The kitchen island is the gathering place in our home.
So much time is spent around this centerpiece but its builder-grade boring look was bugging me!
Surely something simple could be done to dress it up a bit so let’s gather some ideas together.
This distressed painted look is nice. I’m always partial for bead board.
Look at the details on this jade beauty! The corbels and feet give the island a furniture feel.
(Gasp! Are those pendants copper?…Click here to read about my recent pitter-pat love with copper).
The side storage is a nifty idea on this island, though I think some cookbooks displayed would look nicer.
This simple farmhouse style is appealing.
I’m in love with this painted kitchen! Swipe out the hardware with brushed nickel and we’re good to go!
All the pictures above are hyperlinked,
so to find out more information on something you’ve seen just click on the picture.
Which elements would you suggest I add to my boring builder-grade island? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Kim
I added corbels to my cabinet and have just fell in love with them all over again. I also painted my builder grade cabinets more times than I would like to admit here….haha. They are gray now and I’m loving them so far. I can’t wait to see how you jazz yours up 🙂
Kim,
I definitely love the beadboard look. A different color for the cabinets too – I like distressed but the color? It’d depend on what else you have going on in your kitchen and your future plans, but I do like the samples you shared – dark, light and painted. All are fantastic! I also like the added piece with the wood top on the last greenish island – is there room in your kitchen for an added element for more room and display area? Can’t wait to see the transformation! MIKI
our island is almost the same! And I also think ours is boring, but I am scared to try anything since we know we want to sell in a couple years, the bedboard is SO charming! And I also love love love copper!! Can’t wait to see what you decide to do!
I know you will come up with something fabulous, Kim! I personally love the farmhouse look. The last picture reminds me very much of my kitchen at our lakehouse…the lower cabinets are painted a gray/green called Painted Turtle and I have brushed nickel hardware.
XO,
Jane
Oh honey, I’m in the same boat. Our island looks exactly like yours, so boring 🙁 I do not know what to do with it either. We’ll also be selling our house in a few years, i don’t want to mess anything up…
I cannot wait what you’ll do with it though!!!
Cant wait!!
I haven’t read your blog long but what I have seen you post looks wonderful. Love the corbels but you would have to extend your top out some for those. The black distressed looks good but then again I love that kitchen you love and maybe a color would be awesome (you can always change it later) and I agree with something on the end for cookbooks because that is what I want to do too. Brushed nickel awww. I am excited to see what you do because I need ideas also.
Love these ideas! Would you also paint the surrounding cabinets to match?
Once I redid my cabinets by taking the doors off, painting them white and cutting out the middle, screwing glass behind then gluing moulding overtop the raw plywood edges and in “t” patterns overtop the glass.
It looked AH-MAZE-ING! Like something out of the pages of Martha Stewart. Not to toot my own horn;P I got so many compliments from people who had never even seen the way it looked prior. Would have looked even more impressive with underlit lighting inside the cabinets themselves.
But it was a lot of hard work. I wouldn’t suggest that unless you have your heart set on glass cabinet doors.
But I think my fav out of your suggestions was the black beadboard look. But only if you were going to paint the cabinets to match. Black and light wood might clash. Otherwise I’d go with the jade.
I think you should go with the beadboard & paint it a different color as your cabinets to make it stand out. Maybe you could add a book rack/ extended shelf on the side to store cookbooks or magazines?? Just a thought 🙂 Kim B.
I like it best in black.