# Kitchen Island/Work Center Plans



## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

I'm looking to build an island/work center for in our kitchen similar to the one in the picture that I've attached. I dont want it to have the open storage on the left nor does it need to have any drawers. We simply need extra room for pots ands pans.

Does anyone have plans for something similar or know of where I could find some?

Thanks in advance.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

We would kinda need to know how deep you want it and how long and how tall? Then if you want it painted like the picture or stained? If stained what kind of wood and color do you want? Then how well are you equiped? Would you be able to make your own doors?


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

I'm looking at 36" total height with the top dimensions being 30 x 44. The top will overhang the base by an inch. Not sure if I'll do the drop leaf or not; that will be up to the Mrs. - she's the reason I'm building it, we need more storage in the kitchen for her stuff. 

Probably going to paint the base so I'm thinking poplar for ease of building and taking paint. Going to use oak for the top with a clear finish. I'm planning on using pocket holes for the joinery of the base and frame. My friend has a biscuit joiner, so I'll have him make the top for me. I am capable of making my own doors. I'm thinking about doing frame and panel doors and using punched tin for the panels, again, this will be up to the Mrs.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

What would you think of this plan with doors on front and back. The picture shows inset doors so if you are wanting overlay doors you will need a stile on each side. 

Poplar would be fine for the cabinet but I would be hesitant in making the doors out of it. Poplar has a tendency of warping and if you made the doors out of it, it might come back to haunt you. I would rather use alder or white pine for the doors. The easiest way to make the doors would be to make tongue and groove joints and either assemble the tin in the door as you are assembling it or take a router with a 3/8" rabbet bit and route the back side out. Then the tin can be installed with wooden stop.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

bmcdowell40 said:


> I'm looking at 36" total height with the top dimensions being 30 x 44. The top will overhang the base by an inch. Not sure if I'll do the drop leaf or not; that will be up to the Mrs. - she's the reason I'm building it, we need more storage in the kitchen for her stuff.
> 
> Probably going to paint the base so I'm thinking poplar for ease of building and taking paint. Going to use oak for the top with a clear finish. I'm planning on using pocket holes for the joinery of the base and frame. My friend has a biscuit joiner, so I'll have him make the top for me. I am capable of making my own doors. I'm thinking about doing frame and panel doors and using punched tin for the panels, again, this will be up to the Mrs.



For an island cabinet, that will serve as a working top, keep in mind that there may be food preparation and the use of cooking type tools, utensils, plates, pots and pans, etc. A wood top either with plywood or solid wood, with a clear film finish will take a beating, and can show abrasion in a short period. Butcher block type tops with an oiled finish may fare much better.

For the cabinet, it's an easy build. Poplar works well for the frame, and is very stable IMO. Other woods that take paint well would be Maple and Birch. The standing frames can be rabbeted/dadoed to accept the floor, and the top can be framed.

For tin type inserts, gluing to a panel works well, as when they get installed, add significant rigidity to the overall structure. Finding an exact set of plans for your design may be difficult, but there are free ones out there that you may have to modify to fit your needs.

As for fabrication, biscuits and pocket screws aren't needed. There are better methods for joinery and assembly.










 







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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> What would you think of this plan with doors on front and back. The picture shows inset doors so if you are wanting overlay doors you will need a stile on each side.
> 
> Poplar would be fine for the cabinet but I would be hesitant in making the doors out of it. Poplar has a tendency of warping and if you made the doors out of it, it might come back to haunt you. I would rather use alder or white pine for the doors. The easiest way to make the doors would be to make tongue and groove joints and either assemble the tin in the door as you are assembling it or take a router with a 3/8" rabbet bit and route the back side out. Then the tin can be installed with wooden stop.


