DIY Project: Kitchen Island

My finished kitchen island fits right in to my kitchen.

I used these free Ana White 'Easy Kitchen Island' plans for this project, with a few small adjustments. This is the second time I've used plans from Ana White's site, and just like last time, they were brilliant! They just makes a project like this so easy! I just emailed the plans to myself, they included both a shopping list and a cut list, and headed to my local home improvement store for the necessary supplies.

Supplies, waiting to get cut.

I had most of the wood cut in the store, according to the cut list. I did end up getting a Kreg jig, something that is recommended in the instructions but that I initially though I'd skip. In the end, I'm really glad I got one, as it helped make the assembly really easy, and it will be very useful for future projects. Thanks to the Kreg, the whole piece came together start to finish in half a day, the constructed kitchen island is very stable, and all screws are completely hidden out of view.

Shelf assembly. 

I did make a few, small alteration from the original plans; I used 2x4s for the shelf support beams, for sturdier shelves, which I know will have to carry a lot of weight; I added a few inches of length overall in the bench top; I used wider boards for the bench top than the 2x6 recommended in the plans. Besides those alterations, I made it exactly after the specifications.

For the finish, I sanded the entire island, stained the top and the shelves a dark brown, and painted the base and the legs with a couple of coats of white. I topped it off with some polythyrene for shine and durability, as I wanted to be able to wipe it down.

Kitchen island, completed, waiting to dry.

It's not perfect, and noone will mistake it for a store-bought piece, but I'm actually really pleased with this project. It has vastly improved my kitchen! Previously, we had this tiny, much-too-llow, old and dingy butchers block in the center of our kitchen (that came with our rental house), and the only storage for pots and pans was the very limited space under the stove.

Shelves, shelves, and more shelves!

Now I have this massive work surface, at a great hight, plus two large shelves for storage of pots and pans! Finally, I have enough space for both cooking and storage, and the daily tetris-game of stacking pots under the stove, that used to take place each time I needed to cook, is over once and for all. I only wish I would have completed it sooner.

Cooking a massive holiday dinner was a breeze this year,
 all thanks to my new kitchen island! 

This project has taken me all year to complete, for no real good reason. I started it way back in January, and it's been put on the back burner many-a-times throughout the year, in favor of other project. I'm so happy to finally have it completed (I hate having unfinished work laying around), and I'm stoked to use it during the holiday cooking season!

Actual work only took about 3 days; one day get and cut supplies; one day for the build and sanding; and one for the paint job, with a couple of hours of actual work each day, and about $120 in supplies. Not bad for a brand new kitchen island! In addition, skill wise, this project was easy. I was able to do it, on my own with no problems, and I have absolutely zero experience doing something like this.

Kitchen island in use during the making of this year's Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanks, Ana, for the awesome project plans!

Cost:

$122.11 in materials
~ 6 hours of work + drying time

 The kitchen island added a perfect work space to my otherwise pretty crappy kitchen.

DIY Project: Double Row of Hooks

While redoing my office, I realized that the tufted leather storage bench I used to keep under my window no longer had a home. So I decided to move it to this awkward little corner of our house that is between the front door, the kitchen, and the hallway to the back of the house, and finally make this area into an entry.

The tufted bench, a pretty rug, and an umbrella stand later, I was well on my way to completing the entry (I'll post the completed entry makeover in a few days when it's done). But the coat rack I already had didn't work for this space, so while hunting for other hanging options, I came across this Row of 6 Hooks at Pottery Barn. It was perfect. However, I wanted 2, and the cost of the over priced store version really started to add up. $200 for a few hooks?!? That is ridiculous. Then I remembered the wood I still had left after building my own trundle. Surely I could make something similar myself.

Looking through my supplies I realized I also had the paint needed, and after a quick trip to Home Depot for the double hooks I was ready to begin.

DIY Project: Double Row of Hooks

What you'll need:

• 2 pieces of wood, or composite board, cut into two long rectangles - adjust length to fit your space. My pieces were 32" long, and 5 1/2" wide
• 8-12 hooks - I used 5 double hooks per piece, but it depends on the length on your boards and the size of your hooks
• hardware - both to attach the hooks (mine came with screws), and to secure boards to your wall
• fine sandpaper
• paint of choice - I used 2 colors
• painter's tape
• paintbrush - I used foam brushes, for a thin, even application, which also cut down on drying time
• electric drill
• tape measure
• pencil
• Level

What to do:

1. Start by sanding your wood pieces, to remove any splinters and rough edges. Wipe off dust with moist cloth, and let dry.

2. Prime (if applicable - I didn't since I used a paint with primer included) and then coat wood with a thin coat of your base color, in my case, white. Let dry completely, and add another thin coat (image 1).

3. When the paint is completely dry, sand lightly to remove brush marks and touch spots. Wipe off any sanding dust, and let dry.

4. Determine your pattern, and start taping. I lightly traced a grid on each board, and used the grid as guidelines for taping my chevron pattern.

5. Cover tape with one more thin coat of your base color. This will prevent your sharp edges from being ruined if paint should bleed under the tape (image 2).

6. When the last coat is completely dry, add thin coat of your top color, and let dry. Add a second coat, if needed.

7. When paint is completely dry, remove the tape (image 3), and lightly sand the paint to remove any marks or rough edges. Scuff edges for a slightly worn look.

