SFGate

olldbobbi You don't live in Northern California, do you? Our flipper wasn't good either, just wondering if we had the same one.

I'm assuming you have cabinet doors since I see hinges and you're looking for something to cover the mess above the cabinets. To do this as inexpensively as possible, I would get a piece of finish grade plywood cut to size, stain to match cabs (or paint to match walls) and put some decorative molding around it. I really like your backsplash, it's different. Did you do that yourselves?

Debbie Simmons Thank you.I think if I do it properly that your suggestion will work great.And yes I did my own back splash.The tiles are by Jeffrey Court.I found them at home depot.

gingerclaire How easy is it to access the roofspace above?

Debbie Simmons ...and yes northern california. (Suisun City) The contractors license has since been suspended.Why I don't but I have about two pages of things we've corrected in this last year,ranging from paint peeling,grout crumbleing,to a window almost falling out of the upstairs guest bath.But I truely LOVE my house.

Debbie Simmons We only have access to over the garage and limited to the upstairs roofspace.No access to the main area downstairs.The house had been in a fire so when he remodeled he "forgot" to leave an access .Recently we found that some of the frame still had charred spots.And occasionally we will smell a slight odor from the fire remains.

gingerclaire I think improving the boxing in would be the neatest option, but an alternative, depending on how much you feel you need the extraction above the hob would be to convert the hob hood into a recirculation system (most European models come with filters so you can do this). You could fit a good quiet high-performance extractor elsewhere in the kitchen venting onto an outside wall to deal with cooking fumes and then tidy up the hole in the ceiling left by the extractor.

gingerclaire If you had better roof-space access, I would have suggested directing the extractor vent directly upwards and using a standard stainless steel cowling to cover the tube. Extractors work better the fewer corners the air has to go around! You could then move stuff around in the roof-space to make it work.

hotrod396 Id build something the with of your doors! what do you have above 16inches or more?? if you can find some to cut 3 piece that high & wide you can tack it together and let it sit there...stain it or paint the color of your wall there....if you stain it take 1 door down to lowes and match color then grab a can of paste wax and add 3 coat & buff it out real good and most can't tell that it wan't sprayed...that looks like maple cabinets to me..hope thats some of help..

Interiors International, Inc. It seems to me that since you do not have a soffit you could build one. Many if not most kitchens have them above the upper cabinets. This woulds also give you the opportunity to add can lighting around the room (that is if you don't have them). I can't tell by the picture but if all the cabinets are like this it would be a good thing. I hate having my upper cabinets with open tops it just gets dirty up there. I hate cleaning.

Home Preppers Get rid of it and get a new hood that circulates the air.

hotrod396 OR totally hide it like this one i did, that duct can be moved over.
dose it go out the roof? or box it in like this other pic.LOTS of ways to keep that hood & not spend more money.well really you would spend it either way..

Linda Given that there are two holes in the top of the cabinet, I imagine the installer was planning to go straight up with the duct work but found an obstruction in the way. I can't imagine the original person would have put that bend in the pipe just because he wanted to

I would build a box over the cabinet tops to hide the ductwork

olldbobbi Linda, that's a good point!....Bobbi