Steve, your sketch is kinda what I was thinking. I am planning on using overlay doors with european hinges so I'll need a stile on each side. I was thinking of using true 3x3s which I'll have to glue up and make myself since there is no place around me that sells a true 3x3. 




cabinetman said:


> For an island cabinet, that will serve as a working top, keep in mind that there may be food preparation and the use of cooking type tools, utensils, plates, pots and pans, etc. A wood top either with plywood or solid wood, with a clear film finish will take a beating, and can show abrasion in a short period. Butcher block type tops with an oiled finish may fare much better.
> 
> For the cabinet, it's an easy build. Poplar works well for the frame, and is very stable IMO. Other woods that take paint well would be Maple and Birch. The standing frames can be rabbeted/dadoed to accept the floor, and the top can be framed.
> 
> ...


I hadn't considered the top yet. I'm mainly building this becasue we need more cabinet space. Right now, we have enought counter space, however, any additional working space I create, my wife WILL use when she's cooking/baking. Is there an easy way to make a butcher block top? I've made butcher block cutting boards in high school shop class but we had a 30" wide planer in that shop. I dont have a planer at all nor do I have access to one large enough.

Cabinetman, you mention that there are better methods for joinery than pocket screws and biscuits. What might these methods be?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

bmcdowell40 said:


> Cabinetman, you mention that there are better methods for joinery than pocket screws and biscuits. What might these methods be?


for that cabinet, using a ¾" side panel and floor, the floor can be rabbeted into the side panels. The side panels/floor can then be set into rabbets/dadoes (depending on how much reveal you want on the legs). Use glue and fasteners where possible. The top of the legs and the panels get framed in to secure a top.








 









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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

My scanner is down so I can't make any more sketches today. With my version of the cabinet you would reduce the top and bottom rails on post 4 to 32 in length". Then you can put a 2"x33 1/4" vertical stile on each side of the openings. With the 3" square legs this will reduce the door openings to 15". If this opening size is getting too small the center stile can be omitted or the size of the outer stiles can be reduced. The end panel size would also reduce to 22" in width. I don't have any problems with the pocket screws and biscuits. Both are a very accepted process in the industry. I have another scanner in a warehouse. Perhaps tomorrow I will be make more sketches if you wish.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

I think I have enough to start drawing up the cabinet design. I'm still unsure about what to do for a top. I would love to do a butcher block top, however I dont have the tools to make one.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

All you would need for a butcher block top is a table saw, four pipe clamps and a belt sander and finish sander.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

Steve Neul said:


> All you would need for a butcher block top is a table saw, four pipe clamps and a belt sander and finish sander.


So, basically, all I need to do is rip boards to a little wider than my desired thickness, glue them together and sand away until its smooth?

What type of wood would you recommend for this?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

bmcdowell40 said:


> So, basically, all I need to do is rip boards to a little wider than my desired thickness, glue them together and sand away until its smooth?
> 
> What type of wood would you recommend for this?



I would use hard maple.








 







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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

+1 on the hard maple. It's the prefered wood for butcher block. Yes all you have to do is rip the wood and glue it up. For a glue up not being run through a planer I would use a 40 grit sanding belt to get it near smooth sanding cross grain. Then switch to a 80 grit belt and sand with the grain. A belt sander by nature will often make dips in the wood so I would throughly sand it with a random orbital sander to finish sand.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

So, I finally got around to starting on this project. I took some of the ideas the I got from this board and some ideas from some plans I found on line and came up with this design. The depth is shown as 29" on the plan. When building it, I decided that 29" was too deep and cut it back to 24". 

Here are some pictures of the assembled legs and frame. Now I need to get some plywood to close in the sides, back and make a floor for it. I was concerned during the design phase, that it would be too big for my kitchen but as you'll see in the picture, it fits nicely.


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## ChiknNutz (Apr 22, 2011)

Right on, looking pretty good. I am in the process of building one of a similar size. I am building mine from oak and putting on a granite tile top.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

Made some more progress tonight. Floor is installed and the sides and back are in. I used 1/2" plywood for the floor and the back. Lowe's didn't have AC grade plywood so I had to settle for BC. It shouldn't matter anyway since its getting painted. Since the sides got pocket screwed into the legs, I went with 3/4". I happened to have a piece of utility grade laying around that happened to be really nice. Once its painted, no one will know the difference. Next, I'm gonna add some blocking to attach the top to and build the doors and decide on a top. 

