19 Amazing Homemade Kitchen Islands

Hi All  - I was asked again by Hometalk.com to curate a board. This time it was to feature DIY kitchen islands, including my own. Here is what I cam up with...

Click on the image to explore all these amazing kitchen islands. And if you have not yet seen my creation here is a link.

Dresser into Kitchen Island

This post contains affiliate links, I do receive a small commission, this does not affect my opinions.

Easy Tupperware Organization

My Tupperware collection is always getting unorganized and unruly. I try to keep it in check but it always seems to go back to the disorganized mess that you'll see in my before photo. This time I think that I have solved my problem, well at least I hope so. Here is my most recent attempt to organize.

So, here is what I did. I grabbed 2 larger containers that I had bought for something else a while and used them to contain most of the containers and lids. 

To store the rest of the lids I grabbed a old napkin holder I had in my attic and they fit perfectly. I also stored the lids to the two large containers underneath them, so that they would not get lost.

 I think this will solve my problem, but only time will tell.

Dresser into Kitchen Island: Part 2

Hi all. Myself and my father have finally finished the kitchen island. I think it turned out pretty great. I use it everyday and am currently writing this post at it right now. I am going to pick up where I left off at the end of Dresser into Kitchen Island: Part 1 and show you how we finished up this fun and sometimes frustrating project.

When I left you we had finished building the inside, installing the mdf backing and painted the whole piece. Then there was a hiatus, because we had to order the laminate for the top from Home Depot and my brother came to visit from Chicago.

Once we had the laminate for the top, my Dad took it to his house and cut the laminate, glued it to plywood and added the trim to the top. To adhere the laminate to the plywood he used contact cement. He said this was a two person job because once you set it down there is no picking it back up to make adjustments. He had my Mom help him with this.

We had to raise the dresser so that it would meet the height of the existing countertop. To do this we attached 2 x 4s to the inside of the legs of the dresser with screws and then attached them together with boards to give it even more support. We needed all the support we could get because the top is quite heavy.

After that my Dad attached finish pine board to the base to hide the 2x4s. Then it was time to attach the top. We drilled 9 pilot holes through the top of the dresser. Then because the drill would not fit, my Dad screwed the top on with a screwdriver. After all 9 screws were in we could tell that the top was going no where.

My Dad then created two doors using hardwood plywood and molding. My husband attached the doors and handles and I finished it off by adding fun contact paper to the shelves and drawer. I also added some inexpensive storage options from the Container Store in the drawer.

This was not my most inexpensive project, coming in just under $500 (that is including the 2 counter height chairs that I got from Target for $138). But, it is really nice to have a custom kitchen island that I use every single day. Plus now when I cook I can face my kids in the living room and see what they are doing.

I look forward to many years of memories at this island.

DIY Kitchen Rag Bag

I really love when things in my house are organized, with a newborn and a toddler this rarely happens. So, any help I can get from organizational tools is greatly appreciated. I have been seeing posts for something called a rag bag for the kitchen all over Pinterest, I thought I would come up with a design of my own. Usually, I have 4 or 5 dish towels hanging from my oven handle at any given time, using the rag bag I would only need to have one out at a time and the others would be nicely concealed.

For this project all the items I used I already had in my house, so it did not cost me anything to create.

Materials:

• 2 Dish Towels
• Thread
• Sewing Machine or Sew by Hand
• 2 Large Buttons
• Good Scissors

I picked out 2 dish towels that I liked the design of and cut off a strip at the top of each for the straps.

Next I sewed a hem on both the strap and the main part of the bag to create a finished edge. Since I used a pre-made dish towel there is less finish work to do.

Then I sewed the straps on the inside of one of the bag panels.

The next step is to place the two bag panels finished side together, inside facing out, and sewed the seams on three sides to create the bag.

Finally, I sewed on the buttons to the straps and made a small slit on the front of the bag for the buttons to go through. Sewing is not my area of expertise but this turned out pretty well and took about an hour to create. 

I think if I were to do anything differently, I would have made it a little bit shorter.