Kitchen Makeover with Custom Island

Building your own custom island may be the perfect way to create a workspace that doubles as a dining area.  My husband and I recently updated my mom’s kitchen. We were in a bit of a dilemma on what to put in the large open space in the middle.  A table and chairs would have been an option, but just didn’t feel right in the space.  Her house is not an open concept house, so the kitchen definitely needed a comfortable space to hangout.  The old kitchen originally had an island, but it was small and dated so it had to go.  I think one of the biggest advantages of building your own custom island, is that you can make it to fit your space, accommodate stools or storage and even add wheels to offer ultimate flexibility. 

Here are the pics of the original kitchen:

The first step was to remove the island, replace light fixtures, countertops, and flooring.  This phase was done by other family members, leaving the cabinets, backsplash and island for us to complete.  The cabinets were pretty beat up, and mismatched, too… So the only feasible option was to paint them.  I chose Benjamin Moore Peale Green for the bottom cabinets and matched the upper cabinets with the wall color, which is Greek Villa.  When you are working with some seriously dated and damaged cabinets, it really pays to spend the extra money on high quality paint.  Benjamin Moore paint is the best, not to mention fabulous customer service.  Greek Villa is actually a Sherwin Williams color but you can have Benjamin Moore mix it too.  This green paint is the most beautiful hue, I’m completely in love with it.   

When you go to paint cabinets, it’s important to thoroughly clean them prior to painting.  I like to use Krud Kutter or any degreaser for the hard to clean areas.  Cabinets located near the stove usually have a lot of grease buildup and is difficult to remove without a degreaser.  The degreaser can also be used to remove the residue that builds up on the hinges.  After all the doors were removed, I soaked the hinges in the degreaser overnight and then used an old toothbrush to get them nice and sparkly clean.

The paint acts as a primer and paint, but I recommend using Killz primer first, especially if the top coat is light (like the upper cabinets).  The green required two coats while the lighter upper cabinets got three coats.

 

In the picture above, you can see where we taped the potential island on the floor to get a feel for desired size and position.  We wanted enough seating area to fit 4 + people around but nothing that would create a tripping hazard or be in the way of cooking, dishes and cleaning. 

 

After the cabinets were painted, we added the handles.  I think this really added to the overall appearance and ties in the light fixtures and stove top with the black metal.  Besides adding to the appearance, the handles protect the newly painted cabinets from being touched/opened by hand. I purchased the cabinet handles from Amazon.

The next step was the backsplash.  We looked at many white options for the tiles, but at the end of the day, I chose to keep it simple and clean with a small subway tile.  These were very easy to work with, not to mention affordable.  We paired that with a winter white grout, see my other tile projects for full tutorials.

Custom Island

The final piece of the project was to build the custom island.  I thought a butcher block counter would be the best, especially where we wouldn’t need to match the existing countertops or have mismatched wood surfaces because the cabinets are painted. I recently used a butcher block in a bathroom and I’m super happy with how it turned out and how it’s holding up. 

I ordered this butcher block from Home Depot and we cut it down from the 6 foot length to 5 feet.    Once you have removed the butcher block from the packaging, it’s important to get the wood sanded and protected within 24 hours, but these butcher block arrive fairly finished with very little sanding needed.  I used this butcher block clear oil and finish product by Watco.  In the picture below you can see that we added a towel bar to the underside of the island.

 

Constructing the base of the island – Here is where the “custom” part of the build come in.  We intentionally made the base more narrow than a standard island to accomodate stools all the way around.  The butcher block top is 39 inches wide and the base is only 20 inches wide, leaving 9.5 inches overhang to comfortable sit around.  The island is quite heavy and still very stable.  

 

I added a bottom shelf that could be used for a foot rest or shelf for storage baskets.  The bottom slats were painted prior to installation and attached with 1 5/8 wood screws.  Then we used 4 L-shaped brackets to attach the butcher block to the base. Other options for the base would have been to add another shelf about half way up for additional storage.  My mom is in a “down sizing” phase, so she has plenty of storage in her kitchen as it is.

Prior to installing the base to the butcher block top, move it into the kitchen.  I went with the Peale green paint for the base of the island, I find this ties the room together and makes the island look like it came with the kitchen.  It’s the same strategy used in my laundry room, if you are custom building anything that needs to look like it was all designed and built together.

 

My mom found these gorgeous grey upholstered stools on Wayfair and the white metal stackable stools on Amazon.  The grey ones are always out and where my mom likes to hang out.  When guests come over, they can grab a white stool from the stack in the corner of the kitchen.  Those stools are also easily tucked under the island when you are working.

 

 

I’m so happy with the overall look of this kitchen and so is my mom.  It was truly a labor of love for the whole family!