When we moved to this rental, our favorite kitchen island had to go into storage.  It was too big for this house.  We desperately needed something here as far as an island due to the lack of storage here.  The only thing in this kitchen that belongs to our landlords are the white upper and lower cabinets.  And they are SMALL.  So, we decided to try to find something that will double as an island and hold all of our dishes and mixing bowls, etc.

I did share a post when we first moved in this rental on how I organized this small kitchen.  We used a sewing machine cabinet by the stove for our cookware and an antique cash register drawer for our silverware.  We ended up finding this large piece at an antique mall.  The owner of it actually just dropped it off at her booth and said it was previously in an old store.  It works absolutely perfect to house our dishes and bowls because of the large deep drawers.

I love the hardware, but the finish on it was strange.  It’s like someone created a “wood look” rather than letting the wood have it’s own look.  ???? I think this type of style was popular back in the 70s.  Rather than strip it, we decided to just add a coat of paint.  We are still in self-quarantine from this “Coronus” as Deb calls it, so I used paint that I had on hand.  It’s the same paint that I painted the walls of the camper with…. Sherwin Williams Pure White.

Kitchen Island Makeover

The Top of the Kitchen Island

I think it turned out so pretty… and looks so much better. This more than likely will be used as a storage piece in our new house and not an island because it has no over hang.  We thought about just replacing the boards with new ones and adding one but… QUARANTINE.  Also.. I miss my previous large island with the open shelving.  Anyway, we started by removing the two boards on the top because we wanted that part to be natural wood.

Deb ended up using her planer and sander to remove all of old finish.  She then stained those two boards with Minwax Dark Walnut and applied two coats of Polyurethane for floors.   It’s the same finish we used for both of our bathroom countertops in the last house and it holds up so well.

The Base of the Kitchen Island

Deb ran a sander over the base before I painted just to rough up the finish for the paint to stick.  I then used a DeGlosser just as an extra guarantee.  It just takes the shine off of it and it’s the same thing I used on the cheap laminate cabinets in the camper.

I gave the base of the kitchen island two coats of paint.  Once that was dry, I ran a sander all around the corners and around the old drawer pulls.  I wanted it to look like it was naturally worn in certain areas.  I originally thought I wanted this painted kitchen island to be solid white with no chips or worn spots.  BUT….  both Deb and I decided that it looked like a brand new piece of furniture.  The sanded paint looks more our style.

Painting this kitchen island was such a fun project even though it took a little longer than I thought it would.  We both went into this thinking it would be a few hour project.  ???? Because we forgot the fact that one coat of poly takes 8 hours to dry.  But, I think it turned out so pretty and I’m so glad it’s done.  It sure kept my mind off of what is going on in this world these days.  ????

Are you guys getting odd projects done during this quarantine time?  Ivy wants to know what you think of the painted kitchen island.  Once again, thanks so much for stopping by and saying hi!

P.S.   Until I blew this photo up, I didn’t know that Ivy was sitting on her tail… This look is VERY inapprope and a little frightening.  ???? Poor Ivy.