DIY Farmhouse Kitchen Island -

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This past week I went to visit my parents. They have been wanting a new kitchen island and to update their current cabinets. So over a 4 day visit we did just that!

This was the old kitchen island. It has had a missing door ever since it split in half.

This was the back of the kitchen island and the only other “before” picture I have of the kitchen before we painted the cabinets.

Kitchen Island Supplies:

Diamond Now Arcadia 30″ Door and Drawer Base Cabinet

Diamond Now Arcadia 18″ Drawer Base Cabinet

Round Polished Chrome Cabinet Knobs

6′ Birch Butcher Block Countertop

Howard Butcher Block Conditioner

Hardboard Wall Panel

Corner Guards

2 – 1″x4″x4′ wood board

The first thing we had to do to remove the old kitchen island was to unbolt it from the floor. We went into the basement and unscrewed the bolts from under the island. Upstairs we then removed the bolts from inside the cabinet. We kept the washers, bolts, and large screws to reuse with the new kitchen island.

After removing the island and washing the floor underneath (yes having a floor underneath is usually not customary) we then placed the new cabinets into place. The new island is the same size as the old island to match the current kitchen footprint. However, as you can see there are more pull out drawers that offer more storage in this island.

I think it already looks so much brighter!

Next up we have to screw the cabinets together to make them one unit. We lined up the two fronts together, however it leaves a big gap through the middle to the back of the cabinets. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of this step, but you will need shims or scrap wood to fill the gaps and screw the cabinets together.

Here is a picture from my kitchen island build; if you look closely you can see 2 pieces of wood holding the cabinets together.

After the cabinets were screwed together we bolted it to the floor. To make sure we drilled in the correct spot, my mother took a long screw and pushed it up through the basement ceiling and tapped on the bottom of the cabinet. I then drilled a hole. She then shined a flashlight through the drilled hole, I set the screws in, and she replaced the washer and bolts.

Next we painted the corner guards and 1×4″ boards with color-matched paint. While waiting for those to dry we prepared the butcher block top by sanding it and applying 3-4 coats of Howard’s butcher block conditioner to each side.

Here the countertop is being treated with oil & beeswax combo that is food safe.

When everything was dry we secured the panel to the back of the cabinets using liquid nails and brad nails. We used one of the 1×4″ pieces of wood cut to size to fill in the gap between the hardboard and top of cabinet. We then secured the corner guards using liquid nails and brad nails. The last 1×4″ piece was installed on the bottom of the front cabinets for the baseboard.

Here is the island with only the hardboard installed so far.

After the trim pieces were installed we were able to place our top on! We outlined the entire cabinet frame top with liquid nails, measured where we would need to place it, and wiggled it into place until it was square. After the top was in place we set some heavy items on the top to weigh it down, then I screwed to frame to the top.

Lastly, we had to install hardware. I can’t believe my parents went 29 years without hardware on their kitchen doors and drawers. It’ll be such a luxury for them! We measured each door and drawer (as we found out all the drawers were different sizes) and made a mark where we would be drilling. To prevent the front of the cabinets from splintering I used painter’s tape to cover the area. After that you just need to install the hardware!