I was looking at a mag today (in Dr. office 1999), there was a photo of a kitchen with soffits directly above the cabinets, then trim at the soffit/ceiling. It looked great.

If you need shorter cabinets then I can see how custom is needed. If higher though, finding a trim wide enough to cover the space between cabinet and soffit would work.

Check out the kitchen forum and search for "soffit". There are tons of posts there. Don't get too overwhelmed with the kitchen forum, there are a lot of small kitchens included with the big ones.

What is behind the soffit?

Thanks Emagineer, it is overwhelming over there! And the soffit is creating the need for shorter cabinets, not taller ones.
Bud_wi, the soffit has water pipes and some electrical stuff. It would be one situation if it only affected me, but they are pipes that ultimately serve the whole building.

Have you looked at having the cabinets refaced? I did this with a 1970s kitchen which was huge. It turned out beautiful and far less expensive, along with less mess of remodeling. I used a small company of two men who paid attention to detail. The big stores were out of range and didn't have as many selections. You can check refacing skills by looking at the finished edges of the cabinet boxes, this is the area where poor finishing is obvious.

What style are you after? They are now making "kitchen furniture" that allows options for different heights, have a lot of unique storage and are less pricey. If/when I need to redo my kitchen, am definitely going to consider going this direction. This is a European concept and also from our country kitchens of yore, but is having a comeback in the US with styles beyond the country feel.

I thought of you when I read the latest entry in my favorite home blog. Check out this link....scroll down a bit for some soffit ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: One Woman's Cottage Life

I am having a similar problem in my 800 sq ft condo. I cannot change the soffits in the kitchen, so opted to go for the 30 in cabinets and just have the space between the counter and the upper cabinets be a little less than standard (15.5 in). That is what I have now and it looks fine. I am raising the cabinet above the sink to a 24 in cabinet, so I know I could do 24 in tall for most if not all of the widths that I need. As I recall, the cabinets were not available in 27 in.

I am on a low budget, so I am going with the basic Kraftmaid cabinets through Lowes, but other companies may have different options for wall cabinets. Might be worth checking out Thomasville (for example) to see if they offer different sizes? Also, they are customizing my standard size pantry cabinet for my bathroom linen cabinet for around $200 (i.e., reducing the depth so it will fit my space), but that would get pricey if you wanted to go that route.

BTW: I am apparently able to install recessed lights in my soffit. Two neighbors have done that already. So there might be some use for them after all.

Good luck!

I also can't remove my soffits because of wiring and plumbing. I live in a downstairs condo. I have opted to remove all of my upper cabinets in the kitchen remodel I am currently undertaking to open up the kitchen and make it seem less oppressive. I purchased a large pantry cabinet (unfinished at Lowes) and installed it. It hold everything that was in 4 upper cabinets. I'm going to have a lazy susan corner cabinet and short peninsula added to the bottom cabinets that will also provide more storage. I plan on adding lighting under the soffit. I really think (and hope) that this will op[en up the kitchen.