DIY Post

This is a post about DIY -- no cards or papercrafting involved. . .

DH remodeled our kitchen when we moved to this house a few years back and once that work was done I decided I wanted an island in the kitchen.... but not just any island -- one that could be opened from either side so it could be my "baking central" for cookie sheets, baking pans, bundt pans, etc all in one place. . . .  One that had a stainless top . . .  But more importantly??? One that was affordable for me since it was my project.

Lucky me to find this on Craigs List and it was only $50.00 !! (Don't be jealous -- haha)

It came with a creamy white formica top that was very thick and very heavy. But I could see past all that and moved it into the kitchen. First I needed to decide what accent colour I would use in the kitchen and recently decided I am going to sew new valances for the kitchen windows. Finally found a fabric for those at Hobby Lobby so next I had to decide on a paint colour for this island. . .

I had asked DH if he could "beef" up the island with posts and trims and then I could paint it and maybe give it a new life?? DH rummaged through his big can of "extra parts" and he did have four posts left over from the stairs project, various trim pieces, and of course, quarter round. Knowing he had all of these pieces on hand helped to keep my costs down. But I wanted a stainless top for my kitchen island.

Not far from us a business that specializes in making stainless anything you need. DH measured the island and added to that since I wanted a larger top than what came with the island when I bought it. Off he went to talk to them about prices, time frames, etc.. He came home with a $500.00 quote for this island top I was wanting. Definitely out of my price range and why would I want to put a $500.00 top on a $50.00 island?

So we went to a used restaurant supply store thinking I could buy a stainless table for the kitchen island and just forget my Craigs List find  :0(    .... but I did not want a stainless table with open shelves. DH was talking to the guy there and they called me over to a small area of the store. They sold smaller brand new stainless tables -- the top of this brand new table is the size I needed for the island so we bought that new table. DH took the top from that table and that is now the top to my island -- for the bottom shelf and four legs he did not need from that new table he just built a wooden top (using left over wood from previous projects that he sanded and poly coated), for that table and sold that on Craigs List for more than what I had paid for the new stainless table so my stainless top was free for me.

With Spring Break last week I was home from work and decided I was going to finally finish my kitchen island -- We took it apart in the kitchen, moved it all out to the garage and I sanded it and primed it the first day. The second day I painted it all and the trim pieces and corner posts DH was going to put on for me.  The third day DH put everything on the island and then I covered it with Minwax Dark Walnut and here is my $50.00 kitchen island now:

And this photo shows the towel bar I had seen on the DIY Network that DH painted black for me:

This towel bar goes with this shelf unit DH built for me with oak shelves that he used a router on the edges and put clear poly on:

I used Software gray paint from Sherwin Williams for the paint and the Minwax Dark Maple for the stain. New handle hardware is from Lowes and Home Dept.  Also here is a photo of the island  to show I did paint the inside of the island -- the inside is just painted -- no stain was put inside. This photo looks turqouise but it is gray -- and it was outside on a sunny day when I took this photo:

I am very happy with this transformation of the island. I did not do any sanding for a distressed look after I painted it as I was going for a vintage look and not distressed. Plus this island is not made of a good wood that would distress well. A huge thanks to DH for the posts and molding on my island as well as the work he put into me getting a stainless top for my island!! HAPPY ME!!

Just finished putting things back in the island --- bought heavy duty drawer liner at Bed Bath and Beyond for the shelves and the drawers. Inside the doors of the island on the shelves is a heavy duty lid rack I bought to hold my specialty pans -- muffin tins, mini cupcake pan, mini loaf pans, mini bundt cake pan, brownie bites pan:

Also on that top shelf are the measuring cups. On the lower shelf is the cooling racks, the loaf pans, the round and bundt cake pans, as well as the cake pans with matching lids. Having all these items together will certainly help during holiday cooking/baking days:

For the two drawers I sorted my tools and have them all together now. In one drawer I have the tools I use the most. I bought white plastic baskets at the dollar store sold in sets of three for the smaller items. One basket has the pizza cutter and manual chopper and the other basket holds the vegetable peeler and the melon-ballers for summer fruit salad. Keep the metal "pancake turners" in the drawer ready for use:

The other drawer has all the measures for baking/cooking. Measuring cups, teaspoons, and scoops:

Happy the island is now loaded up and finished. Decided to keep the cookie sheets in the cabinet next to the stove rather than put them in the island. They are upright in that cabinet and easy to grab one where they are.  Onto the next project..... TFL