12 DIY Kitchen Island Ideas To Add Storage And Counter Space To Your Cooking Haven

Kitchen islands aren't just a passing trend; their popularity started soaring in the 1950s and hasn't declined since. This is unsurprising, given that kitchen islands transform your home and kitchen, adding aesthetic appeal, functionality, and value to one of a home's most utilized rooms. Installing a new kitchen island or modifying your current one can add useful food prep and storage space, making everyday cooking and eating more convenient for your household. The only concern is that these islands can be expensive and tedious to install; they often cost several thousand dollars and take a week or longer for a professional to complete.

Shave off some of that cost and budget by building your own kitchen island. Below are twelve DIY kitchen island ideas that cost thousands less than what a professional would charge and take only a few hours to days to finish. Most supplies and materials can be found at popular online retailers or local home improvement stores, making the DIYs practical and straightforward to complete. If you follow manufacturer recommendations, pay careful attention to weight limits, and match design elements, you'll spice up your kitchen island with added countertop and storage space while boosting your kitchen's overall look and value.

Stick to a tight budget by repurposing IKEA shelves into a DIY kitchen island. Push together two open-shelved or closed-door shelving units from IKEA's KALLAX line, depending on whether you prefer closed or open storage for your small kitchen island. Pick out a wood slab slightly longer and wider than these combined cabinets — over 60 inches long and 30 inches wide. To create a food-prepping space, you'll only need a slab 1.5 inches wider on each side. On the other hand, the slab should extend at least 8 inches for bar seating.

Use Home Depot's assembled base cabinets to DIY a kitchen island. Purchase a single wide cabinet or push together multiple smaller ones to make an island the size of your choice. Measure the dimensions before purchasing lumber or plywood to surround the base. Home Depot also has primed boards that are already ready to be painted with satin or semi-gloss paint. The popular home improvement store makes it easy to order exactly how much wood you need — they have a calculator on their product page.

Kitchen islands typically stand at least 36 inches high. A single-base cabinet from IKEA's HAVSTA line reaches this minimum height with a few modifications. This cabinet is 25 inches tall and comes in black, gray-beige, or white. Use a pallet base to slightly raise the height and a laminate or wood slab over top to create a custom kitchen island. If you want room for bar seating on one side and food prep on the other, custom order a slab around 28.5 by 33 inches.

Creating a pull-out kitchen island countertop is a great way to expand seating space without crowding a smaller kitchen. Use metal table legs, which are sturdier for holding up the countertop, food, appliances, and other household belongings. Home Depot's four-pack of metal furniture legs hold up to 331 pounds and are height-adjustable. However, you may need to find different leg options if your kitchen island is higher or lower than these legs' potential dimensions.

If your kitchen has room to spare, add stylish counter space with table legs and a countertop. While metal legs can be sturdier, wood legs might appeal more aesthetically, so you may want to go with the latter for a permanent installation. Pick out your desired countertop and legs before committing to a purchase, and double-check that legs' weight limit. They need to support the countertop and additional surface items. Butcher block is the best option — it's the lightest countertop material at 5 to 10 pounds per cubic foot.

One of the easiest ways to add storage to your kitchen island is to install Amazon's adjustable towel bar on one of the room's empty walls. The bar comes in black or silver and is made of rust-resistant stainless steel. The anchors and screws that come with this towel rack are brittle. Instead of using the included hardware to hang the rack, take them to a local hardware store and purchase identical but sturdier options. Also, try out Amazon's S hooks to hang kitchen items from your newly installed bar.

Make your own hook hanger with Amazon's acrylic paint, Command hooks, and Dollar Tree's craft wood plank. Depending on how much weight you intend to hang, you should double-check the weight limit of the Command hooks you purchase. Some only hold weights up to a pound, while others hold 10 pounds or more. You may want to avoid hanging fragile or heavy items. Fragile items may shatter if they accidentally fall, and heavy pots, pans, or kitchen utensils could chip or scratch natural stone or wood floors.

If your kitchen island has a more trendy look, seek out a look-a-like media cabinet. Amazon has many cabinet designs that may match your kitchen's cabinet and countertop theme, including options in modern black or rustic farmhouse style. All it takes is sliding the media cabinet to one end of the counter. Make sure you choose a furniture piece at the same height or slightly below your kitchen island's surface. A taller media cabinet looks awkward and out of place when above the kitchen's focal point (the kitchen island).

Another idea is to top IKEA's MALM dresser with wood boards and a countertop slab to make your own kitchen island — no tools required. The DIYers in @messy_cookie's TikTok use strong wood glue to connect all the project pieces. Since you won't use any power tools or hardware for this project, you'll need more than a standard-sized wood glue bottle. Start with Amazon's 36-ounce gorilla glue. Depending on how well you trust your handiwork, you may need to purchase more or less.

Any well-stocked home improvement store will do, but TikToker @lauraleenadjake stopped by Home Depot specifically to pick up materials and supplies to build their home kitchen island. Home Depot carries all the drills, screws, wood glue, paints, stains, and finishes you might need, as well as the cabinet base, plywood framing, additional knobs and handles, and countertop pieces. The Home Depot website does rate this as an intermediate project, meaning it may take over a day and some careful craftsmanship to complete.

There are hundreds of antique-style dressers on Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, and local secondhand shops. Vintage furniture tends to be sturdier than most modern designs because it's made from natural materials (rather than engineered). Therefore, the dresser is more likely to support a countertop slab's weight, making it perfect as a kitchen island DIY. Stock the drawers and shelves with various kitchen cookware or ingredients, install towel bars on the sides, and change out the knobs to match the rest of your kitchen cabinets.

Another way to DIY a dresser into a kitchen island is to add brackets to make it more supportive for a thick, decorative wood top. This is great for rustic and farmhouse-style kitchens that embrace natural tones and an earthy ambiance. Home Depot carries wood brackets in a variety of natural wood colors and sizes, which you can match to a secondhand or vintage dresser. Install it with nails, screws, or wood glue to support a wooden countertop weighing up to 250 pounds.