I will hold on to my dream of white cabinets in my kitchen even though it’s more or less a pipe dream at the moment. Unless I, myself, paint our current cabinets, win the lottery, or be named in a long-lost relative’s will. I don’t play the lottery, don’t have hopes for the will part and just the sheer thought of painting all the cabinets makes me want to fall asleep. Which I will attribute to my days being spent wrangling two small giggle monsters! Taking what you can get is how I felt when settling for the kitchen island makeover. Adding board and batten and painting it white seemed like a decent compromise.
Settling For The Kitchen Island
Because something is better than nothing!
So the next best thing that I could talk my husband into doing for me was making the island area white. This was also another small project that we did that was very inexpensive. Adding a board and batten look to the island upgraded the builder-grade esthetic.
This somewhat small improvement made such a huge difference to the room. I told my husband to just imagine what all-white cabinets would do! Which didn’t change my luck, of course, a girl can dream!
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Let The Kitchen Island Makeover Project Commence
Let’s be honest it’s one step closer to my dream of a white kitchen!
The first thing we did was frame out three sections on the front panel of the island. Followed by encasing the smaller side panel.
We used thin wood planks adhered to wood glue and pin nails. The island really needed a little more character. Something to make it stand out a little more.
Having the thin wood planks adhered really helped cover some of the wear and tear that had happened to the island over the years. Especially the side panel which is closest to the fridge and entrance to the kitchen.
You could tell that the bottom part of the cabinet had warped from getting wet at some point. The particleboard piece was starting to break apart and leave little chunks all over the floor.
So this project helped immensely in both the appearance and stability of the island. It was definitely nice not to have little flakes all over the floor anymore.
Next To The Wood Putty & Sanding
The process continues.
Once the panels were all adhered and secured it was time for wood putty and sanding. All of the new wood pieces were sanded down before being primed. There is always a process.
I have to say Kevin is very by the book, follow the steps, measure twice cut once, kind of guy! Don’t get me wrong it is a wonderful trait just not one that I personally possess. I definitely learn a lot when we do projects together and one of those things is patience!
Adding Trim Too
A small addition that made a huge improvement.
Kevin also added trim to the island. He added a quarter round piece to the side panel in the kitchen since the laminate flooring is lower than the carpet.
I will say even just the addition of trim made such a big difference to the whole look of the island. I feel like if anything I realized how much trim adds to a room.
Drum Roll Please…
Rat-a-tat rat-a-tat ratta-tatta-tat-tat!
After getting all of that done my dream of white paint was about to come true! We primed everything with Zinsser water-based interior exterior primer. Which has an odor, Kevin would say I think everything has an odor, but it is bearable.
Don’t ask him about the time when he used an exterior primer in our old house. Let’s just say he never did it again!
Finally, it was time for the last step, last and most exciting for me at least, we painted the whole island the same white as the baseboard. This was the same white that we had used on our coat hook area in our entryway project.
Related: The Entryway Remodel Project And Coat Hook Addition
Future Plans
Because a project in our house seems to never be fully done.
We talked about adding two corbels under the ledge area. Who knows maybe one day we will. It wasn’t something we weren’t completely sold on at the time. The area isn’t all that big and we felt like it may close off the island too much. Especially since we would like to have stools there at some point.
My Completed Kitchen Island Makeover
I absolutely love how my island turned out. It goes really well with all of the finishes. It is open to the dining room area and it looks like a cleaner updated area. After putting the stools back and getting everything back to “normal”
Since I still have my very golden oak cabinets I will just have to add my dream of white cabinets to the list of maybe someday. For now, I’ll enjoy the finished side of the kitchen, my island!
The Kitchen Island Makeover Before & After
