What Happens When A Project Doesn’t Work Out As Planned AKA My Scrap Wood Kitchen Island

Our current rental has a lack of cabinet and counter space, so attempting to make dinner and find room for food has become quite the activity in our home.
I will start of by admitting that this project was originally not intended to be a kitchen island, it just kind of happened! I’ve wanted a side table for my couch for quite a while, and my dad and I had made one for under my living room window a while ago, so I had thought that we could easily make one slightly bigger to put next to my couch. Well, instead of slightly bigger, it was a LOT bigger.
Working with scrap wood and attempting to figure out how to build something out of them comes with lots of unpredictability. By the time this table was almost done I was really concerned over this project until my mom told me that this table would be perfect for my kitchen. And thus, my kitchen island was born.
I would love to provide exact measurements and some building plans, but we just kind of “winged it” when we were building it. But if you’d like, here is what we used as a guideline to build the table.

Really detailed and amazing plans, right? I should create building plans for a living.
Building

We started off by cutting four 2x4s into three foot legs and pre-drilled two holes on both ends of the legs.

We then discussed how big I wanted the table, and being terrible at math, I gave my dad ridiculous too-large-for-a-side- table measurements. We cut two more 2x4s the same size as the legs and then cut two more 2x4s to measure 20 inches. These four additional pieces became the start of the frame to the top of the island.
We then began assembling. We took two of the legs and attached them at the top with one of the long top pieces and did the same with the other two legs.

We then took both pairs of legs and attached them together with two of the 20 inch size pieces.

Since we didn’t have any jigs or fancy tools to ensure everything stayed even we then cut two more scrap pieces to measure 15 inches and attached them to the bottom of the legs, about 6 inches from the bottom. This helped stabilize the piece and also supported the bottom shelf.

At this point I asked my dad how he was planning to add the drawer to the piece. I kind of forgot to tell my dad that I wanted a drawer, and I got a not too nice look from my dad after asking that question.
We rummaged through his never ending pile of scrap wood and we cut two pieces of 1×4 and drilled them in 6 inches from the top pieces.

In the center of the island dad hammered in some 1×4 pieces to provide a track for the drawer.

We had some extra plywood so we covered the frame with plywood and dad cut a hole in the plywood for the drawer.

One of us suggested that we should finished the top with some extra hardwood flooring instead of plywood over the top.

Moments before this photo was taken and the flooring top was added I was having second thoughts and was really worried about how rustic and DIYed this piece looked (for some reason my brain couldn’t project the thought of painting the scraps of wood that pieced this table together), and I also realized that it was WAY too big to fit in my living room.
My mom came to the rescue and gave her suggestion of a kitchen island.
At this point, I was done with this project, this was the first project where I used power tools, and it took all afternoon at my parents house- and I mean from about noon to 5 o’clock- to get to this point and I didn’t want to work anymore (great work ethic, huh?).
My amazing brother helped speed things along by taking over the rest and finishing the table for me- what a guy!

The hardwood wasn’t the exact size we needed, and we didn’t want to mess with cutting a two inch strip to finish off the back, so we had some more 1×4 scraps and edged the back with it, and even added some strips to the side for me to hang hooks on for cooking supplies.
To support the top and bottom shelf we cut plywood to size and then used finishing nails and wood glue to glue the boards onto the plywood.

Finishing
When I was attempting to sand everything down nice and smooth I ran into a problem. Plywood will not sand down to a smooth paint-able surface. So, I must confess, I lied to you guys, and I am sorry. I did end up heading to Lowe’s and buying some ¼ board to cover the table with for a smooth surface.

Once it was covered with the plywood I filled in the gaps with wood filler until I ran out, then I used drywall putty- I’m really resourceful! 😉

I mixed the paint color up using 2 paint samples from Lowe’s that were from past projects, and some white chalky paint form Joann’s. When I originally mixed the paint it was much lighter, I had wanted a white with a minty green/blue hint to it. Well, just an FYI, paint dries darker, so mix your paint to be lighter than what you want.
Don’t get me wrong, I was very happy with the paint color; I loved it and thought it went so well with the hardwood flooring, but it wasn’t my original plan- can you tell why I named this post “What Happens When A Project Doesn’t Work Out As Planned”? Haha.
I did two or three coats- including touch ups- then I took the island into my kitchen so the natural light could show me any imperfections better than the dim lighting in my garage. I finally completed the project with 2 coats of semi-gloss MiniWax Poly.
This island is the greatest thing that has happened in this kitchen. I was finally able to stop storing extra food and supplies in our laundry closet and on top of the fridge, and it helped clear up our actual counter tops!
What do you think? I know it isn’t a Shanty 2 Chic build, but I love it and it works for our little rental kitchen!

I finished the inside of the drawer with white paint and used spray adhesive for the pretty Dollar bin damask wallpaper!

Linking Up With:

A Night Owl Blog,Carrie This Home, Love Grows Wild, Boogie Board Cottage, Coastal Charm, Dwelling In Happiness, The Dedicated House, Confessions of a Plate Addict, A Stroll Thru Life, House on the Way, Tiny Sidekick, The Official Blog Guide, Enjoy the View, Oh My Creative, Just a Girl and Her Blog, Happy Kids Inc, Living Well Spending Less, Someday Crafts, The Blissful Bee, The Kitchen and Beyond, Ruffles and Rainboots, Hymns and Verses, The 36th Avenue, Practically Functional, Domestic Superhero, Coffee With Us 3, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Nifty Thrifty Things, Our Rosey Life, Flamingo Toes,