You know how when the Superbowl is on and there are millions of television sets tuned in to see the game and the commercials and the half-time show. And at the same time, Masterpiece plays a Downton Abbey marathon for the five people who aren’t watching the game?
It’s called alternative programming.
I know it’s Black Friday. And today online and blogs are all about gift guides and bargains and deals and coupons and specials.
I understand.
My bobby pin and I shopped until we dropped.
But I just got the pictures from the kitchen of the amazing show house (you can read all about the journey here) that we worked on down in Alabama and the before and after photos of a kitchen cabinet turned kitchen island that we built in 24 hours and I couldn’t wait one more day to share.
Here’s where we started.
This is what the cabinet looked like when we arrived at the house.
It’s one of the original cabinets from the house and Esther saved it and asked me what I thought about transforming it into a kitchen island. I took one look at it told her she was brilliant and I wish I would have thought about it and all we needed was a little plywood, some power tools and a pair of twinkling brown eyes.
Here’s the back to you can see where we started.
The back was plywood that didn’t really look finished and the front had molding that didn’t match on both sides and it needed a top.
Minor issues.
We started by adding the top.
The top of the island is a piece of 1/2″ plywood topped with 1 x 5 planks of pine.
When picking out pine, you want to make sure the wood isn’t warped and each of the pieces has a nice grain that shows up when you stain it.
Here’s a close-up view of the top of the island.
We glued and nailed the plywood top onto the island and then glued and nailed the boards length-wise onto the plywood top.
It was a little heavy on one side (you can kind of see it leaning).
No worries.
We fixed that a little later in the process.
Next we added thin luan board to the sides and back of the cabinets to provide a smooth surface for painting.
And added molding to the corners and the sides to hide the seams.
This was almost like a puzzle.
We added the base molding first and then added the piece at the corners.
You can see all the molding in place here.
The last step before painting was adding wood filler.
We let it dry and sanded it smooth.
And the leaning kitchen top?
The original plan was to add corbels.
But corbels are heavy and usually feature heavy carving and are expensive and hard to find in a 24 hour period.
So we added these instead.
Guess what they are?
The legs from the bottom of a table.
I know, right?
I wish I would have thought that idea up before Esther did. It would have made such a better story.
Truly.
We braced the top with table legs and then the piece was ready to prime and paint.
Here it is one more time in all its glory.
A little trash to treasure project that looks like it came with the house.
Can’t wait to show you the rest of the house soon.
But in the meantime….
…..we return you to your regularly scheduled Black Friday bargains.
Happy shopping. 🙂
PS You can follow along with Esther and her house adventures….here.
That is so cute!!!!
Amazing! Once again! Have a wonderful holiday!!
So love this!!! As well as your previous posts about making holidays less stressful! So funny looking at my notes and noticed ideas to try this Christmas.. Kari's magnolia things and advent w votive candles. I so try to be you! Remember my dropping dead hydrangeas into vases as I said I was playing Keri? No my things do not look like yours... But you do inspire even Kari wannabe but more like Lucy friend of yours. Hope to see you soon!
Good job! How do you keep these hardwood floors in a kitchen????????????????????????????? Secret?
The island turned out fantastic and I love your creativity in using found objects (like the table legs!) to recreate something so special.
I love it!! I even emailed this post to my daughter. She is going to love the idea. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and your turkey turned out tasty!! You rock!! I can't believe the ideas you come up with. It is truly amazing.
I’ll take alternative programming any day! No lines, no stress, no cold, tired feet….and the final product is far better than I ever could have imagined! Wow! I can’t wait to see what you have planned for Superbowl Sunday! ;-)
I wish I had a pair of twinkling brown eyes!! This island is divine. And I guessed it was table legs for the corbels!! I'm getting good..I love the kitchen..can't wait to see the rest..I could live in the kitchen. Linda
Genius! It's stunning. Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea
Awesome!! Would definitely rather be drooling over lovely kitchen photos than shopping Black Friday deals any day! Your cabinet is amazing by the way :-)
Beautiful Island......But best part was I was going thru Kari withdrawal today. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
I don't have to tell you how gorgeous this is, but I'm going to anyways. HOLY cow THIS is AMAZING. ;)
Beautiful! I love the idea of taking cabinets and using them for an island.
Love this.. I did one with an old dresser, put a butcher block top to it. I love it. useful. Good job.
So clever! It looks fantastic.
Merci de partager ce projet avec nous. C'est juste magnifique, très beau travail. Bien à vous.
Love, love, LOVE this KariAnne! I have so many visions of how things could be, but my DIY skills are non-existent. I have decided 2016 is the year I'm going to get me some tutorage, so I can feel more confident about attempting projects like this. Thank you! Sue
I love it! It was meant to be!
Sigh. I want one! That is really amazing! No Black Friday shopping...oh wait. I did go buy a new tree but long after the crazy sales were done. Guess that counts. Ha! Can't wait to see more! Happy weekend, KariAnne!
Brilliant!! Love, love!! : )
Oh that's brilliant...And it definitely looks like it belongs in that kitchen! The color of it is perfect:) Great job!
Brilliant!
Oh WOW - I wish I had room for this in my kitchen- The cabinet is beautiful - Great job Rose
Love this. Question, did you attach this to the floor or is this free standing and moveable? If you attached it can you add how you did that?
The island is lovely and it looks like you added lights inside the cabinet? What a beautiful idea.
Love this!!! It is absolutely charming!!!