Double Your Kitchen Countertop Space With This Pull-Out Island Idea

In the kitchen, ample work and dining space is often pitted against the need for usable and convenient storage. While conventional kitchen islands and peninsulas can go a long way toward balancing these needs, they often are limited by considerations like kitchen size, layout, and clearance space for moving about. A genius idea from TikTok user @yourlifeiswhatyoumakeit solves many of these problems by not only creating a custom kitchen island that houses trash, a spice rack, and some secret drawers but also features a pullout surface that extends the size of the island's surface by almost double, giving you more counter space.

This extra few feet can be invaluable when working in the kitchen or entertaining. It's also a great solution for small spaces like tiny homes and studio apartments. It is similarly great if you want a slightly lower surface for when you're sitting in standard-height chairs. There are several ways to make use of this solution in your own kitchen, including prefab units and elements that allow you to add a sliding system to existing islands. There are also tutorials for DIY builds to create one from scratch.

Multiple retailers have great ready-made islands that offer pull-out capabilities, including this stylish white model from Home Depot that extends from the side to make the island wider and allow for seating. This reclaimed-style wood island, also from Home Depot, has not only a pull-out addition on the side that extends the counter length-wise but offers ample deep drawers and storage underneath.

If you are having a custom island built or are looking to outfit an existing one, you can also purchase a track system that allows you to have a recessed table surface that can be easily pulled out from your existing island at home. And if your current island is open underneath, another great inexpensive option is to buy a rolling cart with a useable surface on top that fits snugly under the existing island and can be pulled out when needed or moved around the kitchen.

While pre-made and custom islands can be expensive, there are some great DIYs available for building an island from scratch that include a pull-out table surface. TikToker @yourlifeiswhatyoumakeit creates an entire multi-functional kitchen island from scratch, building the exterior frame of the island to accommodate all the necessary storage underneath, as well as a compartment under the countertop that accommodates a slide-out table with two legs that snuggly fits back in when not in use.

This detailed DIY video from YouTube's Hess Woodwork creates an island from the ground up, including a framework made from lumber, wood pegs, screws, and wood glue that offers a large amount of storage behind a set of doors in the middle and a pull-out plywood tabletop that simply rests inside under the upper butcher block counter. This design does not use a track inside the island, so is easy to assemble if you can master the basic framework of the outer casing of the island.