When I saw this post from AngelaRoseHome I knew I wanted to take my cabinets to the ceiling. Turns out it wasn’t too difficult to do. This is what I was working with when we first moved in.
First, I removed the trim from the top of the cabinets. This wasn’t too hard to do, mine were just installed with brad nails, no glue. I used a tiny crow bar and just wiggled the trim a big to take it off. Some of the nails stuck in the cabinets so I did have to pry those out.
Then I took measurements and made boxes out of plywood. I inset the screws so they wouldn’t affect how the boxes sat on the cabinets instead of using pocket holes. These star head screws are my favorite to use because it’s very difficult to strip these out.
Once I got the boxes put together I test fit them to make sure they would fit before I put the back on. I built them pretty exact so there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room. If I built these again I’d leave more wiggle room because come to find out the walls are never perfectly straight! I did leave room in the back, but not the sides so I did struggle a little to get these exactly in place.
After I put the back on (I used brown board for this) I installed some block on the tops of the cabinets with wood glue and screws to give me something to screw the boxes into.
I took a scrap piece of 1×2 and placed it in front of the box when I was screwing it into place to make sure I positioned the boxes perfectly so the face frame would sit perfectly flush with the existing cabinets. 1x2s are used for a face frame.
The box over the microwave was a lot shorter than the rest so I had a hard time screwing it in with a regular drill bit. Tyler had a 90 degree bit that I borrowed to get this box installed.
Once I got all the boxes installed, I added the face frame, one piece at a time. This probably would have been easier if I had put together the face frame first, with pocket holes. That way the pieces would be flush before it was installed.
At first, I used a 1×5 piece of wood for the top trim, but wood tends to warp and is bendy and wasn’t sitting up there perfectly. So I took it down and replaced it with a baseboard made of MDF. It was easier to work with and was already primed and ready to paint. Also, after I took that wood down I realized I needed something to attach it to. So I put some L shaped spacers up on top that I made out of scrap wood. I just used brad nails to install it. I also used base cap moulding on top of the baseboard to give it a more decorative and finished look.
All kitchen links can be found here.
Next up, I painted my kitchen cabinets.
Hello. I was wondering what kind of paint you used on your kitchen cabinets? I’ve painted cabinets before and they always chip after a while. Thanks so much. I live your house!
Thank you! It’s the Behr cabinet and trim enamel and it has worked really well! I also prepped them like crazy! I do have a few spots I need to touch up soon, like our silverware drawer, when my MIL was living here her nails were long and she would dig them into the spot behind the drawer pull. But aside from a couple spots like that it still looks great! I cleaned them, sanded them a tiny bit, cleaned them again with liquid sandpaper, went over them again with warm water and then a tack cloth. I made sure I put a lot of work into the prep. I’ll be posting about it Monday.
Hi!! I’m interested in information about your stone backsplash! Particularly what materials did you choose?? Thanks!
It’s a stone ledger I found at Floor&Decor. I don’t have it linked because I believe they stopped selling it.
Your cabinets look spectacular! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! And thank you for being here!
Hi! New here and I love your work!! Do you have a list of supplies used for this project?
Hi Brenda, and thanks for being here! I do have a favorite tools section in my amazon store front. In the menu at the top of my site tap “shop my amazon” and in all my blog posts I link the tools I use for the projects. Let me know if this answers your question.
How did you thin the paint? Was it just water? It looks freaking great!
Hello, for the top trim did you also align that flush to the boxes you made and added moulding to hide the seam? Hard to tell from the video and pictures and didn’t see it in the description.
Yes, it was a baseboard I got from Lowes and I put it as high up as I could and there was still a little bit of a gap. then I added basecap moulding to the top of that to hide the gap between the baseboard and the ceiling and then caulked everything. Does that answer your question? I did my entryway builtins and built in bar the same way, you may be able to see more in those posts.
Oh okay. I was wondering if you mounted it flushed or left some overhang because it looks like there’s moulding on the top from the ceiling to the mdf, as well as moulding on the bottom, where the mdf and boxes you built meet.
I built the boxes and installed, then added 1×2 boards as a “faceframe”, and then added the trim (that’s sold in the baseboard section) on top of the boxes attached to the 1×2 faceframe on top and then the basecap moulding on top of that.
It looks like you painted some of the stuff before you installed it like the face frame and MDF baseboard and base caps… and then you brad nail installed them…. Did you fill the brad nail holes sand and then repaint once it was up?
Yes, that’s exactly what I did. Just touch up paint though, if you feather out the paint you can’t tell.
Just stopped here because I have the same cabinets and when I clicked on the post it made my whole day to see someone else’s name is Astin like me!!!🦋❤️
Same thing here! Totally startled me after I clicked to see “Astin’s Designs” at the top and I love the work, too!
Looks amazing! How much space did you have from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling? Would love to do this!
I believe about 16-18 inches or so.
How tall is your kitchen ceiling? I’m so inspired!
Glad I could inspire! They are 9ft ceilings, there was probably about 16in of space above my cabinets.
What did you use as the backsplash between the counter and cabinets?
I used a stone backsplash. If you search “backsplash” in my blog you’ll find what it is. I got it from Floor&Decor but they don’t carry it anymore the last I checked, but they have a white one similar.