Extending your kitchen cabinets up to the ceiling isn't as hard as you think!How to fill in that empty space and extend your existing cabinets. This is a great way to update builder's grade cabinets in your kitchen or laundry room.
Taller upper cabinets give you a custom look, and with this tutorial you can add them for a lot less! You can add doors for extra storage space, or leave them open like I did to display decorative items.
When we picked out cabinets out during our building process, we went with the shorter versions rather than taller. I knew that tallest shelf would be too high to reach and I was trying not to spend any more money. :)
Closing The Space Above The Kitchen Cabinets
You can see here where I had taken down the crown to add cabinets above the fridge -- it was still up on the left:
I still would have done this project even with taller cabinets. I love the look of built ins and building them to ceiling height feels more custom to me.
I didn't use any fancy tools to build these boxes. They were so basic -- I didn't even use a pocket hole jig. We won't see the sides of the boxes, and they are mostly decorative, so it's not needed.
Create More Kitchen Storage: Install Open Shelving Above The Sink
If you will see the sides of a piece (and don't want to add trim), I would recommend using a Kreg Jig.
But to build these upper cabinets (as well as the box I built to extend the kitchen island), I just used plywood boards and screws:
This is my favorite corded drill -- I love it for bigger projects that need more power and last longer than my battery operated drill will allow.
How To Upgrade Your Kitchen With Open Shelving
I didn't even use glue (I've learned adjustments may need to be made later). Those who build cabinetry for a living are probably cringing. :) But these won't be touched much at all and the boxes are strong!
My point is, you don't need a ton of tools or a workshop (your kitchen floor is fine) to do things like this.
The hardest part of every project like this is figuring out the sizing of the boards to make the boxes. I spend most of my time perfecting that.
Smart Ways To Use The Space Above Your Cabinets
I stand with a tape measure and notebook and draw pictures of what I want to do and end up scratching most of it out before I get to the final. It's how I work it all out in my head.
I have all my pieces cut down at the hardware store -- I didn't do them all at once this time because I was checking sizing as I went.
I built one box at a time and placed them up on top of the existing cabinets to make sure I had the width and height correct:
Building Cubbies Above Kitchen Cabinets
I built separate boxes, but you could build one big box with one piece of wood separating each section. I knew I wanted to mimic the look of the bottom cabinets with face trim so I wanted the sides of these to be thicker.
Your cabinets are built to hold quite a bit of weight so don't worry about that. Make sure to attach them into the wall studs behind (and to each other) -- that will take most of the weight off.
It doesn't go all the way back but I wanted it to go back enough so that I could attach it to the one next to it.
Examples Of The Space Above Your Kitchen Cabinets
I was already in love!! My husband and child were just humoring me at this point, nodding and saying, yeah it looks greaaaat.
We had about two feet of space above our cabinets and I made these 16 inches tall. I was adding a header above and wanted to leave enough space for that and decorative trim.
I didn't want the cabinets to be too tall -- I thought that would look at little off since our old cabinets are a basic size.
Farmhouse Kitchen // Adding A Shelf Below Our Upper Cabinets (+ Other Layouts We Considered) — The Grit And Polish
Next I had to prep for the header piece. I screwed some scrap wood into the beams in the ceiling for the header to attach to at the top.
I didn't get a good picture of this but you can see a piece of that sticking out behind the header to the right in this pic:
As you can see, after that was secure in the ceiling I was able to attach my header to that and the front of the cabinets. I used a 1x10 piece of wood for this part.
How Deep Should Kitchen Shelves Be? (ideas And Tips)
Also, I didn't remove the crown molding around the room to put these up -- I knew I could cope new pieces in so that saved me a ton of time.
Next were the finishing touches -- this is my favorite part because things start to come together! I added some 1x2 trim along the bottom of the boxes:
I made the header thick because I have crown and trim that I needed to continue around the top of the cabinets. That takes up about five inches from the ceiling down.
Tips For Kitchen Shelves With Floating Shelf Placement Ideas
Also, I will be adding lighting inside the cabinets and that will run along the back of the header. This gives me plenty of room to add that and keep it hidden.
I was working on a deadline here -- I am a procrastinator through and through. I've had weeks to get this done but I work best when I HAVE to get it done.
You can see here we had to have the recessed light moved out a few inches -- it was right in the way of where the crown was going.
Trendy Ways To Decorate The Empty Space Above Kitchen Cabinets — Neutrally Nicole
It's hard to see there but if you look close you can see how I added the small trim along the top that goes around the rest of our great room. It's an easy way to make your crown molding look extra chunky.
A couple of you have asked about the cabinet on the left side -- I won't be moving it because the way the doors open would be awkward.
I used some extra wood leftover from the fridge enclosure so that helped a ton with costs. I ended up spending maybe another $100 and that includes trim.
How To Enclose The Space Above Kitchen Cabinets
If you have less space than we did, you could just add the header and close the whole thing up. With a lot of space like we have, it would be too big of a header.When we moved into our house this is what the kitchen looked like. I wasn’t in love with the space above the cabinets, but I tried to make it work by decorating with vintage Mason Jars.
I felt like the Mason jars just collected dust. So when we installed the bigger window I removed the apron and shelf above the sink and I boarded up the opening above the cabinet. I wasn’t a fan of that either.
So when I painted the cabinets white I took the flat board down, leaving an old exposed duct and a space that I didn’t particularly love.
Diy & Affordable Ways To Redo Kitchen Cabinets
Then I built an enclosure in the garage using a board for the back, a board for the top and sides, with finishing boards on the front and top.
Once I had it in place the hardest part was cutting the proper angles on the crown molding to fit in there perfectly.
This tutorial and these guides were super helpful in figuring out how to cut the crown. That and some caulk to hide the imperfections!
Another Way To Use That Above Cabinet Space? Hang A Shelf There!
Then I sanded where I had damaged my paint job, and primed and painted it the same way that I had painted my cabinets.
Then I staged it with tons of my favorite things! I think that the way it goes to the ceiling gives it such a modern and custom feel! I’m sure it will be a rotating display space, but for now I think I’m pretty content with my treasures that I put up there!
Our kitchen to-do list is slowly getting knocked out, our next big projects are cabinets, a backsplash, and flooring! I’d also love a matching stainless oven, but have also become pretty attached to my double oven, so finding an affordable stainless double oven is my current Craigslist goal! In our last house I REALLY wanted to tear out the soffits above the cabinets, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to repair the drywall well enough to cover it up. If I would have thought of this alternative then I think that this would even work in place of existing soffits! It really opens up a world of new options doesn’t it?Introduction Create an attractive display shelf for the empty space above your kitchen cabinets. This project requires only basic carpentry skills, and you can build it in a day.
How To Cover Open Kitchen Shelves Above Cabinets
If you have empty space above your kitchen cabinets, you already know how difficult it is to keep it clean. And if you’ve ever tried to display anything above them, you also know the surface isn’t flat, so objects sink out of view. Why not solve both problems with an attractive display shelf you can easily build in a day?
This project only requires basic carpentry tools and
0 Comments
Posting Komentar