No wallpaper border, it looks just fine the way it is. Crown molding similar to picture 2 will not work and may interfere with cabinet doors. Good time to spend more time outside and not stare at your walls as most of us have been forced to do for 2 years.

Years ago we did crown moulding and it looked great. We have since done a complete Reno and brought cupboards up to the ceiling

i think it looks fine the way it is.

This is a great place to add character to a space. Ways I have done this include wallpaper border (as you mentioned) painting a stencilled design such as a vine, flowers, geometric shapes, or whatever your imagination may come up with. I have done a "permanent" clock by purchasing a kit with long hands on Amazon for about $15 and the last thing I have done was use to put a quote or expression on there either by painting it or by purchasing a self-adhesive wall decal.

Hope these suggestions are helpful and have a very blessed day! 😺

"not stare at your walls as most of us have been forced to do for 2 years."

Glad I don't live where you do LOL.

OP, the soffit is fine as is. I would never put wallpaper up there. Leave it alone.

Soffit above cabinets fine. What's bugging me is the pull handles and knobs on the cabinet doors and the backsplash color.

Leave the soffits as is as they are innocuous and blend.

I also have soffits because of a structural beam that runs across one wall of my kitchen. I don't even see it.

Frankly I prefer a soffit to cabinets with space between the ceiling and the top of the cabinet because they don't accumulate dirt like the spaces do. I used to have a refrigerator that had a "gap" at the top and the amount of dirt that would have to be cleaned was amazing - very glad I never had to deal with the tops of a run of cabinets.

I am among those who think most wallpaper on the bulkhead above kitchen cabinets is dated…..unless you have a modern wallpaper in mind. My recent kitchens have had cabinetry to the ceiling…no bulkhead. If there is a bulkhead, I would paint it to match the cabinets or the same as the walls.

Please, no stencil sayings or vines or wall paper! Leave it alone.

Im not a ”sayings” type person

Nothing. No wallpaper or any decorations at all. Let it fade into the ceiling. It looks fine the way it is!

leave it as is.

change our the cabinet hardware. use handles on the uppers

I have a similar configuration. Our neighbor decided to go up with cabinets (the ceiling is 10 feet). When they opened up the soffit they found all sorts of electrical and plumbing up there which added additional cost and complications. Never can be sure what it hides

Looks good like it is. Eyes need places to rest. Looks clean and fresh. Gives more light with dark cabinets.

Hello. I love the idea of building out the bulkhead with crown moldings to the ceiling. Maybe add decorative moldings on top and then paint your moldings and cabinets the same color (if you like painted cabinets). If you like stain, finding the exact match to your cabinets would work. Changing the handles might add another update that will flow nicely with the new moldings. Also, adding under counter lighting would be a great addition. I know you didn't ask for that but I have it in mine and love it :-) .

Pinterest has some great ideas on building out your bulkhead.

Hope this helps.

...if you have any collectibles pertinent to a kitchen, put a grouping up there...

When I had bulkheads I hung kitchen themed pictures, plates & copper forms (they do need to be dusted though) You could also, depending on the look of your kitchen, hang old family photos of mothers, grandmothers making Christmas & Thanksgiving dinners, cooking with the kids, families sitting down to dinner, etc.

IMO the less attention you bring to that bulkhead the better so leave it.

My 2 cents. Listen to the Pros. (Patricia, Beth) and Feliz.

It’s interesting that bulkheads used to be considered a feature of a quality kitchen because of the extra expense to build them. We left ours in our mid century home but used the same color as the ceiling and walls. Also, as another commenter stated, you never know what is contained inside such as plumbing, wiring, etc. I think your bulkheads look fine and not worth the expense and mess to remove them.

If there is room, you could add a row of cabinets with glass doors to keep it light and airy (have interior lighting, too). Great place to store seasonal dishes, less frequently used items.
Use crown so there isn’t a tiny space between this additional cabinet row and the ceiling.
I agree with the other commenters that changing your hardware out would update your cabinets a lot.

Remove it and the cabinets and put cabinets all the way to to ceiling. Having that ridiculous space above the cabinets is one thing that makes a house look CHEAPO. Looks like a cheap rental apartment. And those top shelf high cabinets are great for less-used items.

