My DIY kitchen island round up

 I have completed the kitchen island makeover...it feels so good to check this off my list...I love this blue grey that tends towards teal sometimes throughout the day...it is huronia by Para...in melamine.

I seem to need an island in my kitchen..it just feels right, I am highly partial to a counter height island...it is most practical...but this one just wasn't my style. I knew I wanted to remove the extra cabinet door details and add ship lap and most importantly I wanted to add a furniture foot detail. 

the top of the island was built from the pews that were in the church...it was a very strong tone of orange...I am not at all partial to orange tones so I tried to re stain it but it didn't take well...it happens...so I flipped it over to the rustic side and I was able to stain it this grey brown stain...it is a mix of four stains and I am sorry I don't recall the particular mix. 

I love all the changes to the island and it really seems to update the whole look of the kitchen

it was simple enough to add v-groove ship lap style wood to this one side of the island.

I added easy to make furniture foot details to the base to give it a nice designer look

 it is a different kitchen isn't it? we really made very few changes but you can see just how much small changes can make a big difference

this is the island from our third house, the standard island consisted of two base cabinets and that seemed really tiny to me and I needed somewhere for the microwave so I expanded the island to house the microwave...

I made the functional and decorative modifications then I had an electrician come in and wire the island with power...I wanted an outlet so that I could bake at the island and plug in my stand and hand mixers.

I added bead board and stair posts to the island to add a large butcher block top

                                    this simple box cabinet was easy to create from plywood

paint always brings it all together

 this photo was taken on our walk through just prior to closing...this kitchen was nice and big but lacked any style and had no flooring...the flooring came after we moved in....that was fun... life of a diyer

this island is the first island I built, well the only one I ever built from scratch...it was one of my biggest and my first diy projects, I'm sorry I have no build deails on this

 this is how it looked when we sold the house, a soft blue, clad in bead board and with a solid oak butcher block top

so whether you want an island or want to update a current island, it is a pretty doable project even for the most novice diy builder...

do you need an island in your kitchen too...?

Finally our completed kitchen , from builder basic to dream kitchen

 How did I forget to take photos of my fully completed kitchen. It is definitely my favourite room in the house and it turned out as good or better than I had planned.

 From my pine dark stained floors to the second hand kijiji table I found for $40 and refinished in black stain to the Restoration hardware industrial style pendants , I love my new kitchen. It has everything that I desired in a kitchen. It took three to four months to complete but it was so worth the efforts.

 The cabinets are painted Bedford Grey by Martha Stewart. The island butcher block is from Ikea. The counter is carrera marble , love. The squared pulls are Martha Stewart special order from Home Depot. The range is a 6 burner 36" Kitchen aid commercial style range , it is amazing.

 I clad the bulkhead with trim and crown moulding to make it look deliberate and custom and I love it more than if the cabinets didn't have the buklhead.

 The little touches like this wine storage to balance out the extended bulkhead , turns out it created a great opportunity for this useful feature.

 The brackets were simple and from Home Depot. Loving my pot drawers. I needed to replace the basic glides with heavy duty ones , what a difference.

 I love the open shelving , its just enough to display my pretty pieces.

 We all love the water dispenser and ice maker , what a luxury . My baking area is such a dream. I need to find more time to bake, Christmas is coming.

 Bringing the cabinet over the fridge forward and creating a proper gable there and dressing it with crown made such a huge difference creating a built in feeling for the fridge.

 Extending the island with this microwave cabinet and adding electric to the island was such great move , I love mixing things on the island its so handy.

 I went from a huge triple sink to one single extra deep rectangular contemporary sink , and I love it , it fits everything , and it can be full and I mean full of dirty dishes and you would never know they were in there nice when you like messes out of sight like I do.

 Bamboo blinds form Lowe's . The amazing Delta faucet , I would highly recommend Delta .

The beautiful and quiet range hood from Tasco.

One of the best things I designed into the kitchen was a double cabinet for a garbage pullout, the other side is dedicated to recycling.

 Art from Urban barn.

 Chalk wine glasses from Pier 1 Imports.

 The bread tin is from Winners.

 Dining light is from Home Depot, and the chairs are Elte.

Here is my advice about creating the perfect kitchen for you. Take your time, get what you love , listen to
advice but follow your true desires, it's a kitchen for you after all.

Just prior to moving on from this home I added the shiplap wall...

Just a little reminder of where this kitchen started.

WOW I forgot just how much work this took. So glad it's done.


Follow my project and boards on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/chriskauf/

Here are a few posts regarding our kitchen renovations and updates
http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2012/05/our-bedford-grey-kitchen.html

http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2012/04/building-fridge-enclosure.html

http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2012/04/island-time.html

http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2012/05/marble-is-finally-here.html

http://chriskauffman.blogspot.ca/2012/03/flooring-day.html

120lbs gained

Before; my well loved, family made plank counters , with the dreaded gaps {dreaded only by me because only I clean the spills} , it was time for them to go , armed with some IKEA brackets , an IKEA butcher block bought for a steal , and two packages of v-groove and some pine strips of wood , this makeover cost out of pocket a mere $45.00 , $30.00 for v-groove and $15.00 for the pine strips , the other things I have long had around the house . My lovely plank counters have successfully be replaced , I am happy say my old counter top now has a new home in my work room and it looks so nice down there , its a happy switch .

Here is my new/old oak butcher block counter top , purchased from IKEA in the AS IS dept for $50.00 about a year ago , it weighs about 120 pounds , solid as a rock , couldn't beat that price.

My husband and I brought this upstairs from my basement work room yesterday for me to make it into our new island counter top.

Although I love our antiqued dark plank counter top and its warm patina , the gaps were making me bonkers , spills crumbs and dust made their way right on into my cupboards , one can only dust pans for so long.

I took simple pine strips the same depth as the slab and framed the whole slab to add length to the counter to make it long enough for my generous kitchen island which seats 4.

I re clad the entire island with v-groove, which is knotty pine boards the v-groove refers to the v cut between the boards when you connect the tongue and groove of the planks , 2 1/2 inches wide are the boards , wider than bead board a little less busy .

I sanded the corners smooth to remove the sharp corners and edges. I then stained the edge with American walnut stain , water based stain , then gave the butcher block a light staining with the same color , followed by a good rubbed on coat of paste wax, I use Minwax natural paste wax , just rub on the entire surface let dry for about 20 minutes and buff with a clean lint free cloth , think Karate Kid wax on wax off... its a good arm work out , my arms sure are tired today after all the painting , staining and waxing .

We sure love our new solid counter , of course I am babying it now , but soon it will be used and enjoyed by all .