8. Mark where your hooks will go - Since my boards were slightly shorter than the Pottery Barn version, I decided to only use 5 hooks on each board, instead of 6. Measure to make sure your hooks are evenly spaced (image 4).

9. Predrill holes for both the hooks and the wall installation. Attach hooks.

10. Install completed Row of Hooks - I put one above the other, using a lever to ensure they are straight. Make sure to use appropriate screws for your walls, and for the weight of the hooks.

11. Done! Step back & admire your work. P.s. You might want to cover the screw heads with a small dab of paint.

Here are my finished hooks:

This picture is a bit deceiving. Both rows really are the same size, and they are both hanging straight.

This project took a couple of hours, including paint drying time, and I really like the splash of color my hooks add to this otherwise pretty dark corner. I'm happy with this project, it is the perfect addition to my new entry. What made me even happier with it? This.

Price Comparison:

Pottery Barn Version: $237.07 ($99 ea x 2 + $39.07 shipping/tax)

DIY Version: $42.50 ($4.25 ea hook x 10 including tax, & all other supplies used were leftovers from another project).

I shaved almost $200 off the price by doing it myself! So much more reasonable a price for a few hooks.

I can't wait to show you my completed entry!

DIY Project: Trundle Guest Bed

As I've mentioned before, I'm currently redoing my office. My old office was a pretty boring space, built for studying, and studying alone. Since I'm not in school anymore, I've wanted to evolve my space to better suit my current needs. One of them being the need for a guest bed (or, preferably, two). We're having a lot of overseas guests coming to stay this year (yay!), the first set of which are scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks. The air mattress we usually squeeze into my office to accommodate overnight house guests basically renders the entire room useless for anything besides sleeping on said mattress, and I'm so sick of it. So, spurred on by the shrinking window of time before soon-decending guests, I started making plans for my new office.

I decided upon adding a daybed, and I really wanted a trundle for it as well, to get two twin-sized guest beds. I found tons of daybeds with trundles online, none of which I wanted in my office. Then I found this daybed at World Market, and absolutely loved it.

It was just the thing I was looking for; nice quality, solid wood, sturdy, it fits a twin mattress, and it's gorgeous. To make it even better, it was on sale, and half the price of the other daybeds I'd seen online, and those had been made of cheap composite board. While it does fits a twin mattress, it didn't come with a trundle. But I got it anyways.

Then I started hunting for a freestanding trundle, to fit underneath the daybed. Yeah... that proved to be quite the challenge. They were all either too long, too high, too short, too ugly, or too expensive. Exasperated with my Goldilocks dilemma, I though 'why not make one?'. I mean, how hard can it really be? Well, as it turns out, not very.

I used Ana White's 'Trundle for Bed or Storage' plans to build my trundle, which made the whole project ridiculously easy, since her plans include a comprehensive list of supplies needed, the tools to use, where & how to measure for a correct fit, and a complete cut-list. Perfect! One lengthy trip to my local home improvement store for supplies, and I was ready to begin.

The build was super quick and easy, and quickly followed by sanding, priming, and painting. And then the worst part, waiting. My daybed is a blueish-gray tone, which I doubted I could recreate very well, so I decided not to try. Instead I painted the trundle in this white & gray striped pattern. Then all that was left was adding the hardware. Piece of cake!

Here is my newly finished trundle:

I'm still waiting for a lot more pillows to be delivered, as well as the new mattress for the trundle (trundle is pictured with a placeholder). I got the new mattress for the daybed at Target. It's a 10" memory foam mattress, and the quality actually exceeded my expectations. It's SO COMFORTABLE, and for $200, a total steal! The mattress that will go in the trundle is another memory foam, also from Target, but it's only 6" due to the lesser clearance. It will go all the way up to the bottom of the daybed, and not leave that gap that is there now. These pictures are a bit awkwardly angled, I know. I'm trying to keep the rest of the room, which isn't done yet, under wraps still. Better pictures will come with the full office reveal.

Total Cost (not incl. mattress):

$150

It could have been made much cheaper, using cheaper wood than what I did, for somewhere between $50-$100 according to Ana White's calculations. Still, it was several hundred dollars cheaper than the cheapest store-version. So, by making this trundle myself, I got a trundle with a mattress for the same price as a store-bought, lesser quality trundle without a mattress, with very little work. Not bad.

All things considered, I am really happy with the outcome of this project. It was cheap, super quick, and really easy. I was a bit worried the trundle would look flimsy & obviously homemade, but it looks really good, and fits perfectly under my daybed. Even though it's a couple of inches shorter than the standard twin, it still fits a twin mattress with ease. Although, I'm thinking any tall friends hoping to be future house guests should call shotgun for the daybed asap.

Thanks Ana, for the excellent plans!

EDITED TO ADD:

We have gotten so much use out of this daybed/trundle combo, but the one negative I wanted to mention is that the trundle bed can't be raised, to make a double bed. It's probably not a big deal if you're using it for your kids, but a few couples that have slept over have mentioned that having their partner sleep down on the floor, out of sight, was strange, and I wish there was a way to add folding legs that would allow us to raise the trundle when in use, like some models I've seen at several furniture stores. Just something to keep in mind for anyone coming by this post in the hunt for a daybed/trundle combo. The option to raise the trundle is a great feature.