Hey, great news, Forensicmom. Soffits are back in! They serve a real architectural function. They highlight the center, higher area of the room, and kitchens with them tend to feel cozier and more sheltered from the outside, similar to the effect you get from thicker walls. How about, instead of trying to disguise them as cabinet, adding a little detail to gently set them off? Such as perhaps some of the molding used elsewhere? Or even wallpaper or custom painting a design. Extend them over walls that don't have cabinets? Don't get so horrified right off that you don't check out some examples of attractive soffits. You'll find some nice ones in Craftsman/Arts and Crafts homes, but your home doesn't have to hark to that era to take inspiration from them.

I have been refinishing my oak cabinets little by little and have finally arrived at the kitchen. Life keeps getting in the way of my start date(I'm sick right now-hopefully next week). I have been chemically stripping the old orangish finish and using a poly/stain in one to refinish them. It is a process and takes a lot of time(most of it is actually drying time), but I find the results to be worth it. I didn't want to paint them because they are still in good shape and I've seen other homes in my area with painted ones and I personally felt it cheapened the look of the house(Not all homes are like this, I'm just sharing my experience.) I've heard that paint on the cabinets can chip, etc. My mom had cabinets painted and she said she wouldn't do it again, so I think it is personal preference as well as what look you are going for. Obviously dark stained cabinets that are oak look far different than cabinets that are painted. I think there are pros and cons to both. And I can almost guarantee you that staining them is more of a process, though someone here mentioned a gel stain that only requires sanding prior to application, just as a paint would--no stripping the old finish. I'm just doing the process I've perfected over a year since I'm familiar with the products I'm using.
As for cost-I've done 3 bathrooms and a large hall linen area and it has cost me about $100. Paint brushes, sand paper, stripper X, stuff to clean the stripper up, the stain/poly(I think each can runs around $14 at HD-I'll probably use 2-3 cans in the kitchen, depending on how many coats of it I use-the bathrooms used 3 coats, but they are THIN coats)

Thanks. My cabinets are maple but they have the pickled/white washed finish and I've never liked them. They are OK wood but I would prefer a medium cherry color on the island and white with the glaze on the rest of the cabinets.

I will take a look at the soffit ideas. We don't want to get rid of them b/c of the work that it would take, so we're just trying to find a way to accent or spruce things up.

hi forensicmom, here's a pic of my soffit, which has the wood panel framed by moulding.

and a detail of the moulding

This particular soffit is above my cookbook shelf but the soffit above the uppers looks the same. The framing gives it more focus and not so much like it's just covering empty space (or whatever).

hth, cheers

I am too tired to attribute properly, sorry, but these are photos posted by other GWebbers showing the trimmed soffit trick you're talking about.

Well, that was useless. Check the thread below--you'll find the pics there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Why didn't my pics show up???

Thanks. There are a lot of pictures I've seen of things that can be done. I think DH wants to use some type of trim. He's a high end custom home builder, so he knows what he's doing.

If you are ivesigating your options....I've been looking into a product from Rustoleum called Cabinet Transformations. Online reviews seem good and I love the NO SANDING! part as well as the fact the paint comes with co-ordinating but optional glazing. Their website is pretty good with lots of customer before and after pics. I'm planning on getting a kit to use on some bathroom cabinets.