Hello friends!
Progress on the kitchen has slowed over the past few weeks while I was busy getting ready for the market. But I was able to finish up the kitchen island, and it turned out even better than I imagined! Want to see how I up-cycled this kitchen island?? Read on…
Here’s where we started about 6 weeks ago… lots of progress right?!? Even though living in it makes it feel like a slow process, I can see how far we came and that is encouraging!
We took off this peninsula (the two cabinets to the left in this photo), and used them as the base for the island.
I’m extending the island longer than just the two cabinets so it can hold the microwave and the longer island is more proportional to the kitchen layout this way too.
All I did was build a box out of 3/4″ plywood, and attached it to the existing cabinet.
It always gets worse before it gets better… you can see here I already sprayed the doors and installed the hinges but nothing else. I just made sure the new cabinet box was flush on all sides.
When I went to pick out our new front door at Construction Junction, I found this “wood counter top” and wouldn’t you know it was the exact length I needed for the new counter top! I did a happy dance and put it in my cart – $12 later and I have a reclaimed wood counter top!
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It was a little wide, so I cut down the sides, filled some old holes and sanded it all down. A coat of stain (50/50 mix of Antique Oak and Walnut Water Based Stain from General Finishes), topped with 3 coats of Arm-R-Seal, and I have a beautiful counter. {This is my favorite kitchen find so far!}
Back to the base… I picked up some cheap sheets of mdf cut to size of the sides of the island, this covered the seams and gave me a smooth surface to paint. I just nailed this into the cabinets.
Trim that matches the other cabinets and banquette (just pieces of lattice) and a simple baseboard finish this off and make it look so sleek!
Here’s the island all finished up! I’m just waiting for the electrician to come back and install a plug for the microwave, otherwise it’s done! I’m loving having the island!!!! And for about $100 in wood and trim, $12 in an old wood counter top and a bit of paint and stain, I have a custom island!
Ahh… love me some old wood!
Next up – painting while we wait for the rest of the counter tops to be made and installed. Can’t wait until this is all finished!
Until next time!
Jenni
