DIY Sarah

Craft, Decor, Art, Garden, and Dessert

Kitchen Island options.

The next thing I’m starting to think about for the kitchen is how to do the lighting. I think I’m going to have room for a 21″ wide island. The kitchen is 117 inches wide. 24″ for the cabinets, 36″ on each side clearance for doors, that leaves 21″. I’m looking at a couple options for the island, from The best kitchens Birmingham has ever seen. One day I was an awesome antique workbench like this one:

But in the short-term, I’m looking at something open-legged, probably from ikea. I think I’m going to paint the legs something colorful and bright. I’m thinking pink but I may wimp-out and do white. I’d like to give it a distressed look as well. I’m not sure if Stefan will go for it though.

One option is this $199.00 island from ikea.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/groland-kitchen-island__23030_PE107804_S4.jpg

At 20 7/8″x 4 feet, it is the perfect maximum size. If I want to go slightly smaller, I can go with this $99 model:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/forhoja-kitchen-cart__38532_PE130363_S4.jpg

I like the addition of drawers on this one but at 17″ by 40″ it is small. Then again, it would be less likely to close off the space.

There is also this $79 pine option.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/svalbo-sideboard__0102070_PE246471_S4.JPG

At just 15.5 inches, this is the narrowest table. It is a great little table regardless. I love a good sofa table to hold remotes and laptops and this number could be great.

Stefan and I are going to head to ikea in 2 weeks to pick up the countertops and I guess we’ll pick out the island then. So exciting to get to the buying stage of the remodel!

Here is a great inspiration photo for my brightly colored island. Not my color but I love how fun it is!

What do you think? Let me know!

Sarah


  1. 4/3/2012 | 2:59 pm Permalink

    We have that 100 one from Ikea with the drawers.. it is quite smaller than it looks when you try to use it as a counter. We have our microwave and mixer on it now. Also.. depending on what you put on the shelves.. its a weird width, so theres either lots of room loft over on on side, or something hangs off the edge.

  2. 4/3/2012 | 9:26 pm Permalink

    I think you have room for the bigger island. 36 is way more than you need for clearance. The main area is dishwasher door and refrigerator doors. Add wheels if you think you may need more space at times. You want it usable. You may want to wait until you get the cabinets in before you purchase something though. I do love the painted piece. Also a sofa table is so handy when you have stuff!!

    • 4/4/2012 | 1:25 pm Permalink

      Yeah, the dishwasher is on one side and the door to the outside is on the other so we are actually space constrained but we’ve got the 21 inches to work with and the swing of the door is only 33 inches so we have a little flexibility. I was excited to finally run the numbers and see how much room we actually have. I think one day we’ll be able to find an antique workbench to fit in that size space!

      At the apartment, we’ve got the TV box behind the sofa as a sofa table and it is so functional! It holds the power strip for the large quantity of computers and provides a safe place to stash the laptops. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to go back!