of the height of the kitchen in comparison to its
length. There is also a strong presumption against the whole "dust
collector" aspect of leaving it open above the tall cabinets. I
suppose shrinking the soffit to only a foot high would solve your
"soffit taller than it is thick" problem, but the original question
would still stand.

So putting aside the whole soffit vs. no soffit debate, if I did go
with a soffit, how would you handle the corners in order to accomodate
the corner cabinets?

Thanks



"Rick Blaine" wrote in message

.. . "John Grabowski" wrote:

Personally I would forget about the soffit and install lights on top of
the
cabinets instead. I did that for a few customers and it looks good and
makes a good night light.

Rope lighting on the top and zenon puck licks underneath, both on a dimmer
will
make any kitchen look amazing...

Agreed that open above makes the kitchen look bigger. And a sofitt taller
than it is wide will look wrong to most people. But keep in mind you now
have a horizontal surface 7+ feet above ground. People WILL try to use it
for storage, and women, who tend to be shorter, will shy away because they
are the ones that usually get stuck doing the dusting.

I'd also look at maybe an 18x18 floating soffit, with indirect lighting in
the top of that. If the top surface is over 8 feet, people won't try to
store stuff on it. Taller upper cabinets with an extra shelf might be
indicated. Hard to say without seeing the space, the windows, and how it
flows into the rest of the house. This is an expensive remodel- maybe a
consult with an actual designer would be worthwhile (one that isn't paid on
commission for pushing what their employer sells.)

aem sends....

You need to shop at Home Depot!

----------------------------------www.tawny-kitaen.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"none" wrote in message
ps.com...
Thanks for everyone's input so far. Yes, I guess not having a soffit
at all is one of the options as well. I've been told by both numerous
people though that in the kitchen that is being designed, a soffit
goes best because of the height of the kitchen in comparison to its
length. There is also a strong presumption against the whole "dust
collector" aspect of leaving it open above the tall cabinets. I
suppose shrinking the soffit to only a foot high would solve your
"soffit taller than it is thick" problem, but the original question
would still stand.

So putting aside the whole soffit vs. no soffit debate, if I did go
with a soffit, how would you handle the corners in order to accomodate
the corner cabinets?

Angle the corners, like you said, or maybe even (if you are ambitious)
radius them. Or make the soffit wide enough that the problem goes away,
leaving at least 3" of exposed soffit in front of the corners. Some people
avoid the problem by using taller upper cabinets (in this case, tall enough
to reach 8 feet), and just dropping the whole ceiling above the cabinets,
with a wall-color bulkhead facing the remainder of the open space. You can
lay banks of cheap lights in the dead space, for an extremely well lit
kitchen. Advantage of a drop ceiling or large bulkhead, is that it makes
routing the exhaust fans and any wiring for accent lights extremely easy.
Not that lighting counter surfaces from a 10 foot ceiling will be
challenging, another plus for a wide soffit or drop ceiling. With a tight
soffit or no soffit, you are almost stuck with lots of little spots with
hard to change bulbs, or some sort of hanging fixture plus under-cabinet
lights. The more I think about this, with sleep-deprived befuddled 0430
mind, the cooler a drop ceiling with a light well and skylight at the
ten-foot real ceiling sounds.

aem sends...