Do you want to do a partial kitchen remodel where you keep the existing cabinets, updating the countertops and sink?

I recently saw a woman on TikTok who shared what a dramatic difference new counters and backsplash made in her wood kitchen. She was happy with the result and it did look a lot better.

I’m glad she is happy but, of course, as a designer, I could see how if she had gone a step or two further, she might have given that kitchen a look that could last longer overall, like as long as those new counters will last.

There were a few things she could have done to bring the whole kitchen up a notch, so that she wouldn’t look at this 5 years from now and feel like she wanted to redo again. Or, if they would be selling, that a new buyer couldn’t tell right off the bat those were old cabinets and only a partial update had been made.

Now, I know, this is not always a choice people might want or can afford to make when they remodel. However, I just want to share some options here, so you can take it all into consideration, when you might be starting a remodel. :-)

One of the features in the kitchen I mentioned above that had wood cabinets is very typical of older kitchen design.

Short upper cabinets in kitchen with open space above the uppers.

Common Feature of Older Kitchen - Short Upper Cabinets

These days newer kitchens tend to have cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling, eliminating that ledge or gap that collects dust. This is a trend that has been going on for awhile.

Here are two model homes I toured fairly recently.

Model home with kitchen cabinets going to the ceiling.

Almost all of my kitchen remodels include cabinets to the ceiling. It’s not even about storage really, it is about how it looks and feels more elevated than short upper cabinets.

Here are a few of my remodels where we did new cabinetry and made sure the cabinets went to the ceiling.

Kitchen remodel with new cabinets to the ceiling - Carla Aston, Designer

Total Kitchen Remodel - Carla Aston, Designer

A consultation kitchen design project - Carla Aston, Designer

When I say short, this really means short, relative to the ceiling height. If there is a super tall ceiling, then the cabinets really just need to scale properly with the ceiling height. For example, they may not go all the way up, like in a two story type kitchen space, but they take up a substantial amount of wall space in a high ceiling kitchen.

For example, the cabinetry there on the side wall of this new build kitchen were tall, but going all the way to the ceiling would have been overkill. Plus, we needed room for the beam to land on the wall there.

Rendering of one of my new build kitchen design projects. Carla Aston, Designer

Upper kitchen cabinets, being at eye level and above, are so much more highly visible than lower cabinets. They can be more so than a backsplash too, so they really should be addressed when doing a partial remodel.

With the kitchen seen on TikTok, the wood upper cabinets were short. Since she updated with white counters, splash and walls, the band of dark wood short cabinets just stood out even more. That’s what you want to avoid.

Avoid creating a focus to the elephant you left in the room.

Option 1 - Updating Short Upper Cabinets with Paint

Let’s start with a more simple option to add to a project, paint.

You don’t have to paint all of the cabinets, leave the lowers alone if you want. Just paint the short uppers so that they are the same or a similar color as the wall behind. You don’t have to match the wall exactly, but make sure they are close enough so that the short upper cabinets don’t stand out, but blend together, visually.

Here’s a kitchen remodel I worked on with relatively short upper cabinets compared to the overall ceiling height, which was 11’-0”. We couldn’t go taller with the cabinets because of the windows there. I might have added another layer of cabinetry, if there had been no windows.

The owner wanted to paint the whole kitchen anyway, but you can see how effective it was to paint these uppers more the color of the wall behind. It all blends together and doesn’t accentuate the dark cabinetry, that slice of high contrast on the wall is eliminated.

We had new doors and drawers made too, for a cleaner style that the homeowner desired. That microwave was removed since there was a new oven that had a microwave on the top.

BEFORE - Kitchen remodel with dark wood short upper cabinets.

AFTER - Kitchen Remodel with painted upper cabinets. Designer: Carla Aston

Here’s more on that kitchen pictured above.

In this kitchen, below, since we were doing so much all over the house, we just painted the perimeter cabinets and then focused on a new island to command the attention in the room. The whitewashed wood cabinets had turned peach over the years.

AFTER - Kitchen remodel painting perimeter cabinets with new wood island. Carla Aston, Designer

The painted cabinetry just blends with the wall and you definitely don’t notice the gap at the ceiling as much as before they were painted.

