Apartment Old Kitchen Cabinets Space Between Shelves Is Small

8 Ways to Deal with Those Awkward Kitchen Cabinet Soffits

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If you pay a lot of attention to kitchen design you're probably familiar with the particular issue I am talking about, and if you don't, but you are reading this article, soon you may see it everywhere. I am referring to that awkward gap above the upper cabinets, the place where your cabinets don't quite meet the ceiling and leave an awkward little dead spot.

The reason for this is simple: while cabinets generally come in standard sizes, ceiling heights do not. In situations where the cabinets don't quite meet the ceiling, many builders just call it a day. Depending on who you are, the resulting gap may not bother you at all, or it may drive you batty. If you fall into the second camp, this post is for you.

(Image credit: Craig Kellmann)

Fill in the space with trim

If the gap between your upper cabinets and the ceiling isn't particularly large, you can fill it in with trim running along the top of your upper cabinets. This makes for a cohesive, built-in look, and a lot less potential for collecting dust. I Heart Organizing has a great tutorial on how to do this.

(Image credit: Marisa Vitale)

Fill in the space with a furr down

Furr down? What's a furr down? This strange-sounding term refers to any place in a home where the height of the ceiling is lowered by creating a dropped ceiling with framing and drywall. Often furr downs serve a very practical purpose: Architects will use them to conceal pipes or ductwork. Another application for a furr down? Enclosing the space above kitchen cabinets. This can sometimes be a bit clunky looking, depending on the execution, but it can also have very elegant results. In the modern kitchen above, a furred out wall above the cabinets makes for a very modern, streamlined look.

(Image credit: Natalie Jeffcott)

Fill the space with trim in a contrasting color

In this Australian home, the fill in between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling, in a contrasting color that matches the countertop, becomes a design element. It also looks like it becomes a storage element — there's wine storage in one spot (for very tall people) and a cabinet above the refrigerator.

(Image credit: Marisa Vitale)

Get some really tall upper cabinets

There's no standard for the distance between your countertop and the bottom of your upper cabinets—so one solution to the cabinet gap issue is to raise your upper cabinets until they hit the ceiling. You can leave extra space between the countertop and the cabinets, add an open shelf below the cabinets, as in this kitchen from A Beautiful Mess, or you can opt for taller-than-average cabinets, to maximize your storage space.

(Image credit: Minette Hand)

Add a second row of cabinets

If you don't like the look of really tall cabinets (or your ceiling is so high that even the tallest cabinets won't cut it), consider adding a second row of cabinets. A row of cabinets with a second, shorter row stacked above will often look more proportional than a single very tall row. This is a great way to add extra storage, although unless you have incredibly long arms, you'll probably want to limit the top cabinets to things you don't use often.

(Image credit: Aimée Mazzenga)

Add a window

Another solution for that awkward gap? Add a window! Of course, this will only work for certain architectural styles (and renovating your kitchen doesn't always mean you have leeway to cut into the walls), but it's a great way to bring light into your kitchen.

(Image credit: Submitted by Tam-Anh)

Paint the wall the same color as the cabinets

The space above the cabinets will be less noticeable if the cabinets and the wall behind are painted the same color. In this case of this Oakland loft, an unusually large gap between the upper cabinets and the ceiling is treated as an opportunity for a little expression.

Embrace it

If none of these options appeal to you, or remodeling just isn't in the cards, consider embracing that pesky old cabinet gap. Use it for storage, or for art—or embrace one of the other options in this post about seven clever above-cabinet solutions.

Nancy Mitchell

Contributor

As a Senior Writer at Apartment Therapy, Nancy splits her time among looking at beautiful pictures, writing about design, and photographing stylish apartments in and around NYC. It's not a bad gig.