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In our first house we were so excited to plan our kitchen. We made sure we had plenty of prep space and as well as “unlimited” cabinet space.  We fit in a walk in pantry and we installed a ton of pull-out drawers and wide cabinets so that everything we owned would have a designated home. We were spoiled! We had so much space that we didn’t even fill it all up!

Then we moved… The one thing we like about our kitchen now is how open it is. We have a separate dine-in area and can see into both the living room and formal dining room. However, we knew it would need some work. First off the kitchen area itself is pretty small. There was not even enough counter space to prep once we placed our toaster and dish-drying rack on the counter. The kitchen also only had two small pull-out drawers – one we use for our oven mitts and one we use for plastic wrap and foil. We didn’t even have a space to house our utensils! For the first month after moving in, our utensils just resided on the counter wherever we could find space! Unfortunately the rest of the cabinets were just as narrow as the pull-out storage and therefore weren’t very practical for larger kitchen items like a mixer or crockpot 🙁 We use a crockpot pretty frequently…so that was unfortunate. Thankfully we were able to utilize the narrow cabinets for our pots, pans, and bakeware. But our skillets, tupperware, and large items like our crockpot and electric skillet were left out in the cold without a home 🙁

So knowing what I really liked about our previous kitchen, I came up with a plan to “recreate” the space we were missing. My goal was to DIY a kitchen island! I didn’t want a kitchen cart as I didn’t feel that would offer any quality storage or prep space for what we needed. And have you seen how expensive they are!?!?! I presented the idea to the hubs, who was a little skeptical at first, given that up until this point I had only owned a hand saw and this would be the biggest project I would undertake to date. I mean in order to do this project I would have to go out and buy a saw (to see the one I bought head on over to the “shop” page. It’s amazing!). But after pricing out actual kitchen islands installed by a professional and how grande the process was going to be, he happily obliged.

Of course I headed over to Pinterest to find some inspiration! I stumbled upon this cute little blog called Domestic Blonde and I absolutely love every project she’s done! I basically followed her tutorial here and modified the design to fit the cabinets and countertops I was going to use. Of course I definitely underestimated how long this was going to take me. And I wanted this to be as perfect as possible for my first big project! I had a lot riding on this!

So the first step? Decide what cabinets I wanted! There are so many choices! Style, size, etc.? I ended up going with an unfinished pre-assembled 36×34.5×24″ base oak cabinet and an unfinished pre-assembled 18×34.5×24″ oak cabinet with 3 drawers that I got from Home Depot. I would have linked to them, but it seems that they may not have the exact ones I purchased anymore. This would significantly increase our storage for utensils, crockpots, tupperware, skillets, and other storage containers.

Side note, before I decided to buy the cabinets I marked off with painter’s tape the area on the floor that the cabinets would occupy. I wanted to make sure that we’d still be able to work around that area, open up the fridge, the oven, and the basement door comfortably.

Next, I had to figure out a way to attach the cabinets together. Since the “face” of the cabinets are framed and the back is not, the back is harder to attach as you’ll need thicker shims. I shimmed the front and back at the top and the bottom front to keep spacing as consistent as possible. I was initially going to try and do this myself, but it proved to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated to hold everything together and at the right angles. Thankfully my mother and sister were in town visiting and happened to stop in and lend a hand. Oh so very thankful to not come to a standstill on the first day! Pre-drilling the holes makes it easier as well! I used 2″ screws to attach them together.

Next up are all the decorative features and “personality” you want your island to have. I opted for this bead board paneling. We actually made the trip and overestimated what size paneling would fit in my car, so we had to walk them back into the store, redo our calculations, and buy the next size down…oops! One thing about these bead-board panels are that they are ready to paint! I basically held the panels up to the cabinets and drew around the corners. I then used a circular saw and jig saw to cut them out. Thanks to my father in-law for lending us the tools! We then attached the panels using liquid nails, clamped them in place, then used a hammer and some finishing nails to “seal the deal”. If I had bought the panels I was originally going to get, I wouldn’t have had a seam on the back part of the island…but it all worked out in the end!

I then added framing all around the bottom, up the sides, at the top, and covered up the seam in the back. I used 1×6 boards for the bottom and 1×4 for the top and sides. I did not miter any of these boards. I simply cut to size, glued and clamped, then used screws to secure the boards in the least noticeable areas. It is better to cut as you go as you need to make sure all the boards you cut match up or else you could end up cutting boards too short!

I then went around and used some spare 1×6’s to cut squares for the bottom corners. These I did miter on the corners where they come together. I again used screws and glue to keep them in place. So excited it’s coming together! At this point I was considering painting the whole thing white. I really liked the look, but then realized when people sat at the bar top that it would get dirty very quickly. And I’m all about simplifying (which means less cleaning)!

I then had to decide what we wanted for a top. I wanted something that didn’t cost too much (in case we ever re-did our kitchen) and something that wasn’t going to be high maintenance. After doing some research we ended up going with this butcher block countertop from Lowe’s. I ordered it and picked it up (it again barely fit in my car but I made it work!). I was very surprised by the quality when I unwrapped it. It was solid wood and not overly expensive which made me super happy!

As far as treating the butcher block, I did a bunch of research. Basically I knew butcher blocks needed maintenance but I didn’t want maintenance. So I chose not to do mineral oil. I couldn’t do polyurethane either as that’s not really food safe. Luckily I found this Watco Danish Oil that not only oils but hardens with a food-safe finish. It would give the butcher block that nice sheen that I was looking for that wouldn’t poison us from food prep. We cut it to size and then treated it. I did coat the underside (not as many coats as the top though) to seal the countertop from moisture and hopefully warping. Look how pretty it turned out!

While I was applying the recommended coats to the butcher block, I decided to finish up the rest of the cabinets before the install. I filled in all of the screw holes and prepped everything for paint. I placed plastic under the edges of the cabinets to avoid getting it on my floor. This project is where I most definitely came to appreciate good paint! Most of the painting was done after work and late at night so I couldn’t leave the windows open to air the kitchen out for a long period of time. This paint had little to no smell! The other thing great about this paint is the coverage! The “paint ready” bead board certainly had me fooled. When I started painting them it didn’t look like it was going to take at all. Then I basically just started dabbing the crap out of the bead board with a ton of paint and a sponge brush. It looked absolutely horrendous when I went to bed the first night. I thought I ruined the whole thing, but the next morning the bead board paneling was completely smooth! I couldn’t believe it! It looked like a professional had painted it! I had to do a double-take! So what kind of paint did I use? It was Benjamin Moore’s Advance line! This will for sure be my go-to paint for anything that needs a miracle! Or anytime I want low odor paint – which is always!

Next we installed the countertop! Look at that sheen!! It was heavy with two of us carrying it in. We outlined the top of the base cabinets with some glue/sealant before bringing it in, so all we had to do was position the heavy wood onto them (which was harder than I thought it would be). We then put all of our weights and bottled water on the corners of the countertop to hold it down. We actually didn’t screw the countertop on at all, but so far it’s been 8 months and it’s held up well! I then bought knobs that matched the rest of the kitchen’s knob and installed them.

Here’s what it looks like from the other side with the barstools my sister got us the previous year for Christmas! We probably spent between $600-700 on this project but it was well worth it! We use the island multiple times daily! It serves as our main prep area for cooking and baking. All of our other kitchen items that needed storing now have a home! The barstools are so comfortable too and provide us with extra seating. While it took me a month (rather than a weekend which was my original “goal”) it was well worth it. I feel like it completes the space. I honestly don’t even know how we managed without it the first month!

What sort of projects have you undertaken where you thought you might be in over your head?