No Lake But We Have An Island

Last December when our daughter and her family was visiting Connie was feeling pretty crowded in the kitchen with several sitting at the table playing games.  We moved the table down the room a bit and that helped but not having the table for additional work surface was a valid complaint.  I had made a small table out of some scrap lumber to put on the front porch next to our little cookstove so I went out and got it for her to use.  She liked having it and it has remained in the kitchen ever since.  What she really wanted was a kitchen island that not only gave her the additional work surface but would give her additional storage for pots and pans.

I told her that when I got my workshop completed that building her a kitchen island would be one of my first projects.  About two weeks ago I got started on that project.  Connie had given her input and I designed what I thought she wanted.  As I got into it I found I had misunderstood a couple of things so the design got changed slightly.  She is happy with the result.  Darryl helped me move it into the kitchen this afternoon.  Here are some photos.

The doors and the ends are made from beadboard plywood.  This view is from the front.  The back looks about the same as I put doors on both the front and the back.

This is another front view from a lower angle.

This is view of the top.  I used oak flooring that we had left over from putting down the flooring in the house.  You can see the floor in the picture which is the same material.  The island top was given a couple coats of mineral oil, which is used on cutting boards.  We may not use this as a cutting board but it can be used that way if we decide to.

The island is approximately 24” wide by 36” long and is about 31” tall.  Connie wanted it to be slightly taller than the kitchen table but shorter than her regular cabinets.  This is a comfortable working height for her.