After finishing up my back splash project, I decided to attempt to do a DIY kitchen island. I looked into getting a slab to match the laminate that is on our counter tops...but after getting the quote back for around $400 for it... I decided I'd go with the butcher block look.
First step was purchasing a cabinet base from Home Depot. It cost $139 but since the one we got had a little knick...they took off $20. Here is how the cabinet base looked when we first bought it:
Next, I stained the cabinet base Colonial Maple which was the closest color I could find to our current cabinets. The backside of the cabinet base is unfinished, so I purchased a piece of wood and nailed it to the back of cabinet base. See pic below:
Since I wanted to add a little pizazz to the island, I decided to add tiles to the back side. So I used the same process as I did for the back splash for the back side of the island base.
After that was done, it was time to move on to the actual countertop. I purchased a 4X8 piece of pine for the countertop and got it cut in two equal sized pieces (to stack on top of each other). But I made a big mistake by getting pine because the cabinet base is oak. So after I stained the pine countertop, I quickly realized I should have gotten oak for the countertop because the stain takes differently on different types of wood. So since I had already purchased the pine and didn't want to completely waste the wood, I decided to keep it and just buy a thin piece of oak to put on top of the two pieces of pine. Also, we added the handles and knobs to the drawers and doors. See pic below:
We attached all the boards together with a few nails and screws and then it was time to do the edging. I purchased iron on veneer siding from Lowes. It was $5.46 per roll and I ended up using two rolls. My island counter top dimensions are 35X48.
This stuff is pretty cool because you just use an iron to adhere it. I also purchased the Band It cutter which helps you cut off any excess. Def make sure you purchase this. Here is how the edging looked after I affixed it to the edges:
After applying, I stained the edging and then did 3 coats of polyurethane and walah... all done! :)
Not bad for about $200 or so!
First step was purchasing a cabinet base from Home Depot. It cost $139 but since the one we got had a little knick...they took off $20. Here is how the cabinet base looked when we first bought it:
Next, I stained the cabinet base Colonial Maple which was the closest color I could find to our current cabinets. The backside of the cabinet base is unfinished, so I purchased a piece of wood and nailed it to the back of cabinet base. See pic below:
Since I wanted to add a little pizazz to the island, I decided to add tiles to the back side. So I used the same process as I did for the back splash for the back side of the island base.
After that was done, it was time to move on to the actual countertop. I purchased a 4X8 piece of pine for the countertop and got it cut in two equal sized pieces (to stack on top of each other). But I made a big mistake by getting pine because the cabinet base is oak. So after I stained the pine countertop, I quickly realized I should have gotten oak for the countertop because the stain takes differently on different types of wood. So since I had already purchased the pine and didn't want to completely waste the wood, I decided to keep it and just buy a thin piece of oak to put on top of the two pieces of pine. Also, we added the handles and knobs to the drawers and doors. See pic below:
We attached all the boards together with a few nails and screws and then it was time to do the edging. I purchased iron on veneer siding from Lowes. It was $5.46 per roll and I ended up using two rolls. My island counter top dimensions are 35X48.
This stuff is pretty cool because you just use an iron to adhere it. I also purchased the Band It cutter which helps you cut off any excess. Def make sure you purchase this. Here is how the edging looked after I affixed it to the edges:
Not bad for about $200 or so!
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