A reader (Diane) has a quandary with her kitchen renovation, which she and I discussed in the comment section of a previous post, so I wanted to do a post on kitchen islands that will hopefully benefit her and others. Besides showing some inspiration, I also wanted to show how basic cabinets can be transformed with a larger countertop and legs.
This shows the structure of the cabinets and a frame to add the legs.
Add the larger countertop to the structure and you have a farm table island.
You can also use these two together, which can be found inexpensively and sometimes for free, and you have a kitchen island with legs! But any sideboard or cabinet can be made into the island you want.
Kitchen legs are available in every style and wood species. If your worried about an exact match, you also have a different stain or paint color for your island, which is very hot tight now.
From this picture, you can see that a normal cabinet merely has legs attached to the side with the countertop made to accommodate. These legs are half legs or split so that they are flush with the cabinet.
I really like the hardware on this island because it’s so different from normal kitchen drawer pulls. Why not look at hardware that is meant for furniture? Drats…I like that idea so much that now I think I’m doing to have to revisit mine!!
With this one, a panel of beadboard was added to the side most likely to hid the seam, as judging by the depth, there are cabinets on the other side.
This one I liked because of the crisscross molding on the left, which are just slats, but they give architectural interest in an all white kitchen.
Obviously very elaborate, but I wanted to show the lines of a Bombay chest or a more furniture-like option. There is no reason that a piece of furniture can’t be used as an island.
Here’s a perfect example of using a piece of furniture!
I love the addition of a towel bar!
On this cream island, instead of the straight across board, they curved it, which is a nice touch.
Hard to really see this island, but the cabinets look very simple yet are made very elegant by the silver drawer pull and marble top. This shows how sophisticated plain cabinets can be and existing cabinets can be made to look like this with paint and new hardware.
A more modern take on the island with angular legs.
Love the bookcase at the end!
This is overly simplified, but two bookcases and a countertop can make an island. Add cabinets in between, run baseboard molding around the whole thing and you have a great island.
Brackets and molding on the side can dress up the side of cabinets.
My builder left a big seam in our kitchen island where the two cabinets joined. Did I mention he was just awful? We addressed this with molding, but I would eventually like to do something more with it.
I hope everyone has a great day 🙂