Option 2 - Updating Short Uppers w/ Additional Cabinets on Top

You can update short upper cabinets by adding cabinets or boxing in on top of the existing uppers. I’ve done this a few times in a few partial kitchen remodels.

Here’s one of my kitchen remodels where we added cabinets on top to the existing. Obviously you have to remove the crown on top of the existing cabinets, but then you can build on top to extend the height to the ceiling.

BEFORE - Kitchen remodel with dark wood cabinets

AFTER - Kitchen remodel with top cabinets added onto the uppers to take them to the ceiling. Carla Aston, Designer

See more on the kitchen above here.

This kitchen, below, went viral on Pinterest slmost 10 years ago.

BEFORE - Kitchen to be remodeled keeping some of the existing cabinetry.

We boxed out the space above the existing cabinets.

AFTER - Kitchen remodel with paneled area installed to the ceiling, above existing upper cabinets. Carla Aston, Designer

We didn’t have enough space to make a full door really, so we paneled it instead. I often see people just boxing that open space in and leaving it solid. I don’t think you’re fooling anyone in that instance.

When there is 12” or more of space up there, the paneling is a good way to go so that it appears more like it was always built that way and not just filled in. The verticals and division of panels there do a lot to achieve the best look.

You can see more about this kitchen remodel here.

Option 3 - Updating by Replacing Upper Cabinets With New, Leaving Lowers

This might be a great option if you only have a few upper cabinets or just want to salvage what you can from the existing kitchen.

With this kitchen, below, we left the lower cabinets and only replaced the uppers and the oven tower here. Now, these uppers aren’t short really, but we didn’t want to leave that gap at the top and wanted a fresh new, coastal look.

The homeowner did like the stained cabinets too, so we left those at the base, which worked out well since we were leaving the travertine floor too.

BEFORE Kitchen Remodel - Client wanted a lighter, coastal look

AFTER - Kitchen remodel with new uppers and oven tower, using existing lower wood cabinets | Carla Aston, Designer

See more on this kitchen above, here.

Option 4 - Updating by Strategically Raising Other Cabinets/Elements

There is another way to give the illusion of more height in your kitchen, leaving your upper cabinets as is. You can raise other elements in the kitchen that can serve to draw the eye. Elements such as the window treatment at a kitchen window, a hood, a refrigerator cabinet, etc.

Here’s a past kitchen remodel where we moved the microwave and inserted a custom wood hood to the ceiling. That, along with painting the cabinets to blend with the walls, added height and a focal point to the kitchen.

AFTER - Kitchen remodel with new hood to the ceiling and painted cabinetry. Carla Aston, Designer

You can read more about this kitchen here.

In this kitchen, below, we removed the cabinets above the range and designed a larger hood that went to the ceilng. It’s new dominance created a eye-catching moment in this kitchen and added visual height to the space.

AFTER - Kitchen remodel with new hood going to the ceiling. Carla Aston, Designer

See more about this partial kitchen remodel here.

Here’s a kitchen redo I worked on with a house that was on the market with no offers for months.

The overall paint job helped a lot. However, I think just adding in that one raised section at the cooktop (there was a downdraft, so no need for an overhead venthood) was the perfect way to break up the low run of cabinets and add more presence at the cooktop.

Modification done to millwork at the top of the upper cabinets to accent cooktop area.

AFTER - Kitchen remodel to sell | Carla Aston, Designer

I do love how the white paint against the white wall behind works to minimize the height of the uppers here too. :-)

See more about this project here.

Extra Tip When Partially Remodeling Kitchen Upper Cabinets

Here’s my last tip today for updating short, upper cabinets.

If your cabinets happen to have an arched raised panel like these below, don’t add cabinets on top. That will really telegraph the modification you are doing as a partial update.

Consider getting new doors, without arches. That arched look interrupts the flow of the vertical lines and really dates the cabinetry.

So, did you wonder what I recommended about the short upper cabinets in the image at the top of this post?

Here it was. They had such high ceilings and a big kitchen too.

Even though I didn’t put the cabinets to the ceiling, I did add cabinet boxes on top to make them taller. Then I sketched up new taller oven and fridge cabinets too. A window treatment mounted higher than the cabinets would be nice and would break up the long wall.