If you decide to paint your dark cabinets or reface them, I have a suggestion for you to fix the soffit problem. I found this a while ago. https://www.remodelandolacasa.com/2012/01/closing-space-above-kitchen-cabinets.html

"cheapo end of the spectrum are the painted cabinets and only because they're cheaper to make with low grade wood and melamine panels, now that is icky."

Hogwash. Painted cabinets are certainly no indication of either "icky" or "cheapo" or "low grade wood". Good grief. I have solid wood cabinets, and they are solidly built. Original to the house. I painted them white, and they look freaking fabulous. FAR better than they looked previously.

I think it looks best as is, painted the same color as a wall, because it blends in. Unless there’s something you’d like to display, such as collectible plates or decorative jello molds, I’d leave as is until the point you replace the cabinets. Otherwise, it’s not an area I’d want to draw attention to.

Thank you everyone for rhe comments. My husband would not be a fan of painting the cabinets and we just installed the gray backsplash to match the new granite countertops we had installed too. Maybe it wasnt rhe best choice of tile but it will have to do. i will definitely swap out the cabinet hardware for pulls instead of knobs

Shelly P. I was not suggesting you paint them - was just responding to the silly post above. They are fine as they are - not sure why anyone suggested painting in the first place as it was never your question. :-)

Knobs on upper cabinets look so much better than handles.

I think a combination of knobs and pulls would work as I also tend to prefer knobs for doors versus pulls which I think look better on drawers.

My kitchen is a combination of knobs and pulls.

I think the issue with your current hardware is that it is a little "tired" and not as attractive as it could be. Knobs and pulls should be the "jewelry" in your kitchen and yours are bland. There are loads of gorgeous choices if you coordinate the knobs and pulls into a more elegant style.

Black knobs and pulls -- to go with the faucet. It will be an instant improvement.

I agree that knobs would be fine for the cabinets and you won't have to drill an extra hole.

I love the simple look of these flat, straight edge ones:

Chessie, it's so rude and impolite to declare someone's post as silly. You should really stop doing that. I would not insult anyone's thoughtful ideas. She didn't say if she was planning to paint or reface and I'm not able to read her thoughts. I even wrote that I didn't know if she was considering something like that. This is why I hardly ever post here. I am a designer and a realtor and have helped over a thousand homeowners with their design problems.

I disagree with you and I stand by what I wrote. The post I had responded to was absurd.

I put faux ceiling beams and love the result!

Living in a condo, there are vents running through the soffits so we needed to leave them. Adding 8” crown molding, addition lighting and framed mirrors helped.

Terrib962 “ugh” you are so incredibly rude! I would leave the bulkhead as is and not decorate it in any way, keeping it simple keeps the focus on cabinets/backsplash etc. I also don’t think it’s necessary to change out your knobs unless you want to. If you do though, take one off first and see if the cabinets have faded under the circular base of the knob because handles are often narrower and may not cover that. Found that out the hard way recently and had to go with different knobs instead.

Small kitchen should be left open. We decorated ours with baskets and crocks, but it is also good dry food storage. A large kitchen would look nice with crown molding.

You can’t easily reach anything up there. Don’t draw attention to it by putting stuff up there. Use your money on projects that will benefit you or change style or appeal or functionality. If you think about your house or life, you will probably come up with other things.It really looks fine.

Shelly P., I actually LIKE your gray tile backsplash very much. In fact, I'd continue the gray tiles above the cabinets to give the wall a "subway tile" look. You can do a google image search for kitchens where this is done to see if it's something you & hubby would like. Gray is very hip right now, and deservedly so, since it's a really nice, peaceful look. And since your faucet is black industrial style, if you're planning to change the hardware on your cabinets, I'd choose something black and industrial-looking to marry the look together. Industrial style is also very hip now, so you may want to do some research about that. I think your kitchen is very pretty and you're 90% there, IMHO.

It seems to me that some people think there is space above the cabinets. It's a bulkhead, right? As in, no space above (it's hard to tell in the picture). If so, using it for storage or decorative baskets is not an option. Usually they can't be removed w/o expensive work (relocating pipes or other things). This bulkhead looks perfectly fine and doesn't need to be decorated.

SeattleMCM THANK YOU. Dang I was really scratching my head at the people here suggesting ways to "fill the space". There IS no space LOL. I think it would have helped if the OP had provided clearer pictures - it IS somewhat hard to see.