When we made the decision to rip out our existing island we had planned on paying a contractor to do the work.
We knew we didn’t want what we had but where would we even begin to pick out the insides of the cabinets and basic design?
As we were walking through IKEA one night we both stopped in our tracks and were really looking at some of their island designs.
Hints And Tips For How To Diy Install An Ikea Kitchen — Alice De Araujo
We didn’t want what IKEA was selling for our island but it allowed us to think outside the box and to realize we could piece together the cabinets that would make our ideal island.
With a little puzzle work, a brother that did electrical and plumping, a husband that dabbles in woodworking and a wife that would do the painting…we were on our way.
We purchased different size cabinets that would allow us to have two large cabinets on one side, cabinets under the sink, sink mount (we bought our sink also at IKEA) and a smaller drawer and cabinet to the right of the sink.
How To Build A Diy Kitchen Island
We knew we wanted to have the freedom to paint the cabinets over and over if needed so we chose the white unfinished wood cabinets.
As you can see we have gaps around the cabinets because we needed to space them out to create the island size we really desired.
We did the best we could to take advantage of the spaces between the cabinets and to make sure we had charging stations and all the outlets we could need.
I Turned A £30 Ikea Kallax Unit Into A Kitchen Island
This was very important to me to include the custom woodwork and create an island that looked more like a furniture piece and to also incorporate the design elements that are throughout the house.
Kelly was able to use the larger gap between the two larger cabinets to hide our Wi-Fi access point. The wood panel is removable using speaker grill fastners. Pretty clever!
From this angle you can see all the spacing that is still visible from the top but all along the sides it had now been closed in.
How To Install Ikea Kitchen Cabinets
Kelly and my brother were able to do all of the electrical and plumbing which saved us on money and time because we were often working on the island late at night.
We installed the garbage disposal switch under the sink because we didn’t want to have a hole cut in the marble counter top. I am still not sure I like it there but I can’t say I would love it on the counter either.
I almost never paint anything without trying out the samples in the space and really living with the choices for a few days.
Make Your Own Kitchen Island With Storage
I think one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make when choosing paint is to not sample them first. It is worth the time and small amount of money to see what the samples will look like in your space with your lighting.
We primed and lightly sanded the cabinets before we painted and we even used paint with primer for a better coverage (Aura by Benjamin Moore).
Our marble was dropped and chipped the first time they came but here they are bringing in our counter a few days later and it was the beginning of a six month customer service nightmare that has not ended.
Creative Ikea Kitchen Island Ideas
I don’t want to make this post about that experience but I do want to make sure my local friends and readers know not to use Stone City to fabricate any of your projects.
It was so much work and it was hard to not have our kitchen for a month but I would do it again in a second to have this result.Creating a custom kitchen island for our Ikea kitchen was one of the trickier parts of the process. I have loved using ikea cabinet frames and semihandmade doors to create an affordable, functional kitchen. However, using a modular system like this, requires a lot of creativity to achieve the custom details I had designed. Hopefully this post will help you plan your own custom ikea kitchen island, whether you plan to DIY or hire a carpenter to build around your ikea cabinets for you.
When we were planning this kitchen, there was a lot of balancing and adjusting plans to meet all of the constraints we had. Budget, timeline, aesthetic and materials were the biggest factors that shaped the final design and construction process we settled on. I hope this will help shed some light on the why and how we did ours this way, and be particularly helpful for those who plan to use an Ikea & Semihandmade kitchen. I am going to break down the planning process and then share the most important construction details we used. Because your island size and configuration will vary, this is not intended to serve as a set of plans on how to build your island. However, I am happy to answer any specific details pertaining to our design and will provide a follow up post answering these questions.
Farmhouse Diy Kitchen Island ( An Ikea Hack!)
It’s no surprise that this where I start my planning. I wanted a substantially sized island but it had to fit into our space constraints. Initially, I started by setting the footprint and the desired walkways. The walkway between the main counters and the island needed to be wide enough that multiple people could be working in the space and not feel cramped. Another key consideration was being able to open the dishwasher and the drawer on the opposite side simultaneously. On the backside of the island, we had to leave adequate room for bar stools to be pulled out and still leave a walkway behind.
Since the perimeter cabinets and walls were set I played around with dimensions until I got the overall footprint set. Then, I worked backwards to fill in with cabinets and appliances. I started with the dishwasher and sink, due to their standard size. I then adjusted the remaining space for two Ikea cabinets, going back and tweaking the overall width of the island to accommodate what I needed. This part of the process is where you get into the weeds, going back and forth between the function and aesthetic you want. It was important to me that the overall island size felt balanced, not too long and slim or too big or small overall for the space. I also had to keep in mind what functional cabinets I wanted to house in the island- a trash can pull out and a drawers for storage.
I originally had my heart set on a cerused oak island. However, both budget and timeline quickly ruled this out. I knew it would be expensive to have a custom island built and finished. I had an extremely difficult time finding a good carpenter that I trusted would build it to my vision and be able to replicate the finish I wanted. Because we were on a time crunch, I ran out of time to source this trade. Ultimately, I knew it would feel more consistent to continue the same ikea cabinet frames with semihandmade doors onto the island that we were utilizing on the perimeter. I decided that going with a warm grey, SM Matte Light Grey, would provide the same warm feel and that I could add wood details into the vent hood, shelving, and window seat.
This Diy Kitchen Island Is Actually An Ikea Ivar
Once I had settled on the grey Semihandmade doors for the island, I had to figure out the best way to finish the perimeter of the island to have the same finish. Initially, I tried adjusting my design to use the prefinished semihandmade panels. This is a totally do-able option if your island design were to have less detailing than what I was looking for. You will have to really work with their available panel sizes to find a configuration that is right for you. Ultimately, I wanted vertical paneling on my island, so I knew their product was not the right choice. We decided to clad ours in this metrie shiplap product and then trim it out with the same baseboard as the rest of our house for a more traditional finish.
Do we buy the Semihandmade SM Light Grey doors and then have the perimeter of the island painted to match the color?
Do we buy the Semihandmade DIY doors – their unpainted product- and have the entire island and doors sprayed to a custom color of my choosing?
A Kitchen Island Made From Base Cabinets
I ended up deciding on using the semihandmade pre-painted doors. I really liked the idea of a consistent “factory finish” feel to the doors. It also opened up several options for us with how we would paint the island. We ended up hand painting the island using paint that was color matched to the door fronts. I will share the details on how we did this in a future post on painting to match semihandmade products, so stay tuned!
My husband, an accountant not a contractor, rocked this project. It took a lot of planning and calculation to ensure it was centered, square, and took into account all the details we had planned.
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