The outside is getting painted, probably going to sand back though it to make it look rustic. I haven't decided what to do with the inside yet. Any suggestions?


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## ChiknNutz (Apr 22, 2011)

How did you attach/secure the bottom plywood? Did you dado anything or install supports beneath it? If you are going to paint it all, you can fill those knots on the inside with wood putty or similar.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

ChiknNutz said:


> How did you attach/secure the bottom plywood? Did you dado anything or install supports beneath it? If you are going to paint it all, you can fill those knots on the inside with wood putty or similar.


I put 3- 1x2s on edge from front to back and there are cleats on the sides that the plywood is setting on and screwed to.

I'm leaning toward a clear poly finish on the inside and painting the outside.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

Almost finished. I was a little lax by the way of taking pictures until now. I'm really pleased with the way the finish came out. I just need to mount the doors and put on the handles and its done.


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## Troy32 (Oct 19, 2012)

Nice work. I love the color and finish. Similar to what I am looking to do with the kitchen cabinets I am going to build. I would love to hear more about the paint and process you used. Looks like you sanded all of the edges which look great.


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## Troy32 (Oct 19, 2012)

Would actually like to hear how you got the top so flat as well if you want to share. I worked in a shop that had a 60" wide sander that we used for table tops. I no longer have access to it and like to know how you made the top. Sorry for all of the questions but that is what you get for showing off your beautiful island.:thumbsup:


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

Troy32 said:


> Nice work. I love the color and finish. Similar to what I am looking to do with the kitchen cabinets I am going to build. I would love to hear more about the paint and process you used. Looks like you sanded all of the edges which look great.


Thanks, Troy. I used a Valspar paint from Lowe's. Its the Ultra Premium in a "flat" finish. Any water based acrylic in a flat finish will work. I dont remember what the color was called but I can check and let you know if you'd like. I just sanded with 220 sandpaper and put 2 coats of paint on it and then sanded through the paint and into the bare wood on the corners. No sanding in between paint coats. I let the paint sit for a couple days in between coats and left it set 4 or 5 days before sanding it to ensure that the paint was completely dry. The paint should sand off into a powder. I had trouble on another project where the sandpaper just "pushed" the paint rather than remove it. This was due to it not being completely cured.

After that, I used water based Polyurethane "Polycrylic" in a satin finish. 2 coats of that with a light sanding with 220 paper in between coats.

I was going to stain the sanded areas before I put on the poly but my wife liked the way it looked when it was sanded to bare wood so I left it bare.


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## bmcdowell40 (Apr 20, 2012)

Troy32 said:


> Would actually like to hear how you got the top so flat as well if you want to share. I worked in a shop that had a 60" wide sander that we used for table tops. I no longer have access to it and like to know how you made the top. Sorry for all of the questions but that is what you get for showing off your beautiful island.:thumbsup:


The top was made out of 2 pre-made pine "stain grade" panels from Lowe's. I just used my friend's biscuit joiner and glued them together. The finish is just 1 application of stain and 3 coats of Satin Polycrilic. I originally has aspirations of a butcher block top or a glued up maple top. When it came down to it, I opted for this instead. It was so much easier and much cheaper. 

Lowe's and Home Depot carry a bunch of different sizes of these in 3/4" thickness. Unfortunately, I made my cabinet 24" deep which is the widest panel they carry and I needed something wider, hence, I had to get 2 and put them together. If I ever build another one, I'm going to make it a little narrower so I can get a 1 piece top. In fact, I just saw earlier this week at Lowes, they carry a 1 1/4" thick top thats 24 x 48 in stain grade, which would make a really nice top.


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## Troy32 (Oct 19, 2012)

Thanks for taking the time to respond. It is real helpful for the project I am working on.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

That looks great man. Good job.


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